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Friday, April 15, 2016

Late Night Thoughts On Unity

So I've been away from blogging for too long
and I know hahaa.
Anyways,
I figured I'd do one 
about a topic I feel so strongly about,
particularly today
(considering I was doing Hubungan Etnik assignments 
and just finished watching a heartwarming drama on unity).

I'll confess that I didn't mix as closely 
with those of other races prior to asasi days.
Maybe I was slightly influenced by 
surrounding stereotypes and immaturity.
But somehow deep inside me,
I felt all of this weren't right.
It doesn't make sense.
Why should a complex individual be 
judged to have certain characteristics
just because he/she was of a certain race?
Logically this simply didn't fit.
I had quite a few close friends
during secondary school which were from different races.
Malacca, after all, is a great place to meet many 
people with different cultural backgrounds.

And then during asasi,
I had the chance to be closer to those of different races.
Personally,
it was a chance to put those stereotypes away for good
and to prove my logic right.
I wasn't disappointed.
Dorm life and the stress of our programme
brought us close to each other,
and it didn't take long for us 
to love each other as a family with such a strong bond.
I've never felt more Malaysian
and I'm proud of it. :)

Fast forward to around 2 years later.
Uni life's great when your social circle comprises of 
so many unique individuals regardless of their race,
and I've never felt more alive and happy.

I know that conflicts may occur,
and in fact it will arise as with in any family,
but I will always choose to have faith in humanity,
in the people that makes Malaysia, Malaysia.
Those that write in defense of unity 
also has my utmost respect 
as they had to (sometimes) endure being bashed 
quite harshly by keyboard warriors.

There may be certain issues that cause us 
to harbour distrust among each other,
but this is Malaysia.

With our imperfect politics,
with our perfect food,
with our controversial policies,
with our warm people,
with jokes only we understand,
even with our own bahasa rojak.

Malaysia is us, and we are her.

PS For those who think that patriotism means not criticising whatever happens in the country, 
please remember that it is precisely because of love that we act the way we do ✌️