Human Right # 1 - We Are All Born Free and Equal

"We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it."

~William Faulkner

When a child is born the most concerning thing about it is it's health. Are they in perfect shape? Like every other baby born? Two eyes , two ears, one nose, one mouth, ONE HEART. It's almost like a mandatory determination for equality. A lack of any of these, or a deformation of some sort immediately singles out the child as an unequal, a damaged good. It's amazing, that as human, from the second of our birth, that although we were born free,we are deemed to be EQUAL.

But what happens to these other babies? These equal, perfect babies. Do they remain equal? Do you require an answer to that question? Two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth, one heart. But DIFFERENT MINDS, DIFFERENT PEOPLE. None the same. So what is this EQUALITY we speak of? If we are free, then why do we find ourself caged to this word?

I have a friend who likes blue. I hate blue. I have a friend who HATES mint. I love mint. Do you call this equality or contradicting opinions?

EQUALITY IS THE FREEDOM TO BE DIFFERENT.

I have this age old belief that we were all placed her for a reason. It does not matter what race, what colour, shape or size we are, our differences make us equal and we weren't born to be trapped by stereotypicalization, but instead, to BREAK FREE from is.

This is our right.

You have the right, to be whoever you want to be.

You have the right, to be proud of who you are and who you want to be.

You have the right, to love and care for whoever you want, no matter what race or what gender.

You have the right, to seek for respect and equality and no one, can take your liberty away from you as long as you have done nothing wrong.

You have the right, to make this world, a better place.

This is because, you were born free and you were born EQUAL.

The Countdown.

Good afternoon Malaysia :) It's 2:43 pm right now and I'd just like to sneak in a Blessed Easter wish to all my Christian friends out there. I find it amazing how my passion for writing was resurrected on the very same day they believe Christ was !

Now, if you were to shift your attention to your left of my blog, you'd see a list of human rights. These are YOUR HUMAN RIGHTS.

For the next 30 days, I'll blog each day about a different human right. It's important that we KNOW our rights, and most importantly when and where to carry them out. I'm going to take on a 30 day challenge of disciplining and dedicating myself to talking about our human rights, from my point of view, at the same time, helping everyone learn something new. Productive? We'll have to wait and see.

Baby Steps

All of us are placed somewhere for a reason. How ? I rather not question. But why? Well, that's a journey.

Some 100 years ago, my late grandfather set foot on this mighty land, after a long journey from Afghanistan. He came here in order to perform the most basic task human MUST do, and that is to survive. I wonder if he had knowledge about the bond his grandaughter would form with this country.

The blood and might of an Afghan runs deep within my veins, but it's the heart of a Malaysian, that I truly take pride in. I never really get the term "bumiputera" (native). Despite the fact that my IC states I'm a Bumiputera due to the fact that I was born as a citizen and am a Muslim, I'm yet to appreciate the honour of being called one. Now don't get me wrong, I see that being a Bumiputera is somewhat rewarding and honourable, but it does not determine if I'd love my country more or less.

You see, I have this problem. I see everyone, as ONE. In my eyes, all of us live in this country are EQUAL. And in some beautiful ways, EQUALLY DIFFERENT. I mean, look at us. We all speak ONE common language despite having our own mother tongues, we all love ONE common category of foods despite being from cultures of different cuisines and we all have ONE common set of customs that we perform no matter where we are, no matter what our race is. But what's just amazing is, once upon a time, we all got together as ONE to fight for the most important date in history of Malaysia.

31st August 1957 - As ONE, we were FREE.

My grandfather, my Afghan grandfather was filled with gallons of water and placed under a plank of wood, STEPPED ON REPEATEDLY, TORTURED by the Japanese soldiers who visciously tried to steal this land away from us. But he fought on with honour, not allowing this country which was so new to him, slip from OUR HANDS.

He wasn't the only one. Thousands of others, Indian, Malay, Chinese, Asli were treated the same way. They didn't back down.

I don't put a blind eye to status and double standards, but I do look, at the bigger picture.

We're Malaysian and we all play a part in its past, present and future. In some sense, we're still under the "divide and rule" authority. But in many other senses, we religiously break through these boundaries and fight on for a better tomorrow for our people.

So for once, take a step back, and look at the bigger picture (but never turn a blind eye) . Be proud to be part of this miraculous race of people, be proud to be part of the RAKYAT.

De Novo

In the name of the Lord, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

After a while of contemplation (and lazing around) , I have gotten around to doing what I've wanted to do for a long time now.

I've finally created a blog, about what I love the most. MY PEOPLE. Time has always consumed the space for me to express my passion for the human race and the love-hate relationship I have with their individuality. But it should be an excuse no more.

I don't speak of what I do not know of. Everything I say shall be in regards to what is close to home. This blog, has a simple yet meaningful motto to me (and hopefully to the rest of you) ;

" From rakyat, for rakyat"

May my journey of words, thoughts and emotions I feel about the country in which my feet took it's first steps in , whose soil will one day consume my body, be blessed by the Almighty.