Cakap cakap....What could have been......

I am 68 years old today. Six decades plus eight! 

Older than Malaya Merdeka and certainly much older than Malaysia! 

As is my habit I was awake by 5.30 this morning. Awake not in my unit at Bangsar Permai in Bangsar but in my apartment in Fitzroy in Melbourne. If I had been in  Bangsar I would have had my morning ablutions and then headed for the morning market in Lucky Gardens to get breakfast and groceries....instead I waited until Coles opened and went there to get some freshly baked cheese sticks for breakfast and groceries for the weekend. 

Like me many hundreds and thousands of Malaysians....millions even...wake up in foreign land this Saturday morning and instead of Nasi Lemak, Yam Tow Foo, Roti Chanai and other Malaysian delicacies to get for breakfast (and by so doing allow the Ma Chiks and hawkers to make a bit more money from their small businesses) ...we have for breakfast pastries, cereals and what the locals too have for their breakfast....and put our hard earned money into a foreign economy instead of Malaysia's. First thing in the morning Malaysia is already losing out because millions of Malaysian now choose to live elsewhere! And that my friend is what I am thinking about when I woke up early in the morning....on a day when I turned 68 years!   

What saddens me most about Malaysia is what we...our country, our people, our economy, our way of life, our values and passions and all those things that have taken decades to evolve into making us the people we all were once.....MALAYSIANS....all these things have now been probably lost forever to the ravages brought upon by  this odious and contemptible brand of politics that divides and rules our people since the time Mahathir came to power! 

We could have been the envy of Asia if not the world as a nation that is "truly Asian".

Where that oft repeated phrase "One Malaysia" is not just an empty political slogan but a fact because we were already that and more many decades ago.

Today we could have been a multi racial, multi religious community totally celebrating our unity in diversity, instead our politicians would have us be at each others throat over race and religion because that is what serves their interest best!

We could all be building a Malaysia of our aspiration for the future instead of having millions of our people fleeing abroad to reluctantly seek places to call home where they are welcomed and where the will be given the opportunity to live as equals and appreciated for what they contribute towards nation building in that new country they choose to migrate to instead of living in Malaysia.

And most hideous of all we would not be a nation battling crippling corruption and the abuse of public office to serve the wants of a few at the expense of the many many millions of Malaysians.

Today politics permeates every orifice of every Malaysians. It troubles our ears to hear the inane chattering of politicians that shouts "ME!"..."ME!"...."ME!"...not only to themselves but to everybody else! The sights and sounds of politics is everywhere around us  - deafening us with their self praise and blinding us with the glare and dazzle of their insane wealth acquired at our expense.

That most precious part of yourself...your children...ask yourself what have they learned at school? It does not matter if they are Malay, Chinese, Indian or any other Malaysian...ask yourself what are they being taught?

when we should all be able to do this 

 remember...

I am sorry to start this day off in such a negative way...I sincerely hope that out of this negativity some positivity will emerge as once again I remind you all....I am one, with you we are two. Who else will join us to rid our nation of this terminal cancer - racism - inflicted upon our people by our damm politicians? Who?

Saudara Lee Hsein Loong of Singapore says it best!

and Tunku...our Tunku!