Friday, October 10, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Hari Raya 2008...from the lalat's eyes''
This year did not bring any great, fantastic super duper meaning to the likes of me and my forty something year old friends who are celebrating Raya... It has been like this for more than 2 decades now..20 years man!! Wow ' apa sudah jadi? What happened man? How did we get to this? The whole Raya mood is sullen...almost cold yes...and its not just the Raya, I believe the same can very much be said about Kong Hee Fatt Choy and Deepavalli.
What I mean to say is.. if you are a malay celebrating Raya or a chinese immigrant celebrating Fatt Choy or an indian celebrating Deepavalli or the ''lain-lain'' celebrating Christmas and whatnots....then all's well and dandy yes?...festive songs are a blaring, you are whistling tunes of festivity while cleaning up the house or repainting it and of course hanging up decorations in the form of plastic lit ketupat's, mandarin oranges, peacock shaped green leaves and fake snow....and all over Malaysia the likes of your demography in general will be going through the same routine as you yes?
Well ... thats just it !! Only a particular race would be getting all excited and jiggy yes? .. .. anticipating the arrival of "that special day" wont they?...All the other races or religions punya orang will just ho hum the whole excitement...Well I guess honestly...the extra public holiday is very welcomed...But you just dont share the happiness and the joys of your fellow Malaysian celebrating their joyous occasion dont you? Or at least not anymore you dont'. Why not ah?
Probably, you were like me yes?..Tons of friends of all races....shopping for new clothes irregardless of the occasion..getting as excited as a monkey knowing that Raya, Fatt Choy, Deepavalli or Christmas is beckoning. 2 decades ago or slightly more yes?..thats approximately how long it has been since I've felt the suasana ber-raya, it really dont matter whose raya it is cos we just didnt care!!... ..the whole rumah terbuka and ' the inviting other races to your rumah terbuka didnt have to be prompted nor coerced..we just did it because WE DIDNT CARE!..we didnt care who the raya belonged to...we didnt care who the fatt choy belonged to..or the deepavalli and the christmas etc...WE DIDNT CARE BECAUSE WE WERE MALAYSIANS!!
You see people of all races thronging rumah terbuka's on TV dont you? From the Badawi's to the Samy Velloo's right up to the Ong Ka Ting's, and on this coverage by the local media, you get to see muhibbah spirited leaders of the ruling regime wearing ' fake ' ..(ok too strong aint it ) forced' smiles..uninterested handshakes ( you know the kind..limp hand shake )and bearing looks that just tell me that they wishthe whole farce would be over and they can get back to their own kind and get jiggy!!
Then you look around you and see empty houses left vacant by your not-same-race-with-you- neighbours, who've left for their holidays or are at the mall doing their jalan jalan and commenting for the umphteen time, how empty the streets are and driving is such a breeze, while you wait for your friends-of-the-same-race to drop by for makan at your open house D.O.
And you look at your little ones..and honestly now..ask yourself..'' IS THIS WHAT YOU REALLY WANT FOR THEM ?'' Will the congregation of races only happen during merdeka celebrations?...propagated by the ruling coalition ( coalition my skinny arse! ) will your kids only see other races feasting together during the publicity seeking party leaders rumah terbuka?
: ) yeah...we were malaysians......
Yes.., my dear friends...we WERE Malaysians...
What I mean to say is.. if you are a malay celebrating Raya or a chinese immigrant celebrating Fatt Choy or an indian celebrating Deepavalli or the ''lain-lain'' celebrating Christmas and whatnots....then all's well and dandy yes?...festive songs are a blaring, you are whistling tunes of festivity while cleaning up the house or repainting it and of course hanging up decorations in the form of plastic lit ketupat's, mandarin oranges, peacock shaped green leaves and fake snow....and all over Malaysia the likes of your demography in general will be going through the same routine as you yes?
Well ... thats just it !! Only a particular race would be getting all excited and jiggy yes? .. .. anticipating the arrival of "that special day" wont they?...All the other races or religions punya orang will just ho hum the whole excitement...Well I guess honestly...the extra public holiday is very welcomed...But you just dont share the happiness and the joys of your fellow Malaysian celebrating their joyous occasion dont you? Or at least not anymore you dont'. Why not ah?
Probably, you were like me yes?..Tons of friends of all races....shopping for new clothes irregardless of the occasion..getting as excited as a monkey knowing that Raya, Fatt Choy, Deepavalli or Christmas is beckoning. 2 decades ago or slightly more yes?..thats approximately how long it has been since I've felt the suasana ber-raya, it really dont matter whose raya it is cos we just didnt care!!... ..the whole rumah terbuka and ' the inviting other races to your rumah terbuka didnt have to be prompted nor coerced..we just did it because WE DIDNT CARE!..we didnt care who the raya belonged to...we didnt care who the fatt choy belonged to..or the deepavalli and the christmas etc...WE DIDNT CARE BECAUSE WE WERE MALAYSIANS!!
You see people of all races thronging rumah terbuka's on TV dont you? From the Badawi's to the Samy Velloo's right up to the Ong Ka Ting's, and on this coverage by the local media, you get to see muhibbah spirited leaders of the ruling regime wearing ' fake ' ..(ok too strong aint it ) forced' smiles..uninterested handshakes ( you know the kind..limp hand shake )and bearing looks that just tell me that they wishthe whole farce would be over and they can get back to their own kind and get jiggy!!
Then you look around you and see empty houses left vacant by your not-same-race-with-you- neighbours, who've left for their holidays or are at the mall doing their jalan jalan and commenting for the umphteen time, how empty the streets are and driving is such a breeze, while you wait for your friends-of-the-same-race to drop by for makan at your open house D.O.
And you look at your little ones..and honestly now..ask yourself..'' IS THIS WHAT YOU REALLY WANT FOR THEM ?'' Will the congregation of races only happen during merdeka celebrations?...propagated by the ruling coalition ( coalition my skinny arse! ) will your kids only see other races feasting together during the publicity seeking party leaders rumah terbuka?
: ) yeah...we were malaysians......
Yes.., my dear friends...we WERE Malaysians...
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