Letter for us

Merdeka anniversary: Bridge that racial divide

By : TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE, Member, National Unity Advisory Panel

AS Malaysia celebrates its 50th Merdeka anniversary, it is indeed an opportune time for all to reinforce their love for the nation.

Allow me to stress once again that the fundamentals that have brought us together are the very principles contained in Rukun Negara and the Constitution. Rukun Negara was formulated in 1970 and set out to achieve consensus with regard to national aspirations among the races.

Rukun Negara, through its five tenets — belief in God, loyalty to king and country, upholding the Constitution, rule of law, and good social behaviour and morality — have formed the principles of our nationhood and these should be impressed on our younger generation.It is our guide for nation-building and should be respected by all. It is a shared vision for national unity.

Its principles should always be upheld and practised for we must never take for granted our stability, peace and harmony.On the contrary, efforts must be made to make sure that ethnic integration and religious harmony are maintained as they are the foundations for peace and unity in our multiracial nation.

Let us not allow extremism and violence to divide the nation. Whether Malaysia will succeed as a multi-racial nation depends on whether our young ones are prepared to accept each other as Malaysians with a common destiny. Young people must be unconscious of the fact that the person sitting next to him is of another race and religion. They must be aware of only one thing, that he is their friend.

With each passing day, I am more convinced that Malaysians must break down the racial divide, reach out and make friends with those from other communities. Youth of different races must strengthen racial integration. Schools are the ideal place to promote racial integration. Teachers and parents must help out in this process. Parents must encourage their children to mix with others of different races so that they can better understand one another’s religion, culture and way of life.

Conscious and sustained efforts must be made to break the racial divide among students of diverse races to overcome racial polarisation.In this connection, the introduction of National Service is one way of dealing with polarisation.Parents should encourage their children to take part in the programme as it instils discipline, patriotism, goodwill and unity in young people.

Today’s students are our future leaders. Upon their shoulders lie the responsibility of building a united nation.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/Letters/20070829083813/Article/index_html

Malaysiaku Gemilang

Terpanggil untuk mengulas petikan dari saudara Brian Yap,penulis bagi kolum di NSTP. http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/Columns/20070829074506/Article/index_html

The article called " We can decide what being Malaysian means". Menarik?Menarik...

"I DIDN’T choose to be Malaysian. And, I suspect, neither did almost all of you. Unless I was singled out, I don’t think any of us were given a say in certain matters: Our place of birth, ethnic background, or our parent."

Itu pembuka kata beliau. Logik?Logik...

Tak perlulah mengulas satu persatu artikel Mr. Yap. Apa yang pentingnya di sini, Mr. Yap mengajak kita untuk memilih apa erti menjadi seorang warganegara Malaysia.Bagus?Bagus...

Rakyat Malaysiakah kita kalau kita melaungkan "Merdeka"? Atau rakyat asingkah kita kalau kita tak melaungkan kata "keramat" itu?

Warganegara Malaysiakah kita kalau kita lancar berbahasa Malaysia?Bahasa Malaysia atau Bahasa Melayu?Jadi, orang Brunei dan orang Indonesia berbahasa apa?Bukan bahasa Melayu? Jadinya,tak adillah kalau kita mengambil hak milik Bahasa Melayu khas hanya untuk Malaysia.

Durian?Orang Thailand pun menanam durian.Kalau abah kita nak beli durian pun, kita memilih durian Siam dari durian Pahang.Jadi, durian pun bukan hak milik khas Malaysia.

Being overseas, makes me think more deeply about the being a Malaysian. When people here ask "What is Malaysia like?",I can't fluently answer that question. Tough.

Adakah saya tak cukup ke"Malaysia"an lagi?Tak cukup patriotikkah saya?Tak kenal lagikah saya dengan tanah tumpah darah sendiri?

Semalam berchatting dengan seorang rakan. "Tak keluar celebrate merdeka day ke?"

Macam mana nak menyambut hari kemerdekaan,ya?

Apa tujuan kita menyambut merdeka?Kita bangga menjadi rakyat yang merdeka? Kalau usia kita lebih 50 tahun, layaklah mungkin nak membangga.Tapi kalau kita seusia jagung, apa kontribusi kita kepada kemerdekaan?

After 50 years, maybe it's time for us to rethink about our motherland. Rethink and do something about it.

APA MAKSUD KITA SEBAGAI SEORANG RAKYAT MALAYSIA?

Soalan bonus: Ingat lagi Rukun Negara yang 5?

