Strange. It just didn't feel the same this year. Like, there was nothing to celebrate. And even the message from the obligatory Petronas ad didn't seem to shine through as clearly - I was left wondering, "huh?" (To be fair to the ad icon, perhaps it wasn't Yasmin's doing at all...)
Why is this? Is it because we had a huge bang for our 50th birthday last year and haven't come up with anything else more spectacular this time round?
OR, horror of horrors..., are we less patriotic now?
Maybe it was because all the nation's attention was on a rural area in the northern state that was to determine the re-entry of a prominent figure into the political scene. In the days leading to Aug 26, what amazed me wasn't so much that he garnered that much ground support, but the fact that the OTHER side had the WHOLE battalion camped and campaigning in that tiny town! Name them - they were there! Prime Minister and deputy, and various Ministers across portfolios. (Too bad International Trade guy couldn't join the fun; he was attending an ASEAN meeting in a city-state and was almost forgotten there, what with all the media attention over HERE...)
So... one man versus all of them? I thought it was one man versus one?
We all know what the outcome was. For all the confidence expressed at both camps, there could only be ONE winner. And win he did; convincingly at that.
Coming back to the question: Are Malaysians less patriotic?
I don't think so. In fact, I think the outcome of the Permatang Pauh by-elections demonstrated our TRUE patriotism - the love for country and fellow Malaysian; the desire to spur the progress of the country through righteous justice, economic empowerment and uncorrupt practices; the dream of seeing this country rise to heights it once attained - and perhaps, God willing, even higher.
Call me idealistic? Yes, I admit it is a tad ethereal. Dirt so deeply entrenched will take some time and lots of willpower and determination to uproot. But we have to start somewhere... the journey can't take the right course unless we point it thus. If it took 50 years for all these seeds to germinate, it may take 50 years to unearth it all, and 50 years to plant new seedlings. I realize that the pretty picture of a truly-prosperous Malaysia may not happen in the span of my lifetime.
Yet I will not waver from my stance, and do what I can to set things in motion. For I am not doing it for myself, but for the younger generation I see today - that THEY and THEIR CHILDREN will have a fair chance at competing in the local and international arenas, and be proud to be called a Malaysian.
It's not about anti-Government. It's just about being pro-Malaysia. THAT is PATRIOTISM.
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