Ada Apa dengan 1 Malaysia?

1 Malaysia has been used widely for the purpose of uniting Malaysians coming from all walks of life. Many believe that this is just a political gimmick from the ruling government and therefore it has invoked criticisms and debates from certain quarters. Many Malaysians are still not sure with the direction of 1 Malaysia although the idea of it has somehow prepared us to look forward for a better Malaysia.

I think I am not the right person to view this concept. I am not a politician or academician or historian in order to explain how a slogan can unite a country.

However, I can provide my own version of 1 Malaysia based on my experience so far in my college.

My college is located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Being a recipient of government scholarship, you are expected to produce good results all the time and perform better than other students (and so far my performance has not been very consistent!).

Here is also the beginning of me having friends from different races. I used to live in that kind of environment when I was in a primary school, but left that life completely once I studied in MCKK. Thus, this whole new experience is such an eye opener for me and of course I had to make some adjustments as well.

I am so blessed to have an Indian friend from Sarawak, some Chinese friends from Sabah and a few more from Semenanjung. When we first entered the college, some of us preferred to stay in our own clique. I did the same thing too. Well, I feel some people tend to do that as they like to live in their own comfort zone. Studying with a friend of the same race is a lot easier as you know his language and culture better. Therefore, you don’t have to make an extra effort to know about other people.

I think that is where we go wrong. We isolate ourselves from the idea of engaging with others without realizing that we are actually putting a risk of having a racial segregation.

That is why I feel I am very fortunate because here in my college, things have changed so much. I have witnessed so many good souls of my Indian and Chinese friends lending their hand to their Malay friends when it comes to study. I have also seen my Malay friends roping their Chinese friends in to play football when the latter are a lot more interested in basketball.

It touches my heart because some of them had never had a friend from other races. Hence, a quick adjustment and tolerance from them are something that I am very proud of. These experiences so far are the living proofs that unity among us is not impossible. It proves to us that understanding others is not difficult. It is not a rocket science where we need a special formula.

It is only difficult when we refuse to listen to their stories or when we stop seeing others’ problem as ours. It is only difficult when we prefer to stay in our own cocoon and start asking others to solve our problems when others strive for something impossible.

As my conclusion for “Ada Apa dengan 1 Malaysia”, I plead for one thing. Please do not corrupt our young souls and good hearts. We are all happy here and please leave us alone.