Malaysia My Homeland

Love is in the air. As we walk on this lovely land, our loves are growing. Everywhere we go; there will be smiling faces all around us on this blissful land. We feel at home, we feel secure and we feel warm in the heart. This is the feeling we all have when we are living in our country, Malaysia, the land of love. There is and old saying that goes a man that fails to love his country, love nothing. Love towards country is the basis for any citizens to always feel the pride and happiness living in the country. As in Malaysia, we are very blessed because our country is the land of amazement making it’s easy for us to fall and stay in love with it. The amazing history of our warriors and the faces of inspirational youth and the bright future are among the top reason why many Malaysian are very proud to say Malaysia, my homeland! Boom! Boom! The eerie sounds of gunshots and bombs blowing up have always become the background of our grandparents’ night and days in the dark years of Tanah Malaya. Life was hard back then, my grandfather used to told me that the only food they have is tapioca or merely bananas. It is said that in 1948 during the ‘Curfew Era’, foods become so scarce that only 3 tins of rice are allowed for each family per week in many places like Cherating and Pantai Beserah, Pahang. Students come to school with pale faces and many would faint during class hour due to starvation. So many others had died because of illness like malaria and high fever. Nevertheless, the sounds of war may be eerie but not demolishing the spirit of the youth back then. My grandfather had proudly written in his diary, with his beautiful cursive handwriting mix occasionally with smartly written Jawi words,
“They may take our homeland with force, but they never can force our hearts, they may burn our houses down but they can never burn our spirit to ash, they may even kill us, the youth of Tanah Malaya, but our spirits will never die!”
Reading his words had given me shivers