I Digress on Impulse: Sabah Tanah Air-ku

Sabah Tanah Air-ku
Negeri Kita yang tercinta
pemuda-pemudi semua marilah
banugnlah bersatu semua
marilah bersama serta maju jaya
Merdeka Sepanjang Masa
Bersatu Segala Bangsa sentosa
Sabah Negeri Merdeka

I chanced upon an ordinary woman, a great lover for her State. It was such a
divine appointment, and managed to chat with her about the movie she produced
about Dr. Sun Yat Sen in Penang. And more... a lot more...

this, surprisingly, was what transpired :

10:04 PM me: I'm very inspired by the amount of energy you put into
subjects of humanity

10:06 PM Mai: Thank you very much for your nice words. I only try my
very best for Penang and to bring back the honour for those
who had contributed to change the history of China.

10:11 PM me: not only that, i notice also that your work revolves also
around the larger realm of culture: that is around tourism,
education, caring for the not so noticed, entertainment...

10:12 PM because that caused me to think about why i don't like my
hometown Sabah being meddled by commerce driven developments

and then it feels as if you're showing me one of the way i
could help "make my home"

9 minutes

10:23 PM Mai: The best thing to solve the dislike of those happening
around us is not to seat aroudn but to think what we as
individual can do with our own resources. When we changed
ourselves we might change others around us...

5 minutes

10:28 PM Mai: The more support we have, we might be possible make
something changed, even if we failed, we knew that we have
tried our very best instead of seating around and hopelessly
hoping others will doing. It has to start with ourselves
first, not others...

10:32 PM me: i have two more years to complete my tertiery studies.
and i need to learn a lot to understand what shapes culture
and states. Will you teach me?

10:33 PM Mai: I would love to share with you some of my thoughts...

Yet, there is never a simple answer to that.

You may start out by asking yourself, "What can I do for my
State and People?" Your heart will give you some answers...
others cannot tell you what you can do...
Only you have the answer...

10:41 PM me: i know... i think i need examples to work with, to let me
know that it is possible. possible to enrich my home with ideas
of acceptance, ideas of sheer creativity, the smell of art and
apreciation of it, a passion for meaningful aesthetics........

10:43 PM Mai: I never have any guidelines, I only explore all possibilities
by myself.

That is why, I could do what others could not.

yet, there is a ot we can read from the internet.

10:46 PM me: what if my ideals are just alice in wonderland?

10:47 PM and therefore irrelevant?

10:50 PM Mai: Walt Disney can created the real Disney world. If you
use your heart and work things with dignity and sincerity...
I had never made a movie before, but I did one!

10:52 PM me: dignity and sincerity..

Mai: Yes, only that you can win trust and believe in others
to support your works.

10:54 PM I know I have some good reputations in the past, and people
knows that I love Penang so deeply.

10:55 PM I have good track records...

10:57 PM It was over many years of works to establish that reputation.

11:00 PM me: so your question to me is, "Do i love Sabah?" Do i really
really love it, or is it just a fragment of imagined infatuation
for another kind of "fame"?

11:01 PM do i love it?

11:03 PM Mai: Yes, do I love it so deeply, that I am willing to sacrisfy
myself for the best of it?

or the better of it?

11:06 PM It was not that easy when first started... especially to ask
people to put their money into your project.

11:08 PM me: you're so courageous

11:09 PM Mai: I have the most courageous teacher to support me all the
time... Nadia Comaneci...

11:10 PM She guided me to aim for the impossible and give my very best
all the time.

I am really lucky in that.

I miss home.

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Published December 5, 2007
:o)