ONE

ok...can't stop myself from talking about 1 malaysia although i am sick of it.
just read in the paper how one of the mca big shots said it will take us malaysians some getting used to the concept of 1 malaysia.
i will say bull shit to that.

in our hearts, we have always been at one with malaysia. when i was a kid, i remember playing every evening outside in the playground with kids from the neighbourhood. malay kids from the malay kampung and indian kids from the houses around the playground. who cares what race we are from? we had fun together challenging each other to jump from the monkey bars, we fought for our turns at the swings, we glided down the slides one after another and we played galah panjang on the badminton court.

in primary school, i went to a vernacular chinese school in standard one but later was moved to a national type school in standard two. i guess i have to thank my uncle for that suggestion. i made friends from difference races again and we all stayed as one when it came to games, bullying the teachers, playing truant, having our meals together in the class or canteen and competiting against each other in class and on the field. my two brothers went to vernacular school till standard six, but come secondary years, they had no problem adapting to friends of different races in national school. all 5 of us finished in the same secondary school and heck, all the teachers knew us or relate one to the other and compared us. well, we are very different but our teachers, be it chinese, malay or indian remember us. we did not discriminate our teachers nor our teachers us.

in my tertiary education years, i made friends from all over malaysia and i think i have more friends from the east. i love the togetherness we had as one group regardless of our skin colours. everyone had to eat the same lousy canteen food, everyone waited for the mcdonald delivery motorcyle, we partied together (well, i am not good one here) and everyone went on the same stage to receive the scroll after 6 years of more fun than toil, i believe. we still keep in touch with each other- from the east, the west, to some selected corners of the world.

do we question doubt or question the differences among us? frankly, no, NEVER. it never crosses my mind that you are an indian or a malay or a kadazan when i am talking to you. in my heart, you are all FRIENDS. and we share the same languages that include love, integrity, care, friendship, compassion and trust.

so can the politicians or policy makers stop hammering another nail to the already beautiful wall? sometimes, one nail is enough to hang a photo. when you take the nail out again with the excuse that it is already old and worn, the crack might worsen the situation and the picture might eventually fall and break. do not change something for the sake of showing ppl that you are doing something. sometimes, it is best left alone. continuous hammering will only show to others the flaws and remind ppl of the differences which they have never thought of.

we have always been one and we will always stay as one as long as we call ourselves malaysians.