Malaysian Day?

 Malaysia was created on 16th September in 1963 when Sabah and Sarawak joined the peninsula to form Malaysia. We are of course starting to celebrate and it is a National holiday next week. The flags are flying and the children are parading in their national costumes celebrating the wonderful multicultural society that we're led to believe is Malaysia. However I realise that there are many undercurrents and racial tensions that the government does its best to hide. Many of the older generation of Sabahans remember when it was Northern Borneo and they only spoke Khadazandusun and English. The Sabahans had great faith that when they joined Malaysia that their wealth in forestry and oil would benefit everyone. The truth is that instead of the 5% they were promised in 1963 it only ever became 2% and they have watched Peninsula Malaysia reap the benefits and many peninsula Malaysians coming over and taking the top jobs. A lovely young teacher, I work with, was telling me why she had given up at the University of Malacca. She said she had been made to feel like a "poor country cousin" and everyone laughed at her Sabahan accent and then just to crown it all she is a Christian. In Ranau area there is 50% Christian and 50% Muslim and amazingly everyone is very tolerant of each other's religion. Apparently it is due to the missionaries in the early twentieth century making a deal that they wouldn't be in competition and they would concentrate on converting villages so hence there are still clusters known as Christian and Muslim villages. In Ranau the mosque, Anglican church and Budhist Temple are all on the same road.