Merdeka 2025: Holding Many Truths, Holding Each Other

Rain Lee
2 days ago
2 min read

Merdeka 2025: Holding Many Truths, Holding Each Other (31st August 2025) by Rain Lee Lin Jun

Selamat Hari Kebangsaan / Merdeka, Malaysia. 今天，我们一起庆祝。இன்று நம்மோடு கொண்டாடுகிறோம்.

I’ve been thinking about what “merdeka” feels like in real life, not just as a word on a poster. For me, it’s small, daily choices that add up: the way we speak to each other, the languages we keep alive, the foods we share at 2 a.m., the right to disagree on mundane things without being enemies and the courage to apologise and grow.

What I’m Grateful For This Merdeka

Our languages. English, BM, 中文, தமிழ், Kadazan-Dusun, Bidayuh, Iban, Punjabi and all the beautiful dialects and creoles like Hokkien, Cantonese, Peranakan Siamese, Peranakan Baba Malays and Nyonya Chinese (Baba Nyonya), Peranakan Kristangs and of course the Orang Asli. We don’t just translate, we transcreate who we are.
Our right to gather. To sing, to pray, to speak, to celebrate. True freedom is not silence - it’s safe, responsible, compassionate noise.
Our everyday kindness. The aunty who keeps extra sambal “just in case,” the abang who helps push a random stalled car, the friend who texts “dah makan?” when you’re too tired to cook.

What Merdeka Asks Of Me

To listen more deeply. Not to win an argument, but to understand a life.
To make room. For people who look different, are born differently, love differently, pray differently, speak differently, and for those still finding their voice.
To do good, avoid harm, and keep the mind wholesome. (Yes, that classic Buddhist tripod.) Freedom without ethics becomes noise; ethics without freedom becomes fear. We need both.

A Song for the Season

I recorded a cover of “Setia”, a reminder that loyalty isn’t blind obedience… it’s choosing our country repeatedly by doing the daily work: showing up, paying attention, serving our communities, speaking the truth kindly, and fixing what we can touch.

Watch it here on YouTube: Francissca Peter - Setia (cover by Rain Lee) Lagu Patriotik Malaysia#Merdeka2025 #Malaysia

My Merdeka Wish and Prayer

May our policies be just, our speech gentle, our creativity fearless, and our compassion abundant. May we protect the vulnerable, uplift the diligent, and correct the powerful with wisdom. May we be brave enough to be kind first.

Selamat Hari Kebangsaan, Malaysia.

Malaysia boleh 💙💛❤️

Also, if this resonated, share it with someone who needs a soft reminder today. And if you want a soundtrack for your long weekend drive, my “Setia” cover is up.

Header image:

Paddy Close Up by Rain Lee Lin Jun

10/05/2023 5:40pm

Sekinchan, Selangor, Malaysia

Canon EOS M50 Mark II, JPEG

EF-M15-45mm f3.5-6.3 IS STM

20 MP / 6000 by 3368

ISO 160, Focal Length 45 mm, 0 EV

Aperture f6.3, Shutter Speed 1/200s