Letters written by a Sarawakian

I have an aunt,back in Miri and she has seven children,if I'm not mistaken.But the one thing I'd like to share with you guys about her is that how multi-racial her family seems to be.For one,she has in-laws from the Melanau Muslim,Chinese,Indian and Iban.So,last Christmas,I went to her place for a Christmas party.The interesting part about that party was,my brother-in-law(the Melanau) brought his Muslim family to the party as well. And my indian cousins came as well, and not forgetting, from the Chinese side too. It was really cool to see how it was all conducted that night. Since we are Iban,some of us couldn't resist not having some beers (or other alcoholic beverages).somehow,we have this thought that a party isn't a party without beers.lol. So,my aunt's children would still celebrate Chinese new year,Christmas,Hari Raya,deepavali at my aunt's place.It also comes to the extent where my aunt would remind her grandchildren (my nephew) when to solat when the time comes.

so,anyway,apart from the Christmas party,there was also the Gawai festival.Since some of my family are Muslims,of course,out of respect for each other's belief,we non-Muslims couldn't have any non-halal foods in our room at the long house.Well,of course it's quite hard because eating pork is just something we're accustomed of for a long of time already,so to not eat it during this particular festival would feel awkward indeed.nah,we still eat pork anyway that gawai.Well,my grandfather's brother who has him room in the longhouse just next to ours don't have any Muslims in the family;any of us who wishes to eat pork would just go to the next room to have our non-Halal meals while the cooks for our own room are Muslims. So,basically,that gawai,our room in the whole of the longhouse,didn't serve any non-Halal foods.cool isn't it?but the beers were still there too,but just placed it in the far corner of the room.My muslim relatives were being tolerant too.So,it was really a give-and-take situation for us that year,which was really good actually. and after Sunday mass,we went to Betong for breakfast sometimes.There,those of us who are non-Muslim goes to the Chinese restaurant,while those of us who are Muslims go to the Malay restaurant.

and finally,during my cousin's wedding early of this year.It was held at church and the flower girl for the wedding was my Muslim niece.We don't get to witness this pretty often in today's world,right?And just recently,my Muslim cousin had his wedding as well and my sister was the bridesmaid.it has been really great having this type of surrounding for me; a good exposure and none of the propagandas shown to us in the television where they only know how to act friendly but at the back,name-calling from A to Z.get what I mean?

At the end of the days,although religion and race are sensitive issues that should and must not be meddled with,however,if you are comfortable with who you really are inside and know what the do's and dont's,well then,nothing to fear!

If there's one I like to share with all of you,it'd be a little place called Lutong,in Miri.There I was,in my car,driving somewhere where I caught sight of a church,built right next to Mosque.Although there are maybe other places that have this kind of thing,but I just like to say how rare it is to be seen here in Malaysia.I don't know about Sabah,but Sarawak really is,live up to the nick "Truly Asia".Don't you think so?

I really love this song.I feel really proud whenever I listen to this song.

I was reading my friend's blog the other and he wrote a very interesting article in his blog. Here is the article that I'm referring to:

And I quote:
"Recently the Borneo Post newspaper reported that a railway would be constructed in Sarawak for the SCORE project. Sarawak is sorely in need of better transport infrastructure, especially with the state's aim of becoming an industrial powerhouse in the 21st century. The benefits of railway transportation include the cheap transportation of bulk goods over long distances ( ideal since Sarawak is a large state), its capability of transporting huge loads at a time, immunity from traffic jams and it's relative predictability when compared to road transport (considering that the current road infastrutcure here is not something to be desired).

Even though the railway project will mostly be concentrated in the central region of Sarawak, where the SCORE project is situated, it was mentioned that the development of the railway would go on "beyond the year 2020". Could this mean the construction of a Trans-Sarawakian railway linking Kuching in the South to Miri in the North? The planned railway thus far is said to be 320km long, but who knows how long the actual railway could be. In an era of rising costs of fossil fuels, the possibility of a Trans-Sarawakian railway certainly seems plausible."

