It takes a great tragedy to make a person realize how much one might take a treasured part of one's life for granted. For me, it has happened this year in 2014 - of how much love I have in my heart for the country I was born in. I have now lived more than half my life out of Malaysia - yet my heart belongs to my country. It is where I remember the earliest, simplest and joyful moments of my innocent childhood, of my parents and siblings when we were all young...when childhood past-times were often played outdoors climbing trees, riding bicycles/running up and down steep slopes (and often ending up in the drains with bruised and bloody knees and ankles!) and jumping off our family garage pretending to be Superman with our neighbourhood friends! I still remember the joy of Hari Raya Puasa, Chinese Lunar New Year, Deepavali and Christmas as days of joy when all of us schoolmates regardless of race or faith greatly looked forward to - for we all visited and celebrated these festivities together! The great times I had with schoolmates regardless of the colour of our skin or of our faith. This is the Malaysia I treasure in my heart till today - the Malaysia that over the past twenty-five years or so have become a distant, blurred memory due to elements of society who seek to create hatred, fear and religious division within the social and multi-racial fabric of Malaysian society - our country that once took great pride in the concept of "MUHIBBAH" which is the Malay word for "Harmony".
All I read on the Internet these days are things I wish I never had to read about - of making Malaysians of different races and minority faiths to feel that we do not belong! Well, then, were not our parents and families and many friends of mine in Malaysia paying the same taxes and toiled their best to make Malaysia a success for their children and grandchildren? Was there only one race and faith that brought about the development of our country? To be frank, I have increasingly felt relieved that I am no longer living in Malaysia. It seemed in such a depressing state of affairs - with a weak, uninspiring government and a free-run for "fools" getting plenty media coverage to cause ever-increasing disharmony and disrespect and fear among the Malaysians of different races and faiths.
Well the double air tragedies of MH 370 and MH 17 have shocked the world and more so Malaysians of all walks of lives and faith. These shocking and unbelievable air tragedies have finally brought every Malaysian together - united in grief and prayers! How truly, truly tragic that it is only with millions of tears and nearly 500 lives lost that we, Malaysians, could once again feel united regardless of our race or faith.
I know I was personally shocked when I first read on the Internet the disappearance of MH 370 and all the great confusion. It is even now unimaginable to me what the grieving families are going through. When I read on the Internet once again the Breaking News that another Malaysian Airlines aircraft - MH 17 - was shot down by a ground-to-air missile over Ukraine, I recall feeling numb and very distraught. Why? Why? What is happening to my country, Malaysia? Being an ex-airline staff, I could somehow imagine what the Malaysian Airlines management and staff must be going through. The service on-board Malaysian Airlines is one of the best in the world - they are always friendly, courteous and helpful. All of us Malaysians should take pride as they were our "Ambassadors" in the skies.
I could not concentrate on my work for a couple of days...I had this question running through my mind and heart - "What is God asking of us Malaysians? What can we learn from this? How can we move forward by not giving up?" For the Christians, there was the added issue of the word "Allah" being banned from being used in the Malay-language bibles read by the indigenous people of East Malaysia and in the Holy Mass that was celebrated in the national language. This issue has been going through various rounds of the Malaysian judiciary - with as yet no clear ruling that applies across the whole of Malaysia (both East and West Malaysia).
As I closed my eyes and prayed for some words of spiritual consolation, I "felt" these words in my heart - "Pray! What is important is for everyone of you to pray to God for Malaysia, your country and your people. It is the only way." At that point, it really dawned on me - how many of us Malaysian Catholics - bishops, priests, religious, lay people have made it a point to pray daily in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour a day and also to intercede for all that our Catholic Church is going through? How many of us are offering and celebrating daily Holy Mass for the Protection and Blessing of our Catholic Church in Malaysia? Are most of us like "Martha" caught up in activities instead of being discerning like "Mary" who had chosen to do the right thing - sitting at the Feet of Jesus and listening to Him? Are our priorities right? We need to search our own hearts - what are we really doing for our Malaysian Catholic Church?
We, as Catholics, have failed to turn to God in our time of need! We need to get our priorities right. As people of God, there is no point in winning the battle through the legal route only - we need to win the spiritual war and that is gain justice for our religious freedom on the wings of all our prayers! in the spiritual warfare we are facing, it is a time for prayer and fasting - seeking God's Will to prevail for the peace of our nation, Malaysia. Are there any 24-hour Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration prayer room that has been set up so Catholics in each city can come to intercede not just for Malaysia but for all the countries facing wars and persecution e.g. Iraq, Syria, Palestine and so forth 24 hours a days? Are there any parishes in Malaysia willing to do this for the Glory of our Lord? There are so many needs of the world, of our country and of personal intercessions to be lifted up to God. I truly believe that a "prayer of intercession" is the greatest gift we can give to others - for the power of our prayers can go forth to the farthest corner of the world!
Let us, in this time of national tragedies and darkness, become a "People of Grace & Light". As we pray for God to heal our land, may He give us, Catholics, the grace to have a heart that is willing to intercede with great love for all Malaysians and nations around the world to live in joy, peace and harmony. We all believe in a God who loves all mankind. It is impossible for our One True God who created all mankind to be partial - everyone of us is a child of God!
Please do listen to the soul-touching YouTube music video "LORD HEAL OUR LAND" by Jamie Rivera which is at the top of this post. It is a beautiful prayer song. May God's Spirit empower us!
"In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven"
(Matthew 5:16)
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