Happy 50th anniversary to my beloved country!

Yes , it has gained independence for 50 years. Things have changed for the better (or for worse). In retrospect , we can see a lot of differences 50 years ago and now. I was not born in the pre-Merdeka era. In fact i was born in the 80s. And our generation are constantly being reminded about the hardships of the yesteryears. People think we don't treasure our independence that much , we are being pampered too much , we don't understand much.

And this is my humble opinion about the country.

We are a nation that like to be praised. I am not saying that acknowledgement is not good. Of course good deed must be given credit. But not as much as in our country. The titleships , the awards , the chance to appear on headlines... When we are praised , we think we are good enough , we then tend to slack and be complacent , so we think we have achieved enough. That's the time we close our eyes and take a nap , by the time we wake up , our friends are already far ahead of us.

There is no time for a nap , people are working 24-7 , and yet we are working 5 days a week , 9 am to 10 am , TEA BREAK one hour , 10 am to 12 pm ,LUNCH BREAK 2 hours , 2 pm to 3pm , TEA BREAK one hour , 4 pm to 5 pm , pack bag and go home. How wonderful life is.

The only thing everyone is good at - EAT..See how many breaks we have a day? How much of food we consume a day? Nasi lemak , nasi goreng , pisang goreng ,roti canai... A look on the street and u can 8 out of 10 people have bulging belly. Not beer belly , but nasi lemak belly.

And it is time we get out of our own coccoon of cotton sugar and throw our lollipops away. We are not as good as we think. We just assume we are good. I know the Boleh! slogan is good to spark our spirit. But too much of something might not bring as good a result as we expect. Anything and everything , we will just shout"Boleh!".

I still don't get it sometimes...Does making the longest flag make us Boleh? Does baking the largest cake make us sooo Boleh also? I don't mean to undermine the effort of our people reaching southpole , climbing mount Everest , swimming across strait etc. Those great deeds should be remembered. But how do they impact the life of all and sundry? Tell me more Boleh things that we can do...Maybe we should not only send someone to the space , but be the country that make the spaceship , or find a new planet. Maybe we should have more Nobel laureates in the field of science and technology. Maybe our universities should be enlisted in the world top 10 ten best universities (instead of giving reason for slipping down the stairs as the faults of the marking system). Maybe our currency should be stronger (so that we don't find it a hard time surviving in Europe , UK , USA ....)

We have to learn to take criticisms more positively. We have a culture of finger pointing. Whenever there is criticism , we point someway else. When there is praise , we point back to ourselves. When we know we are wrong , we do not apologise , instead we shoutback , we act fierce and do everything a barbarian does. We always speak more than we do. We speak of a thousand great things , and yet it will usually take years and years for some meagre little things to be done.

We have a culture of "Hangat-hangat tahi ayam". Everything starts with a bang , but end with a whisper. When serious accident happen , op after op are launched for a month , or two...Mat Rempits have their bikes in garage for a few months , then when tension subsides , they are back on the road. When certain crime is charged in court ,the whole nation is focused on the same issue , making it the newspaper headline for a month , or two...After trials and trials , people tend to get bored , newspaper find it less sensational to report , so sooner or later , they just disappear.

The fact is...we still have a lot of shortcomings that need to be improved. We have less than 2 decades to achieve our vision , and if we still do not beef up our effort , we will soon be bidding farewell to it.