Saw something on the TV which I thought is worthy of mentioning here.
“Let us all as one be reminded that all Malaysians live together as one big family” – Tunku Abdul Rahman
Malaysia. Negaraku.
Since young we were taught to stand in attention whenever we hear our national anthem, be it from some loudspeakers or TV. This, according to the primary school teachers, is an act of respect to our country. But even when I was young, more often than not, I did not see this happen. There was once I really stood in attention when the TV broadcasted ‘Negaraku’, but my parents were still doing their stuff, oblivious of the song reverberating in the living room. I remember I was a little taken aback that time.
But as time goes by, this little act of respect to my country seems to fade away. Partly because I wasn’t receiving any more national education as I progressed to upper primary and secondary school; partly because I do not even hear ‘Negaraku’ often. To make it worse, ‘Majulah Singapura’ has taken the timeslots ‘Negaraku’ used to take, meaning the morning assemblies. I spent most of my time on a land called Singapore, hence making the distance between me and ‘Negaraku’ even further.
It was not until just now, that my little bro stood up straight upon hearing the first part of our Negaraku, that I was reminded of this remotely familiar lesson I was taught in primary school. It’s called ‘stand in attention when you hear the national anthem’. My little bro shot me a questioning glance, and asked innocently “why are you still sitting?”
Yeah, why am I still sitting when I was taught to stand in attention? Where had all the primary school national education gone?
I quickly stood beside my bro. He stood unmoving, with eyes fixed on the screen.
I guess as we grow older, with more responsibilities and work, we tend to put certain small but meaningful lessons we learnt along the way in a little corner of our minds. They gradually migrate to our dormant memory, and we seldom, or never think of such lessons anymore, for there are much more exciting and colourful stuffs awaiting. Slowly, the small little lessons we picked up are forgotten, until something happens at present which awakens such memory.
Negaraku,
Tanah tumpahnya darahku
Rakyat hidup bersatu dan maju
Rahmat bahagia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita selamat bertakhta.
I still remember my national anthem. I remember every single word in it.
This is not propaganda, but I’m proud to be a Malaysian.
Saya bangga menjadi anak Malaysia.
Looks like I’ve turned this post to be a patriotic piece of work.
