Federal Day.

Federal Day.

Amazingly enough, even after more than a decade in Kuala Lumpur, I still feel like a stranger here sometimes. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I don’t speak proper Chinese after all this time, or maybe it’s because I’ve never grasped the whole Muhibbah thing because I didn’t have childhood friends from different races (then again, everyone I know is racist in some way), or maybe it’s because I’ll always feel that I should be owed a little extra because I believe myself to be a little bit more special due to my background. Granted, I’m not wealthy at all, when you compare me to the people who should have what I’ve had, but at the same time, what I’ve gained in my lifetime has been worth so much more than they could possibly hope to attain in theirs.

This place still reeks of unpolished crudeness. You’ve got a set of the tallest buildings in the world, the world’s tallest flagpole (it still brings snickers to my mind when I think about it), but you’ve still got a large group of people who drive like they graduated from foot-pedaling rickshaws yesterday. You’ve still got people who don’t know the repercussions of littering (never mind about the birds choking on dumped plastic items…what about the smell of it all?); you’ve still got people who can’t be bothered to queue in line; you’ve still got people with the mindsets that co-operation is more of an obligation than a luxury.

More importantly, in the city itself, you’ve still got a massive class barrier that’s never going to be transcended as long as you have politicians who are willing to win the people’s votes but unwilling to do the people’s work. And this is where the true spirit of Muhibbah reigns; Malay, Chinese, Indian fat men who run around proclaiming great things for a country, but who can’t be bothered to take action for civilians desperately in need for help. As the whole Vision 2020 thing (Justin would say that it’s a great pun) comes to a head, how much further do we have to go? You can move all the squatters and the underprivileged to low cost housing units as much as you want, but the poverty line is getting lower, and the divide between the classes grows all the more larger.

There’s no stopping it. Rich Malays don’t care about what happens to the little people. The rich Chinese are too busy amassing bigger fortunes. And the rich Indians? It’s not like they’re really bothered about the progress of their own race as opposed to the progress of their own kind. The Federal Territory, for all its grandeur and sophistication, reeks of tastelessness, and is home to the world’s most uncouth citizens. Besides Singapore, of course. But that’s a totally different story.

Do you think I’m generalizing? I might be, but somehow, I don’t think so. One brilliant thing about KL-ites (and Malaysians in particular) is how critical they can be. There’re no hands-on people here; we have great ideas that never find a practical reality, no matter how feasible the idea is. And it’s basically because we have no voice; we can’t be bothered to give any effort to what we do. We critique, and then we sit back and wait for results, whilst doing nothing to make things easier.

And we forget. Promises made are not broken; only not kept. Which is bad enough as it is. People might cite logistical difficulties in helping everyone out, but in a place that’s renowned for tracking those who owe the municipality overdue parking summonses, even after years, can’t they use a bit of the resources utilized to accomplish that to make life better for those who need it?

I be a hypocrite, but for now, let me just say this:

All Federal Day does is celebrate the grandeur of the city of Kuala Lumpur and the mediocrity of the people living in it.

Prove me wrong, you fuckers.