They should not play the racial card at all. They should only ask one question. Are you Malaysian?

The one reason the politicians are out to divide is so they can conquer the rakyat, stay in power and loot the country. Simple as that. As they say, "Power corrupts, but it corrupts only those who thinks they deserve it."

join the FB sji 85 lar

I went to La Salle PJ and regularly shared my huge F&N bottle of orange squash with the whole class after PE class, as well as a stick of Dunhill during Geography class. My good buddy Ganesh and Chong Yin shared my passion for Man United, which led to many animated discussions on the previous nights Road to Wembley game.

Like you Alvin, I miss what we once were. Malaysia was actually a nice place to live in, where everyone accepted other people for who they are, no matter what colour their skin was, or which religion they profess to. Alas, that is no more. I can sense a deep sense of mistrust, jealousy, anger, frustration and downright agression towards people from other races, especially from my own people, Malays like me.

My sincere hope is that sometime in my lifetime, Malaysians will vote using their heads and ensure the Malaysia that we bequeth to our children and their childrens children will be a much better one than the one we currently live in, insyallah. Bless us all.

SS2 back then had a community spirit where I didn't think twice about jumping into my Chinese neighbours compound to water their plants when they balik kampung to Kampar, and they reciprocated when we balik Batu Pahat. I was also the captain of my football team comprising of chinese dudes, and I guess my ability to curse them in cantonese got me the captains armband.

I can relate to your stories as well. During my school days it was just friendship and race and religion does not matter but now it is all about your race and religion. Over the last 22 years people changes partly due to politics and policies that divide the races in Malaysia. Nevertheless we can still live in harmony by taking to first step to bring down the invisible wall that we have build over the years.I had my Malay friends knocking at my door during Deepavali to have feats of Thosai & Idili with curry and stay on for lunch for briyani.

I will work hard to copy your traits – like your Malay friends who might have shared with you – ambil yg jernih, buang yg keruh – and to learn to be able to still pray for people who spits on us.

Haven’t reached that level yet, but will seriously continue practicing hard. After all, life is only a few short years on Earth (before we go to Heaven!! Yippeeee!!), so, why waste the years hating and cursing people who do us bad, hor? Better spend the years loving and caring for those who do us good. :)

Remember when those days, we can even leave our doors open all day, nothing would happen to us…
Hmm.. wish those days don't pass that fast

Regards,

Guy Goonting……….

Thank you for your comment on my article. Where did I learn to write?

From everywhere I suppose. I wrote logbooks when I was a boy scout. Wrote spiritual journals when I rediscovered my faith. And wrote scripts and copy for ads even though I am an art director. All in Malaysia. Maybe reading a lot helps.

What influences? My parents taught me about faith, relationships, life, and made me think and think and think about all sorts of stuff. My Church taught me about social justice, human dignity, the pursuit of truth, sacrificlal love, etc. and made me think and think and think.

Both my parents and my faith showed me the value of contemplation and reflection. And quite naturally, I wrote all that I felt and started to enjoy it.

So, that’s kinda it.