A Meaningful Merdeka

Being a relatively young nation, Malaysia has done well the past 50 years. It is not easy to have many races living in one nation, with each race still being able to practice their own tradition and values.

Malaysia has also progressed well, embracing modernisation - with both the government and private sector playing a role in shaping Malaysia to where it is today.

It also makes me proud to see Malaysian companies expanding and going abroad, and exporting Malaysian made products overseas. In addition, it is nice to see talented Malaysians contributing to the nation.

However, despite all these, it is sad to see the inferiority & lack of confidence to our local products. I assume one of the reason is because some 'bad apples' have spoilt the image of made-in-Malaysia products.

Quick and easy money, graft, lack of vision, contentment with the local market and other factors have given bad publicity for some Malaysian goods and services. This then looses the confidence of the 'rakyat' (the people), and of course from our friends abroad. Over time, this also affects all other made-in-Malaysia products including those that are genuinely good, making it harder to expand and grow. And when this problem is not solved, the vicious cycle continues.

The worse part, this spoils the 'Malaysia Boleh' dream and spirit to one large extend – the free spirit we are so proud to have.

I'm not saying that the nation is not supportive, but I believe more can be done for us to celebrate Merdeka more joyously.

My dream and vision would be a time when all Malaysians would come together and do their very best for the nation, with other nations from both first & third world will look up to for ideas, products and services. Malaysia will then join the ranks of other big nations whereby the people fully support their home works just like the Japanese, Koreans, Americans, British or Germans – countries whom we now look upon now.

"Is this possible?" you may ask. Again, it goes back to our vision of what we want for Malaysia and how meaningful we want our Merdeka to be. It may take a change of mindset and approach to some of the way of doing things, but if this can be achieved, I'm sure, it's a job well done and then we can truly celebrate Merdeka!

Let's all play a part in shaping this country for a next glorious 50 years to come.

Im still proud of Malaysia and its achievements, and here's wishing you all a Happy Merdeka! :)