the morning after

Malaysians have spoken: Cry freedom

Keith Leong

My heart is full, my friends. I cannot sleep and my heart is pounding. My mind is racing off in a thousand directions. No, I am not having a health incident caused by my age-old obesity. Any Malaysian who is aware of what has been going on in the past 24 hours will probably feel the same.

Even the early morning hours were exciting enough. I did what I had been waiting to do for almost 20 years: with my family, I went back to my old school and voted for the first time in my life. Like a free man. Like a citizen. Along with millions of my other fellow Malaysians. All free men and women. All citizens.

To all those who doubted whether or not voting would make a difference – look at the record turnout, at the large number of new voters – the bulk of which I dare say were youths like us.

To all those who were angst-filled over what democracy constituted – look at the Malaysians, from the youths who barely finished celebrating their 21st year to grizzled centenarians who came out to exercise their rights and responsibilities.

To all those who said that Malaysia is not ready for change, that it will always be a sectarian morass and never achieve politically maturity – look at the results tonight.

To those of you who say politics is a dirty, unviable game – look at the number of idealists who were voted in tonight.

To those of you who doubt Malaysia was, is and can be a democracy – look at the country tonight.

I would like to think that my fellow writers of theCICAK and myself had a role, however small and insignificant in bringing this small, but giant step forward for the nation about. But the fact is that there is still a lot of work to be done in order to bring about positive social, economic and political change to Malaysia.

There were the many millions who have not registered to vote, or who are unable to do so because they lack the means or knowledge to do so – we have to fight for them.

There were the many millions who were registered but could not or would not vote, some because of selfish employers who would not give them time off, or those who stayed at home out of pure apathy – we have to fight for them.

There are those who still wallow in sectarian ignorance or hostility – we have to fight for them so that they will change their minds.

And there are also those who will believe, or who will desire, that tonight is just a blip on the radar, a minor anomaly and that things will go back to “normal” – we have to fight for them so that they will change their minds most of all.

But more importantly, those who have been rocketed to power and those who have been kept in power, need to be reminded that Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-religious nation – we have to fight for them that they shall never forget this, and to their utmost to make sure this land becomes, if I might steal from the sublime oratory of Nehru, a noble household where all Malaysians may reside.

Tomorrow is only the beginning. Tomorrow is ours. Young people of Malaysia: continue to think, write and speak. Look beyond the race or the class of the person beside you and see the similarities that you share.

We have begun our leg of our people’s journey towards nationhood. We must not fail. We cannot fail.

The future is ours for the taking.

good night and good luck

Tomorrow the whole country will go on elections.

This time round, there are lots of issues laid on the table – press freedom, human rights, living costs,  education, public safety – affecting all layers of Malaysian society, which by default makes this a particularly interesting election to watch out for.

There have also been a flurry of movements within the Malaysian community, as each begins to discover their long lost voice, some brave enough to speak and  stand up for themselves.

Although it will be a bit too much for me to claim that the whole country is now up in arms and ready for change, it will not be too far from the truth for me to say that the country has been aroused.

If there is one thing about this election, it is that it is going to be anything but typical.

The important question now (and one that will be answered early Sunday morning) is how much of this frenzy, this agitation will be translated into ballot papers.

Notwithstanding the blatant gerrymandering and the shameless torrents of propaganda saturating the Malaysian press at the moment, it will be interesting to see whether Malaysians will choose to vote with their heads or their hearts.

Of course emotions will be stirred, political characters trashed, public fund perverted – that is expected of most, if not all elections around the world.

What will be more illuminating and lasting will be to see whether justice will eventually have its day in spite of  - rather than in addition to – all these things.

For it is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.

And hopefully, when Malaysians wake up on Sunday morning, they will finally see the light, shining clearly and brightly, which promises a better day than before.

ibu pertiwiku

(bersempena pilihanraya ‘08)

Oh ibu pertiwiku

Sekian lama kau

mengusap, menjaga, mendidik

Mencurah segala seadanya

Hatimu sesuci selembut sutera.

