The August 2007 Writing Contest

[darktyranitar]

Right. So here's a bit of something I wrote for the 50th Independence of Malaysia. Thought I'd post it here.

EDIT: Word count: 2475 words

Merdeka!

"Without moral and intellectual independence, there is no anchor for national independence." - David Ben-Gurion.


“Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one…”

On the stroke of midnight, 31st of August 2007…

“Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!”

The sky was then filled with firework, as the street was filled with people, noise, and – for a brief moment – insanity.


Merdeka – freedom, liberty, independence. The definition and the scope of the word is quite wide, but for now, we shall look upon the independence of Malaysia (a country formerly named Malaya).


Come, let us take a walk down a road in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia…

It was ten in the morning. The street is busy as usual, filled with so much life and activity. It was that you noticed the different group of teenagers on the street: there was the gothic group – clad in Victorian-era clothing, and a lot of make-up – and there was the biker group – they are illegal motorcycle racer, or ‘mat rempit’ as they like to be called – and some a few who positively have a punk-ish look – Mohawk style hair, or no hair at all, with mean and serious looking accessories – and an assortment of the none-of-the-above.

You approach the latter group, thinking that they can provide you a good answer for this one question:

What does merdeka means to you?

You were quite disappointed with the answers.

“What, merdeka’s on the thirty first of August-lah! Public holiday what! (the word lah is something of a local slang, which is always used as a suffix. E.g. “I know-lah”)

While some, whom you notice was beaming with happiness, answered:

“Merdeka? Merdeka was yesterday, man! We’ve finished SPM yesterday! (SPM = an exam that is equivalent to high school final exam) Merdeka! Whoo-hoo! Merdeka!”

There you go.

Well… guess it won’t make much different whether you are asking the youth of… say, American, Saudi Arabian, or French (well, that is actually untrue; for starter, the date of Independence Day for every country is different, and secondly, merdeka is a malay word).

Excuse the nonsense there.


The year is now 2007. It has been a long fifty years since Malaysia has achieved her independence. The starting point of the invasion of a foreign force took place way before that – after the reign of Kesultanan Melayu Melaka (roughly translated as Malaccan Malay Royalty), which ended somewhere in the 1400s. First, there was the Portuguese, and after that, the British. They are no more than invaders who intend on monopolizing the Malayan’s economy as much as possible, and they did a good job at that.

There were of course a lot of skirmishes that took place – attempts to dislodge them from the Malayan’s earth – but they did not prevail. We then lived under their oppression, and for a while, all is quiet.

And then there was the Japanese, an altogether different type of invader. They were the one that wanted domination and territory; they intended on making a region that is free from the control of the western force.

The Malaya land, once bloodied from those small skirmishes, is once again bloodied.

*****

Shortly after midnight, September 8, 1941. Kota Bharu, Malaya.

A group of Indian soldiers were guarding the beaches of Kota Bharu. It wasn’t clear what they were doing during the patrol – they could be talking, discussing on the possibilities of them encountering the Japanese army, or they could be smoking, trying to keep awake during the patrol.

Then, towards the distance, they saw three large shadows that were just close to the coast of Kota Bharu; they could make out that they were ships, as they dropped their anchors.

This was the IJN – Imperial Japanese Navy – transport ships, and they are landing approximately 3 Km from the coast of Kota Bharu. The ships are the Awagisan Maru, the Ayatosan Maru and the Sakura Maru, and combined, each of them carries approximately 5200 troops from the Takumi Detachment, commanded by Major-General Hiroshi Takumi, who was on board IJN transport Awajisan Maru.

But that was not all; no, there were more. And they were advancing…


It was an intense battle. Japanese casualties in the first and the second wave were heavy, but they made it through after destroying two pill box positions and supporting trenches.

Despite their heavy resistance, the Indian troops were forced to retreat.

*****

This is a story of the fallen brave hero who fought till the end of his life. This is a story about Lieutenant Adnan (1915 – 14th February 1942).