Well,what do you guys think? Like all sorts of promises that we hear,it is only as good if these promises are actually fulfilled. But if indeed they would be fulfilled,then we can expect a much more faster development to take place in Sarawak. *fingers-crossed*

Sometimes, I ask myself, what is the true meaning of patriotism actually? How to be patriotic? I’ve been asking myself this question for a very long time now and wondering, what is the right way to show my love to Sarawak, my most favourite place in the world? Is it by condemning the current government of how they are treating Sarawak right now? Or is it by remembering the Sarawak’s song, bringing her flag everywhere we go? Or by being conspicuous about my patriotism of Sarawak, so that everyone would say, “That kid really loves his Sarawak.”
Have you guys ever asked the same question? Well, after doing some thinking, I’ve concluded that we all have our own ways of loving Sarawak, some take it this way, some take it that way; either way, I’m sure all of us are doing it because we love Sarawak. Few years back, before I left Sarawak to further my education at Kuala Lumpur, I was never really aware of the Sarawak politics. Easy to say, I was taking her for granted. But I suppose, when you don’t actually be at Sarawak anymore, when you’re away from home, you tend to feel the home-sickness, no? That was when I began to feel much more aware of what was going on back home in Sarawak and everytime during the holiday, I love to join some of the celebrations that could only be found in Sarawak, like Gawai festival for instance.
I’ve decided that, to be patriotic about Sarawak is by being grateful of Sarawak herself. Although it is currently being used and manipulated for the gains of some greedy politicians and robbed of her wealth, however, by not being grateful of her own existence won’t get us anywhere. I’d prefer to think of the nationalists or the freedom fighter before during the colonial era, where these great men felt that their home were being invaded and that, it inspired them to sacrifice even their own lives to save Sarawak from being destroyed. For now, I prefer to do the reading works; like reading on cultures of the bidayuhs, the Ibans, the Kayans, and so on, and how our leaders before fought for freedom. I love to read on the issues that are affecting the lives of my fellow Sarawakians. I believe, by becoming more attached to the wealth of cultures, customs, races and resources that Sarawak has to offer, I would feel more motivated and inspired to de fend her; in the case where some would say, Sarawak is still 100 years behind and her people still practically lives in the jungle. There’s no reason for me to feel embarrass about it because I know, these people who are saying these things don’t really know Sarawak. Who are the more uncivilized? The people who think they are civilized or the people who are actually civilized but don’t really make much fuss about the whole thing? You know, I like the definition of civilization based on the Islamic definition, rather than the western definition; where it says that a civilized society is not only civilized by infrastructures and modern buildings and roads but also, by moral standards and able to live with each other in harmony, regardless of race and beliefs. Although I’m not a Muslim myself, but we can always accept the good things of other community has to offer, no? And the definition of civilization is actually really good.
So, back to the original questions? How to be patriotic and am I patriotic? Just like what George Washington once said, guard against the impostors of pretended patriotism, I really hope that mine is not pretended but real. However, for the time being, allow me to do some more readings on our Sarawak and let us together hope that it would one day be on par with other first world countries. A long way to go, true, judging by the vast land that we have to cover, but let’s emulate the Japanese shall we?
Thank you.

