Makna Merdeka 50
Merdeka negara! Merdeka bercita!
Bebas negara! Bebas bersuara!
Merdeka bukan hadiah penjajah
Kebebasan insan hasrat Allah.
Alam ku luas, borkat Illahi
Rezki ku Tuhan yang mengsukati.
Laut, gunung, sempadan tanpa ku segani
Gelombang dunia berani ku layari!
Kampong halaman bukan nya sauh
Ingin ku menghilir merantau jauh.
Di mana bumi ku pijak, di sana langit ku junjong
Selagi hati berhajat, cita ku jangan di kandong.
Hidup, bebas, bahagia, hasrat Allah
Pantang celaka lah jika di ubah.
Raja dan menteri mesti mempatuhi
Jangan kau mungkir perentah Illahi.
Rakyat negeri bukan nya kuli
Untok di kerah ka sana sini.
Zaman purba tak akan kembali
Mungkin menteri yang di buang negri!
Renungkan nasib si Idi Amin
Yang Shah Pahlavi pun tak terjamin.
Pemimpim negri mesti menginggati
Rakyat — bukan raja — yang di daulati.
Tidak ku sangka songsang
Anak dagang di negri orang.
Orang kita/orang sana, tidak bermakna.
Takkan Melayu hilang di dunia
Bukan kah itu gesa Laksmana?
Urat ku mendalam di bumi asing
Loghat ku pun ikut sama mengiring
Sambal belacan dah berasa lain
Teras ku tetap Melayu tulin!
Kampong ku jauh beribu batu
Begitu juga kaum sa suku
Kalau di renung hati ku rindu
Mengenang cerita moyang ku dulu.
Anak merantua jangan diigaui
Sepi perpisahan boleh dibatasi.
Bebas! Merdeka! Alangkah murni!
Ku peluk penuh cinta berahi!
M. Bakri Musa
Morgan Hill, California
2007
My translation:
Meaning of Merdeka (Independence) 50
Merdeka to the nation! Merdeka for my ambition!
Freedom of speech! Freedom of thought!
The benevolence of colonials, merdeka is not
Free! Unshackled! That’s the command of the Lord.
My universe is broad, the blessing of God.
I strive, but only He knows my fate and lot.
Oceans, mountains, and boundaries faze me not
The global waves a match for my surfing board.
My village abode is not my tether
The yonder wide world beckons me thither.
Firm on ground, the heavens above I praise
And pray my dream will find its rightful place.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
That is Allah’s command; His measured kindness.
It is not for kings and rulers to alter
Nor put boundaries to God’s desire.
Blessed with freedom and reason are God’s children
To lords and kings we are never beholden.
The feudal order had long been toppled
Let’s be clear, the sovereign is the people.
Ponder the fate of one Idi Amin
That of Shah Pahlavi was equally grim!
These realities our leaders must heed
“Power to the People!” is the new creed.
Praise the wandering son, our true hero
Heeding the call when the distant wind blows.
This “us” versus “them” makes little sense
True to yourself, that is the essence.
Blessed our forefathers for that lesson.
My roots have deepened in this foreign soil
Affected or not, so too my Western drawl.
The spicy taste of yore has lost its punch
Still, the old Malay can, … lah! In a crunch!
Far across the ocean the old abode beckons
My kith and kind, Oh! They readily come to mind!
As I ponder, the heart grows fonder
Reliving stories of days yonder.
The young has flown, the empty nest silent
Sadness yes, but memories remain vibrant.
Freedom! Merdeka! Such intoxicating beauty!
With fondness and passion, I readily embrace thee.
M. Bakri Mua
Morgan Hill, California
August 2007
#1 by cabby mabok on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 6:27 pm
Subject: Can a family man with Salary RM3,000 survive in Malaysia
Let’s do some simple calculations here.
In Malaysia , the average family income is RM3,000 /month
(where father works, mother doesn’t).
I understand there are many families whose
monthly income does not reach RM3,000,
but, to make things simple,
let’s take RM3,000 as the figure. Ok lah, right?
Okay, let’s start rolling with a family which has
Papa, Mama, 1 daughter and 1 son. Ngam-ngam ….
Calculation starts…
> > > Electricity and water bill: RM100
> > > (No air-con, No home theatre, No water heater … ok?)
