I remember when I first read this tagline in the early 90s. All of a sudden, we were seeing it everywhere: Malaysia boleh! Apparently, it was first used in marketing a health drink (Milo), but became a rallying cry at sports events (the SEA Games, the Thomas Cup finals, the Commonwealth Games) to boost the Malaysian spirit from a perennial No. 2 mentality to a No. 1 winner take all mindset.

Malaysians had this built-in response to life. Generally, we felt that we were sort of … “Ok lah …” but that we could never make it to “Best lah!” so to speak. The Malaysia boleh! tagline was aimed at changing this second-best perception of ourselves to something a little more confidently aggressive. In the ancient past, ie. my childhood, this diffidence was considered an appropriate modesty. If someone praised you, you were required, almost by law, to respond with something like this: “No lah …” If you were asked how you were getting along, you would say, “Boleh tahan lah … Can do lah…” Post-Malaysia boleh!, the right response is: “Syabas!” or some such thing that raises the semangat.

It’s probably a good thing. I mean, no one wants to remain a sidekick forever. Sometimes, it’s nice to be the hero for a change. Occasionally though the winning streak in sports that Milo and other beverages talk about still eludes us. Well, everytime Chong Wei meets Lin Dan it happens. But these days, Malaysia boleh! has gone beyond the sporting arena. I mean, let’s face it. There are some sports we just cannot do, never mind whether we think we boleh atau tak boleh. These days, Malaysians have wised up. The semangat has spread far and wide to cover many other areas of excellence that have nothing to do with jumping, running, passing bola! bola! bola! about etc etc.  Think Mt. Everest and outer space. Hey, we memang boleh!

I guess we’re well on the way to ‘success’. Among younger folks, we see a greater confidence and ease about themselves, and less of the hesitation that characterised the previous generations. No more uncertainty, and no more doubt. I doubt that doubt enters any equation of life in their minds at all! The Malaysian psyche is changing to mirror the global competitive spirit: We’re No. 1! Malaysia in the 21st century is a different nation from the one that marked our independence from colonial rule in 1957, though that occasion, most significantly, did say to the world, Malaya boleh!

But I don’t know. I find that I miss the unassuming Malaysian tone sometimes, the lingering spirit from long ago that seems to speak a little more humbly about oneself, that suggests that maybe a little less of the cheerleading pom poms might do the soul real good … I like the old Malaysia a lot. Don’t be mistaken. I like the new one too. It’s very hip and happening. There’s a certain prevailing atmosphere that is upbeat, a little kooky, a little cocky, and frankly fun. You see it and feel it wherever there are young Malaysians around. And anyway, the media pushes it like crazy. I do like that. Young Malaysia is creative and offbeat. My kind of place …

But I miss the old Malaysia too. I miss the old easygoing ways, the sort of kampung “Let’s sit here and chat till the sun sets” take on life. It’s based on the premise that “Hey, I don’t always have to be No. 1.”  I miss the quietness and coolness of contentment most, because these days, Malaysians are always in a hurry … Have you noticed that? We’re in a hurry to get to success, I think, and we’re in a hurry to drink in everything out there that life offers because we’re winners and we can! Sometimes, though, in all the adrenalin rush, we forget to live …

I wonder if we could, this 31st August and 16th September, just sit down and think of a boleh! spirit that takes in both reflectiveness and creativity, that brings together something old and something new? Surely in the mix that is Malaysia, there is space for what used to be and what is, so that looking towards what can be will be infinitely more satisfying than just fulfilling a tagline from a competitive marketing campaign?