The Uniqueness of Malaysia

I would never forget the day that my father and I went to this particular café in the Klang Valley area. Once there, we were approached by an Italian man sitting right across us.

He smiled and held his drink in is hand. He said to us that we are very lucky to be Malaysians.

“This is God’s country,” he added with a smile.

Malaysia is a glorious country that is richer than any other country, I believe. We have tall skyscrapers like the ones we’ve seen in New York, high-tech gadgetry-almost like the ones we see in Japan, breathtaking travel sights and fantastic beaches on our coastline, and beautiful historical preserves and rainforests, just to name a few. Some other countries might have all of these things too-if not outshine ours, but Malaysia has something else that is far more valuable than any other beaches or buildings. We have a strong sense of racial unity and the uttermost respect for each others’ cultures and principles.

Malaysia has many different races and ethnicities, for such a small country. But there are three main cultures known to our society. That does not mean that we ignore the rest, no. It just means that most of the Malaysians fall into these three categories- the Malays or the Bumiputeras, the Chinese and the Indians. Looking back in history, these cultures are vastly different. This can be seen from their language, their style of dressing, what they eat and their own religious beliefs.

The beautiful thing about Malaysia is that, on the streets itself, you can see all those massively different traditional cultures are now emerging, into one. You can see the Chinese and Indians speaking the Malay language; the Chinese wearing baju kurungs to the office while the Malays wearing the Cheongsam and Saris to functions. But what combines everybody together? The answer is food. Food is a vital importance in culture. Nothing brings us closer together more than national delicacies. Roti Canai, Nasi Lemak, or even Dim Sums. You name it, we got it.

Thaipusam was celebrated not long ago and each year, there will be street performances to serve their God. The Indians will gather together to celebrate this holy and religious event that happens every year. In Kuala Lumpur, Thaipusam has always been celebrated at the Batu Caves. During the ceremony, there will be a colourful presentation of Kavadis and traditional costumes. Everybody would be amazed by the joyous celebration. In order to further flourish the relationship between the races, Prime Minister, Tan Sri Najib Abdul Razak and his wife were also present at that festive event. Utber, 29, is an Australian native and says that she is impressed by our multi-racial country as there are so much to see and do here.

After Thaipusam, we are also enticed by the celebration that is just right around the corner, Chinese New Year. Every year, the Chinese would all come together to celebrate this festive event. Unlike Thaipusam-where the theme is multicolor, Chinese New Year has the concrete theme of the color red. Before and during the celebration, Mandarin oranges are distributed by the Chinese to their multiracial neighbors, colleagues and friends. Shopping complexes and other public places too have quite impressive displays of the Chinese New Year decorations, like they do for every festival. Because in Malaysia, all the culture, whether prominent or not, must be celebrated and enjoyed. Meanwhile, the Hari Raya Celebration for the Malays might be far away, but they too, are busy preparing for the long holiday of this Chinese New Year celebration.

The purpose of this essay is to show that whatever happens in this amazing country of ours, we all will experience it together with dignity and respect towards the other races and religious beliefs. We were educated from the young to have multicultural friends and to not discriminate anybody who is different than ourselves because deep down, all of we know that we are just the same. In Malaysia, we share and care for each other and therefore we will stand united. Sometimes we need somebody from the outside to tell us of what we have and the Italian guy showed me that Malaysia is so unique, so precious and we are all so incredibly lucky to be Malaysians.

1 Malaysia.