The 2011 historical Malaysia event

Without doubt, I’m putting this recent Malaysia rally; Bersih 2.0, as the historical event of our country for 2011.

bersih 2.0 rally
It was a peaceful rally - honest

Apparently this is the 2nd rendition of a campaign run, hence the two-point-zero since 2007. Its purpose still remains the same – raise the awareness and demand for a fair electoral system independent of third parties.

I’m not a person likely to discuss politics and I prefer avoiding any of conflicts whatsoever. I love living a fruitful and un-stressful life with loved ones while doing what I love doing. Thus, I’m only going to write about the noticeable affects to this event.

Unnecessary traffic congestion due to roadblocks

Days leading up to this day, some of my friends have complained roadblocks on highways causing congestion. And a day before today, another friend on Facebook shared that some roadblocks made congestion last until 2:15AM into the morning.

Malaysia traffic congestion at night
Hope there were rest stops

I seriously wouldn’t want to be caught in that situation. Imagine if you had to pee! OMG!!!

Nationwide curfew rumor caused concern

It did make me worry. Not because whether I’d bump into rally members. More so because of police roadblocks and being unnecessarily questioned. Plus, the whole idea of curfew was plain dumb – Malaysians mamak and clubbing hours is part of our culture. But yeah, I don’t like being in cumbersome situations.

Escalating news coverage

In the morning, news of the rally had begun coming in. By the late afternoon, its flooded my Twitter timeline. But it was good to know what was happening, despite my neutrality.

malaysia police barricade
1st time I've seen them use this

Especially by being an outsider, you’ve the benefit to observe both sides.

Acts affecting businesses

Hear say some people got hurt in the rally by authorities. But I’ll leave that to be clarified by the news publishers unswayed by third parties. Instead, after watching a video of the authorities having to use tear gas, I thought to myself, “wouldn’t business traders nearby be affected too?”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=616ODL1z6dQ]

Plus, they fired more than 1 tear gas canister into the area. -_-|||

We (Malaysians) are really intuitive people

Friend of mine actually took this opportunity and came up with a pet project of his own to aggregate information of the event. Let me highlight one of the geeky things about the project.

malaysians around the world
Malaysians sharing the burden

That’s a map showing the Twitter conversations happening in areas co-relating to this event. If you zoom out, you’ll even notice the event affecting Malaysia across the world from the US to down under Australia.

The wonders of technology. And Malaysia’s historical event of 2011.

Huh? Is it Merdeka again?

I’m confused. The video and print ads on Malaysia Day all speak of harmony, be it cultural, food and others. But wasn’t this said in their ads during Merdeka too?

Can someone please tell me:

  • How did this celebration of Malaysia Day come about?
  • Why should Malaysians be celebrating it?

Honest to say, a direct translation of Merdeka is independence, so it’s hard to miss. Thus, what’s Malaysia Day?

Malaysia Day is held on September 16 every year to commemorate the establishment of the Malaysian federation on the same date in 1963. It marked the joining together of Malaya, North Borneo (now state of Sabah), Sarawak, and Singapore to form Malaysia.

Source: Wikipedia

Er, what’s a Malaysian federation? Pardon my blur-ness as I was educated in BM on Malaysian history and I don’t recall my teachers telling me, how to differentiate between this event and Merdeka. And I’m wondering if teachers today do educate students about Malaysia Day.

So, is Malaysia Day our country’s birthday? I’m not sure.

The name Malaysia was adopted in 1963 when the existing states of the Federation of Malaya, plus Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak formed a new federation

The continental part of the country bore the name Federation of Malaya until 1963, when it federated with the territories of Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore.

Source: Wikipedia

Okay. She got her name sometime in 1963. Thus, Malaysia Day may not be celebrating her birthday. So, what are we celebrating then? And, why?

I’m still confused. How to love my country more like that?

P.S.: It’s disappointing to know I’ve to refer to Wikipedia instead of myself to write something in regards to my own country’s history. 🙁

If I didn’t have

The Girlfriend

It would feel very weird. Like there’s something missing in my life. As much as freedom is a guy’s most valuable asset, it would grow on you to realize there’s an emptiness. One of those emptiness is someone I could hold, hug, kiss and hold hands with fingers clasped. Excluding you get pissed drunk and come back with a lady every other night, that is.

The Car

Running a website design company would be very difficult. And, expensive. Our affordable rail network only connects so far right now. Plus, cabbies here ain’t exactly respecting the sticker; ‘no haggling is allowed’, despite it stuck on their doors. Plus, I guess the computer gets lumped in here too since it’s a tool for business.

Friends

I’d seriously not know where I’d be. My friends have taught me through my life. I went through being a smoker, clubber and other experience to be who I am today. Without them, I could’ve imagine myself becoming a computer addict. Stuck on the computer 365 days a year and possibly on it 24/7. Brrr.

Family

Although my parents and me don’t have as many family discussions anymore, I know there’s still love. And you can’t avoid the fact, they’re your parents and siblings. They nourished and brought you up. As for me, I’ve been very lucky to have a life I wished. Instead of taking up the opportunity to study website design in the US (right after my last SPM paper), I told my parents I wanted to spend more time here with them. Crazy, right?

Money

And who’re we kidding. You can’t survive in this world without the currency. You may not need a ton to survive, but you still need that much to live. Some would agree, without money, you’d not have any of the above. As sad as it sounds, the currency is so powerful it affects you physically and mentally.

Life

I think if I didn’t have any of the above, my life would be a huge burden to the world. It would be like living my life with a lie. A lie of which I comfort myself everyday saying, “it’s okay”. While your sub-conscience tortures you in return asking, “are you sure?”

Thank you to everyone who’s been there for me. The girlfriend, friends, family and all objects trivial as we continue to live in this world.