Why Are We Still Here?

Less than a week ago we celebrated our 51st Independence Day on 31st August. Like every year, throngs of people gather at designated places that have been set up to celebrate our independence. We see people pack themselves in a car and deliberately put themselves in such inconvenience when going through the horrible traffic jam that KL is known for. We see them push their way through the tight crowd of sweaty people and stand there for hours waiting to see the fireworks. Such a distressing and uncomfortable situation to be in. But people still do it. Why?

There is a term for this where the people of a country put themselves all together just for one cause. It's called nationalism. However, if you were to use that for the opening vignette above, you are very mistaken.

Recently I did a video documentary for one of my assignments in which I asked people if they would die for their country. The answer is a no-brainer, very obviously a "No." And then one of my college clubs did another event in conjunction with our Independence Day where we ask people to write something about Malaysia and stick on a board. In the beginning, we were all pretty excited and gung-ho about it. But very soon we lost that. Due to how everyone we asked had absolutely nothing good to say about Malaysia. Hey, it's not that I love Malaysia so much, I wouldn't die for Malaysia but still I don't hate Malaysia that much. These people talk of Malaysia like it is the worst sh*t hole to be in. I mean come on, it isn't that bad right.

But anyway, people don't have such negative feelings for nothing. I feel that Malaysia is (or going to) experiencing a political upheavel. Everything is in such a mess. Not to mention how much money is channeled towards corruption. It has been more than half a century since we have gained independence and I would say we have not grown very much. Many of the people feel unwanted to be in the country and have such a strong sense of disbelonging.

It is just so sad. That even foreigners actually feel sorry for us.

Yep. We're living in a country that doesn't want us here. How depressing can we be. =/