Friday, September 16, 2005
Malaysia Day or Federation Day
...or get this: TYT's Birthday LOL! :P
Today is Malaysia Day and September 16th is the only date in the Malaysia calendar that can rightfully use the word "Malaysia". We all should (which does not mean do) know that the 31st of August 1957 was a day in which "Malaysia" was not even an entity. It wasn't even yet a concept. It wasn't even on the drawing boards. It was moot.
But come September 16th 1963, The Federation of Malaysia was born. What you see, hear, feel, smell and taste as distinctively Malaysian, was created on that day, for if alternate realitise had taken over, all that would be Malayan, Sarawakian or a distinct touch of North Borneo.
So today we as a State have existed for 42 years. What do we do? Well most western Malaysians go to work, people in Kelantan, Kedah and Terengganu enjoy their weekend off while Sabahans and Sarawakians are forced to remember this day as the "birthday" of a non-represantional, non-empowered, artificially installed head of state whom more than half the states' population for the life of them cannot remember.
Indeed, history is in the hands of those who wield the pens. Or if everyone has one, those who hold bigger, gold-lined pens. The Ministry of Education has seen fit to sweep September 16th under the rug, as it wasn't a shining example of the hyper-efficient UMNO. With Neighbour opposition and tensions with Indonesia rising, the Federation was formed in a very messy manner. Which meant UMNO didn't get to shout "MERDEKA!!!" or for that matter, look good.
We went ahead anyway, as equal partners, except for the part where Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (who's enjoying life out of the federation) were expected to assimilate and accept August 31st as their independence day. Memory and History be damned. The people there after all, didn't hold the pens of history. Apparently, the image of "The Party" (UMNO, if you don't geddit) is held above all. False Metaphysical Subjectivity over Metaphysical Objectivity. In the 30s they called it Fascism (a little tru), now they call it remembering our freedom fighters (who, like the moniker crime fighters, fight freedom)
Anyway Happy Malaysia Day, to those who would bother. Who knows how long we must go on together eh?
Today is Malaysia Day and September 16th is the only date in the Malaysia calendar that can rightfully use the word "Malaysia". We all should (which does not mean do) know that the 31st of August 1957 was a day in which "Malaysia" was not even an entity. It wasn't even yet a concept. It wasn't even on the drawing boards. It was moot.
But come September 16th 1963, The Federation of Malaysia was born. What you see, hear, feel, smell and taste as distinctively Malaysian, was created on that day, for if alternate realitise had taken over, all that would be Malayan, Sarawakian or a distinct touch of North Borneo.
So today we as a State have existed for 42 years. What do we do? Well most western Malaysians go to work, people in Kelantan, Kedah and Terengganu enjoy their weekend off while Sabahans and Sarawakians are forced to remember this day as the "birthday" of a non-represantional, non-empowered, artificially installed head of state whom more than half the states' population for the life of them cannot remember.
Indeed, history is in the hands of those who wield the pens. Or if everyone has one, those who hold bigger, gold-lined pens. The Ministry of Education has seen fit to sweep September 16th under the rug, as it wasn't a shining example of the hyper-efficient UMNO. With Neighbour opposition and tensions with Indonesia rising, the Federation was formed in a very messy manner. Which meant UMNO didn't get to shout "MERDEKA!!!" or for that matter, look good.
We went ahead anyway, as equal partners, except for the part where Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (who's enjoying life out of the federation) were expected to assimilate and accept August 31st as their independence day. Memory and History be damned. The people there after all, didn't hold the pens of history. Apparently, the image of "The Party" (UMNO, if you don't geddit) is held above all. False Metaphysical Subjectivity over Metaphysical Objectivity. In the 30s they called it Fascism (a little tru), now they call it remembering our freedom fighters (who, like the moniker crime fighters, fight freedom)
Anyway Happy Malaysia Day, to those who would bother. Who knows how long we must go on together eh?
