The Farewell Journey

A series of my thoughts I penned down while I was travelling in June..

24th June

As I said goodbye to my fellow exchange students throughout the month of June, I became rather anxious thinking how it would be when its my turn. (un)fortunately, the whole process was (and still) a blur as my travel plans were arranged with little breathing space.

I started packing about two weeks before I was due to leave Nottingham as a result of boredom when my laptop's keyboard malfunctioned. With the peace of mind that most of must stuff were packe, i left it as late as possible to pack the rest of the it avoid making my room look empty. But as I woke up on the morning of 22nd June, my mind went into a mild panic attack as I realise that my room does not look like i'm supposed to leave the next day at 4am! on top of that, there were errands to run, last minute meet-ups to squeeze into less than 24hours. muraculously i managed to get everything done.

two days, here i am at the heathrow airport, waiting for my flight to Stockholm, Sweden. Today alone I will be in 3 cities - Bristol, London and Stockholm; and everything is still a blur. I have not yet digested the fact that I have left Nottingham. Maybe this is a good thing. But for now, I need to catch my flight!

p/s: Happy birthday to my sdfbff, Rabbit!

More Than A Spring Clean

The Bersih movement has sparked many reactions from Malaysians of all ages from all over the world. While the 8 demands of Bersih is a noble cause to fight for, the importance of Bersih has gone beyond its electoral reform demands – the importance of Bersih lies in its significance. It has become the symbol of people power and an important platform to raise awareness of the issues that are and should concern Malaysians.

Bersih is a reflection of the change in Malaysia's political culture that we have seen over the past few years. People are becoming braver in demanding their rights. Yes, Malaysians throughout the world came together on 28^th April to show their support for clean and fair elections but more importantly, they were there to show their love for Malaysia. As a country with maturing political awareness, many different opinions from various perspectives like mine and yours will be voiced out; and inevitably, clashes in opinions will also arise. There is an urgent need to recognize the importance of respecting different opinions if we want Malaysia to be the country Malaysians deserve. It is unfair to accuse those supporting Bersih of being ungrateful, rowdy and puppets of the opposition; just like it is unfair to accuse those not in support of Bersih to be pro-government, close-minded and uneducated. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but with the freedom of expression also comes the responsibility to do so wisely. Bersih symbolizes one way in our effort to achieve the ideal, but it is NOT the only way to achieve that; and neither should it be.

The changing dynamics of the Malaysia’s political culture marks a growth of the civil society’s movement and the increasingly loud voices of the concerned rakyats within and outside of the country who are keen on breaking the ‘takpe lah’ attitude that was synonymous with the Malaysian identity. While Malaysians still enjoy hanging out at mamak stalls, with the help of social networking sites, these hangout sessions have been utilized to engage the people with the leaders of our countries. “Tweetups”, Q & A sessions are organized over twitter and other social networking sites. The conversations over meals have largely extended beyond football or food as we experience the ‘social media boom’. Never has news travelled so fast and wide across the globe. Now that information is rather easily obtained, it forces the government to hold more accountability of the flaws in governance that were previously shielded by the lack of access of information. While it is easy to blame the government, we also have to remind ourselves we are also accountable for the country we live in. The line is a cliché, but we really do need to look at the man in the mirror if we want to make that change. The huge interest shown by the average joes of Malaysia before during and after Bersih is a healthy indication that we are heading in the right direction. The presence of discussions on accountability of police as well as participants of the rally is an even more positive sign that we are a maturing society who is able to conduct ourselves rationally.

In spite of my positive outlook, it is a solemn fact that Bersih 3.0 was not without incidents. It is rather sad to see that the peaceful rally in KL was marred by the violent outburst from both sides of the parties, but we need to remember those incidents are not representative of those involved in the rally; touching stories of Malaysians taking care of each other can be found easily over the internet. There is no justification for the violence incited by both sides, and all involved should be held accountable. But that is another story.

The path to the ideal Malaysia is a long one and this is only the beginning. Along the way, mistakes should be expected; some might even take the form of violence in a protest. It is important that we learn from the mistakes and not get stuck in the circle of the blaming game. In our push for demands, patience is required and we need to be realistic. It is a delicate balance. We do not want to rush the process as this could possibly lead to the very problems we are trying to solve. The changing dynamics of Malaysia’s current political culture is a rather unchartered territory. It is worth reminding ourselves that we should work together and not against each other. After all, as our “Bapa Kemerdekaan” aptly said, "no matter what we are, we are ALL Malaysians."

Journey to the Notts - Entry 1

A few days ago, I arrived in England to begin my semester abroad at the University of Nottingham. I never thought Heathrow would be an anti-climax. As I walked around the terminal trying to look for things to fill up my time, I simply did not have an answer to that question. I have a suggestion for David Cameron (or whoever's in charge) though - invest on a free public wifi in Heathrow terminals. 

All in all the journey so far has been smooth sailing. Except on the registration side as I had to run around asking for my welcome pack, look for my timetable that doesn't exist online and demand my student ID card. All of which I have settled except correcting the name on my ID card, which was printed wrongly. -__- 

I'm settling in nicely. Just need a laundry bag, thumb tacks and put up my posters. Have not had the time to skype with anyone yet. Or when I do, no one's online. Getting my phone today so, should make communication with people on the other side of the world much easier! :)

Just using this space to record my journey. As I've learnt from my literature lecturer, a reflective journal is always helpful. 

p/s: must remind self to eat fish and chips in Beeston! :P and kudos to anyone who got the 'Journey to the West' pun!