Why I Love MalaysiaBy Mariel NonisLink: http://marielnonis.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-i-love-malaysia.html
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A lot of people have asked why I love Malaysia, and I had that question thrown at me earlier today as well. Why? Why do you love this country that is so messed up? The politics are a joke, the education system is horrendous, it's not that beautiful, it's dirty, the people have no manners, transportation system is bad, etc etc complains around everywhere you go.

I know all these complains, I hear them every day, and not too long ago, they were my complaints as well. I'll admit it - like many other teenagers, I've grown up hearing my parents complaining about Malaysia, and hearing about its flaws. I've been encouraged to study hard and leave the country the moment I have the chance, because "there is no future for you here" and "You're wasting your time here."

Naturally, I grew up not having a deep love for Malaysia at all. I was very ready to just leave the country when opportunity arose. I didn't hate Malaysia, like some friends I know who display such contempt for the country, but I wasn't patriotic at all. It never striked me to be patriotic, honestly. Being patriotic was just the textbook answers you wrote about in your BM essays and Moral answers. No one ever talked about loving Malaysia - it was almost "uncool".

But God really changed my heart in 2009. I got involved with a prayer movement called MYPG, Malaysian Youth Prayer Gathering, and LYPG Melaka, Local Youth Prayer Gathering. What we did was basically meet weekly to pray for Malaysia, and for our state (there are LYPGs all around Malaysia) and to just fellowship with other like minded people who loved Malaysia. To be honest, when I first attended this, it was not at all out of patriotism, it was more for the prayer. But this is why I find Matthew 6:21 so profound. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

God does not say where your heart is there your treasure will be, which is what I always thought was the case. "Oh, I can't do it, la. My heart just isn't in it". It's a cause and effect thing. Placing your treasure (in other words, investing) somewhere is the cause, and your heart will be there as the effect! It's also like a quote from CS Lewis that goes "When you are behaving as if you love someone, you will presently come to love him." Same principle. Isn't that amazing?? Do you REALIZE the possibilities in this?? It means that we don't have to depend on our heart anymore! It means you can CONTROL your heart, do you know that?? You can choose what you want to be passionate about!

I found that by attending LYPG week in and week out, I came to really mean what I prayed. The LYPG prayers to see God glorified in Malaysia, people coming to know Christ in Malaysia, politicians with integrity stepping up and righteousness being upheld began to really be things that I wanted to see happening! It's easy to pray things without being passionate about them. For example, to pray for your friend's friend's uncle's baby who is struggling to survive won't be the same if it were your little baby sister herself whom you were praying for. Prayers become more passionate and mean more to you when it is something close to your heart. And that's how it was with Malaysia. I found that by investing prayers in Malaysia, I came to have a real love and passion for Malaysia.

Why do I love Malaysia? Because God loves Malaysia. God's heart is for the nations. The Great Commission looks at nations. The end will not come until nations have been reached with the gospel (Matt. 24:14). Is Malaysia a nation? Of course it is. That means that Malaysia is on God's heart. Do we want to be men and women after God's own heart? Like David? Yes, most of us do. So if you are chasing God's heart, you don't have to go too far. Malaysia is one of those nations. And God has placed us here in THIS nation for a purpose. There is a reason why you grew up to know the people here, to share in the culture, to KNOW your country. God has purposes for you in this country, and until He specifically calls you out to another nation for HIS KINGDOM'S PURPOSES (not for your own selfish comfort of having a better life), then your place is right here!

Do I love everything about Malaysia? Of course not. Far from it. I don't like the public transport which tends to be unreliable. I don't like the dirty politics, or the dirty places. I don't like the racism, and the injustice in some of the systems in Malaysia. I don't like how our Sejarah books lie, or how our education system tends to spoon feed us, or how our newspapers are controlled, and a lot of other things, but bottom line is this - I LOVE MALAYSIA. And because I love Malaysia, I will not stand for what is wrong in this nation. I will work towards improving it wherever I can, or I will shut up about it. I can't STAND it when Malaysians just condemn and complain about Malaysia and do NOTHING about it! Or when I hear about people who can't stand the politics in Malaysia, but how DISGUSTING it is that they refuse to be registered as voters! That is just completely contemptible, that they dare to go around condemning Malaysian politics and Malaysian politicians and do not even vote. What gives you the right to do so when it is your sin of omission that has brought corrupt leaders to power in the first place? Just one example.
We are Malaysians, if we don't love our country enough to change what we don't like about it, then who will? If everyone who is capable of change, capable of doing some good to their society leaves, then who will stay? We are forming the Malaysia that we love or hate by our decisions. And how spiritually offensive it must be to God for Christians to proclaim that there is no hope for Malaysia. Our God is a God brought hope to the world, and the world includes Malaysia. Are you saying that God is too small to work in our nation? And why do we run? The highest percentage of people who migrate from Malaysia are sadly all Christians. That, maybe, is why there is no hope. Because we are all running. How absolutely tragic!

Yes, I love Malaysia. I may leave the country, just to let you know. But be informed that if I do, it will only be because God calls me elsewhere. There are enough people in Malaysia to bring about national transformation - economically, socially, spiritually. Malaysians just need to be awakened. People call me idealistic, but I really don't think so. It's not impossible.
The other day I was coming back from Vietnam by MAS. As we were landing in KLIA, the pilot announced, "to all tourists visiting Malaysia, have a wonderful time in our beautiful country, and to all Malaysians, welcome home." I had a wonderful stay in Vietnam, and to be honest, I wasn't looking forward very much to coming back to all the demands of school, but the moment I heard that, I just felt this unbelievable joy overwhelming me. I have to say, I didn't expect it, but that was the beauty of it. I am SO proud to be Malaysian, to have somewhere I can call my home. Calling somewhere home has also become a privilege I've realized after being in an international school. I've met so many people who are of different nationalities who have lived in Malaysia for years, or those who have moved from country to country. Yet while living in Malaysia they can't call themselves Malaysian, as they do not really know the place or the culture. A girl once said "I'm so jealous of you guys. You have somewhere you can identify yourselves with", and when I asked a guy once who had moved from place to place where "home" was for him, he said "I don't know..." I found this quite sad actually. To not have anywhere which is home for you. To not quite know where you belong (though of course as Christians, we know that our permanent home is heaven in the end and everything is still temporary). I am glad that I am Malaysian. I am glad that I know that this is where my home is, and I will stand up for my country.