*****

The British and the Malay soldiers fought at the Battle of Pasir Panjang, at Pasir Panjang Ridge in the Bukit Chandu (Opium Hill) area for two days (12-14 February 1942), amidst enemy shelling and a shortage of food and ammunition.

Lieutenant Adnan led a 42-strong platoon from the Malay Regiment in the defense of Singapore against the Japanese invaders. The battle went of fiercely, and all sorts of weapons were used, including hand grenade and automatic weapons. A lot of soldiers died and a lot more were wounded – Lieutenant Adnan included – but with his steel will he held on and told the others to fight to their death.


According to Corporal Yaakob – one of the survivors, who was later awarded with the Medal Of Gallant – in the chaos of the battle, he fell on the bodies of the fallen soldiers. He was spared from the kill by pretending to be dead beside his dead friends, where he then witnessed how Lieutenant Adnan was killed in a horrific event. He watched how the victorious Japanese army then dragged the platoon leader away before putting him in a sack. The Japanese army then tied him to a cherry tree where he was then bayoneted to death. One source even spoken that his neck was slit.

After the fight ended, the Japanese army forbid anyone from lowering the body to be buried, and no one else dared to. A few sources even stated that the mutilated body was then burned to ash, but it was not really confirmed.


To those who died defending the country: rest in peace.

*****

The Japanese manage to triumph in the battle, as well as other battles in other South East Asian countries. They begin to rule Malaya starting from September 1942.

It was at that time that men were no different from monkey, being forced to climb up coconut trees with a katana prodding their back. You fail to climb, you lose your head. You fall down, the Japanese army will laugh for a while before they’ll either chop your head off, or, if they’re feeling merciful and manic, stab the katana down your buttock (or so I’ve heard).

As for the women, a lot of them got married early, because they know it is a lot safer to raise a family than being out there; they have heard enough stories on how the Japanese army would sometime rape young woman, and how the woman is sometime killed later on.

It is also the time when a lot of Japanese word was introduced (they even forced us to learn the Japanese language at school). One of the most common used phrase if ‘bagero’ (bloody fool). The Japanese army says this to us a lot.

It is not a surprise if a child was to say ‘bagero’ to a passing Japanese army, assuming that he can run real fast or hide real well after he had just spoken the word.


And then we received the news: Hiroshima and Nagasaki was bombed by atomic bomb. The deliverer of the instrument of destruction – nicknamed Fat Man and Little Boy – was a US bomber plane, Enola Gay. Thousands of lives perished, and those who survived to tell the tales bear scars from they received from that day (mutation, due to the radiation,

The Japanese army quickly retreated from the South East Asean countries; it was the Malaya’s citizen turn to shout ‘bagero’ to them.

One step closer to independence.

*****

And so the Japanese left the Malayan earth for good, but all’s not well, for the Communist – who were brutally hunted down during the Japanese reign of terror – had came out of their hiding place to wreak chaos. They were even worse than the Japanese; they killed more ruthlessly, and without remorse.

Some say that the earth is just as bloody as it is when the Japanese are here.

But by the combination of both the British and the Malayan force, peace was finally restored. The Communist was forced to retreat into the forest, where they slowly faded from existence.

That was when the local decided that they had enough being ruled by a foreign force, and so began the quest to achieve the independence of Malaya. It was a very long process, filled with a lot of planning, talking and compromise – after all, Malaysia is a multi-cultural country, and every race wants their rights in this country to be secured – but surprisingly, there is barely any skirmishes going about. In the end, British gave in, and Malaya was declared an independent country, starting from 31st of August 1957 and onwards. Malaya would then later be called Malaysia.

The earth definitely looked a lot greener now.

