Malaysia is 50 Years Old!

In conjunction with Malaysia's 50th Birthday, I wanted to write about what it means to be Malaysian. I did write a few paragraphs and i just deleted it. Let me start again.

What is patriotism to a Malaysian? Issit sticking miniature Jalur Gemilangs on your cars? Issit decorating Kuala Lumpur with christmas lights? Issit braving the jam to witness the Merdeka Day Celebrations?

Why dont we look at being Malaysians from the viewpoint of a Malaysian student studying overseas? Or what it means to be a Malaysian for the younger generation. The younger generation and especially the Malaysian students who are overseas have gotten a lot of slack lately. They are often criticised for being unpatriotic, ungrateful and forgetting their asian roots.

Let me share with you how most Malaysian students are like overseas. We all know that Malaysians like to bitch about Malaysia and fellow Malaysians. But that dont mean we sit and keep our mouths shut when a non-Malaysian criticises our country and our people. We do not appreciate other people saying shit about the country. What we do is we tell them " Who are you to bitch about Malaysia? You have no right to bitch about Malaysia. You're not Malaysian!" You may not believe it but the sense of patriotrism is so much higher when we're not in Malaysia.

Being Malaysian in a foreign country means shameless promoting Malaysia in accordance with those tourism commercials which we have always found to be extremely corny. Like.. ohhh Malaysia is truly Asia. Or, Oh you've gotta visit the Orang Utan Sanctuary. And Malaysia have the tallest building in the world at one point, the Petronas Twin Towers. Oh Putrajaya is awesome. Oh we have amazing rainforests. Nevermind that the Malaysians themselves probably have never set foot in any of the attractions but doesnt mean we wont promote it shamelessly when the opportunity arises.

Being Malaysian also means believing that there is no where better than home. Eventhough it is disheartening at times to open the newspapers and to read utterly ridiculous news, there's always a glimmer of hope that things will always be better. Because we are a peaceful, tolerant and compromising country. All malaysians were brought up learning about how Malaysians have no natural disaster, save for the tsunami that happened recently. How we were blessed to not have typhoons, hurricanes, volcanoes eruption and earthquakes. All the little things to be thankful for.

Being Malaysian also means getting utterly excited about food. Food is what makes Malaysia. Malaysian food is unique and utterly amazing. Nasi Lemak, Durian, Char Kuey Teow, Roti Canai, Teh Tarik, Mee Bandung .. OmG.

No matter how awesome a foreign country may be, when your plane touches down in KLIA, a sense of relief comes over you. Yes. You're home. Forget clean toilets in Japan. Forget Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior in Paris. Forget Prince William in London.

A lot of people do not realise that deep within each Malaysian, there is a great sense of patriotism. It might not always be expressly obvious and it is always the younger generation that gets slacked off for being unpatriotic. But open your eyes.

Go to London and see the Malaysian students at Malaysian Hall. Go to Nottingham for the Malaysian Nottingham Games. Go to Facebook.com and you'll find groups like "I speak Manglish", " I love Malaysian Food". Listen to conversations between Malaysians and Non-Malaysians. Open your eyes and you'll see that patriotism is more than singing the national anthem and waving the national flag or reciting the Rukun Negara.

Happy Birthday Malaysia. There is a glimmer of hope yet.