Assalamualaikum,
So, there is still at least half an hour (at least at the time I’m typing this, that is) left of September 16th here, so it’s still not too late for me to wish you (all you fellow Malaysians) a very Happy Malaysia Day. Let us not forget the hard work and dedication our past leaders have put in and the measures that were taken to form what we now know as Malaysia, tanah tumpah darahku (literally translated into ‘where my blood spills’, lol).
This Malaysia Day, I would only like to say one thing.
Sapere Aude, Malaysians. Sapere Aude.
For those of you who are staring at the screen with a look that says, ‘Whuuuuuuuuuuut?!?!‘ (like I did when I first came across the terms two weeks ago), allow me to enlighten you (if you know the meaning, you’d get this lame joke. If not, well, let it be).
“Dare to be wise.”
“Dare to know.”
“Have courage to use your own understanding.”
Those are perhaps some of the phrases to briefly explain what Sapere aude means. In a nutshell, it basically means that we have to believe in ourselves and voice out our opinions. We’ll have to forge our own paths, to believe in our dreams, to go out and learn new things. It’s something along that line, if not everything I’ve just wrote.
So why did I say, Sapere aude, Malaysians? It’s basically my shoutout to the Malaysians, a call for them to come out from their shells, to stop being afraid of making mistakes.
A lot of the people I met in Malaysia are too scared to be out in the open. They are afraid of what other people would say and think of them. They are afraid of doing something completely new. They are afraid of changes. They rather sit back and watch other people do their work, and they rather wait for instructions and guidance instead of following their own hearts.
Come on. Speak up. Voice out your thoughts. Participate. Write. Choose a medium that fits your style (be it actively participating in forums, blogging, video-logging (vlogging), Twitter-ing or anything), as long as you use a medium to share your thoughts and opinions with others. Be open to criticism and learn new things. Explore. Stop waiting for instructions. Instead, forge your own path. Create a new journey for yourself, based on what you want out of life.
Just… Stop being so idle. Staying put in one place and doing the things that people expect you to do will not give you any extra happiness in life. Trust me. By shutting yourself out from the endless possibilities out there and only focusing on the things that people say you should be doing, well, that’s bull****. Who are those people to dictate you on what to do and what to join and what to say?
Sure, they might know better. They might have been through it and know the pros and cons of things. But are you going to let their past failures (if not successes) stop you from trying? What do you have to lose? You’re not ‘learning’ anything from sitting down and not doing anything. A failure can teach you so much more than that, so get up on your feet and go for it. Just give it your all. Stop being afraid of failing and try everything that you can. Who knows when you’ll ever come across the same opportunities again in life?
Sapere aude, Malaysians. It’s time for you to shine, so go out there and learn and do all that you can.