Of Merdeka celebration, 1957 Hati Malaya and Shumi/Ami

Early this morning I attended the Merdeka celebration (celebrating the 53rd anniversary of Malaysia's independence from Britain) at Stadium Putra. Wow, what a lavish and colourful (and very loud) display of national pride. I couldn't help but get choked a little during the pledging led by a robust young Malaysian man, accompanied by representatives from various sectors of the population. Then on I had no problem waving the Malaysian flag which was supplied to us.
Yes indeed, Malaysians have a lot to be grateful for and proud of. And this coming from a very critical but steadfastly loyal Malaysian who had spent over a third of his life abroad, having seen and lived in many and visited countless countries around the world. Malaysia has its weaknesses and setbacks, but the positives really outweigh them all. I have been back in Malaysia only seven months and though the first few were difficult period of adjustments, I am now very settled into life in my own country again and WHAT A GREAT COUNTRY WE LIVE IN! We have built a peaceful and prosperous nation in merely 53 years when others take ages to achieve perhaps half what we have today. So, wake up Malaysians and be grateful you are born in a Malaysian and live in this country, the envy of many (otherwise why do we have 3 million foreign workers and millions of tourists annually!). I once asked a European who had lived here over 25 years what made her want to stay on here and she said that it was so easy to live here, we have everything and you can always easily get things done, one way or another. And the food, the food, the food lah! There you have it (Malaysia boleh ma!) On Sunday night, I finally got to watch the movie 1957 HATI MALAYA on TV2, advertisements and all! It was a moderate expose' of how we got our independence, and the story of our two national heroes, Onn Jaafar and Tunku Abdul Rahman. Let's face it, we are no Hollywood, and for what little budget they had, the movie was good, one of Shuhaimi Baba's best! Congratulations Ami, and for the awards and accolades too.

Shuhaimi Baba and I were classmates in Dr Vijaya Samarawickrama's 'Theatre Practice' course at the English Department of University Malaya way back in the 70s. We also took part in some drama productions under the baton of Joy Zinoman and Othman Hafsham. Those were really fun days, yeah! The media and others refer to her as Shumi but she's still Ami to me. Upon graduation we both joined RTM as assistant producers, me briefly and she for a longer period. I remember one day being yelled at by Ami (to please bloody make up my mind) from across her table when I announced I was not sure if working for RTM was something I wanted!

Well, I went to pursue another career (no regrets whatsoever!) and Ami went on to become a famous and respected movie director. I did bump into her from time to time.

A few weeks ago I attended a meeting in my new capacity, and she was also present, sitting opposite me on the other side of the table. I had not seen her in years and she looked good and with a youthful radiance. We exchanged news across the table (no yelling this time, haha!). I look forward to her next movie.

Meanwhile, MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA!

Thank God for being a Malaysian!