Selamat Hari Merdeka ke-50

Malaysia will be celebrating her 50th anniversary soon, indeed, in two days time. And I can’t help but notice a lot of events and places are gearing up for this wonderful event. So, I am thinking I want to do my part too…this made me sit back and reflect what I love and even ‘dislike’ being a Malaysian. Don’t get me wrong here. I DON’T hate my country, I LOVE Malaysia. It’s just some of the attitude or maybe practices of Malaysia that I dislike…

I had grown up in this part of the world for the past 27 years. I know no other country than Malaysia which I called home. Yes, I might have been to different countries and might have stayed in some country for about a month, but nothing can be compare to Malaysia. Though, I must confess, I have every young people’s dream of migrating and living in other country, but the thought of having to pay for about RM100 for a meal,(no, I don't like Japan, btw) scare me. Or even, the idea of having to be alone in other country, doesn’t soothe my heart. Yes, you may says that I am a mummy’s boy, nothing change the fact that I love this ‘land of milk and honey’ cause, the top of this list is the ‘mamak lifestyle’ that I enjoy very much. So, here is the list, note that it’s not in any particular order of preference.

Mamak stall, this place is near to heaven, as we can enjoy the 24 hours of non-stop mamak café that serve wonderful food and drink. And best of all, we can find it in most places in Malaysia.

Ramly burger; like it or not, Ramly burger is one of the homegrown product that is synonym to Malaysia. And some of the Ramly burger stall (not franchises) run by the Malays are so, so, so good and can challenge the more well manage brands.

Satay; ahh!!! My favorite and living in Kajang, makes me staying in land of satay.
Nasi lemak. How can I describe this dish? Rice cooked with santan (coconut milk) and serve together with ikan bilis and peanuts. Malaysian most preferred breakfast.

Roti canai & Teh Tarik. What can I say more about this? A combination that most Malaysian take anytime of the day.

Chicken rice with satay sauce, if you think satay itself is not so famous, think again! Even, now chicken rice are serve with satay sauce. Don’t believe me, go to Chicken rice shop. And even, Shakey’s pizza have that. And I am sure, there are more dish prepared in the same manner.

Penang food. This is where I am from. So, don’t ask me anymore since now you know. And obviously, I must say, this is a food haven! Yes, all in nice. Call me bias, I am. Since this my place. I grew up here. But, if you think the food is not nice, why everywhere you go, you still find Penang char keow teow, or Penang ABc, Penang this and Penang that? Huh? Answer that! J

Kopi O & roti bakar. Emmm…smell of the toast bread with butter dip in black coffee, ah, what else can you ask for more?

KFC eating with hand; where else you find this? Finger licking good.

Ulam. This is the Malay salad. Go to any buffet, you can find this food served!

Ais kacang/ cendol. This is another nice dessert. Living in such a hot country, ais kacang & cendol is always good and welcoming.

Nasi kandar/ nasi dagang/ lemang. Ahhh… apart from nasi lemak, this is another food I love to eat.

Durian. Some says this food smell like hell but taste like heaven. But the nickname itself should tell you best! King of Fruits! I love this fruit!

Proton & Perodua. Both are local and, like it or not, they make the car affordable for all Malaysians. And, I am proud owner of one, having owned 2 previouly too.

Modenas. Another Malaysian product, motorcycles!

KLCC. Once the tallest building in World and now still the tallest twin tower in the world. It the headquarter for PETRONAS, and it stand majestically in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Coming to KL, this twin tower greats you from afar!

Putrajaya. This is the new administrative center for Malaysia. Built on this site, of previously a palm oil estate, now it houses Malaysian government new office. Our prime minister and its agency have their offices here. Most of the ministers have their official house located here too. right beside Putrajaya, we have the Cyberjaya, Malaysian own MSC.

Chow Kit road/Petaling Street a.k.a Chinatown in Malaysia. The previous is famous for its notorious activities but also a place for night market! and the latter, you can find lots of things sold in this street and lots of food too for a bargain!

Gunung Tahan & Gunung Kinabalu. The former, is the highest mountain in Peninsular Malaysia and situated in the Taman Negara, where climbing to the top takes about ten days while the latter, is the highest mountain in South East Asia, and of course in Malaysia. Climbing it will be faster compare to Mount Tahan.

Bkt Bintang a.k.a. shopping malls! KLnite love this place and this is where shopping haven for most people. And when they say, the night never sleep, head on to this street.

Gua Niah. Emm.. situated in Miri, Gua Niah boast the biggest cave in the world where a Boeing 747 can easily park inside.

Bumps @ humps…this is something I dislike about Malaysian road. They say its to slow down the car and bike, but I think this is actually the ‘dead police’ @ ‘polis mate’ cause all car slow down. Some still, find the joy by speeding thru it too. But, why I like it is, how Malaysian call it. BUMPS…Yes, and truly true in every sense. From the council who put it practically everywhere from uphill to main road and to people who call it! To make the matter clear, its HUMPS not bumps, you bump!

Dialect. Living in Malaysia is like, you can hear all sort of language and dialect being spoken. If you think living in other country is hard, come here, where, sometimes, you don’t understand what others are speaking. Nevertheless, I would like to see it as advantage rather disadvantage, because, we pick up different language. Oh! Don’t worry, we understand each other well, because we speak English and also communicate in Bahasa Malaysia. That make us bilingual and most of us also trilingual! How about that, huh? Cool!

