Chair.Woman: What have we done for our country lately?

So I had 'fans' who noticed I haven't written in days..more than 10 days to be exact. Truth is I have been 'busy inspired' (I'll tell you what that means) but also uninspired to write. Takde mood lah! as a typical Malaysian would say. Anyways, 'busy inspired' is a term I coined for myself when work is overwhelming but in an interesting, inspiring way that it gets me so preoccupied, I pretty much don't do any philosophical observations about anything. No reflections, no stories so no writing. But I am back today!

It's also been a busy week of reading and watching more news, speculations, theories and stumbling upon social 'pop up aviation experts'. Admittedly, some of the comments I read from so-called 'Malaysians' and neighbors alike made me feel angry (pissed off is more like it) and even disgusted.

I had an interesting discussion with a bunch of people from diverse career backgrounds and nationalities earlier this week. There seems to be a common observation that Malaysians have become a bunch of whiners and complainers. We are unhappy over everything and do not talk enough of the good things. Now, some of you will relate this to politics but put that aside for now, this is beyond politics. Try and do a bit of 'social listening' *read trolling through social media like FB, Twitter* and I think you would agree.

Then someone said that he comes from a country relatively under developed than Malaysia and he asked, when did you guys gain independence? Someone in the group said 1957 (thank God no one got it wrong!). The guy then said, well my country gained independence in the 1950s too and if you guys try to compare where Malaysia is with countries who gained independence about the same time are today, you should be proud of what Malaysia has achieved, how good your life is and how much opportunities your children get.

I didn't do my comparison, intentionally so, because deep inside I want to believe he is right. Because I am proud and whilst I may not be a seasoned traveller like Ian Wright, I too have seen enough places to be proud of where I call home.

Nationalism is second to religion. If we don't have it, why call ourself a citizen of the country. Look at Japan and how, even when not threatened, wherever they are, they rally behind nationalism. Imagine if you try and threaten them.. But some of us, when the foreign media mocks us, without checking facts or knowing what goes on, we join them in the mockery! Just because it is an opportunity to capitalize on a weak moment. Sad.

It's not that I believe challenging ourselves and others isn't good. I believe in that. I believe we should always challenge the status quo so we don't get complacent. What is bad is bad, what is wrong is wrong but we can do this constructively. And drive that change where you can (even behind keyboards, effectively). But I also believe when something is good, it's got to be acknowledged. This is true in business too.

So, before we utter our next complaint let's ask ourselves. What have we done for our country lately?