Independence, as defined, is the state of being obtained freedom from political control by other countries. Independence Day is the Day we celebrate our country obtained freedom from the colonization government. But for me, independence has something more than this definition, and Independence Day is more than just watching parade and ceremony each year, or just enjoy another day off.
Malaysia celebrates it 49th Independence this year. For people, 49th years old are the golden ages which represent the best performance year of life. A person at this age has polished up his skills, has ‘learnt things from the hard way’ and has great experiences, has good connections and relationship with others. Malaysia as a nation also has these criteria to make this time as our ‘golden age’. This is the time to make a difference, whether as a person or a nation.
Malaysians should be ‘independent’ in the mind state, which is not relied on others when Malaysia is in trouble. Actually in many Malaysians’ mind, they still look on England as the ‘mother’ of Malaysia. They missed the ‘good old days’ of British colonization, thinking that is better of Malaysia ruled by the English. When Malaysia makes its own move, they would say that ‘it is better of not to change the good tradition as the British had made for us’. I am not saying that we should throw away everything the British had achieved, but blindly follow ‘the tradition’ would not do any good to our progression.
Independence means freedom. Although in Malaysia, there is no absolute freedom, and I doubt that whether there is such a country, but Malaysians still enjoy freedom that binds with laws. We are free to make our own decisions, although the decisions might be silly. We are free to take risks to succeed our plans, although this move could be foolish. Still, we have freedom to ‘learn things from the hard way’. But Malaysians, why don’t we stop and think for a while? Or why don’t we just accept some advices from the elderly? Great power brings great responsibilities. So, Malaysians, treasure your freedom well. This is part of what we obtained from the independence of our nation.
But I think the Malaysians nowadays are colonized by western materialism. Youth look upon branded items as necessity in life, willingly become fashion victims, and consider someone who cannot afford branded items as losers. These branded items, mainly attires, shoes and accessories, are all made in the west. I am not being paranoid, but the west is still controlling our nation, only in a different way. When most of the youth have such thinking, how could we say that we are independent nation with ‘dependent’ citizens?
Another phenomenon would be we have Malaysians who do not proud to be Malaysians. How could you called such people as independent citizens when they are not proud of being part of this nation? They would try every best to migrate their belongings, especially money and properties and children to other countries, mainly the west again. They feel ashamed to state that they are Malaysians. Then, how could we call ourselves as independent country while some of our people plan to depend on other countries as their home?
Independence Day meant a lot to me, and I think it should meant a lot to you too. If we are not in an independent country, we might not be given the chance to go to school, to cast a vote to throw someone down from their people representitives pose, or even to get into a bus that full of Whites. Who knows? Luckily we are on the independence side.
Malaysia has obtained its independence 49th years ago, we as Malaysians, have we obtained ours? It is all up to us to gain independence, especially in our own perception. And as for Independence Day, it is more than just another holiday or parade day. It is a time to think about the real definition of independence and the achievements that we made throughout our independence.
