Marhaban Ya Ramadhan... n MERDEKA!!

Marhaban Ya Ramadhan.. As the dawn of the ninth month in the Islamic calender begins, Muslims around the world come together to celebrate this glorious month. The month of love, charity, peace and glory... A month the signifies the power of being a Muslim and a servant the The All Mighty. A month of forgiveness and full of bless... I would like to wish all Muslims a happy and blessed Ramadhan... May all our 'ibadah and prayers be blessed by Allah....

On a lighter note... Yesterday was my nation's Independence Day... Although on a much smaller budget (due to budget cut in the govt sector, hehe..), the celebration was not "small" at all.. What I mean is, it was a success... Malaysians of all ages and races flocked to Dataran Merdeka to witness the country's 51st birthday.... And was I there..? Nope, just watched it through the teley... hehe... Well, I was still in my dorm room, and was on my way back home that day, after settling things in my room.... Anyway, I have promised my mom to accompany her to watch "Ismail, the last days" at the KLPac in Sentul. It was a theatre musical about the second deputy prime minister, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman.

Dubbed as "The Reluctant Politician", the musical, as in the title, focused on his last days... The person who came out of retirement to help the hen prime minister, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman after the terrible massacre of May 13th. A person who sacrificed his family, his life, his health, for his love for his nation. A person who later became the second deputy prime minister, but died (of cancer) as the acting prime minister. Truly a true leader who is reluctant to give up when his fellow countrymen needed him the most.

And throughout the whole musical, I was wondering if these type of people still exist today. People who would literally risk their lives for the nation, their family for others, their wealth and time for nothing in return, but the peace of ones countrymen. Are we truly still a nation who we regularly claim to be proud of, usually during the "Independence" month? Are we still really together to fight for the well being of the state, or just a show of respect during the parade? Are we still UNITED?

Nowadays, politics have turned into somewhat a popularity contest, a speech full of lies, full of promises that will be broken the minute they are in power, of accusations without anywhere near the truth. "Conspiracies" and "Cover-Ups" within the political circle. What is there left for us to believe? Who are we to believe?

Anyway, back to the musical. Its was a great success, I mean, even I was touched. To think a man of such heights also had his problems with the missus. And to top it all of, he was dying of cancer when he took the post of deputy. Talk about passion... The cast were great, lovely numbers and lyrics were amazing. The actors put on a spectacular performance, which made me want to go back for more...

(U know, i could write more, but since i had procrastinated writing this piece for two whole days, I have forgotten what is there that I wanted to include - So typical of me - )

Thus, I would like to end this by congratulating the performers and crew of "Ismail, the last days" for a stunning production.

A bless full Ramadhan to our Muslim countrymen, and enjoy the bazaar... We do so love our food.. At least that is one thing that we all agree on...

And a Happy 51st Merdeka to Malaysia... May we always live in peace and harmony, regardless of our backgrounds, as One Nation, a Proud Nation, of Brotherhood, as One Single Family Under The Same Roof...