Merdeka and Merdeka!!

I have been asked a number of times what MERDEKA means to many of us, not it's literal meaning but what does it invoke in your psyche because we are on the eve of it's 51st Anniversary and yet many seemed not to care about it's connotation to our freedom and harmony. Once upon a time, the brash and abrasive leader across the Causeway sarcastically passed a remark which pointed a picture in not so palatable term that our Independence was given on a silver platter. He was looking from the context of other Nations who were born after a revolution of sorts either in the physical sense or otherwise. India and Pakistan were born out of a struggle by freedom fighters such as Mahatma Gandhi and Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Indonesia fought for it's Independence from the Dutch when the Japanese Occupation ended. The Republic of the Philippines saw the famous Jose Rizal fighting the Spaniards and later the Americans for it to be free, and there's a score of examples in Asia and Africa to support such a view. How did we achieve our Independence? Was it true that we never had to fight the British? I think LKY was upping the ante when he said that, we got it for a song! Flash back to the British Intervention with the signing of Pangkor Treaty whereby the State of Perak was the first to be invaded without the British having to go to War, albeit it's their gunboat policy of going up the Sungai Perak and firing a few salvos to frighten the daylights out of people like Tok Sagor and Dato' Paduka Maharaja Lela and Co. How did the Ghee Hin and Hai Sans could be so strong as to defy the Sultan of Perak by going to War with each other? Was there a conspiracy between the Secret Societies and the ordinary tin-miners to sabotage the Sultan so that they could be the reason for the British to send their gunboat perhaps only to find that they could not go further than Sitiawan because the river silted so badly owing to the tin mining tailing's that were thrown into the river. In fact LKY said the history of the Malays is nothing more than that of Piracy. How does the Malays could simply swallow the machinations of the Secret Societies and brought anarchy in Larut. What happened to Dato' Panglima Bukit Gantang and Long Jaafar who collected the taxes on behalf of the Sultan. Did they become "Pirates" as well and pocketed the money and left the Sultan not only speechless but hopelessly vulnerable to the skirmishes that dotted Kinta Valley, surrounding Ipoh and Taiping. Not only in Perak the miners fomented trouble, but also in Selangor and Negri Sembilan and to a certain extent its fallout in Pahang where the war of succession was also fought by rival groups of Bendahara Wan Ahmad and Gang. Now it seemed that Malayan History was full of Wars but not fighting for Independence, but Wars over who could have control over the rich resources and power to command war materials such as man and weaponry. So when the nascent movement that was sporadically found in various parts of the Peninsula, it was just a repetition of those tribal and clan Wars in the Malay States which led to the British Occupation, neatly referred diplomatically as " British Intervention" so that the picture would look as if it was the Malay Sultans who requested the British to come and thus sold their rights of becoming an absolute ruler under the pretext of bringing peace and order to the people. When did we start to demand Independence from the British? Looking at past history, written records seemed to point out only to Dato' Onn Jaafar who managed to abort the Malayan Union in 1946. In point of fact it started before the Second World War, when the Malay Left started it's campaign to demand self-rule but they were ignored by the British and later detained as collaborators to the would be invaders from the Land of the Rising Sun. I think we ought to rewrite our history, so that our future generations are aware how the twist and turns made us look so silly and we just swallowed everything with what was written by historians who were schooled by the British and strengthened their influence by brainwashing the Malay Elite in the so-called elitist institution known as "The Malay College" who boasted to have been the Alma mater of our distinguished Rulers and National leaders such as Tun Abdul Razak and Co. The silver platter which was referred to by LKY was in fact a myth and it was meant to belittle our people of the Malayan race. Malaysians must be proud that the Independence which we received from the British in 1957 were not fought by guns and bullets, but nevertheless we had gone through thick and thin and it was through the wisdom of our forefathers such as the Tunku and his counterparts in the Alliance Party and also those who agitated for freedom from the colonial yoke whom the British looked upon with suspicion such as Pak Sako ( Allahyarham Ishak Hj Mohamad ), the late Ahmad Boestamam, the late Burhanuddin Al-Helmy and many others who suffered internment whom I had forgotten to mention here were also responsible to bring to bear the call for freedom and Independence. So when the crowd on Dataran Merdeka shouted hoarse Merdeka! we know that many had given their lives in order to secure our Independence or Merdeka but they never for once asked for anything in return, except to be remembered that they too contributed a lot to what we enjoy today. May ALLAH bestow upon their souls Peace and Blessings so that they are contented because we the latter generation could live in Peace and Harmony with ourselves and with others. Merdeka and Merdeka should go deep into our souls and let it bloom into a united Nation with a common goal and direction so that we could be counted upon as one of those who not only achieved independence but had to struggle for it, albeit thorugh our brains and not just brawns. MERDEKA!