Essence of Merdeka Day
What’s the difference between MERDEKA DAY and NEW YEAR? Public holiday – checked, free concert- checked, fireworks – checked.
So what is actually the different between the day that is shared/celebrated with the whole planet with this very special day of our- Malaysians’ own? Yes, I do agree that we shouldn’t limit the spirit of the celebration for just one day, and the love for our country shouldn’t be counted only on how big the celebration that we have. But as we already mark this date 31st of August as the birthday of Malaysia, why don’t we celebrate it the more special way?
I’m all for the Merdeka Parade, but I seriously think that “Ambang Merdeka” was just lack of originality. I would suggest that we take the word “Ambang” literally by having ‘meaningful’ programmes/activities in remembrance of the sacrifices, hardship, and everything that our forefathers had gone through in getting the independence for our beloved country.
Yes, we all learn our history back in school, but shouldn’t we be constantly ‘reminded’ about it as most of us has already forget the lyric of “Negaraku” let alone “Rukun Negara” once we left school?
And what’s the point of having singers – singing pop/love/heart break song on “Ambang Merdeka”? But of course they had this multiracial singers that sang the songs in multi language – perhaps to show how muhibbah we Malaysians are?
Come on, that was just lame…Unity can’t be expressed as shallow as that nor as desperate as Yasmin Ahmad who wanted so badly to show the spirit of muhibbah in Sepet and Gubra that it ended showing the leading actors loses their identities along the story.
Back to our Merdeka story, I don’t mean to undermine them, but I think that the singers are not the right people to carry and convey the message on patriotism or even unity to the public. Yes, they may have the pesona/aura (or what ever you call it) and also they have their followers, but this task is far too hard for them.
Mind you that being clad in Jalur Gemilang from head to toe doesn’t make you any patriotic then the rest of the nation. I’m saying this with exception of course of Allahyarham Sudirman. He was the only one that can carry off the Jalur Gemilang attire so well – because he wore it with all his heart, with full patriotism, sincerity and he seemed so proud of being a Malaysian – all these shows – even in the pictures – even after years after the picture was taken. So any attempt to wear it by any other artistes – even those who carry the title “Datuk” in their name is just LAME, not original and UNIMAGINATIVE.
And I heard that they also have this tayangan filem Hati Malaya on the Merdeka eve. Where should is start….well, the film is not a patriotic movie, it is a love story indeed. And in a few scenes, I suspected that it depicts the people or the era wrongly (or so I thought). But I have to commend the actors who played TAR, Ibu Zain (just to name a few) that have done a really superb job. Perhaps that was only the good thing about the movie (I’m speaking for myself of course).
So until next year, lets hope that we could come out with a better idea on how we should celebrate our Merdeka Day. Having said that, for this year’s celebration I couldn’t help but to agree on one thing –
So what is actually the different between the day that is shared/celebrated with the whole planet with this very special day of our- Malaysians’ own? Yes, I do agree that we shouldn’t limit the spirit of the celebration for just one day, and the love for our country shouldn’t be counted only on how big the celebration that we have. But as we already mark this date 31st of August as the birthday of Malaysia, why don’t we celebrate it the more special way?
I’m all for the Merdeka Parade, but I seriously think that “Ambang Merdeka” was just lack of originality. I would suggest that we take the word “Ambang” literally by having ‘meaningful’ programmes/activities in remembrance of the sacrifices, hardship, and everything that our forefathers had gone through in getting the independence for our beloved country.
Yes, we all learn our history back in school, but shouldn’t we be constantly ‘reminded’ about it as most of us has already forget the lyric of “Negaraku” let alone “Rukun Negara” once we left school?
And what’s the point of having singers – singing pop/love/heart break song on “Ambang Merdeka”? But of course they had this multiracial singers that sang the songs in multi language – perhaps to show how muhibbah we Malaysians are?
Come on, that was just lame…Unity can’t be expressed as shallow as that nor as desperate as Yasmin Ahmad who wanted so badly to show the spirit of muhibbah in Sepet and Gubra that it ended showing the leading actors loses their identities along the story.
Back to our Merdeka story, I don’t mean to undermine them, but I think that the singers are not the right people to carry and convey the message on patriotism or even unity to the public. Yes, they may have the pesona/aura (or what ever you call it) and also they have their followers, but this task is far too hard for them.
Mind you that being clad in Jalur Gemilang from head to toe doesn’t make you any patriotic then the rest of the nation. I’m saying this with exception of course of Allahyarham Sudirman. He was the only one that can carry off the Jalur Gemilang attire so well – because he wore it with all his heart, with full patriotism, sincerity and he seemed so proud of being a Malaysian – all these shows – even in the pictures – even after years after the picture was taken. So any attempt to wear it by any other artistes – even those who carry the title “Datuk” in their name is just LAME, not original and UNIMAGINATIVE.
And I heard that they also have this tayangan filem Hati Malaya on the Merdeka eve. Where should is start….well, the film is not a patriotic movie, it is a love story indeed. And in a few scenes, I suspected that it depicts the people or the era wrongly (or so I thought). But I have to commend the actors who played TAR, Ibu Zain (just to name a few) that have done a really superb job. Perhaps that was only the good thing about the movie (I’m speaking for myself of course).
So until next year, lets hope that we could come out with a better idea on how we should celebrate our Merdeka Day. Having said that, for this year’s celebration I couldn’t help but to agree on one thing –
“The true test of a country depends on how its people react in trying times,” – YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 31 August 2008
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