Be thankful to live in Malaysia

AS our beloved country turns 55, we must truly thank God that we live in a beautiful country called Malaysia.

When we see the turmoil and trouble in so many countries in the world, struggling with natural disasters, in continuous strife with their neighbours and within their own communities, unstable politically and economically, we must indeed be truly thankful to God for such a nation as Malaysia.

Yes, earlier in our history, we faced colonial rulers in the form of the British, Dutch and Portuguese, and were under Japanese rule for a few years.

We were briefly threatened by our neighbour Indonesia, and faced the Communist threat from 1948 to 1960, but since then it has been very peaceful.

Considering that we had a very serious communal crisis in 1969, we have come a long way.

With this new government of hope, and a change in direction towards accountability, integrity and transparent governance, we are definitely on the right path to recovery and restoration.

Yes, we do still have an identity crisis, as to who we truly are as Malaysians, whether race or religion comes first, or nationality and ethnicity, but these things don’t matter.

We are individually who we are, whether Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban or Punjabi, whether Muslim, Buddhist, Taoist, Christian, Hindu or Sikh, whether rich, poor, white, brown, yellow or dark, but we should all be grateful to be Malaysian.

Ask any foreigner, whether here legally or illegally, and they will tell you what a lovely country we live in.

Ask those who have travelled extensively around the world, they will be happy to touchdown on Tanah Airku.

Whether it is the climate, food, people, amenities, towns, places to visit from forests to beaches, this is undoubtedly one of the best places to live and retire in.

God has been kind, keeping typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, volcanoes and other natural disasters from us.

We have also been free from wars, civil strife, famine, hunger and pestilence since independence, and our economy remains vibrant.

There is no better place in the world than “home” and home is Malaysia.

We are thankful to our rulers, leaders and people, for everyone’s role in nation-building and fostering harmony and unity.

Sayangi Malaysiaku!

KH SNG

Kuala Lumpur