I have a confession to make, I do have a soft spot for my country, so you can say that i'm a patriotic person (but I wouldn't go as far as saying that, I'm just glad that I was born in this curious nation of sorts, beats being an Aussie). As I write this on a wonderful sunny and windy Merdeka eve afternoon, listening to Sudirman's "31 Ogos 1957" song, I can't help but to reminisce on the good times that I had back in Malaysia. In my opinion, if you don't like the government, it doesn't hurt to at least love our country based on the fact that we're lucy that our country had come a long way since Tunku shouted Merdeka seven times at Stadium Merdeka fifty years ago (For non-Malaysians who have stumbled upon my blog, Merdeka is independence or freedom in Malay).

All things considered, where else in the world can anyone enjoy a good hot cup of Teh Tarik at 3am after clubbing? Where else can anyone watch a new movie even before it was launched? Where else in the world can anyone be silenced for speaking up? I believe that the tension between the people and the powers that run Malaysia is what keeps us together, even when we're not exactly happy about it. But deep down in our hearts, we know that this is where we came from, this is where we relate ourselves to, this is where we developed our characteristic Manglish and all the -lahs, gostan.. (you know all of them). It is our tanah air (homeland).

So, on this fateful day, let us rejoice, think about who we are and all the things that make us Malaysians. For those who think that Malaysia is a shitty place, you're partly right and mostly wrong. After fifty years, its time for us to move on and pray for a brighter future ahead of us and our country..

Why are we so complacent? Why do we let bus drivers speed and treat our lives like it has no value at all? Why only when a major accident happens then only we start to complain and speak out even when we know all along that something bad is going to happen? And above all, why do we let profit and speed jeopardise the lives of travellers?

Its interesting to note that Malaysians, the public and the government, always find themselves no reason to act when everything's going smoothly. Accidents happen because drivers disregard the importance of valuing one's life and the safety of other road users. The recent accident at Bukit Gantang is by far the most horrific accident involving an express bus for as long as any Malaysian can remember. And yet, we let this happen. The JPJ and Polis do their part by enforcing the law, but still, not much has been done (and often too late) or maybe much has been done TO them by irresponsible and corrupt people.

Why didn't they pursue this bus-driving demons? The countless summons and arrest warrants issued to the driver who killed 22 people were obviously not deterring him from driving and the fact that he was still driving buses proves to us that bus drivers are becoming bolder. In the end, normal law-abiding citizens become the victims. Since that accident, at least 2 more buses had crashed, with one driver fleeing the scene of the accident.

The thing is, the good-hearted people of Malaysia didn't even move a finger eventhough they're the very people that these bus companies depend on. What's wrong with us? Don't we value our own lives? Malaysians are too complacent, that's the bottomline. I've sat in buses driven by drivers from hell, and its probably one of the scariest thing one can do in Malaysia (put that on Fear Factor's list of challenges). When the driver speeds, some of us would think "Oh good, he's driving faster, we can reach there earlier.". And maybe during Christmas, Chinese New Year, Deepavali or Raya, most of us couldn't wait to meet our loved ones back in our kampung (I'm sure the bus drivers feel the same), but there's no reason for us to rush. As the saying goes "Biar lambat asalkan selamat". Have we forgotten this Malay proverb that we always hear and read during our BM classes in school? Apparently, we have.

If its not the roads and vehicles that cause an accident, its the driver. It's our lives people! Protect it, take control, fight for it! We've all seen too much and many had suffered because of this. If we can't depend on Big Brother, we can depend on ourselves. Through unity, we can act as a single force, even greater than the government and law-enforcers. Philippines had proven it not once but twice when they ousted Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada. Its called people power.

I'm not implying that we should start a revolution, for what right? I'm just saying that Malaysians need to show to these people that we are a force to be reckon with when it comes to this kind of issues, because it concerns our lives. We should look at ourselves and the role that we play in the country before we start pointing fingers and start pointless, never-ending arguments. Malaysians need to wake up and stand up for themselves now, or continue living blindfolded, led by unscrupulous people, bent on benefiting themselves.

Our dear Pak Lah has announced the launch of Koridor Utara megaproject that will spur development in the northern regions of Peninsular Malaysia and Penang will become the 'gateway to the northern corridor'. It has now become the tradition for Malaysian PMs to launch such super large scale projects to drive the economy, it all sounds good and fantastic, but will it be sustainable? We've got two major areas in Malaysia which are receiving a lot of attention, first the Iskandar Development Region for Johor and now this, I just hope that supply doesn't exceed the demand. Nevertheless, it all boils down to the concept of economies of scale, just like what Dr.M did in his time.

But anyways... I'm going to go politiking here, I'm more interested on what's in store for our 'rice bowl' region of our country. Apparently, the Malaysian authorities have hired the expertise of a New York-based architectural firm called Asymptote Architecture to design a new development on what what used to be the Penang Turf Club, much like KLCC which was developed on the site of the former Kuala Lumpur Turf Club. Here's a rendering of it.



Pretty funky looking stuff for a laid back town huh? The megaproject includes a performing arts center, a convention center, retail outlets, a 5-star hotel as well as apartment blocks. Its good for Penang, considering that most developments in the past few decades have been concentrated in Klang Valley, especially KL. From the rendering, it doesn't look like anything we have in Malaysia, but why hire a foreign architectural firm to do this kind of job? Don't we have enough graduates in architecture to perform up to this standard? We do have them, but they're just not there as the conditions in Malaysia are not conducive enough and the mentality of the people still remain in the Third World mindset even when we're slowly approaching Wawasan 2020. Everytime I think of this vision, the further it gets from our grasp. Anyhow, in the meantime, check out the other renderings done by them...











Funky stuff huh?
Click here for additional info on this firm on Wikipedia.