Truly Malaysian

All this year, being election year and all, my ears have been saturated with nothing but politics, and this odd and feeble attempt to "unite" malaysians by wearing some band, which hardly gets to the root of why we are dis-united in the first place. i really love malaysia, and all we are, but i won’t wear that band, because it doesn’t signify anything. It doesn’t signify unity.
wearing a kebaya doesn’t make me malay, eating bak kut teh doesn’t make me more chinese than i was before eating it (ie, half stays half). wearing a band on my hand won’t change what i feel about other people in this nation.
what would change me, though, happened on a Saturday in Subang. i wished all of you were there, but i’ll probably post the vid up one day…
my aunt has a kindergarten, and at every year end she would host the concert and graduation in Subang. this year’s theme, was Splendour of Love: Truly Malaysian, and truly malaysian it was indeed.
i would love my child to speak different languages, sing songs of different languages, learn dances of different cultures, and know the traditions of different people. we all are aware that malaysia is all of asia compacted into a lil tiny country, with so much more. this country is beautiful and is a paradise really. but we don’t know much about other cultures. have we all witnessed the weddings of various cultures? i bet only a few of us have.
my aunt, and her team of fine and dedicated teachers, made a bold trans-cultural step and created a whole morning of fun filled, speeches, poems, songs, dances and to ice it all: wedding ceremonies of different cultures. (i hate the word race here, because there is no race, we’re all malaysian!) imagine cute lil 4 to 6 year olds nicely dressed in traditional costumes, and playing the roles of in laws, bridal party, groom’s party and of course the bride and groom themselves! adorable doesn’t cut it!
but importantly, each of them were given a chance to learn about the ceremony, learn about the culture, and learn to respect and love each other. the chinese would don Pavadas, cheong sams, and indians don kebayas, etc. it’s so beautiful because at this age, they don’t know if you’re indian or chinese or malay, they just know that you’re a lot like me, and that you’re my friend.
we could learn a thing or two from them. i think every parent took that home with them. not just the wonderful pictures, or the funny antics their children did, but rekindling that semangat  kebangsaan, that we so desperately need.
i’ll post up pics when i get them.

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