*****

Yes, that was indeed a historical event. The Malayan has managed to achieve their independence from the British – and it was done in a peaceful way, without any spill of blood. Alas, people have forgotten just how hard life was for us before we gained our independence; for them, the story of independence was something you only look upon when history’s exam is just around the corner, or during the 31st of August

Then they go to sleep and wake up late the next morning – it is a public holiday on the 31st of August, after all. After they woke up, took a bath etcetera, they will turn on the TV (there was nothing else to do, right?)

They saw that the National Day Parade at Dataran Merdeka was broadcasted live, the street filled with people – the one involved in the parade and spectators alike.

In their mind, they are laughing silently. “Good thing it’s not me out there, parading for the rest of the day, under the hot sun…”

*****

Meanwhile, in Palestin, a child has just woke up from a wonderful dream, in which he dreamt that he was living in peace with his family and friends.

His name is Fathi, and he has a dream to be a doctor, but that does not matter anymore.

He had lost everything: his home was mowed down, his father was killed, his mother and sister were taken away, and his friends – those who weren’t killed – had moved out along with their family… not only that, he has also lost his eyesight after a sniper’s bullet went through his head.

He noticed that it was somehow a lot quite than usual… He began to felt his way around – he had slept in his friend’s house – and called out for his friend. There was only the echo of his voice bouncing back to him.

Even if the boy still has his eyesight, he would not have noticed the sniper that were lining up on top of the buildings. The sniper have gotten rather restless these few days; he had witnessed his fellow comrades taken out by suicide bombers and AK-47 alike, and he had took the life of those killers as well. But yet… he felt as if it was not enough. He need, no, wanted to wipe out the entire Arabian race. And the boy came just at the right time.

He grinned, and with ease, he pulled the trigger. The bullet caught the boy’s head, and the boy was killed, along with all his hope and dream. Later, only a patch of red earth remained to show that someone was killed right there.

*****

We are living in an independent country, free from the oppression of others. We are considered lucky; we do not have to be a refugee in our own country, and we don’t have soldiers patrolling our neighbourhood, with their guns pointed on our face.

But still…


The earth is definitely bloodied once again. You might not notice it, but it is starting to gain a red hue.

If you look at Malaysia, you’ll see that it is true: you can hear news of how woman and girls are brutally raped, before they are killed mercilessly. You can hear news of how sick and twisted the mind of some people, resorting to brutal killing method that includes burning, exploding, and chopping up the victim. You can hear news of how people are killed by snatch thief and robbers.

Which goes to show that physically, they are independent, but mentally, they are not.

Watch what the youth of today are up to.

What do you get out of motorcycle racing (and illegal at that)? You’ll either die in an accident – with your brain blown out on the road – or the other envious biker will beat you to death over your so-called ‘impressive stunt’. Dead.

What do you get out of becoming a junkie? You take some drugs in. Then you take some more. Then you want more. You begin stealing, robbing, begging – all for more money to get yourself more drug. In the end, you’ll either die either during your trip to steal the electrical cable (they fetch a decent amount of money) or from AIDS. Dead.

What do you get by having sex with your boyfriend? You become pregnant, he’ll disappear, and you are left with a baby and a suspicious family. You quickly aborted the baby in secrecy. Dead.

*****

Somewhere deep in a rubber plantation out of the reach of the city, not long after midnight of 31st of August…

A group of ‘mat rempit’ were taking turn in raping a girl they had just hitched with them after their ride at Dataran Merdeka. Merdeka? Yes, this is merdeka: freedom to do anything they want!

They didn’t think of the implication of their act. All that they ever thought through the whole event was how good it really felt, and how they can’t wait to do it again. In the meantime, there’s the syabu (a local name for crystal meth) to keep them company.

Merdeka indeed.

*****

They say that you’ll never miss something until it’s gone. If that is so, then it might take a war or another invasion to remind us the importance of independence and the tribulation suffered by those who strive to ensure that we earn a peaceful surrounding.

If the earth is symbolized as a canvas, this is what it would look like: a green and brown area that is barely distinguishable among blood that was splattered all over it.

Our blood.