Malayan Proverb ~ Now, why can’t Malaysians appreciate what we have?

Dear fellow Malaysians,

It’s quite heartening to see our nation’s cultural heritage being appreciated by Western writers for at times I feel so disgusted to come across some of our fellow citizens end up being half-baked impersonators of foreign culture and they make quite a fool of themselves in their cockeyed attempts to be something that they obviously are not!

I was reading some reports online when I came across this article on US President Barack Hussein Obama Jr by C.J.Maloney.

He was lambasting the US President for the unprecedented act of a US President bowing to foreign emperors and kings.

What caught my attention was the usage of one of our nation’s famous proverbs which he had translated into English and posted right at the very top of his article.

‘One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind.’

~ Malayan Proverb

The original in Malay is ‘Hutang emas boleh dibayar ; hutang budi dibawa mati!‘

To me as a Malaysian blogger, I am very proud and pleased to see one of our nation’s proverbs be accorded such respect by a foreign blogger and well established writer such as C.J.Maloney.

He blogs for History News Network, an online portal for the Center for History and New Media, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, Virginia 22030, USA.

To have a Malay proverb be recognized and appreciated by a foreign writer and blogger such as C.J.Maloney is to me a good refreshing reminder for me as a blogger not to let my fellow writers and bloggers here in the Malaysian blogosphere be left out in keeping alive the cultural treasures and heritage that we have inherited.

There is a literary treasure trove amongst us that we can adopt and use in our daily bloggings.

I have written before about the living legend of a connoisseur of Malay Pantun here, the celebrated Tengku Nasaruddin Said Effendy, who has authored many books on the authentic original Malay Pantuns from the glorious heydays of Malay Literature taken from the many annals and legends of Malay folklore and written history.

To me, the Malay Literary Heritage is something to be treasured and studied upon for it contains the many valuable links to our nation’s past and probably holds the key to the many issues which the current Malayan Peninsular inhabitants face in the volatile era of undergoing cultural, physical and progressive change of the Malaysian people.

Sometimes we never realize and appreciate what precious literary treasures we have amongst us until it’s gone forever into the mysterious realms of past histories.

Only those who know how to appreciate such literary gems of the past will strive to uncover its values and preserve them for the benefit of the present and future generations.

Those who are oblivious to what I am referring to here can just be summed up as those who miss the forests for the trees but then again, I am sure that amongst the multitudes of folks living today here in this peninsular which was once heralded as the ‘Golden Chersonese‘, might still exist some Malaysians who are well aware of my subject in this posting and will rise to the occasion of coming together to help save and preserve our nation’s heritage in their own websites, blogs and other online or offline realms.

Insya Allah.

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