Namun siapa sangka

Jiwa yang tabah ini

Semakin hari semakin hampa

Melihat anak bangsa

Nakal, tamak, kurang ajar.

Apalah guna mashyur bergelar Malaysia

jika Cina dan Melayu dilagakan

atau India disisih dilupakan

Kadazan Iban disamakan

Nikmat pelbagai dijadikan

titik tolak perpecahan.

Jangan menangis lagi ibu pertiwiku

Kerna anak didikmu ini

generasi ini

merindui zaman kemakmuran silam

cekal, tabah dan berani

melampaui batas sempadan

demi mengecap

kesefahaman yang sejati.

Ibu pertiwiku

Kesatlah air matamu.

home again…

I have always felt that to be able to write or articulate ideas and points of view are a sign of an open and uncluttered state of mind.Mundane daily concerns, pressing deadlines, incessant worries about other people and work will inevitably affect the free spirited roaming of one’s mind, initially pinning it down and if left idle for too long, it will ultimately forget how to fly.

Cleverly used, a person’s piece of written work could be used to divine a person’s current state of mind.

It is one of those windows to a person’s mind and soul that is often deliberately left open when all others are closed shut.

Truth be told, I didn’t approach the winter break with a good note – rushing and stumbling through the finish line rather than breezily passing through it.

The same could be said about the end of the winter break I guess. When the new term started, it felt as if I was still carrying the old baggage from the last term – all my troubles and uncertainties that has been haunting me since then.

I shoved them all aside, expecting to deal with them when the time is right.

I waited and waited for that time to come; I think there is a word for that in the English language – it starts with a ‘p’.

I guess I am still beating around the bush even now.

I hope to write real soon about my Turkey trip, thoughts for the new year, commentary on the latest in the local sociopolitical scene once I am through and done with all these mind-numbing quandaries at the moment.

I just pray that you will not have to wait too long. See you on the other side.

leaving on a jet plane…

My last night in Malaysia and looking back at 3 months worth of summer break, I can safely say that it wasn’t an unexciting one.For the past few days, I have been bidding good byes and farewells to my college-mates who were flying back way earlier; around this time tomorrow night, I will probably be already flying over the Straits of Malacca.

I would have thought that leaving Malaysia the third time round should have become easier on me but I guess Malaysia – for all its faults and shortcomings – still has a strong pull upon my psyche.

But, it doesn’t help either that I’ve spent a week of Ramadhan back at home this year; after all, Malaysians do have a weakness and intense longing for their own foods.

Add that to the almost daily occurences of pasar malams during the fasting month in Malaysia and you will be hard pressed to completely pick yourself up and leave the country.

However, a comforting thought for me this time around was that my family have had the chance of travelling all the way to London, experiencing the city for themselves and visiting the places, sights and sounds familiar to me this summer.

And from that shared experience they now have, I am drawing my strength to cope with my inevitable departure to London.

But for what’s its worth, it was an engaging 3 months back home – more so than usual.

And as my stay nears its end, I came to the following realizations…

It is a funny thing but during this summer break, I felt that I was slowly reciprocating the deeds, kindness and help that my parents and grandparents had done for me in the past.

I guess what I am trying to say is that there was a strong sense of ‘giving back’ or the need to ‘look after’ them and I felt compelled to be there for them as they had generously done for me.

Somehow, I think that this is what the phrase ‘circle of life’ is all about – literally that is.

That said, I pray for the strength to protect the ones I love, the ones I am close with and the ones who have contributed much to my life.

I wish to discover my aims and purpose in life in other people, especially in those that matters to me.

Finally, I would like to know or at the very least believe that my stay here in Malaysia for the past 3 months have manage to leave an imprint, induce some change or make a difference on someone or something.

After all, that is the best thing any person could hope for – the ability to affect change.

Facing the challenges of 3rd year, I say that this entry should not be read as the beginning of an end; rather it should be read as the beginning of something truly wonderful…

Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri;
lebih baik hujan batu di negeri sendiri.