To my grandparents and parents, Merdeka means the end of the British rule in Malaya. As simple as that.
But to a child born long after Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj declared “Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!” on that fateful day of 31st August 1957 at Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur, the meaning had lost on me.
I think it was the same for the rest of the other post-Merdeka babies too. The troubling part is, we made up the biggest portion of the country’s population. Despite what we had read from our history books at school, we could not feel the impact.
Yesterday, I have finally found the true meaning of Merdeka. It was not only freedom from colonial rule but more importantly, freedom from poverty, freedom from corruption and freedom from misrule for this beloved country called Malaysia – our one and only home.
So when the call of “Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka!” reverberated throughout the Stadium yesterday, it finally dawned on me that this is what Merdeka really means.
What does Merdeka means to you?
Merdeka is meaningless as long as the Ketuanaan Melayu Petkasa of Dr. MM is still practised on all Malaysians ! The Non-Malays frankly are made to feel as “Perdatangs” despite their Peranakaan Births in Malaysia, ans as such Second Class or No Class Citizens ! The Electoral Seats are still land boundaries that favor Bumi Malay Seats despite their small population,for example Ipoh Selantan of say 250,000 mostly urban non-Malay voters have only on seat in Parliament but a rural seat like Slim River or Parit in Kinta with a population of mostly Malys of 50,000 also get one seat,multiply this nationally all can see that the non-Malay Votes aren’t of the same weight as that of the Malay votes ! Where is the one man one vote principle of Equity and Equality ?Until we get Justice of one man one vote for all “Keadilian Raaayat Ramai !” we can’t feel or think of Merdeka as anything but a UMNO cartel monopoly !!!!!!
Gerald Heng-Tuah Sr.
Metrowest Boston,MA. USA.
Dear Ghengsrs, your feelings are shared by many Malaysians, especially the non-Malays. Such feelings have recently become even more pronounced because of Perkasa’s antics. Matters didn’t improve when UMNO leaders did not condemn the racists who, as you noted, are probably Mahathir’s puppets. Yet, despite the racism and frequent religious extremism, despite the gerrymandering that you described so well, my feeling is that the post-Medeka generation – including the Malays – are generally against what’s going on. That’s one reason why the Malays make up the biggest protest group in the Bersih demos, as well as in the recent gathering at Merdeka Stadium. So, to us and perhaps to most Malaysians, Merdeka is meaningless when it comes to achieving the people’s desire for a better nation. Nevertheless, it could be a starting point for all of us to strive to make Malaysia a better nation. If we see from this perspective, Merdeka becomes for all of us not necessarily a day to celebrate, but a day to re-commit ourselves to make our country a beacon of justice and fairplay, a true Malaysian Malaysia.
For those of us born after 31/8/57 and who have never live a single day under the Brits, Merdeka is really meaningless. It is just another public holiday to put it politely.
Our ideal Merdeka would be to see the country free from all forms of poverty, corruption, discrimination and misrule.
That will be the day when we could hold our heads high again and say this is “Merdeka.”