Saturday, August 4, 2007

I WAS ALWAYS PROUD OF MALAYSIA BUT NOT NOW BECAUSE

Election time is a-coming and those who are not so sure of being nominated are doing their usual stuff.....getting noticed. They are apple-polishing, ass-slurping, chest-thumping a la gorillas and some will go to the extent of not only selling their mothers but their souls too. How can I be proud of Malaysia (although I will still die for Malaysia but not for this government) when people we elected are looking after their own welfare and that of their parasites, rather than OURS. How can I be proud when after electing them we bestow on them the honorific YB and they dont live up to it. How can I be proud when crooks are absolved by just this stupid judicial declaration: we found his bank statements semua ok. Be proud of Malaysia where we have this information chief working overtime and shouting nonentities like "those 42 NGOs do not represent the people?" How can I be proud of Malaysia when it is a cruel Islamic(?) State: I need not elaborate, but just read what I plucked from Susan Loone:

Dear Malaysian Bloggers,

My name is Aris Oziar. For the past three months I have been working on a website project called FiftyRefugees. As the name implies, it chronicles the story of 50 refugees who currently call Malaysia their home.

This project is part of the 50-44 Merdeka Coalition (www.50-44.org ), a group of local NGOs who will conduct an alternative celebration of Merdeka in September after the official celebrations have died down. NGOs in their respective fields will touch on various issues, highlighting migrants, refugees, Orang Asli, the urban poor, race and religion etc.

Malaysia does not recognise the Geneva Refugee Convention, and partly as a result of this (we have other legal avenues to give them rights, such as IMM13 but the government has refused to act), Refugees in Malaysia who cross the border illegally or whose visa has lapsed are classified as Illegal Immigrants, subject to arrest and detention by the police, RELA and Immigration. They have restricted access to healthcare services and the children cannot go to government schools, effectively denying them education

As a Malaysian, I am outraged to hear their stories of Malaysia - 3 years of detention or living in makeshift jungle campsfear of arrest. Stories of a 6 year old girl whose last visit to town was 4 years ago (the mother is too afraid to bring her out), and her 55 year old father who eventually died because the police took all their money the one time they were desperate enough to go to the hospital to treat his illness. And of course, of the Malaysian immigration authorities dumping them across the border in Thailand, where they are rounded up by agents and either pay these agents to get back to Malaysia , or face slave labour - the men in fishing boats and the women, probably sold to the sex trade.

I want average Malaysians to know. To know that refugees do exist in Malaysia . To know that they braved a dangerous journey to Malaysia to escape atrocities in their own country. To know that most of them live a marginal life, often exploited, almost always in fear.

We have tasted independence for the past 50 years. And yet, today, there are still people in this country who have none.

Please, if you have time, write about this issue or perhaps mention www.fiftyrefugees.wordpress.com . Malaysians read your blogs. I want them to know.

Warmest regards
arisoziar@yahoo.com

Let's do this for Aris.........and to all you loud-mouth Barisan boys out there.....Zorro's grand-aunt, who said that your fart has more substance than what you guys are saying, has this message:
...look into this, have a heart (if you have one).Do something for these refugees. For once think of others. I just want to be proud of my country. Help me.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

I am proud to be Malaysian too but I stopped flying the Jalur Gemilang when a certain PM tried to equate himself to Malaysia or to be more precise, he is Malaysia and Malaysia is him and we owe him and damn lot of gratitude, my foot. I hate Kerana Mu because I trully believe that the Mu was not meant to refer to Malaysia. Call me crazy but this is a democratic country and no one can stop me from interpreting things my way according to the way I see it which is based on what I see is happening in the country through my own eyes.

zorro said...

I mirror those same sentiments....every year since 96 I fly our flag from 1 Aug to 1 Sept. When I moved into this condo, I still fly from the lanai. This year I did not unfurl our flag. Imagine, tax exemption for flying the flag. Have we come to this, co-ercion. I fly it because I am proud of my country, but this year I am not proud......

Rockybru said...

nak tak nak!
the jalur gemilang belongs to all of us, not to that pm or this pm. kerana mu is because of you and i, because of we the people regardless of race and religion. don't let them make us look down on ourselves bro. they stole a lot of things from us, from malaysians. time to take back what's ours. by hook or by crook.
i'd rather by crook.

bro bernard, thanks for the link to fiftyrefugees.wordpress.com. The UN reps in KL should do more to highlight the refugees' plight. Over the years, the media and various NGOs have done their bit to help the refugees but this is something for the world body to deal with, through diplomatic channels, with the Malaysian govt.

silversarina said...

hi zorro ( I bloghopped from jt's ...now I know who's behind the mask...hehe ) ,

I really want to be a truly Malaysian, blood and soul but most of the time, I don't feel like it...still hoping that one day I'd be proud to be Malaysian..

have a nice Sunday !!

zorro said...

Rocky adek, true the UN can play a part, but because these unfortunates have cross our borders believing that they can make something out of life, we cannot make it as though they jumped out of the boiler into the fire. We have the immediate responsibilities. Probably if we get them aware of how Malaysian authorities are treating refugees, they have more muscle to act. So now they know I am sure. We will wait, again with bated breath.

Loveujordon....I too want to be proud of Malaysia....probably with a change of government. 50 years....the body looks good but the cancer is eating, slowy since the late 80's but surely and accelerating since 2005.I love this country but I am not proud of it.

Anonymous said...

i will also blog about fiftyrefugees blog. i among others, are going on a project to help some refugees in langkawi.

eva's haven said...

i want to be proud of Malaysia.
Damn!

zorro said...

Great Lucia. Keep us in the loop,

Anonymous said...

My dear Zorro,
Reading the comments in so many other blogs like M-T, rocky's bru, galadriel and also zorro unmasked, one cannot but feel the utter desperation that so many Malaysians feel at the real hopelessness they feel about the future that this noble nation holds for each one of us. The desperation seems to be so overwhelming the we are compelled to clutch at the proverbial straw in our to fight to just live. It seems that God in His infinite mercy has seen fit to cast this very straw in these stormy waters in the form of YTM Raja Nazrin Shah. You first alerted us of this phenomenon earlier in a couple of your postings and the more we hear and read of his wisdom the more he seems to be the one who could play a large role in resetting Malaysia on the path to what is our true nationhood. While recognizing the signs that he has made a concious decision to speak out for justice for all Malaysians through the Constitution, the puzzle seems to be how to get this message of our desperation across to him and to draw the ultimate commitment from him to lead us in this endeavour.

Bernard, I urge you to use your girfted oral and written skills of persuasion within your blog or otherwise to call out to YTM to heed our cries of desperation and take the next and most important step to lead us as one Malaysian people.

Anonymous said...

http://naktak.blogspot.com/2007/08/nak-tak-posters.html

help promote these posters. create awarness

the witch's broo said...

we all know what's ailing our country. and we all can do something about it. your vote counts.
our votes count. we can no longer rely on our elected reps to speak for us. they're too greedy. too much self-interest.
at least, we can make a statement.

i am still a proud malaysian.the government is not bad. the bad are the few individuals who are in position of power, abusing that power and causing the ruination of this country that we so love.