> > > Phone bill ( Telekom): RM100
> > > Meals for a happy family: RM775
> > > (3 meals on RM25/day, RM25 for 4 persons…?)
> > > Papa makan / teh-tarik during working hrs: RM155
> > > (RM5/day, RM5 … can eat what?)
> > > Car repayment: RM400
> > > (A proton saga aeroback, 7 yrs repayment)
> > > Petrol (living in city, traffic-jam): RM300
> > > (go to work, bring son to school, only can afford one car running)
> > > Insurance: RM650
> > > (kids, wife and myself)
> > > House repayment: RM750
> > > (low cost housing repayment for 30 yrs,
retired still have to work to pay!)
> > > Tuition: RM80
> > > (got that cheap meh? i don’t think so)
> > > Older children pocket money @ school: RM20
> > > (RM1/day, eat bread?)
> > > School fees: RM30
> > > (enough ah?)
> > > School books and etc: RM100
> > > (always got extra to pay in school)
> > > Younger children milk powder: RM50
> > > (cannot have the DHA, BHA, PHA one, expensive)
> > > Miscellaneous: RM100
> > > (shampoo, rice, sauce, toilet paper)
Oh wait!!! I have to stop here, so…
No Astro,
no movie @ cinema,
no DVD,
no CD,
no online,
cannot KFC,
cannot McDonald,
cannot go Park walk during weekend (petrol expensive),
no chit chat on phone with grandparents, and etc…
Let’s use a calculator to total up… WALAO EH! Shit! RM3,610 already….
EPF belum potong, income tax lagi……..oledi RM3,610 ….
How to survive lah tuan-tuan dan puan-puan sekalian ???
Our Deputy Prime Minister asked us to change lifestyle?
How to change? Don’t eat? Don’t work? Don’t send children to school and study?
Besides that, I believe in Malaysia population, there are millions of rakyat Malaysia which still don’t earn RM3,000/month!!!
What is this? Inilah Malaysia Boleh… Sorry…. it should be Malaysians Boleh , because we’re still alive and kicking!!
Our politicians must be mad!!!!
Please forward and comment boleh or tak boleh. No wonder so many Ah Loong around……
#2 by RealWorld on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 6:38 pm
What I like about Malaysia is that it’s home.
After 50 years of Merdeka, I would like to see Malaysians learn how to use public toilets properly, treasure our national parks and take care of our rivers.
Selamat Hari Merdeka to all Malaysians!
#3 by dawsheng on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 6:43 pm
Merdeka means independant, those who still need helps are not Merdeka, yet. What a pity!
#4 by dawsheng on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 6:46 pm
No amount of God’s gifts will ever help you if you don’t help yourself!
#5 by boh-liao on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 7:47 pm
A family affair.
At the soon-to-be-held mammoth Merdeka celebration at Merdeka Stadium, Umno deputy youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin will be hoisting the Malayan flag during the re-enactment of the countdown to independence, which occurred at Dataran Merdeka in 1957, when an Umno Youth member hoisted the flag.
How convenient to showcase KJ’s importance to the entire world.
#6 by ahkok1982 on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 8:08 pm
well, i think they wan KJ to bring the flag because he will be using it as his walking stick. fits the scene right?
1) KJ is living life depending on the tongkat
2) his tongkat is gov give outs, thus the malaysian flag
3) everyone is looking but he still uses tongkat just like always
merdeka? wat merdeka? wat a farce celebration to siphon out more money for the celebrations.
#7 by bystander on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 8:51 pm
What merdeka/ i am watching US Open on Astro
#8 by wils0n on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 9:05 pm
I guess non Bumis will celebrate this 50th Independence Day from a totally different perspective.
We’ve been independent for 50 years not because we’re no longer colonized but it’s because we (non Bumis) have been independent for 50 years without being favored by the government in anyway.
#9 by UFOne on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 9:18 pm
Malaysia as usual is in her I don’t know mode. For the sake of national integration, one thing must be made clear. Is it 31 / 8 / 1957 or is it 16 / 9 / 1963 ? Or 31 / 8 / 1957 is the independence day for Malaya and 16 / 9 / 1963 is the national day of Malaysia when Sabah and Sarawak joined in. Two distinctive dates. Two celebrations. Two very different course of events.
