I did not set out early morning on Merdeka Day to capture this picture. My Merdeka Day shots would have been the typical scene of Merdeka Day parade colours and gleaming faces of people from all walks of life at the parade.
Instead, a beautiful scene was there in front of me as if it had been set up and choreographed for a photo shoot. It was such an illustrative scene and so telling of what every Merdeka Day means to me – living under the strong foundation that our forefathers have built, carefree life in a pristine environment; prospering in freedom to pursue our dreams in a safe and peaceful country. What looms in the far horizon is for us to invent today.
Beyond displaying our Jalur Gemilang, every Merdeka Day is our moment to invent the future, building on the foundation created by those who fought for Merdeka, sacrificed for our freedom and prosperity. Inventing the future today is perhaps a great way of honouring those who fought and sacrificed for us.
How do we invent the future today? My answer is: pay more taxes and go beyond the superficial show of patriotism. Instead of just for nationalistic displays, let the flying Jalur Gemilang be the beacon of our commitment to our nation’s future. For our nation’s future is the future of our children and their children’s children.
What our nation’s future will be, depends to a large extent, on our capacity and capability to pay more tax and on the capacity and capability of our children.
So, Merdeka Day means independence from our own self-imposed limitations to develop our competencies, to gain new insights and to broaden our horizons. Merdeka Day means independence from indulgence in trivia (of which are plenty on the internet). Merdeka Day means independence from tendencies to celebrate mediocrity. Merdeka Day means independence from our selfishness to share knowledge and to contribute as responsible citizens.
Merdeka Day means being children again – being without inhibitions to explore, being free from mental constraints to pursue new dreams, being brave to invent the future.
