nst replies 1 - the elusive notion of patriotism

I know I should let the matter regarding my article published in NST to rest but the letters keep coming in and I am somewhat tempted to reply to them. This letter was published in today's NST (12 th September).

I would like to offer some comments on several points raised in the letter and I will do it in 3 parts.

First comment

From my contact with friends and family, I noticed that my young urban cousins and friends loved this movie to bits while the older generation like my parents, aunts and uncles, especially the kampung ones, did not think highly of the movie.

This is actually a very interesting observation about the movie - why does the issues raised in the movie connect more readily with young people rather than with adults? One reason might be because the plot of the movie revolves around the relationships between two teenagers rather than between two adults which are often potrayed in a stereotypical Malay movie.

But it is quite simplistic to attribute the observation only to this reason alone - I believe it is not so much of the actual potrayal of the relationship itself which appeals to the youths, but rather the essence and issues raised in the movie - the complications of inter-racial relationships, the challenges and pressures a youth face in their daily lives with their families and friends.

It is not a simple love story - but a love story made within the context of the challenges of Malaysian life divided along racial lines. Youths today identify with that because it is the kind of issues they encounter everyday; they are willing to grow out of their racial coccon and refuse to allow racial suspicions to be imposed on their lives.

I believe that this is a crucial point to note - Malaysian youths today have a somewhat different interpretation of the notion of 'patriotism' compared to their parents or grandparents; they do not live through the pre-Independence period of the country's history under the colonial rule of the British and Japanese, hence could not be expected to have the same degree of appreciation of the struggles of the country's founding fathers.

That is not to say that youths today are ignorant to the country's history; rather, their notion of 'patriotism' seldom conjures up the image of militaristic struggles against the Communist or of patient negotiations with the British.

Therefore, their notion of 'patriotism' often find its basis in the challenges and problems of the present generation - the problem of true unity among the races, the absence of equal opportunities among the races, the socio-economic gap between the rich and poor, the paralyzing state of our education system, the imposition of moral rules on social conduct etc.

These are the problems and challenges of relevance to Malaysian youths now; the challenges of their generation. Hence, their notion of 'patriotism' must be revised in accordance to these issues and challenges - the creation of a just, diligent and equal society where their race is neither a hindrace or an unfair advantage to their own personal advancement in life.

For them, overcoming these challenges epitomizes and resonates with their current notion of 'patriotism.'

When viewed in this context, one should not be surprised if youths today are not as jubilant to wave the Jalur Gemilang or sing patriotic songs during the Merdeka month celebrations; in their minds, they felt that Malaysia have a long way to go before it becomes a country which they have envision.

The struggles for Independence are of the past generation - their parents and gransparents - and have succeded; however, the post-Independence era is frought with its own social, economic and political challenges and it is precisely to overcome these challenges that today's youths have found their niche.

These are the struggles of their generation and we have only just begun to grasp and tackle them.