Happy Birthday Malaysia

Happy Birthday Malaysia. Happy 44th Birthday Malaysia. Perhaps many have forgotten, but Malaysia was actually formed on 16 September 1963 together with the states in Penisular and East Malaysia.

Our National day remains on 31 August. This is because independence was gained on 31 August 1957. But Malaya was formed and consist of the states in Penisular Malaysia. Sabah and Sarawak only joined in 1963. Thus the official date for the formation of Malaysia is 16 September 1963.

Our nation seems to have forgotten this date, with yours truly needing to be reminded as well. We should take into account the feelings of our comrades in East Malaysia as they are a part of our nation as well. If 100mil was spent on our Merdeka Celebration, what celebration was actually planned for the nation's 44th birthday?

Somehow, the actual date of our nation's birthday have just come and gone. How many of us actually celebrated the big day? How many of us actually remembered the date?

Perhaps if the government truly wants one Malaysian race, we should embrace this day as the birthday of the Malaysian nation; the birthday of all Malaysians; the birthday of one Malaysia; the birthday of one Malaysian race.

Happy 44th Birthday Malaysia.

RM100 million for 50th Merdeka Day bash

On my way to work today, I was reading the TODAY newspaper. The article was on our Merdeka Day bash, which cost us a whopping RM100mil. The excerpts of the article is as below.

$43 million for Merdeka Day bash
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia's government drew accusations of extravagance yesterday after revealing that celebrations for its 50th anniversary of independence cost taxpayers at least RM100 million ($43 million).
.
The criticism came amid growing scrutiny by opposition parties over the use of state funds, including government plans to offer a loan, which critics say is tantamount to a bailout, to a port authority saddled with a US$1-billion ($1.5-billion) debt.
.
Authorities spent an estimated RM100.6 million on parades, festivities and flag-waving campaigns that culminated in the Aug 31 celebration of Merdeka Day, which marked 50 years of Malaysian independence from Britain, Deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek Hussin told Parliament on Tuesday, in response to the opposition's questions.
.
Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said "a more modest figure" would have sufficed.
.
He added: "It shows a lack of fiscal discipline. There must be more government accountability."
.
On Tuesday, Mr Awang said the expenses were "appropriate," and the cost fit the occasion. — AP

A 100mil ringgit. What an grossly extravagant sum, even for a 50th National Day. It is in my opinion, that it is TRULY A WASTE OF MONEY! A 100mil!

A 100mil would do much good to our country. Giving it to charity or building more roads or even constructing a building to called Merdeka Tower would be even more useful.

I guess Malaysia really has another new milestone in our Malaysian Book of Records. How to burn RM100mil in one nite. Malaysia Boleh!

Merdeka Night Celebration

Having not been able to celebrate National Day in KL, I browsed through the articles in thestar.com.my to see what I missed out. Came across this picture in gallery. The caption says, "Grand display: A tribute in the form of a multimedia presentation to Abdullah's contribution to human capital development at Stadium Merdeka last night. - 1 September, 2007"

Actually I was a bit surprised to see this. We are celebrating our 50th National Day. But why a tribute specially to our current PM? So, is this a celebration of 50 years of independence or is this a tribute to the contributions of our current PM, who has been in the seat for since 2003.

Ok, so you might say that the PM is the leader and should be paid tribute to, fine. But what about our last four PMs. Why no tribute to them who fought for independence, built our nation and led the country to what it is today. Why not pay respect for their 45 years of hard work and leadership? Are the contributions of the past PMs in the past 45 years not as good as the work of one PM in the past 5 years?

I understand that there was also a small showing of the past and currents PMs during the morning march the next day. All 5 PMs were shown during the march. How is it that only one PM of 5 years leadership was shown during the night celebration?

One should remember that our National Day is the celebration of Independence of Malaysia. Especially this National Day where we are celebrating 50 years of true independence. 50 years of growth. 50 years of development. 50 years of nation building. Not 5 years of the leadership of one man.

I don't blame the PM. Most probably someone from the organiser who thought they should put on such a show to get on the good side of the big boss. Shoe polishing maybe.

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

Today is 31 August 2007. It's means today is Malaysia's National Day. I guess I should write something about Merdeka. Don't get me wrong. Even though I am working in Singapore, I love Malaysia. I am as patriotic as any Malaysian can be.

Malaysia achieved independence from the British rule in 1957. Which means, it's been 50 years of independence. It should be a grand occasion. 50 years of independence. 50 years of freedom. 50 years of being Malaysia. Have we truly achieved what we set out to achieve 50 years ago? This is not a political post. Just looking back at what has been achieved over the past 50 years.

In Malaysia, people of all races and culture live together in harmony, with respect and love. Because of that, Malaysia Boleh!

The country has developed vigorously over the past 5 decades. Our economy was at a peak in the 1990s before the Asian Financial Crisis. We weathered the crisis while some countries sank. Because of that, Malaysia Boleh!

Malaysia has its own national car and even host the F1 race. Because of that, Malaysia Boleh!

Nicol David is the top women squash player in the world. Because of that, Malaysia Boleh!

While some things have improved for the better, some things remain the same. As Msia's 50th birthday approached, the celebrations have been clouded by many current issues. Those issues I shall not mention here. But are we bluffing ourselves? Some issues, the government have instructed to be placed a gag order.
"We shall not question the authority of the government."
I agree that some things should not be said, but recently, this authority have been used too frequently. Does our 50 years of freedom include the freedom of speech? Again we ask ourselves, have we truly achieved what we CAN achieve in 50 years?

I love Malaysia. I was born in Malaysia. I was raised in Malaysia. My heart lies in Malaysia. 50 years of independence. 50 years of being one country. 50 years of being one nation. Where will we be 50 years from now ...