2015 had witnessed many ups and downs, tragedies and achievements. Now, let’s look back on what 2015 has given us to remember about:
The deaths of eminent people in 2015
Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore breathed his last on 23rd March 2015. When The Federation of Malaysia kicked Singapore out in 1963, Lee Kuan Yew governed Singapore in such a way, it left Malaysia in the dust. He made Singapore a First World Country and Asian Tiger. Superstar Rajinikanth’s superstar is Lee Kuan Yew.
The passing of India’s missile man, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam happened on 27th July 2015. The great scientist and human being who loved youth and children, believing that they are the future of India left an unparalleled legacy. His impact on youth was telling in the recent Chennai floods – youths took rescue and relief operations into their own hands, fighting corrupt politicians who wanted to further their political mileage using the disaster.
The Indian female comedian and character actress Gopishanta or her screen name, Manorama@Aachi Manorama passed away on 10th October 2015 due to multiple organ failure. Holding a Guiness Book of Record for her prolific acting career – having acted in more than 1,500 films, Manorama created a niche for herself.
Malaysian political happenings in 2015
GST was implemented to squeeze more blood out of ordinary Malaysians on 1st April 2015. Toll price and public transport fares also saw a hike besides skyrocketing cost of living.
1MDB scandal and Najib’s 2.6 billion donation from Pak Arab. 2015 was abuzz with both issues.
Naade naasam pandriye yaa..
Muhiyiddin was kicked out from being DPM in the cabinet reshuffle.Zahid Hamidi replaced Muhiyiddin.This happened because Muhiyiddin openly criticised Najib on the 1MDB issue.
MIC power tussle. Datuk Palanivel and Datuk S. Subramaniam declared themselves as party president. This culminated by the coup of the former and the reins of MIC going to the latter. Eppo paaru MIC le inthe comedy.
Bersih 4.0 happened and guess who decided to drop by the rally? Tun Dr Mahathir and Datin Seri Hasmah. Of course Bersih 4.0 was declared illegal but it didn’t stop Malaysians from rallying. There was no tear gas and water cannons. I think Najib watched Mudhalvan and dealt with Bersih 4.0 the way Aranganar dealt with the riots. People and the organizers were arrested in the wake of Bersih 4.0 though.
Low Yat issue – a skirmish happened in Low Yat mall which quickly turned racist and politicised. An issue, which could have dealt with in a non provocative way, was blown outta proportion, causing Malays to remind non Malays who’s boss here. It didn’t help with the politicians’ clamour of launching Low Yat 2, where all the traders will be Malays. While Malays and Chinese were embroiled in cold war, the Indians couldn’t care less since it’s not their problem. Low Yatt issue represents fractious and tenuous race relations in Malaysia which are only getting worse thanks to politics.
Following Bersih 4.0, which was predominantly attended by Chinese and the Low Yat brawl, the Malays thought they should show the non Malays who’s the boss and organized the Red shirt rally. But, it only ended up in puppy shame as two Malay guys struggled to speak simple English when a newscaster from China interviewed them, going, “Potek, potek the Malay.” It humiliated Malaysia as a whole.
Happenings in Malaysian Indian community in 2015
2015 was an interesting year for Malaysians of Indian descent.
Tamil schools, as usual, kicked ass in international level invention, yoga and education competitions not to mention UPSR despite the deprivations Tamil schools endure which seems like perdition that is being reversed.
Alcohol free Deepavali campaign was launched in 2015 to promote the correct way of celebrating the religious festival, without alcohol consumption. Thaipusam 2015 was also polished and well managed without any macha causing turbulence – there was condemnation on how the women were dressed on Thaipusam though. Hope both will be followed through this year.
Rajinikanth came to Malaysia for shooting for his upcoming movie Kabali. Malaysia was in rapture when the man was here. It’s public knowledge that Rajini has a phenomenal fan following in Malaysia. The 2nd highest paid actor in India was in many states like Malacca and Selangor for shooting.
And, as usual, Indians were preoccupied by trivial stuff:
Kash Villanz supporting Geethanjali G for ministerial post evoked ballistic response from Malaysian Indians who went into a flurry of demanding apology from Kash and giving him the moniker, “Jing Cha mama” and “Planta Mama”. An unlikely macha fellow by the name Navin Jay rose to popularity after he made a video speaking against Kash mama.
Two idle ticket girls who commented on KL and JB boys created a commotion among Malaysian Indian social media users. Many were apoplectic on the girls’ comparison of JB and KL boys to the extent of making reply videos to reprimand those girls, particularly, the helmet videos.
Kalpana Bales akka rocked 2015. You either loved or loathed her..
A video showing 2 schoolkids hugging and kissing went viral on Facebook and made it into news and of course, since both kids were Indians, Indians lost their minds and took to social media to condemn the acts of the kids, claiming it’s moral decay.
Disasters and tragedies that beset 2015
Nepal earthquake which killed over 9,000 people
Syrian refugee crisis
Charlie Hebdo shooting
Mecca – tragedy in Mina, a stampede that killed more than 2,431 pilgrims
San Bernardino shooting by a Muslim couple, killing 14
Paris attacks
ISIS’ terror
Chennai floods that claimed over 900 lives
Malaysian east coast floods
Haze in Malaysia due to Indonesian forest fires
There you have it, 2015 recap. May 2016 turn out to be a good year for everyone. Happy New Year 2016!
