(Featured image from here)
It’s true, 2014 has been one of the most trying years for our country.
From dealing with the pain from the MH370 and MH17 tragedies, to the growing tension in areas we wish that as Malaysians we could stand with instead of against each other, 2014 has truly taught us one thing – it’s time for us to be united as one. Because as Malaysians, we are unique. So unique, we are one culture that was drawn from various different cultures from the races in our country. We are just as famous for our melting pot of local Malaysian food as we are for our arts and music.
Yes, Malaysian food. Not Chinese, not Indian, not Malay – but Malaysian, mixed foods from different ethnicities.
We are so unique, we share each others’ holidays e.g. Chinese Lunar New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali. We celebrate these holidays with each other – and not just because they’re “free for all” public holidays. We go visiting during these festive occasions, we extend wishes during these festive times, heck we even know the word to each others’ festive songs by heart.
We are so unique, we even speak our own language i.e. slangs that have been thrown in the mix over the decades but universally understood by Malaysians:
1. 10 Most Commonly Used Malaysian Slangs
We’re often very creative with the way we speak to each other. So much so that we throw in all sorts of slangs in all sorts of intonations. Tourists and foreigners are often baffled by the way a Chinese person calls an Indian person, “Macha”, the way an Indian person calls a Malay person “Bro” (brother), and the way we can end almost all our sentences with “lah” and still make sense. How “cincai” also to us, it’s a perfect Malaysian sentence “lah”, right or not?
More here.
2. The #Merdeka57 #MerdekaPickUpLines
Despite going through the turmoil that we went through this year, our fellow countrymen still managed to see a lighter side to this otherwise subdued Merdeka celebration. The #MerdekaPickUpLines trend started a few days prior to the actual Merdeka Day, with fun-loving Malaysian netizens contributing to a super cheesy but also super cute list of pick up lines that quite honestly, only Malaysians will understand. Seriously though, who else will get “Will you be the Jalur to my Gemilang?” if not us? Exactly.
3. Malaysian Films You Must Watch
..at least once in your life. Did you know that some of our local films have actually gone on to win major awards at some of Asia’s leading film festivals? Take 2011’s “Songlap”, for example, a film that touches on real-life Malaysian issues. Or 2004’s “Puteri Gunung Ledang”,the love story between a mysterious princess who lived on top of Gunung Ledang and the legendary warrior Hang Tuah. And what about this year’s “The Journey”, Malaysia’s highest grossing feature film, which sparked a travel frenzy among the Malaysian wanderlust-ers to visit all the filming locations?
See if you’ve watch one, or two, or all of these before. Heck, make it your personal little Malaysian films checklist!
4. Malaysian Pride On YouTube
Like we said, Malaysia is known for their arts and music but not just in the traditional batik-painting or “wayang kulit”-puppeteering sense. The new generation of Malaysians make art of a different kind – on YouTube. From singing parodies to original songs, shooting poke-fun-at-real-life skits to interesting video logs (VLOGs), our very own pool of Malaysian YouTubers have lots to offer! If you haven’t been paying attention to people like JinnyboyTV, Elizabeth Tan, The Ming Thing, Dennis Yin, and more, well..there’s no better time to start than now. Check out our Malaysian pride on YouTube here.
With that, Happy 57th Independence Day Malaysia, our home.
Tanah tumpahnya darahku 🙂
