Okay, Malaysia's 49 years old now, but is our country behaving like a 49 years old? I think not, with what happened a couple of weeks back, like someone said something stupid and got his ass on fire, I think some of us are more like a spoon-fed spoilt brat of early teens. Its a sad thing, considering that we're on the verge of celebrating 50 years of nation building.

So is it still okay for us to wave the Jalur Gemilang and celebrate Merdeka?

To me, Merdeka is not just a day to mark our independence from the imperialists, those days are long gone. What Merdeka should be is the strength of our ability to uphold unity and progress as Malaysians, without any racial, religion and political overtones. Malaysians must learn how to put aside their differences and refer themselves as Malaysians and not by their race. Malaysians abroad identify themselves as Malaysians but those in the country don't really refer themselves this way, racial identity comes first. After 49 years, we still harbour this form of identification.

It's not going to be an easy thing to change. We will eventually in the future arrive at a crossroad where our differences don't mean a thing and have to move forward as one, unsegregated force. This is such an important thing for Malaysia. Sometimes I feel that we're living in a golden age and its end is pretty near. But, as always, I'm hoping that someone will prove me wrong.

Anyway, being in a foreign country, it somehow made me feel rather proud to be a Malaysian, although it never really occured to me how much I felt for my country when I'm back home. Putting aside all the corruption we read in the media, bureaucratic red-tape, snatch theft, traffic jams, lousy politics, the great things we have are something that can't be repeated in other countries. This bit of "specialty" is what makes Malaysians Malaysians. That's what I discovered when I'm in Melbourne.

What's your wish for Merdeka?