Different cultures, that’s what Malaysia is famous for. You have to come here to enjoy this, as I can’t describe it. I encourage you to come fast as we are celebrating our nation 50th birthday and we are having lots of activities too for Visit Malaysia Year 2007!

Malaysia Boleh! It’s the slogan by Malaysian for Malaysian. Sad to say, to certain aspect, this isn’t true. But Malaysian does live up to this slogan in every sense in Malaysia! To make sure Malaysian live up to its expectation of Malaysia Boleh!, the Ministry of Sport even have the official wear for the athletics in yellow and black strip, like the tiger!

“lah’ culture. This is unique! Recently, I found out even out China friends try to have ‘lah’ so the can blend in-lah.

Malaysian time…must I say this more other then, I HATE it! Malaysian time is always 1 hour behind! Actually, geographically, it’s true since we change the time zone to synchronize with Sabah & Sarawak. Thus, we actually make our time one hour faster to make easy and to minimize the error or barrier in communication esp in time wise with our Borneo counterpart. BUT, I must say here, I am particular about punctuality. When people says, He practice Malaysian time, means, he is always late!

Malaysian driver. Huh! Take them, best rally driver in this part of the world. They can race and squeeze in tiny lane any time!

Pasar Malam. The night market which you can find good bargains! Anything can be find in the night market!

Mat rempit… our Malaysian trained motorcycle racer. They don’t race on circuit, but on the public road where all the bust traffic are!

Kompang & bunga mawar. Go to formal gathering, and where you find the VIPs attending, you will find this.

Lion dance. We have the best lion dance group in the world! Dancing with the lion head according to the beating of the drums and clashing cymbals, they will perform during Chinese New Year and even during opening of new shops!

Open house… we love food and in Open house, food overflows and every people of every races are invited…

Balik kampung. Emm…this is mad rush to get back to hometown to celebrate with our relatives. And every body will rush back, for whatever the reason, causing massive jam in highway a.k.a freeway, which will now turn into ‘blockway’

Wau bulan. It’s the traditional kite with nice paper cutting and design glue to it.

Wayang kulit and open air theater/ hungry ghost festival. Both are the traditional performances perform in the open air. Wayang kulit @ shadow dance, are perform by the Malays, mainly in Kelantan and Terengganu where, paper puppets are danced in front of a light creating shadows on the screen. Hungry Ghost festival is celebrated by the Buddhist and Taoist during the 7th month of lunar calendar where food and performances are stage to appease the souls.

2004 tsunami. I can’t believe I have this here! This tsunami is the only tsunami that Malaysia experience as we are not located in the tsunami zone. People are still fearful now because of the tsunami back in 2004.

Jaguh kampung. This title is accorded to athletics who only triumph in local arena and not in international arena. This once happen to our Malaysian badminton team

Gasing. Spinning top is one of Malaysian favorite past time is the village.

Angkasawan @ can or not. In every country, the call their spaceman with different name, in America, astronaut, in Russia, cosmonaut, in China, Taikonaut, and in Malaysia, CanOrNot, since we are just on the way. We are now training our spaceman, called angkasawan, in Russia for the mission in October. Malaysia boleh! there you go, the spirit of Malaysian!

Kiasuism-‘est’ for everything. Malaysian has this in them, like it or not. They want to be first in everything! The want to have the tallest building, biggest pencil and all the way to create the biggest mooncake and biggest chapatti, biggest satay and more..etc. But I wonder, if Malaysian can be modest too?

Clamp zone. Hahaha…we can find this in a lot of shopping malls car park and in office building! But, we still find cars double park, ignorant to the sign. Someplace, its not clamp zone, but clam zone! Where, people don’t work!

Disable parking lot-all chain up. Accessible car park are for the disable but, most places, you find this car park with barricades. Who do they hinder?

Not my fault attitude. Him la. Not me. All because of him. Not my department la, its that department. Helloo….. ??? Just follow Law-lah

Pirated VCD/ CDC/ Cd. Ah… aunty, aunty…new movie? “tai cho la” astro on Demands! This place we can find movie in pirated cd faster then in cinema….and cheaper too!

LAT. Our famous cartoonist.

Forever jam… emmm… the local authorities seems can find a solution to the growing traffic in Malaysia. Even in Kajang town, jam is inevitable, any time of the day.

Kaki bodek. You will find this people in any organization were they are there to please the boss and hoping they can get promotion. They work in front of superiors only and then, all other things at any other time, it’s not their fault and not their business!

Orang asli. Em… they are the aborigines in Malaysia. Forming about 0.5% of the total population, they remain the most ‘backward’ group.

ISO- this certification is like a craze here. Every department are trying to get their ISO certification. Well, this is slowly becoming a trend but no quality in certification. Wherever you go you find ISO certified department, but their services are LOWSY!

Here you go…the longest post thus far by me. These lists are not comprehensive and suggest only my thought! No pun intended!I must say, I am proud to be Malaysian and love this country and living here. Common.. I am who I am today from what I have received from this land.

Selamat Hari Merdeka Malaysia!

You are 50 years old!