Malaysia's Independence day

Today Malaysia is 50 years old - so young compared to other major nations such as Britain, The US, France and so many other countries. But in spite of our youth we have done so much in a short time. I feel that our country has progressed in leaps and bounds and have escaped a lot of the mishaps that hamper other nations - such as disasters - both natural and political. Of course a lot more could have been done - for example we could have enforced the laws against the collection of leather back turtle eggs which are now almost extinct, we could have prevented the cutting of large areas of our forest reserves, we could have educated the people about saving the environment. Many of these laws are already in place but we dont really take them seriously. Lack of political will and the lackadaisical attitude of most Malaysian have contributed to that I think. We destroy our forests at random and kill our national treasures heartlessly. It is no wonder that today Pulau Tioman is losing its natural beauty and many of our reserves have been deforested.

Today, on Malaysia's 50th birthday I wish her peace and harmony for the next fifty years, I wish that our people would realise that we are indeed a great nation , that our various prime ministers have done their best to make this country a prosperous one. I wish that one day we do not have to fill in forms that delineate race and labels such as Malay, Indian and Chinese will cease to exist. And most of all I wish that the current corruption that is rampant in most government agencies is stopped. I wish you a very happy birthday, Malaysia.