Arrived back in Melbourne at 4.06 am, early Thursday morning. As I told TAB ..."Good to be home. Everything seems to be better...the bed, the people, the coffee....even the weather, even if it was 6 degrees when I got here at 4 in the morning".
Home sweet home is not just what my parents said every time they got home after any holiday or trip away. Home sweet home is real. I feel the familiarity when I step through the front door. The familiar Ikea beige three-seater fabric sofa, waits patiently for me. Nothing, absolutely nothing, takes some of the woes of the world off my shoulders than sipping an Expresso while I sink into the comfort of that familiar Ikea beige three-seater fabric sofa. With or without the TV on. With or without the sound of the TV on or off. Bliss.
As I settled into my home, I heard myself tell my son that I missed him....and we talked about all the things that had happened in the three months that we have been away from each other. I cannot remember what exactly we talked about in great detail...but we talked. Good to be home.
I have been in KL for the past three months. An old Malaysian whose love for his Tanah Air is undiminished by thirteen years apart. The "welcome" accorded to me by the authorities and the generosity, kindness, and grace that Malaysians have greeted me with, have overwhelmed me. Total strangers talked to me with the familiarity of long-lost friends....well maybe strangers would not be the right words to use ...what linked them to me was tenuous... steadyaku47. These people read what I write...and that was enough for us to greet each other with hugs and a familiarity that tells me that Malaysia is indeed home....and that I belong more in Malaysia than Down under. I would have to process that thought and reassess my druthers in the coming days. Not an easy decision to make when I have been abroad longer than I have been home, in Malaysia.
In that 90 days the one moment that I remembered with much fondness, was that time at Selangor Club in Dataran Merdeka, at the launching of the Gabungan Patriotisme dan Perpaduan Kebangsaan (GPPK) when, at the very beginning, we all stood up and sang Negara Ku.
It was all I could do to stop myself from shedding too many tears. I was nostalgic. I was patriotic. I am once more Malaysian, pledging my love, my loyalty...my everything for my Tanah Air.
And so were the surrounding others....all Malaysians. And up there on stage, was Pak Arshad! That 80-year-old Dato' General ...the president of Patriot and the Chairman of the Gabungan...who was singing with us. Pak Arshad will lead GPPK. The GPPK of NGOs that wants Malaysians to take back their Negara from the corrupt politicians who have brought our nation to its knees.
Semangat cintakan negara (Patriotisme) dan keutuhan perpaduan rakyat berbilang kaum yang dulunya mekar sekitar tahun 1960an hingga 1970an kini kian pudar dan hampir terkubur akibat kerakusan ahli politik yang cuma berpura-pura berjuang untuk rakyat dan negara. Hakikatnya ahli politik ini hanya menjaga kepentingan diri sendiri dan akibatnya rakyat dan negara menjadi mangsa sepertimana yang berlaku sekarang.
We must make Malaysia people-centric, not politician centric!
That moment passed too soon, but it was enough!
Enough for me and for all those present, to reaffirm our love for our Tanah Air. Enough for us to know that there are many good people around us who will do their utmost for Malaysian and Malaysia. Enough for us to believe earnestly, that the time for change, the time for a better Malaysia and a better future has begun....and we damm well know that we will not let the opportunity for change to pass us by!
And GPPK, led by that 80-year-old Pak Arshad, will have a lot to do with what will come in the coming days. They are the good guys! Doing what our government should be doing! Enough said!
BN will gain inroads because blind nationalism and racism can still put food on the table by loans of course.
Regrettably, in Malaysia, many people believe that social connections based on race and religion carry more weight than merit when it comes to employment decisions, leading to the perception that success depends on having such connections.
As a result, numerous individuals, including HH, choose to leave the country in search of better opportunities since they struggle to find jobs related to their studies. This even includes those who were on government scholarships, like the Malays.
Veterans like Mejar Arshad have witnessed the detrimental impact of politics centered around race and religion, which has driven some individuals towards destructive actions.
Personally, I was shocked when I visited my old school after 43 years last week and discovered that the chapel on…