IT was on a fine day in the month of March 2019 that I was reminded of the beauty of being Malaysian. It was not through empty slogans and hollow speeches, nor contrived tolerance and forced acceptance.

It was by means of an honest meeting with Mr Sinasammy s/o Murugaiah, that I realised how blessed and lucky we are to call Malaysia home.

As I had to send my car for servicing, I decided to take a taxi instead of booking a Grab to get to work.

As soon as I opened the door and asked if I could go to Bandar Utama, I was met with a warm smile by an elderly gentleman who immediately said, ‘No problem, boy!’.

Mr Sinasammy asked me about my family and my working life, which I thought was the usual small talk you would expect to have in such a situation.

In my mind, I was more interested to hear his story. So, I asked.

He was more than happy to share, and told me that he grew up in an estate outside of the Klang Valley.

He had a difficult childhood, but his parents were hardworking and had instilled in him the value of honest work and of taking pride in our respective vocations.

Mr Sinasammy told me of a time when his Malay neighbours would cook for him, to which his mother would do the same for them.

There was no concern if they could eat food from their neighbours, vice versa, as everyone knew of and respected each other’s dietary restrictions.

There was an obvious joy in his voice as he recalled the sights and sounds of living in a truly muhibbah environment.

In that moment, I was quite envious of him for being able to experience such an authentic and open way of living.

Nowadays, it seems that you need to outwardly express your acceptance of the other, which makes it all seem a bit too artificial.

Mr Sinasammy also voiced out his concerns and trepidations on the current state of affairs in the country.

It seems almost anything could trigger name calling and bickering between races, exemplified through the vicious vitriol seen in social media.

He pointed out that this was not the case before as any dissatisfaction would be addressed accordingly and amicably.

Unfortunately, I had to agree with him in that we have lost touch of what it means to be Malaysian.

We need to be reminded that dealing with our differences through mutual respect is the way to go.

As he said this, Mr Sinasammy showed me his old Malaysian identification card. I was surprised to see that ‘race’ and ‘religion’ were not indicated on the aforesaid card, which made me think of the need for such distinctions to begin with.

It was a tremendous pleasure to have that conversation with Mr Sinasammy, a true-blue Malaysian who wants nothing but the best for Malaysia.

On another note, having the opportunity to study abroad made me realise that our sense of patriotism is often heightened when we meet other Malaysians in faraway lands.

It is a sense of community, of appreciating our shared love for food (to list the different types of delicacies would require an extensive list!) and a collective disdain for potholes on highways and water disruptions.

It is always nice to hear a familiar accent too! There is also a feeling of shared optimism that Malaysia could be better than it currently is, without those with vested interests pitting us together for their own mileage and gain.

At the people-to-people level, I have always held the opinion that we are united and when push comes to shove, we will always have each other’s back without much thought for the colour of our skin or who our parents are.

I also believe that sport is a great unifying tool. As much as I have been vocal about slogans, I do have to admit that ‘Sukan Untuk Perpaduan’ indeed rings true.

Coming from an all-boys school in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, I enjoyed team sports and was handed the responsibility of being the hockey team’s captain.

It was heart-warming to see teammates of different ethnicities striving for a similar goal, that is to win and attain the coveted title of being KL’s best hockey team.

Through sheer discipline and a relentless drive to push each other forward, we managed to place second in the Bangsar Zone competition.

Even though we lost the final to the Royal Military College (RMC), we still felt a sense of pride for making it that far.

We see our passion for sports and a shared desire to win when national athletes compete internationally.
Case in point, Dato’ Lee Chong Wei and Dato’ Nicol David in the many finals they played in.

We would throng 24-hour eateries and cheer on our heroes, bringing us on a wave of emotions and a tsunami of sensations, before either winning or losing.

The most important point here is that we win and lose together.

We often hear stories of the legendary Harimau Malaya teams which qualified for the Olympics in 1972 and 1980. In between, Malaysia obtained a bronze in the 1974 Asian Games after defeating North Korea 2-1 in the 3rd/4th playoff match.

These teams comprised players of different races. From R. Arumugam, the goalkeeper known as Spider-Man, to the indefatigable Soh Chin Aun at the back, we were also fortunate to witness our nation’s top striker, Mokhtar Dahari in a team that played with hearts on their sleeves.

The name on the back of the jersey was not as important as the flag on their chests. This is what we need today more than anything.

There is no one way to be Malaysian. However, if we need to describe certain attributes that make up a Malaysian, I would say that we are hospitable, proud, and resilient.

In conclusion, it is important to engage with others around us in an honest manner, and to be cognisant of the fact that everyone should be seen as an end in themselves and not a means to an end.

Only then can we be in a state of Merdeka for Malaysia, and for ourselves.


* Arief Subhan is a Research Assistant for the Political Futures Experts Group (PFEG) based at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation (ISTAC).

**The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.