Malaysia: No Better Place to Call Home!

November 1, 2006 in Local Politics, Social Activism & Religious Matter, Personal Reflections

This would be my contribution to the 50 Posts to Independence Project initiated by Nizam Bashir in conjunction with our country’s 50th year of Merdeka.

I was tagged by Ted Mahsun (Thanks, Ted!) for this, as the idea is that each person tagged must tag another person to participate in this project. The catch here is that they must make a post within 7 days from the day they were tagged to make the contribution or otherwise, the project would come to naught.

So, this’ll be the 44th post of the project, and I’m gonna talk about why I feel Malaysia, for all its problems & faults, is still the best place to live in the world – to me at least.

This is for all the normal, average people like me who are just going about our way to earn a living in this proverbial land of milk and honey. It’s people like you that made this country for what it is today, people like you that matters most.

Having not lived anywhere else in the world in all my soon-to-be 24 years on this planet, Malaysia means a lot to me. I see  so much potential for this country to grow, and I am quite sure we’ve done tremendously well but we can be better. Most Malaysians are friendly, sociable people, and we shouldn’t let a few bad apples tarnish the country’s image in the world.

No matter what the foreign people and the media think, Malaysia is still tonnes better to live and ply your trade in compared to most places in the world. We have peace and stability – the most important ingredients in making a country prosperous, successful and its people happy.

And are we not happy to be in Malaysia? Are we not thankful to be in a land far from strife, from pestilence, from famine, from destruction via wars and Mother Nature? Compared to many other places in the world, the cost of living is still fairly affordable. Food is still easy to come by. We all have a roof over our heads and we still get clothes to keep us warm in the night. So how is it that many people still think Malaysia is a bad country?

You see, I choose to see the good side of Malaysia, prefer to focus on the simple and good things but that doesn’t mean I’m blind to the negative aspects of this country. I just chose not to let the bad things get to me and believing that the bad things will be corrected and past. Rather than dewelling the problem, complaining and whining about it, I chose to trust that my leaders will do the right thing and solve the problem. Crime and corruption is a problem, I admit, but it’s still not as widespread as in a lot of other countries.

You hate this country? Then shut up and stop complaining and do something to change the way things are. It really riles me up all the time whenever I hear people talk bad and complain about the way things are run. Do something that will make improvements! Don’t give up! I always make it a point to be kind and polite to everyone, regardless of their standing and regardless of how they’ve treated me. We all can make a DIFFERENCE. The people who are in the wrong should be afraid us, not us afraid of them!

I’m stubbornly optimistic. Yeah, no harm in that but it puzzles me why anyone would want to count their curses instead of their blessings?

Malaysia has blessed me a lot – the country has taught me about respect, about tolerance, about what peace is like and what living in harmony means. I am thankful I have friends from all walks of life – Malays, Kadazandusuns, Indians, Eusrasians, atheists, Christians, Buddhists, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, rich people, poor people – where else in the world can you find such a potpourri of culture and ideolgy? America? Uh-uh, do they live in peace and harmony like us Malaysians? Not always.

Thanks to Malaysia’s neutral and non-interference policy, this country has made more friends rather than enemies. And for that, I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in any country. Again, tell me, who wouldn’t want to live in a peaceful country, free from constant political instability, civil wars, economic crises and natural catastrophe.

So think about it, where’s the best place to live in the world, you tell me?

To MALAYSIA, MY COUNTRY: My loyalty to you will be unwavering and unquestionable. I will do everything I possibly can to make my country, without a doubt, the best place to live in the world.

SYABAS Malaysia, ke arah ulang tahun kemerdekaan yang ke-50!  

And with that, I next tag my imouto-chan, Naoko from Broken Shield and Sword to make the 43rd post. Imouto-chan, you have 7 days to make the post starting from 3rd Nov 2006 to 10 Nov 2006.