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It's about helping one anotherSunday August 26, 2007
It's about helping one another
On The Beat: By WONG CHUN WAI
It is the quiet, generous yet simple acts of ordinary Malaysians who help their friends, colleagues and neighbours that reflect national unity, not the lip services of politicians.
THERE are three stories of ordinary Malaysians that I wish to share as we celebrate National Day. It is not about our founders; nor is it about our politicians whose faces we see on billboards everywhere.
Yet, their action, which seems so simple and ordinary, speaks volumes of Malaysian unity. For them, it is about helping one another, in the name of compassion and friendship, expected of mankind, that's all.
The first is about a prominent Malay businessman who has donated money to a Sabah Christian-run hostel for rural children, who have to trek through 7km of jungle every day just to attend school. The man has also given his money to Chinese schools in the state.
Helping hand: Yayasan Salam volunteers visiting a patient at the University Malaya Medical Centre during the launch of National Volunteer Week 2007 last month. For them, it is about helping one another, in the name of compassion and friendship.
He has never asked for publicity for his good deeds, remaining anonymous for his help, even to his close friends. Some people have asked why he should give money to Christian groups and Chinese schools.
It's simple – he is colour-blind when it comes to helping people. After all, he received his education in a Christian-run school in Penang and his close friends are non-Malays.
Then there is a Chinese couple in Petaling Jaya who visit an old Malay lady almost daily because she lives alone. All her children are working in other states and have little time for her.
The couple brings her food regularly, sees that she does not fall sick, runs errands and even feeds her cats. To them, it is just an act of neighbourliness.
Then there is this young Chinese doctor from Penang who has volunteered to serve in the most remote parts of Malaysia, including in Kelantan and Sabah. Fame and money do not interest this bright man who comes from a humble family.
Unlike some of his peers, who want to make their first million ringgit, some perhaps understandably to pay off their financial investment, this man enjoys the company of the minorities in Sabah.
I know of an Indian woman who sent little cards of motivation to her friends and colleagues; her little gems of wisdom teach those who received these cards of the meaning of caring for and sharing with each other, regardless of race.
These are the unsung heroes of Malaysia, not the politicians who thump their chests claiming to fight for their communities with racial rhetoric that does little for national unity except to serve their selfish political ambitions.
The generous acts of these ordinary Malaysians, who help their friends, colleagues and neighbours, have glued Malaysia together.
Without the utterances of some politicians, and even newspapers for that matter, national unity is what they help achieve every day – and not just during the national day or election campaign.
Forgiveness and tolerance have long been the trademark of most Malaysians, while demanding a pound of flesh for a mistake is not one of them.
Growing up in Kampung Melayu in Penang, I played football with many Malay and Indian friends and certainly studying in an English-medium school, regarded as a neutral ground, helps with inter-racial identity. Today, most Chinese students begin at Chinese primary schools while Malays go to national schools and the rich prefer the third option – private or international schools.
No one dares to commit himself to reopening English-medium schools for political reasons even as we admit that English is an important language, next to Arabic and Chinese, for clear economic reasons.
The fact is that you need to speak at least two of these languages in the global market place.
Our politicians may close their eyes and ears, preferring to feed us with history lessons and black and white newsreels of yesteryears to remind us of the country's nationalism but the Internet generation of YouTube, Google, MTV, Channel V and iPod has plenty of questions and many are unconvinced by the old answers.
The Merdeka story should be about the people. If the politicians have failed to convey these messages, I am glad that the media people have been able to do so via those wonderful heart-warming commercials on our television – they all carry a similar message about Malaysians of various races sharing common hopes and a common destiny.
These short but powerful commercials, depicting simple Malaysian lives, have tugged at the hearts of many.
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