In Nationalism Module not very long ago...

I remember how we had to write a slogan to describe Malaysia. The rule was that we could not use the existing taglines for Independence Day, etc., etc., etc. I grabbed some magic pens and doodled this on my sheet of paper :

Translation :

WE'RE FREE. WE'RE ALIVE.

We were supposed to do this in a group (Ling, Donny and Wan were part of my group), and yes, they did consent to having something fresh, but I finally came up with this.

As soon as we finished our little banners with slogans, Cikgu Rahmat and the team leaders (I was team leader for Group 1) drew lots to see who would go first to present. And thank goodness, I was last. :P

From what I had noticed in the previous presentations, as well as ours, every slogan comes with its strengths and weaknesses. A slogan is pretty much an ideal of how we perceive things. "1Malaysia : People First, Performance Now" is an ideal which we wish to work towards, and even if we see only minor changes, Malaysians reserve the hope that we will soon see a movement where people are put first. Similarly, in "Kita Bebas, Kita Hidup", freedom is an ideal. The freedom of assembly, expression and the many other freedoms which are meant to be enjoyed by people are goals which we have to work towards. Of course, when each slogan is put to the test, people are just ready to scrutinise its weaknesses. I admit that I was in that bandwagon once, but now, I prefer to be a casual observer and see how far that slogan works. Is it a political ploy or a heartfelt effort ? That is for us to see.