Everyone has his or her own Merdeka aka Independence. You are independent to be yourself. You are independent to express yourself. You are independent to put what you learned and what you experienced into real life practise. But to this very day, so called highly educated people still follow orders and if they don’t follow orders, they will receive its’ consequences. If they are required to follow orders, that is called dependence and if they are given some unfair treatment, that is called oppression. Then where is Merdeka ? The government has very big dreams for education. The best university. The best teaching personnel. The best students. The best results. Is that all ? What about the best workers, the best employees, the best civil service ? If your workers just follow orders, your cemerlang medal for them will be based on their obedience to you and not because they are such good workers by nature. This brings me back to the VSS threatened by certain quarters to rid the civil service of bad workers. Ask yourself. Is this particular worker so bad from the first day he joined the service ? Or along the way he met a kind of people and because of what they did, it affected him. May be you still say that he should be sacked. What about the people who screwed him ? Don’t they get the VSS too ? For this matter, in the civil service, who are the actual bosses if it is not you the politicians in charge of all the different ministries ? Shouldn’t you get the VSS first before your workers get it ? Why ? Because you fail to rectify all the problems that are existing in the service.
#10 by cabby mabok on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 9:24 pm
Merdeka is independent. So in Malaysia who is independent?
Independent means that you do not need to depend on others, you do not need help from others, it also mean that the person can be competitive without any advantage over another person. If you do not meet the requirement you cannot call yourself independent.
Like a child who still need to suck milk cannot be called independent. If a police take bribe he isn’t called independent too. Also if a lecturer is given research fund which someone else deserved more than this lecturer isn’t independent, he is taking advantage and that isn’t called independent.
To be independent is not very difficult, many Malaysian are independent especially those who have to work harder to over come all the disadvantages and if they can make it than this person is really independent and can be proud of his achievement. Many Malaysian had gone abroad to seek for better opportunity, this are really very independent Malaysian because they can compete with the best in the world.
To all hard working Malaysian I am sending you a happy Merdeka day because Tunku in 1957 wanted independent for all Malaysian but until today only some make it, for those who still need help Merdeka day has no meaning to you. I hope those who are not independent today will be able to join all those who are independent so that all Malaysian can really be called Merdeka!
#11 by AnakTiriMalaysia on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 9:53 pm
Happy 50th Merdeka to MALAYA…. (Malaysia Barat)
for Malaysia, she would be only 44 years old this 16 sep 2007
#12 by Justicewanted on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 10:18 pm
Singapore took about 40 years to be an developed country and Malaysia after 50 years though independent still undeveloped country.
Will Malaysia be developed in 2020 or in another 50 years time?
Your guess is as good as mine as long the special rights of the previlege majority still exist.
#13 by AnakTiriMalaysia on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 10:43 pm
Don’t forget Hong Kong….. even as a colony of British, its development was much better than the Independent state of Malaysia in 1997..
#14 by karaoke singer on Thursday, 30 August 2007 - 11:53 pm
Happy 50th birthday Malaysia. This is my wish and all the wishes from everybody including the Mat Rempits who at this time are celebrating with much noise from their vehicles of course.
May Malaysia be Merdeka of:
corruption
closed mindedness
selective news
authoritarian management
racial strive
all sorts of and any one dominance
#15 by sheriff singh on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 12:43 am
Listening to the PM’s speech. He’s croaking alot. Talking alot of bullshit. Dampening my Merdeka spirit.
Come on, lets have the fireworks.
#16 by menarambo on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 1:36 am
listening to Malaysia’s leader giving speech… like he is running out of breath and dying of heart attack. What a disgrace to the country. I guess the way he speaks show the way he manage the country???
#17 by takazawa on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 1:47 am
You will be surprised that even those PAS leaders like Hadi Awang and Nik Aziz speak with more gusto and passion compared to this lembik Ah Pek. Only if they get their Islamic doctrines and theology in an orthodox way, they would be a much better replacement for the present corrupted-till-no-cure BN regime.
#18 by takazawa on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 2:02 am
I posted this comment in a previous thread, and I would like to post it here since it’s relevant.
