Merdeka Merdeka Merdeka - 1957 - 2009

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"Jumping From The Frying Pan Into The Fire"

I was born in 1954 at a small village or kampong in Alor Star, 3 years before Merdeka. I stayed there for about 6 years before relocating to Penang. During that time, the house which I stayed was just like any kampong house, made of wood and standing on stilts. I remember vividly that most of my neighbours were Malays and used to play with the them without any thoughts of which race we are from. I used to go in and out of my Malay friends house and they came to my house, eating whatever were left on the table. Of course my parents knew that the Malays do not take pork and they make sure that the pork is kept away from them.

At the age of 6 my father used to take me to Penang quite often before my relocation and that was 3 years after Merdeka. It was a long journey and as we passed by each small town, we were stopped by the police or army. At that time I was too young to know that the communist were fighting the government. We carried our documents, i.e the birth certificates and others which my father had. There were no hassle and the police or army were friendly and allow us to pass each time. Although there were confrontation with the communists, I was not fully aware of it and life were just normal.

I stayed in Penang in a village of mixed races but this time the Malay houses were far apart but that did not stop us from mixing and playing. During my education years, my classes comprised of more Malays because the school was located nearer to the Malay kampong. All these years from the age of 7 to 17, we can accept each other, play together, eat at the same table and we do not understand the word racism. Not a single teacher that taught us over those years ever mention the word racism, religion or any crude word that can allow us to be suspicious among us.

What I understand about the May 13 incident at the age of 15 was that people in KL were killing each other not knowing that it was a race riot. Penang was not badly affected and each day when curfew was lifted for a couple of hours, I would rush out and still call upon my Malay friends and together we went to watch people of all races rushing to sundry shops to stock up the essentials.

Things started to change when I left school in 1971 and when I could not find a suitable job I left for Singapore where I work in the construction field, at that time Singapore was in need of foreigners for their construction boom. After working for over 7 years I felt homesick and started to look for jobs in Malaysia. I was very happy when I was called for an interview by FAMA, one of the Government Agency.

The post that I applied for was a building technician and I was very confident that I would get the post. During my working period in Singapore I study part time in engineering and building courses and I manage to get certificate passes for the courses set by England Institutes. Together with my on field construction experience, I came back to KL for the interview.

This is the first time that I experienced the Government policy of discrimination. This is what I learned later on. My calling for the interview was just to show that they are fair to all races but have no intention of employing me. This is what happen during the interview which took about 20 minutes. There was no written test, normally a written test would be given for a technical position. There were four interviewers, all Malays.

When you go for a job interview, other than the normal personal questions, you will definitely be asked questions that are related to the field of the post you are applying for. What a surprised for me. During the 20 minutes interview I was not even ask a question that was related to the post that I applied. I am sure many of you who had being interviewed for any government positions would know what kind of questions they asked. It is alright for them to ask, who is the present PM, or who is the minister of finance but no technical questions in relation to my building technician post, like how do you test the concrete strength or how do you calculate the volume of work done , etc, etc. Not even one question. After getting back from the interview I knew that they are not serious to get a qualified and experienced building technician and true enough, 2 days later I received their rejection letter.

From that experienced I had stopped applying for any government position knowing that I am not going to be employed and from the many friends who had gone through the same thing. The only recourse is the private sector and I did get a job from my first application.

What went wrong and getting even worst today? Race and religion had being compromised by the government of the day to the extend that it looks like Malaysia is going to explode anytime.

Merdeka meant that we are free from the British rule and we start to move on anew with Malaysian leaders that care and love this country and it's citizens. They are suppose to lead us, all Malaysians, to high achievement and glory. But instead of getting there we see daily doses of racist media comments, leader screaming of only malay unity, religious issues and the greatest of all sins, CORRUPTIONS.

Instead of 1Malaysia, it looks like the leaders are trying to make this country into 2Malaysia, 1MALAYsia for the malays and the other 1Malaysia for the non malays. To hang on to power by any means without any considerations for the rakyat will mean disaster and chaos. You still can have power without doing anything evil, rule this country with passion without greed, show affections, integrity and honesty.

To ensure a bright future for this country, the whole government leaders and the institutions need to be totally overhauled. I do not want to get into all the previous stupid actions and statements taken by the ruling government and the institutions but just to show one simple example of what was said by the Selangor Police chief regarding the 'cow head' fiasco.

"The Selangor police chief, 'We cannot simply arrest and charge people'" If this is true of what he said, then kindly explain the simply arrest of people wearing black, candle vigils, drinking coffee, bringing flowers to the pm, cycling, firing tear gas and chemically lased water cannon onto innocent people taking in peaceful march.

I am a patriot and I love Malaysia but sad to say I cannot accept the ways and methods the ruling government employed in running the country. To think back, will we be much better if we are still under the British rule or are we Jumping From The Frying Pan Into The Fire?