I have been in Kuala Lumpur for more than 5 years now.I went to the school there,and then when I was 18,I went to a college in Perak and now,I am currently studying in University of Malaya,Kuala Lumpur.Generally,Kuala Lumpur is a nice place to stay;for one,I did not have much difficulties moving around the city as there are many reliable transportation available, namely the LRT,the Monorail,the spacious highway and also the taxis.
As for the school,I have been fortunate to be in a school where the teachers would know immediately if there's any update in the syllabus;the chairs and tables were all brand new,the school use white boards and projectors instead of the blackboard.All in all,those who live and study at Kuala Lumpur enjoy a lot of new things and up-to-date facilities that are available in the market.
However,one thing that I realise here is that racism is still going on strong,which is pretty shocking for me when I first came here.Other thing that I have encountered is that many of my KL friends have asked me, "You guys still live in the jungle? You guys there use cars? You guys there have electricity?You guys there still headhunts?"
This is completely a stupid question,don't you think so?Seeing that we are now living in an Information-Technology era,to ask this sort of questions show how these people have been in the dark for so long,taking the technologies available for granted.This is nonsense.Completely nonsense and shows how some are being too ignorant over this matter.But after four years of living here,I'm used to people ask the same questions over and over again,and as a civilize person,I would love to answer them with facts,not with being irritated and leave them at the dark.But just to set the record straight,think about it.About a hundred years ago,the British have been developing areas like Kuala Lumpur,Pulau Pinang and Johor earlier than any other states in Semenanjung or Sarawak and Sabah.As for Sarawak,this particular state had been under the Brooke administration,and it's only included in Malaysia in September,1963.Another fact needed?Think about it-Sarawak is almost the same size as that of Semenanjung and that's a pretty large area to cover by the Sarawak government,whereas in the Semenanjung,the vast land is divided into several states,and some of them are Selangor,Johor,Perlis and Penang.But there's a lesson that each of us,the Malaysians need to take note here:that all of us are living in a multiracial country,and that has been said,the sensitive issues such as asking an insulting questions like that should be treated with great care.Besides,to ask that sort of questions when we're in this Infomation Era shows how narrow-minded and ignorant these people are.
Another issue that I wish to write on here is about racism. Throughout the years of my stay at Kuala Lumpur and a year at Perak have made me realise how far we have to go to achieve 'Malaysia 'in a whole.The term 'Malaysia' here is used,because in my definition,it is defined as a multiracial country where different races live together in harmony and look at each other based on the person himself or herself,not based on the colour of skin,religion or race. That's why I called this post "Learn from Sarawak,Truly Malaysia",because I believe Malaysians in a whole can learn a lot of how we,the Sarawakians live with each other,regardless of race.Here,in this state,we have a lot of race,namely the Malays,the Chinese,the Ibans,the Bidayuhs,the Kayans,the Kelabits,the Bisaya,the Indian,the Penans,the Kenyah and so on.It is normal for us here to hang out together,either at school or shopping malls,but it is seen as rare if it takes place in KL.
There's this one time when I was having a lunch with the Chinese here,at University Malaya.And then,an hour later,I hang out with the Malays to study and then another time,with the Indians.But what happened after that?A friend of mine came to me and said, "Eh,u so weird lah.You mix with everyone!that's so cool!"
Get what I mean here?It is seen as something abnormal or rare.While I was having my lunch here,either at the University,or my college,or during recess time at my school last time,one that that was and is pretty obvious to me is that one race sticks to their own kind in most of the tables.The Malays with the Malays,the Indians with the Indians and the Chinese with the Chinese.There was this one time when a Chinese guy(a malaysian who stays in Taiwan)posted a video in YouTube who sang the Negaraku in his own style.However,in between the song,he rap about things that he felt unsatisfied with about Malaysia. I suppose if you guys check the video at YouTube,you'll be able to check out what he said.But what I like you to read is the comments of the video.It shows how far we have to go to achieve true Malaysia.And of course,there's another scene that I disliked very much.A video-clip of what happened in the Parliament.Well,here how it went.LimKitSiang,one of the opposition leaders said something,I'm not really sure what he said but after that,another MP stood up and shouted, "Kalau tak suka,you keluarlah dari Malaysia".I have the video in the Politics section,you can check the video there.This really dissapoints me because that was not said by a commoner,but by our MP.
Dearest Malaysians,take note that because of these differences that we have in each one of us,we are strong and we are able to outperform others.But,if we continue to harp on this issues(the differences in belief,race),later,our own defeat is not because of other countries,but by our own.There's so much we can learn from the so-called 'primitive' and 'underdeveloped' Sarawak(which I hope most of you after reading this,will correct your understanding on this matter).The title for this post is 'Learn from Sarawak,Truly Malaysia' because a person who ever lives in Sarawak for more than a month,at least,would understand what I mean by Truly Malaysia.It is a more open society where everyone of us here accepts each other by what we have to offer-by who we really are,not the appearance.
This year,we are celebrating the Golden Anniversary of Malaysia-her 50th,but,if the trend of only sticking with your own race still continues,well,maybe there won't be the 100th.Get what I mean?It is high time for everyone of us to put aside these kind of mind-sets,because it really shows how Third-Class our minds are if we are to continue seeing it that way. For your information,I learn a lot more when I hang out with the other races,mixing with everyone than if I were to only stick with my own race.
But,then again,this is just my opinion,in which,you can choose to read and follow,or read and don't follow.The choice is yours...But if you're serious in seeing a stronger Malaysia,you should read and follow and prove to everyone that Malaysians are a First-Class minded people instead of the ThirdClass but with the First-Class facility.

Thanks for reading.