Why bother lowering the Union Jack in pursuit of celebrating the 50th Merdeka? Isn’t that considered an insult to the UK and the Queen? Why can’t they just raise the Jalur Gemilang alone without showing any form of biasness against other countries? Why show such a great contrast? Just to have the “syok sendiri†effect? Why only singled out the Brits? Were the British the only ones who occupied Malaysia? Think again! What about the Dutch, Portuguese, Siamese, and the brutal Japanese? Without the British, do you think Malaysia would be where and what it is today? Think about it!
Namewee did not show any form of disrespect towards the Jalur Gemilang, and in fact, he proudly displayed it as a backdrop due to his love and loyalty towards Malaysia. However, to those sohai UMNOputras and MCA running mutts, that’s considered unpatriotic and treason, and that he must be stripped of his citizenship. When KJ burnt the Stars and Stripes in the presence of Condoleeza Rice and started shouting profanities at her, not even a single criticism was hurled at him, much less action taken against him. When those ungrateful bunch of barbaric Mat Indons burnt hundreds of Jalur Gemilang, not a single soul in the government batted an eyelid. Is this what they mean by prosper thy neighbour (just because of the same creed and colour)?
Why the double, triple, and may I say quadruple standard?
This Merdeka is just like any other Merdeka in the past 49 years. The only difference is that, they only change the form and not the substance of it. It’s just like the many facelifts done to a Proton Waja.
#19 by lakshy on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 5:31 am
Takazawa, its reached a stage where anyone else would be better than bn.
#20 by sotong on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 8:04 am
There is nothing significant to celebrate.
It is a good time for the politicians, including previous PM & Ministers, to properly reflect on the decades of worsening racial and religious situation, rampant corruption, gross abuse of power, widening gap between rich and poor, high crime, gross excesses and abuses, gross financial incompetent resulting of loss in billions which could be used to assist marginalised people of all races, declinding education standards, brain drain and etc..
#21 by undergrad2 on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 9:02 am
Meaningless nothing by our blogger Bakri Musa who hails from faraway California while riding his horse at his ranch!
#22 by undergrad2 on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 9:05 am
“Like a child who still need to suck milk ….”
I think a demonstration of how one “sucks milk” is in order!
#23 by k1980 on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 9:07 am
Malaysian Indians sue U.K. Governments for 50 billion! Why blame the Brits for crimes committed by S.Veloo and umno?
http://www.policewatchmalaysia.com/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1188457297&archive=&start_from=&ucat=9&
1. Damages of one million pounds per Indian in Malaysia for atrocities by the British and the ‘Malay Muslim’ government;
2. The British government to refer the Malaysian government to the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court for human rights violations and “mini genocide†against minority Indians;
3. Two million minority Indians in Malaysia to be granted British citizenship
4. The courts to declare that Malaysia is not an Islamic state
5. Tthe courts to declare that the Malaysian Constitution is null and void.
#24 by undergrad2 on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 9:09 am
“When KJ burnt the Stars and Stripes in the presence of Condoleeza Rice and started shouting profanities at her, not even a single criticism was hurled at him, much less action taken against him.”
We call that freedom of expression.
“When those ungrateful bunch of barbaric Mat Indons burnt hundreds of Jalur Gemilang, not a single soul in the government batted an eyelid.”
We call that freedom of expression.
“Why only singled out the Brits? Were the British the only ones who occupied Malaysia? Think again! What about the Dutch, Portuguese, Siamese, and the brutal Japanese?”
We call that freedom of speech.
#25 by undergrad2 on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 9:11 am
Why blame the Brits? Because they gave us independence when the Thais, the Dutch, the Portuguese and the Japanese didn’t??
#26 by Godfather on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 10:19 am
The 4 Malaysian cops who allegedly beat up the Indonesian karate referee ? Freedom of action ?
#27 by Godfather on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 10:37 am
Selamat Merdeka ! After 50 years, my wish is that the people we vote into power stop abusing their positions and stop dipping their fingers into public funds. My wish is that they would serve the public rather than steal from the public.
#28 by bystander on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 10:44 am
Mana ada Merdeka? Lagi mau NEP. Cakap tak serupa bikin. UMNO/BN jangan bohong.
