On the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, what does Malaysia Day mean to me? Well, it means a lot of things… It means that I can look forward to visiting many parts of our beautiful and diverse country that I have not yet visited including: - The Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserve in Perak, The Bako National Park near Kuching, The Endau-Rompin National Park on the border of Johor and Pahang - The Mulu and Niah caves in Sarawak - The Maliau Basin in Sabah - The clear blue sea in Mabul, off the coast of Tawau - The peaks of Gunung Tahan in Pahang and Gunung Murud in Sarawak - Pulau Perhentian in Terengganu - Temenggor Lake in Perak - The Bujang Valley in Kedah It means that I can look forward to learning more about the culture, religion and language of my fellow citizens including: - Going for a Gawai festival in Sarawak and a Kaamatan festival in Sabah - Learning to speak a few more words of Iban, Kadazan and Tamil (and learn some more Hakka and Hokkien along the way) - Appreciating the various Malay dialects (kecek Klate, anyone?) - Seeing how the lion’s head used in a lion dance made from scratch - Learning about the important dates in the Hindu calendar - Doing the puasa 6 during the post Ramadan month of Syawal (bukan senang tahu!) It means that I can look forward to trying out food from various places, familiar and foreign including: - Enjoying seafood in Parit Buntar - Trying Laksa from different parts of Malaysia - Eating different types of grilled sotong and keropok along the coast of Terengganu and Kelantan - Buying biscuits from small towns across Malaysia (Bidor, Pontian, Kampar, Seremban…) - Feasting over a barbeque in a longhouse in Sri Aman in Sarawak (cos I have a few friends there) - Trying all the ‘house’ restaurants in my own constituency of Serdang! It means that I look forward to music and movies made by Malaysians, preferably in Malaysia including: - The next movie or documentary made by Dain Said (director of Bunohan) - Banglasia - Namewee’s next movie (yes, I am a fan) - Fish Leong’s next album - Trying to appreciate Bunkface and why their music is so popular - Looking out for animation / CGI made by Malaysian companies - Any movie or music video which is shot in Sekinchan - Future episodes of #ThatEffingShow (however long they last) It means looking forward to making friends through twitter and facebook and hearing about their stories from all walks of life and from all parts of the country It means catching up with old friends from school and reliving fond memories of silly things done and good times had It means meeting with voters from all backgrounds and races, finding empathy with them and trying to find a way to make their lives a little better It means being inspired by young people who truly and genuinely want to make the country a better place and have the energy, the passion and the motivation to achieve this It means fighting on and playing my own small part towards achieving my own vision of a Malaysian Dream for the country which I grew up in and God willing, will take my last breath in. Happy Malaysia Day, one and all! Selamat Menyambut Hari Malaysia!
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 02:13:58 +0000
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