I could recite the newly introduced Federal Government National Principles of the Nation ( written by bureaucrats), thoroughly enjoying the efforts to unite a society of various origins, beliefs and backgrounds, ostensibly through common values of love for a young country formed from the end of colonialism.
I even won a primary schools award for some competition in the declared national language, even if I cherished the so many other languages to speak and write in, at home, with extended family of relatives, socially and when communicating with people and passer-bys on the road.
In my childhood, I was less conscious of racial differences and already enjoyed the variety of food and culture from residing in a land blessed with the contributions of migrants originating from different places. I was not told much at school or outside school hours of the Peninsular's Indigenous inhabitants, with low numbers living in remote rural corners, not even having an opportunity to see or meet them in real life.
I was born after the British colonists left. Their influence and heritage were still embedded in everyday matters of life, in the building architecture, place names, significance of rule of law and in the discourse of education.
English language was inherently taken granted by me as an international language of technology, geopolitics, art, science and economic growth. I still could not realise the role that Mandarin language escalated to in these contemporary times. My social networks were on a emphasis of Western civilisation not anticipating the rejuvenation of things Eastern.
American entertainment, news, philosophy and propanganda dominated my growing up years. The glory of the British Empire, even if she had already dismantled, refused to leave the pyschology and adoration of the adults I encountered. Overseas, there were strong stirrings of the impact of the Cold War on a stage pitting democracy against communism, of left wing versus right wing, of human rights freedoms versus extremism, of domino collapse theories and surging nationalism.
One evening, the perceived sense of orderliness and improvement in my society was shattered by riots, violence, gas lighting and abhorrent display of divisiveness in a few urban hubs of the country I was born in.
My eldest brother had been on a train to the capital city to attend university. Police had to escort him and his fellow passengers at the destination rail station for safety from the rampaging mobs. Rumours, fear, uncertainty and disbelief rose in the hearts and pulse of those who stayed home to keep away from the violence reported happening on the streets. My sense of innocence about the world and my society was shattered.
How would my society react to this landmark episode?
Would this be grabbed by the horns to resolve the underlying issues, fractures and problems?
Some say the colonists, before granting independence, had already embedded the divisiveness and nurtured the flames of dissatisfaction amongst the different races they ruled over for so long.
If the fissures and cracks were already there, could they have not been repaired? Or those in power in the newly formed Federation very likely had different ambitions and plans.
And as they say, the rest is history.
My aspirations, love and sentiment for the country of my birth took an inevitable beating in due course.
Cikgu Othman at Francis Light School nurtured my handling of the national language - and I still have find memories of him as my teacher at an important stage of life.
I still recall how happily I rode the bicycle to the Penang Free School each day, with a classmate whose father worked at the nearby naval base. Green Lane did not have the congested traffic one experiences today.
And my nation of birth is not the same one as in my childhood, changed beyond what I can fathom.
Note - Independence was granted by Britain to Malaya on 31.8.57. Malaya, with Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore, created the Federation of Malaysia on 16 9.63. Singapore left this Federation on 9.8.65 and became an island republic.
#yongkevthoughts