Kunta Kinte Is Alive!

I have been preaching about "Slave Mentality" for a few days now. It is not due to my ill feelings towards anyone in particular. Rather, it was all out of frustration. And, this writing is not intended to put blame on any specific person or persons and I mean no harm to anyone (or maybe I do). I am just angry about the whole enchiladas, the society as a whole. It’s just that it’s becoming a stumbling block to any progress that we are working hard for. All the sweats and tears of some people means nothing and worth not even a cent with the people that subscribe to the mentality around. What more if they are the leaders. It’s counter productive to the max, to say the least.

Surprisingly, it happens in a work place surrounded with self-proclaimed high performance culture like mine. And, for some pathetic reasons, it even exists in our so-called modern society, in our beloved nation that has been a free and independent state for half a century.

All these while, even without the assistance of a sophisticated refrigeration system in the early days, the mentality has been well-preserved. We still keep it intact until today even when the Portuguese, English and Japanese colonials are long gone.

Come to think of it, the pre-requisite is rather simple. If you are a Malaysian, no matter what your origin and race is, chances are you have this mentality. Either it comes to a surface or submerges under your thick skin cover, that's another story. It is hereditary or genetically being passed down by our fathers who got it from their fathers who got it from their fathers. Maybe it started way back in 1511 when the Portuguese armada set down their sails, lowered down their anchors and decided that they should colonize and take possession of the Malay kingdom of Malacca.

Being Malaysians, it's this mentality that stands in our way to be extraordinary person and our ability to create extraordinary results and achieve greatness. It's this slave mentality that prevents each one of us from standing tall as a free and independent man. With this mentality clinging on to our minds and blocking our view of ourselves, we always play ourselves small and at the same time, appear small and weak in the eyes of others.

We worship certain people of certain race and we bow down to people born with certain color of skin or hair. With the mentality, we are deprived of our ability to make our own decision without having to think what others think about it.

If we are not born with blonde hair and blue eyes, are we of lesser beings? For all that matters, all men are created equal in the eyes of God. And, no matter what shapes, sizes and colors we are, we breathe the same air. And, we have the same color of blood flowing underneath our skins.

Whoever we are, it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee. It’s time to wake up and look in the mirror and be proud of who we are. It’s time for us to stand up and be counted. And, pinch yourselves hard and believe it: the colonial era is over.

Chazz