I have a lot of pride being a Sarawakian, and trust me, it shows as I have had people coming up to me, saying that “Hey man, you have some hell of ‘Semangat kenegerian‘ “or “State-hood spirit” i guess it should be called in English.
To be honest, it doesn’t really bother me because as I said before, I am a true blue supporter of the Sarawak football team, and I’d have this huge heart-felt feeling every time my state achieves something big and enormous. Its like a feeling of pride with a lots and lots of happiness inside.
Maybe some of you would say, i don’t have the Sarawak jersey in any of my wardrobe collections… and maybe some would argue that I don’t actually show my patriotism by flying the Sarawak flag during national day, or by sticking some miniature flag on my car. Well, that’s up to you to judge. For me, its not how you show off your love for something… its how you do things for something you love. One could claim that he is the most patriotic guy in Malaysia by using the Malaysian flag everyday, playing ‘Negaraku’ in his car, and even declaring he has memorized the whole Malaysian constitution, but then again…. what’s the point if he is also the first one to seek asylum when Malaysia is in arms with another country?? Talk about loving your country.
Well, leaving that statement behind, I’d like to point out this article on Iban’s in Sarawak. No, its not about the plight of the Iban people, but rather those Ibans’ which joined the Sarawak Rangers back in the 50’s to 70’s. If you are an Iban, I am quite sure you’d feel a sense of pride while reading this article by LT COL (R) RIZAL ABDULLA of Taiping as he, in full length praised the bravery of the Iban soldiers in those good old days. He mentioned about their loyalty, and also their honesty in service which I actually, and honestly find really lacking in us nowadays. Although the article does revolve around the the Iban people, but the title, and the fact that Ibans in Malaysia originate from Sarawak makes me once again proud to be a Sarawakian. Its just like when the Iban Maybank advertisement was on TV a year ago, I felt my heart swell.
Arhhhh… looking forward, Merdeka a.k.a Independence Day is just around the corner, and altough its not really the independence day for us in Sarawak, we do gladly join in to celebrate Malaysia’s 51st aniversary for the sake of being in Malaysia. Nonetheless, the actual date of our independence, as most of us Sarawakians know is the 16th of September, and while maybe some are looking forward to this 45th independence of Sarawak from British rule, I guess, I have to admit I am more towards looking at whether the newly established, Anwar Ibrahim based Pakatan Rakyat can overthrow the ruling Independent Font (BN) party.
Hmm.. A week more to Malaysia’s Independence day. I think I’ll go out somewhere this time… breaking my normal routine of sitting in front of the TV, and admiring people shouting “Merdeka!!!!”.. Maybe….