by Allan CF Goh

Once there was a quiet, idyllic land,
Blessed by a lot of rich, fertile soil,
Regularly nourished by rainfall;
Crops grew easily, without much toil.
Nature provided bountiful food,
Within her rivers and forest foil;
Life was really an easy passage,
Without hunger threatening to roil.

This earthly paradise was ended,
When troubling storms arose from the West.
Coveting the richness of the place,
Colonisers converged here to wrest
The envied land of milk and honey.
They claimed domain for their royal crest,
After they subdued the local reign.
What followed is history, and the rest.

White men came to exploit the riches;
All resistance was firmly reduced,
With mighty guns or cunning sweet deals.
Many land-owners were soon seduced,
With easy cash and mounds of money.
Soon, much tin and rubber were produced.
The farmers became landless tenants;
From government affairs, they subduced.

Trade and commerce followed in tandem,
Spawning a need for education.
Knowledge brought forth an informed wisdom,
And rising hope and aspiration.
People realised the selfish intent
Of the colonial exploitation.
Nationalism was awakened
To demand for self-determination.

World War II exploded the shared myth
Of western invincibility.
All the races became united
Against imperial ‘superiority’.
Britain conceded to the people’s wish,
And the country’s viability.
Malaya achieved independence,
An act of inevitability.

With four partners, Malaysia was born,
To staunch the breath of communism.
After the communists were routed,
“Control” supplanted idealism.
Politics became racialistic;
Things gave way to communalism.
The merdeka spirit of oneness
Soon lost its founding enthusiasm.

Drunk with unmitigated power,
The regime lost its transparency.
Self-interest and gain slowly replaced
The ideals of true democracy.
Absolute control was the main game
To ensure racist supremacy.
Though the country developed with time,
It is oft mired in controversy.

Malaysia now shows many fault-lines,
That can be so incendiary.
The regime’s commitment to rightness
Has become much less honorary.
The pledged separation of powers
Has become more illusionary.
That government needs rapid changing,
Before it becomes the Adversary.

It is time to make Malaysia,
Beautiful again in its perfection.
Tis time for a thousand flowers’ bloom
In freedom and exhilaration.
Tis time for good ideas to contend,
To make the country a real Nation.
It is time for every Malaysian
To make our country a celebration!