Reality Check 3

Saya tak menentang merdeka.

Saya bukan tak mengenang budi.

Saya adalah anak Malaysia.

Truly, I'm proud to be one!

::SALAM MERDEKA::

Reality check 2

JAYAKARTA

Tahukah kita pada Fatahillah?Pernah dengarkah kita Fadhillah Khan?Siapa dia?Atau siapa mereka?

Sehari lepas, kami menonton cerita lama sari seberang;Fatahillah.

Menceritakan tentang pembukaan Jakarta.

Mengisahkan tentang pahlawan Islam yang menuntut ilmu di Mesir, pulang ke negara seberang, memerintah kerajaan DAMAK.

Cerita yang berlatar belakangkan kisah benar pada kurun 1513, sewaktu Portugis 'melanggar' kepulauan Nusantara, merodok malang si Melaka, Acheh, Pasai dan segala macam kerajaan Islam yang sedang merangkak kegemilangan.

Kegoblokan kerajaan Pajajaran bersetuju untuk menjadi kawan Portugis telah memanggil kerajaan Maluku untuk ke kerajaan Damak supaya ditentangnya tentera rempah itu (konon rempah).

Pada saat orang rempah tengah bermaharajala, teguh nan perkasa, siapa yang mahu menentang mereka?Fadhillah Khan telah bersetuju untuk memimpin tentera Islam untuk perangi si gerilla rempah itu.

Since that night,I knew that the old Jakarta wasn't like the new Jakarta.The old Jayakarta has been built by Islam. The new Jakarta has abondoned Islam.Kacang yang lupakan kulit mungkin?

Ini baru di Jakarta.

Tempat sendiri?

Tepuk dada,tanya iman.

Esok genap setengah abad kita melaungkan kata "MERDEKA". Apa benar kita sudah merdeka?

Reality check

Program Musim Bunga 2007

APA ITU UKHWAH?
Cuti kali ni, Wani membawa anak buah usrahnya bercamping bersama-sama di Drummond St. Masuk kali ni, dah 3 kali kami berkumpul beramai-ramai.But, for each time, we have to start the ta'ruf agian and again. Those names are really hard to be remembered.I bet they never memorize our names either. Kenapa macam tu eh?

Alasan pertama: sebab jarang jumpa.
Alasan kedua: byk lgi benda nak diingat selain nama meraka.
Alasan ketiga: tiada kepentingan untuk dihafal (kejam betul alasan~~~)
Alasan keempat: no reason =) (jujur sungguh~~~)

Jadi, setelah berkali-kali berta'ruf, kali ini, mereka bercamping di rumah kami. Kami ada masa 3hari 2malam untuk mengenal hati budi masing-masing.Alhamdulillah,after the final session, we managed to not confuse ourselves with their names again. Harap-harapnya, kalau jumpa lain kali, tak dalah tersasul nama lagi =)

APA ITU RISALAH?
Bukan senang nak jadi khalifah di muka bumi Allah ni. Tak susah nak tersasar dari jalan yang lurus. Ukhwah dah terbina, tinggal lagi arah dan tujuan kena fokuskan. We know that we are here to study, to get our degree.But that is not the only reason why we are here. IJAZAH DAN RISALAH. Dua benda yang berbeza,tapi saling bersangkut paut. Dua-dua ada kepayahan masing-masing.Dua-dua ada kemanisan masing-masing.

APA ITU JIHAD?
[Jihad?What a big word~~~
Jihad? Shuh, that is sensitive issue~~~]

Fahamkah kita dengan jihad?

Rasulullah bersabda:"Sesiapa yang meninggal dunia tanpa berjihad atau berniat untuk berjihad,sesungguhnya dia mati dalam jahiliyyah"-Hadith Sahih

~Long due~

HUJAN


Menggeletar dalam bilik.
Terasa bukan macam selalu.
Buka jendela...hujan di luar.



Senyap sungguh hujan turun.
Tak macam di sana, guruh petir pembuka kata.
Sini tak tahu hujung pangkal, sedar-sedar bumi dah basah.
Patutlah suhu menjunam.

Selesai isya',langit masih menangis.
Sebak pula rasa di hati.
Sudah lama hati kering.

Bersurai jemaah, fikiran melayang.
Sambil menatap cermin yang basah.
Lama betul tak amati penghujanan.
Selama jiwa ini tidak hayati penusabahan.

Bila dah sedar,aturlah langkah.
Cepat-cepat menyusun azam.
Malam ini kita bermula semula.
Dari sifar merangkak ke menara.