50 going on 15

on the eve of 31st aug, i received an email from my ex-french instructor titled "Happy Malaysian Independence Day" and i was thrilled! first, it's a rare occurrence to receive an email as such and i was pleasantly surprised by the thoughtfulness of it all. second, the patriotic malaysian in me was somewhat active, especially now that i am out of the country. it's an odd mix of emotions but in general, i was thrilled.

then i started to reflect on the whole idea of Merdeka and how we often proclaim it with so much pride and love. to be honest, i love my country. i really do. there really aren't too many places in which you can double-park and not be ticketed. well if you do, you could make an appeal and you'd probably be charged little for it. i love it that we have cendol and rojak everywhere. i love it that we can chew gum. and there's just something about malaysia that makes it home. i get a comforting sense of relief each time i arrive in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and in an instant, everything becomes familiar again. it's an incredibly pleasant sensation.

then there's everything else i'd like to change about my country. for e.g. how we should stop constructing random fountains at random road junctions with taxpayers' money. perhaps, there is a better way to channel resources than hunt down bloggers who speak against existing policies. perhaps, efficiency can be of importance to the public sector. and just perhaps, we can stop looking to wawasan 2020 and actually work on it. perhaps merit could earn us a place the color of our skin can't. perhaps this strikes a cord with all malaysians?

perhaps?