Ke hadapan Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad,
Pertama sekali saya ingin mengucapkan selamat ulang tahun yang ke-90. :3. Nama saya Ibrahim Fikry Bin Abd Nasir. Saya pelajar tahun akhir Electronics and Computer Engineering at Massey University, New Zealand. Saya ingin kata kepada tuan sesuatu. Believe in us. Saya lahir pada tahun 1993. Saya dapat merasai polisi tuan yang mengajar sains and matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Saya dapat merasai kesenangan dan peluang pembelajaran hasil daripada pemerintahan tuan selama lebih 20 tahun. Saya mengucapkan ribuan terima kasih yang tidak terhingga kepada tuan kerana tuan saya dapat melanjutkan pelajaran saya ke luar negara.
Saya sedih melihat kenyataan tuan tentang negara kita Malaysia. Please don't lose faith in us. Me and the rest of my friends are the product of your legacy. And we WILL carry on your legacy.
During my summer break, I volunteer to teach at an orphanage in Malaysia. It has been 2 long years since I have set my foot on my own homeland. So much has changed during that time. I felt like I was in a foreign place. But the food is still good. Mamak terbaik! I decide to take a really meaningful summer break. I volunteer in a place called Home of Peace somewhere in KL. With my prejudice assumption that i was going to a Malay and Islam style orphanage. When I got there to my surprise it was an Indian home. Not only that, it was a Christian Home.
With my experience in dealing with other religion in New Zealand, I was quite ready to answer anything if suddenly the caretaker there started asking me about my agenda or something like that. I calm myself and re-check my intention and re-align myself to came there to help. They welcome me with open arms and I said that I wanted to help in any way I can. They assign me as a Science and Bahasa Malaysia teacher.
I ended up teaching them simple circuit light bulb. I got carried away with teaching as I have no experience in teaching and taught them a University level circuit theory and how light bulb works. They were a bunch of 5-15 years old with different capabilities. It felt kinda funny when they took interested in a University level education. They are brilliant kids. I also teach them basic Bahasa as they grew up in an English environment. So it is quite hard for them to catch up. They are at a different ages as well.
Towards the end of my summer break, there was the last class. The caretaker ask me to teach something. Something which I never thought I would have to teach. The caretaker ask me to teach about Islam. The caretaker also ask me to teach how to give "salam" and the meaning of it. She also wanted me to teach the Malay culture of respecting elders and such. She values the culture of respecting other race and religion. She even reminded me to pray zohor 1st as I was stuck in a traffic jam before coming there. And she also reminded me to not take to much water during wudhu as they are trying to save water. She said how can we live in a multicultural society in harmony when we don't understand each other. I was touched. I was really touched. The most memorable thing that I remember was when I taught about boys cannot touch girls and vice versa (to avoid unwanted things to happen). One girl said "Even boyfriend and girlfriend?" I replied "ESPECIALLY boyfriend and girlfriend!"
Another incident is when my good friend invited me to spend a day with orphans. This event surrounds Malay and Muslim. At that time it was school holiday and we brought the orphans to watch a movie. One interesting fact: The people who organize this event was the same person who was called keyboard warrior, the same person who posted negative comments about the current state of the country (which is somewhat true to some extend). Even though they posted nasty comments about the government, they walk the talk. They are a bunch of caring people. They donated huge sums of money to the orphans (and it was from their own pocket money ;-)). They spend the day with the orphans, hanging out with them. There was one kid who is really annoying making annoying jokes who insisted on wanting my hat. It was an Australian Cap which I bought when i was transiting in Melbourne to come back home. I made him promise if you want this cap, you have to study hard until you can extend your studies overseas in Australia.
At the end of the session there was a meeting. The lead organizer said to me personally, "Kau pelajar overseas doh. Kau patut buat something doh dengan Malaysia. Kau tak boleh tengok jer. Aku tahu kalau kerja kat overseas gaji lumayan. Aku tahu dan aku faham kalau kau nak tinggalkan Malaysia dengan keadaan Malaysia sekarang ini. Tapi tengok kita orang ni. Kalau pelajar overseas tak bantu, tak apa. Kami masih berada di sini. Kami akan terus membantu rakyat Malaysia. Tetapi jikalau kau ada sekali. Usaha ini akan lebih memberi impak. Ingat! Duit yang kau gunakan untuk belajar di sana adalah duit rakyat."
That statement hit me so hard. The point that I want to make is tuan. There is still hope. Don't you dare say that Malaysia is doom. We are here. The people who wants to fight for a better country is here. They exist. Media has not been very helpful. They only portray the crazy stuff that happens all around us. They just want a story that sells. To them its just business selling papers. Crazy stuff sells. That is a fact. People like to hear crazy stuff that is happening. But it is not their fault. The situation right now is critical. Anyway tuan, give me more time. I will try to set things right. I am at my final year now. A little more of learning and I will contribute back to Malaysia. I will do whatever I can to fix things.
P/S: This post may or may not reach you Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad. If it does not reach you, it is ok. The story that i told above can be a stepping stone for other readers as well. But if it do, don't lose hope :-). There is light at the end of the tunnel. Lupa nak bagi salam, Assalamualaikum semua.
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