The Difference Between Malaysians And Americans: An Observation

One score and some years ago, I sent a demo tape containing original patriotic songs in English to RTM, the national radio and TV broadcasting arm of the Malaysian government, and was told, upon having it returned to sender, that it was the government's policy that songs in which God was mentioned by name were forbidden, or in local slang, 'haram', originally an Arabic word that has found its way into the national language, Malay, where it sits firmly entrenched as if, were you to ask the locals, it has been there since birth.

Being the foolish sentimental dreamer I was who believed in a God so almighty that nothing alive on earth took a single step forwards, backwards or sideways without God knowing about it, being the architect responsible for all of creation from the cradle to the grave, every song I sent to them had God mentioned by name in them in one form or the other, as in 'May God bless Malaysia in every way', mostly.

Rejection, being something to be taken with a pinch of salt, or otherwise be depressed forever, never mind. Moving on.

Apparently, the government's view was that whatever gains the country made in its efforts towards being welcomed into the elite club of modernized, developed and advanced countries was to be accredited to its own hard work and strength of its own two hands, figuratively-speaking, a measure of success that had nothing to do with God whatsoever.

The best of luck with that, Messieurs and Mesdames, the best of luck with that.

For comparison's sake, let's take a peek at America, the U.S. of A., number one in the world in terms of economic strength (Malaysia is at number 38 spot), number one in the world in terms of military strength (Malaysia is at number 42 spot), and although not the strongest in the world in terms of currency strength (number 10 in the world with Malaysia at number 33 spot), the American dollar is generally regarded as the world's most powerful currency, is the most traded currency in the world at almost 90% in the FOREX market with a global daily average trading volume of about $6.6 trillion and currently enjoys primary global reserve currency status whereby a reserve currency is a currency held by central banks in significant quantities.

As this article is a comparison of national greatness and strengths as opposed to weaknesses, failures or afflictions, we shall not include in our deliberations natural disasters such as landslides, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes or even homemade disasters such as mass shootings and the like. Moving on.

God Bless America, the nation's unofficial national anthem, is sung everywhere on every occasion from schools and churches to ball parks and stadiums by millions and millions of Americans, all in unison.

Millions upon millions of Americans calling upon the good Lord to bless America, the land they love, in song, in one big united voice reaching up the heavens, tell me, how will the good Lord be able to turn a deaf ear to that? Will he not take note? And will he not react, favorably perhaps? 

Leaving aside Uncle Sam's perceived significant role in guaranteeing the safety and well-being of little brother, Israel, militarily-speaking, that runt of a nation whose people were scattered to the winds and also hunted down as one did with hunting dogs and shotguns for being stiff-necked and disobedient as their forefathers had been, according to biblical prophecy, who for the sake of David was promised a stump would remain, again, according to biblical prophecy, leaving this insignificant unproven theory aside, indeed, it does seem that God has blessed America, their home sweet home. 

Free The Mind

Once upon a time, there were two primary school classmates, A and B, who loved playing video games.

A's parents were open-minded, forward-thinking and liberal, so whenever A paid more attention to playing video games than to his studies, they did not mind. As long as his school grades were good, which they were, A's parents did not mind at all. In fact, they even encouraged him indirectly by upgrading his video game-playing equipment with the latest game consoles and the like in the form of such presents on his birthday and the like, seeing he was good at it.

B's parents were the opposite: narrow-minded, backward-thinking and conservative, so whenever B paid more attention to playing video games, which he too was good at, than to his studies, they intervened, violently at times, to put a stop to it. In their opinion, only doctors, lawyers, engineers and other such professionals had a future, certainly not video gamers.

This was the pattern of their lives from childhood until adulthood, when they graduated from university with master degrees, computer science in A's case and medicine in B's case.

Although B pursued a career in medicine, a discipline he graduated with honors in, to the delight of his proud parents, A, however, chose a different path, that of a professional gamer who, as destiny would have it, made it to the top of his chosen profession as one of the world's wealthiest gamers in the region of millions by his twenty-first birthday.

B, however, was not so fortunate. His small, modest chain of self-owned clinics went bankrupt due to an unexpected loss of business whereby a surge in good health enjoyed by healthy people pursuing healthy lifestyles and pharmacies offering proxy-doctoring check-ups and medical advice were the main factors.

Moral of the story: Break the mold, dispel the myth, free the mind.