Kepada negaraku yang tercinta,
Saya berasa amat bangga dan terharu apabila saya mendengar lagu 'Negaraku'. Rasa cintakan negara sangat mendalam bagi saya hanya disebabkan Ibu saya yang amat mengutamakan patrioritisme dalam kalangan seseorang penghuni negara tersebut!
I am a Malaysian Citizen and I have felt the pride when I represented MY COUNTRY for THE STUDY OF UNITED STATED IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES!! Now i am able to imagine the pride and the happiness of me being there for my country! It can be categorized as the need of skill of expertise. We were so much so dedicated towards the environment and were specially awarded to represent our country, for our future in Malaysia ( to come back and implement the 'take - aways' which could be implemented here in order to save the nature) This is the best I could for Malaysia..
Of course it is a very great opportunity to be in the States and spending days experiencing their lifestyle when one is fully sponsored is even more exciting. However, 3 weeks past and there goes my imagination back to my country! ' When would be able to go back ?' Cepatlah 5 minggu lagi!" . All this used to just passed through my mind , which means there is no other place better than your home country. Malaysia is unique for some reasons
I have to admit that it is comprised of many races just like many other countries. When it comes to race and religion, to be frank it is still a sensitive issues here in this country. No individuals would or are brave to discriminate others. ( In presence of certain circumstances; there are cases of some angry citizens who have vandalized place of worship. These notorious citizens are usually caught and send for rehabilitation or punished in a way they can recover from any trauma they face. In addition. they new way the government has come up with is one of the best approach to this matter....FORGIVE AND ACCEPT THEM BACK INTO THE SOCIETY IMMEDIATELY! thats the way! appreciate this people and not segregate them. They would not feel left out and that is where you can take the chance to instill or convey fruitful messages.!!!
However, the wonders we share together is the experience and it solely depends on the environment. I have to tell that each state in Malaysia DIFFERS! it is not at all the same! It is very true and I say this because I am from a all Girls school and I had so much difficulty to adapt myself when I was doing my form 6 in High School Bukit Mertajam.It is only the matter of ' male species' being present there but it was very difficult to mix and feel comfortable just because we were not used to have them around for the 7 hours we spend in school.
And imagine if one is from Tamil or Chinese school for instance, how awkward would they feel and the process of adapting themselves would be as difficult as I felt or even more.I am Penang born and bred, which means I had no problem eating Char Koay Teow, bringing my malay friends to watch English movie ( they- all speak good English) or stay back in the school together waiting for our activity time. We eat nasi goreng for lunch , vaade and Teh tarik for tea time and some junk food ( shared by all because by the end of the day all our allowances are all used up). We never felt a necessary of 1 Malaysia concept as it was already in us. When this 1MALAYSIA is introduced, I still could not get the idea because PENANGITES had no problem mixing with fellow friends from different background( literally means nothing when one say that the background differs in Penang).
Merdeka flag hung on those bicycles in the campus. creating the RED BLUE YELLOW AND WHITE mood!
Journey to the EAST.Kelantan. Was more of a 1 MALAYSIA concept need. When I say Kelantan, I can imagine what many would think of! ?1?? But trust me., NO such thing! The locals there are the most humble people I have met. They look up upon others who visit their state. They admit that they need to know more and all always ready to learn from us. The taxi drivers, bus drivers, cleaners, lecturers, professors, migrants from other states, are just as kind and soft spoken( Lecturers from other states can be clearly seen trying to adapt themselves to be like the locals. Only one race being a majority there, it is just like a school students from Sek. Ren. Jenis .Keb! There is less exposure to others belief, practice, thoughts, tradition, and many other considerations yet to come across. This is where more of this concept practice is needed and
not in less in states like PENANG, SELANGOR , MALACCA, OR JOHOR.
Anyway , it is nice to share, experience others culture when it is done sincerely. ( not for publicity ) please. Try and change yourself if it possible. Try it out for a day, week, month or a year perhaps.I bet you will like the uniqueness Malaysia has. Put a aside the scenario when your opportunity was deprived, sensitive issues such a religion and racial segregation, arguments we had which resulted in intolerance, and many more situation which ended up in a nasty way. For the peace of our country try to be a true person.I am not asking for a lot of changes to be done....for development economically or big political change. It is just a way of social development where no fund is needed for awareness or no political parties are involved in holding a microphone and talking for hours about individual responsibilities towards the nation. Rather a simple change in youself( approximately 0.01% of your attitude) and then see the result!?
I have and will keep on doing my part as a Malaysian
The smile says that 1Malaysia is still new to us but we have been practicing this since young!