Malaysia(ns) in Action

Wanna see Malaysia in Action? Or should it be Malaysians in Action.... Either way, to get the truest picture of what Malaysia is all about, get your hands on a copy of today's (29-May-08) The Malay Mail and look no further than the main picture on the cover page. Whoever said that a picture speaks a thousand words got it spot on as this amazing picture will show and tell you.

Forget all the gobbledy-gook from the mouths of our politicians (Barisan Nasional, mainly), and the venomous, racially tinged garbage from the same above-mentioned mouths. For all their words, and gesticulations over the last 50 years, especially in the last few months, this picture in the Malay Mail has spoken with more eloquence, more class, more dignity and above all, more truth about what the Malaysian Nation is all about.

The image of ordinary Malaysians of various racial descent standing shoulder to shoulder pushing a block of concrete should be blown up, printed and pasted on billboards all over the country. Now this is no trivial image, neither is it a trivial, insignificant piece of stone. That block should weigh anywhere in the region of 1 - 1.5 tonnes (contractors, please enlighten me if this estimate is wrong). Moving it is no small matter. I've tried moving small stone slabs that are used to cover drains and those little monsters are tough. And those weigh only about 80 kilograms each.

Honestly speaking, I stopped and stared at the picture in the Malay Mail for a very long time. What a way to show the world - err....wait, not the world perhaps, but our own government maybe - that when we Malaysians stand shoulder to shoulder, we can and will, move mountains.

So maybe they can stop giving us the crap that one group is worried about the other group robbing rights and racial tension boiling and they are the only ones who can keep it from spilling over. Hey, maybe the owners of The Malay Mail could do the rest of us a favor and send a complimentary copy of the paper or at least that picture to our cabinet members and BN politicians. Let them see how we, the ordinary rakyat, channel our boiling tensions towards things that concern us and our livelihood. Not against each other, as our government would have us believe.

Anyway, as I was saying, I stared at the picture hard and long. I almost cried. But I didn't. Held them tears in. Big boys too don't cry, you know? Then I heard it, on the radio. Here in my home. That lovely song by Malaysian Artistes For Unity. It is a wonderful musical piece by a group of artistes who pooled their talents for the country they love.

What can I say? It's moving. The song that is. Another fine example of Malaysians side-by-side or shoulder to shoulder or however you feel is the most appropriate way of describing it. Go listen to it. (You can access it by clicking the Here In My Home banner at the top right of this page) But also get your hands on the Malay Mail for THAT picture.