I am because we are. That is the simplified meaning of an African word, ‘Ubuntu’. That word came to mind when the picture of our three badminton stars was flashed out in our newspapers.
Congratulations to our badminton trio! Our badminton women’s double players have fought hard to emerge as champions in the recent Kumamoto Masters. And behind their success is coach Rosman Razak! The trio has proven to us the principle of ‘ubuntu’. An invincible force is created when there is trust and unity among the races in our beloved nation. Coach Rosman Razak is a Malaysian Malay. Our double pair comprises of Pearly Tan, a Malaysian Chinese and M.Thinaah, a Malaysian Indian. That is the precisely the strength and beauty of our nation – so rich in diversity of people groups, languages, cultures and faiths.
What if this synergy of diversity, unity and trust is applied to our education, arts or business sectors? I am sure there will be an explosion of talents, ideas and rewards. We cannot deny the fact that each people group in our nation has her individual strengths and talents. Some of musically inclined, while others show exceptional sharpness in the field of economics, medicine or law. So, if we seriously care to harness on the strength of our diversity, I am confident that Malaysia will soon be a force to be reckoned with in many areas on the world stage.
Due to the uniqueness of our nation, Malaysia celebrates diverse festivals, enjoy diverse culinary taste as well as dance and music. We proudly display an array of traditional outfits during the different celebrations of the year, like the cheongsam or samfu during the Lunar New Year, the kebaya or baju kurung during Hari Raya and the saree during Deepavali. The other tribes (Kadazan-Dusun and Rungus in Sabah and the Iban and Orang Ulu in Sarawak too have their colourful traditional outfits. In fact, at the 74th Miss Universe pageant in Thailand recently, the world had a peek of the Anjung Serimpak, a green and gold Bajau inspired costume worn by Miss Universe Malaysia 2025, Chloe Lim. And a few months ago, Dion Das Loius , a Year 3 pupil in Kuching, Sarawak won silver at the final of Dance World Cup in Spain. In the recent Osaka World Expo 2025, Malaysian food has also been voted the most delicious! I am a winner, a success because we are. Malaysia boleh!
I remember the argument amongst some of our leaders some time ago: Are we are Malaysians first or a Malay, Chinese or Indian first? To me, it must always be Malaysians first because we are all citizens of Malaysia. So, it must be a Malaysian Malay, a Malaysian Chinese, a Malaysian Indian and the like.
May our success in the sports arena be the way forward for us to tap on our unique diversity, and in trust and unity place Malaysia higher in every sector of representation.
Ubuntu! God bless Malaysia!
November 2025
Mei Wong (mwrejoice@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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