Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You

Merdeka tomorrow.

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's Merdeka tomorrow and all around me there is almost nothing that shows me that tomorrow is the 31st of August 2010 the 53rd year of Malaysia's Independence and that we as a nation is excited to celebrate it. Shops, offices, houses, cars, are hardly flying any flags.

Yesterday while I was driving with my family and my 6 yr old daughter asked me why the taxi beside my car had a flag on it's car, that was when i realised that Tuesday will be Merdeka. 

After explaining to my 6 yr old what merdeka meant and recounting stories of my younger days when everywhere i looked had flags flying proudly, it hit me again that Malaysians doesn't seem excited this year! (may be not for a few years already).

I myself did not bother to go get a flag for my car this year, in fact i didn't get one last year either! 

personally, my reason was I'm disappointed with what is happening in this dear country of mine.

Top of with the way my pockets has been lately, I decided to show my displeasure, I would not fly the flag on my car. (cut cost mah!)

However, looking all around me even this morning (the eve of Merdeka) I saw very very few cars that had flags. In about 20 vehicles i encountered only 1 had a flag. It made my eyes sting with tears, I feel so very sad for this beautiful country of mine. The sadness in my heart almost feels like the pain of losing a dear friend.

Is it really true that there are so many of us Malaysians who are so unhappy that we are not flying our Country's flag today? And if this is really true what are we so unhappy about? and the biggest question is what are we going to do about it? 

For me, I want my daughter to feel proud of her country, Malaysia, the land, the people, we are what counts.

The politics can go to hell for all i care now. 

This is my country, my home, this land is where i was born, where my mother (my mom was Chinese) was born and died at the age of 63 in 2004. This is  where my daughter was born. This land is where my dad (by the way my dad is Indian) was born he's 72yrs old. This land is where my dear 90 yr old Auntie May De Costa (she's Portuguese) was born! This is our home. YES! this land, Malaysia, is our country. We are the people of Malaysia, Please show us a little respect and not call us pendatang, penumpang,etc. Do not discriminate against me by my race for I'm a Malaysian.

So I will celebrate Merdeka this year for this land, Malaysia. I will now go out and buy a flag to put on my car to show that I am Malaysian. I'm flying this flag for my Malaysia and not for any politicians out there. The politicians (many of them) has forgotten what their job is supposed to be about! By the way, please take note here that I wrote politicians and not just government or opposition, this is because politicians covers them all!

And lastly to all fellow Malaysians, I wish you a Happy 53rd Merdeka tomorrow.  

A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.
Mohandas Gandhi

"Dirty Dancing"

How many parents think that this movie has corrupted our kids?

Well, let me say this, I watched this movie when i was 16 or 17yrs old (about 15yrs ago). I totally enjoyed the movie and i felt i wished I could dance that good. It however did not make me go out and get laid!

Watching this again now though made me realise the very quiet message that "Baby" in that movie trusted her father (the doctor) so much that she went to him when her friend was in need. She know she might get in trouble with her father but her trust & faith in her dad, that he will help, made her go straight to him. The father, upheld her trust by treating her friend even though later he had words with his daughter.

The lesson here was we parents need to have our children belive in us before they will come to us.

Just shoving moral studies down their throat is not going to be enough. Blaming and finger pointing is so not going to help.
 
That's just my two cents worth. 

Dirty Dancing - Time of my Life (Final Dance) - High Quality