#29 by ktteokt on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 11:21 am
MERDEKA = BERDIKARI
#30 by Jeffrey on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 11:23 am
k1980,
I assume that when referring all of us to the PoliceWatchMalaysia website relating to the so-called suit against the British government by Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy suing for himself as well as for all Malaysian Indians, you would know, and ought to know that it is just a creative parody mocking how the Malaysian govt has marginalised the Indian community and that in reality there is no such suit.
If such a suit were really attempted, it will be struck out by British courts as vexatious and abusive of court process but before it could be sustained or even heard, the claimant would have to deposit at least 100 million pounds as security deposit with the courts – and forfeitable – for defraying cost and expenses of British Govt to defend such a frivolous piece of claim.
If it were not for such a security deposit, the author of such a script would really file such a suit in the British courts – not because he really believes that he could sustain the cause of action against the British govt and get 1 million poubnd sterling for every Malaysian of indian descentry but because even if such a case were a lost case in the beginning, its sheer absurdity would attract media attention which will serve the purpose of discrediting internationally his real target – the Malaysian government for allegedly marginalising his (the claimant)’s community. :)
#31 by Jeffrey on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 11:49 am
For if there were really such a sustainable cause of action and maintainable suit against the British Govt for its colonial policies, it will open the floodgates to anyone disgruntled and money or publicity seeking to sue the British government, including for example, in the case of a Malay, for its past colonisation of Malaya by the resident system and bringing in migrant Indians and Chinese to exploit the economy, in the case of a Chinese, for granting independence leading to their state of marginalisation today, in the case of East Malaysian, for sponsoring their entry into Malaysia, setting the precedents of the equally disgruntled in other ex-colonies from India to Ghana to follow the Malaysian examples, leading ultimately to the bakruptcy of the Bristish Exchequer. :)
#32 by lbn on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 12:24 pm
It’s in the word, it’s the spirit that matters. What spirit of MERDEKA can there be with the present scenario? The vast majority is still dependant on hand-outs! Who do we want to bullshit? As the saying goes, “Those who don’t know they don’t know are FOOLS!” Wake up all Malaysians come this election. Exercise our votes wisely!
#33 by k1980 on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 12:44 pm
cabby mabok August 30th, 2007 at 18: 27.21
Our Deputy Prime Minister asked us to change lifestyle…
——————————————————————–
To change lifestyle, according to the DPM’s way of thinking, is to sell off your city house, put on a loincloth and shift your entire family to a Sakai settlement where people grow/gather/hunt their own food for their subsistence. There you can survive with a salary RM3,000 pm where the DPM spends RM3,000 per day on holiday overseas. As they say, all men are equal, BUT some are MORE equal (due to skin color)
#34 by bystander on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 1:54 pm
yeah, change our lifestyle whilst he flies around the world on taxpayers money and savour all the mongolian girls.
#35 by negarawan on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 4:40 pm
“We must take care of our unity and we must be ready to destroy any threat which may affect our unity,†Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told tens of thousands of Malaysians who had turned out in the capital’s main square to see the fireworks.
I think what he really meant was: “We must take care of our personal wealth and we must be ready to destroy any threat which may affect our personal wealthâ€Â
I ask AAB to provide evidences of how he has enhanced the unity of the various races and religion in Malaysia.
#36 by k1980 on Friday, 31 August 2007 - 11:50 pm
he has enhanced the unity of the various races and religion in Malaysia by making all of them puke at his dismay performance and poor leadership while holding on to the highest office in the land.
#37 by badak on Saturday, 1 September 2007 - 12:15 am
Why sue the British goverment, sue SAMY lah ,he single handedly put you indians where you are today, because most indians treat mr SAMY ,Like a SAMY its sad but its true
#38 by undergrad2 on Saturday, 1 September 2007 - 9:06 am
“The 4 Malaysian cops who allegedly beat up the Indonesian karate referee ? Freedom of action ?” Godfather
It is a case of Malaysians exercising their freedom of speech.
#39 by sotong on Sunday, 2 September 2007 - 9:33 am
It’s also home to criminals inciting aggression, hatred and violence!
#40 by ktteokt on Monday, 3 September 2007 - 9:08 am
cabby mabok, you forgot another important expenditure item, the famous BN TOLL! We have been made to pay “road tax” for our cars but that does not entitle us to travel on “roads” built in Malaysia on Malaysian Land by cronies!