Merdeka Kah Aku?/Am I Truly Free?

[ENGLISH TRANSLATION BELOW]

Merdeka Kah Aku?

I

Merdeka kah aku?
Minda dijajahi budaya
songsang
Nadi berpaksikan
penindasan,
keangkuhan kaum,
agama dan
keegoan intelek
Justeru
Pembangunan entah
ke mana …
Dan kemajuan untuk
siapa?

II

Rakyat diibaratkan
bahan pertarungan
Dan petualang gah
mencanang
semangat perpaduan
Sambil membenihkan
kebencian dan
perpecahan

Mengapa kita harus
begini?

Mana gerangan
pembela sakti
Yang mempertikaikan
kepincangan ini
Mungkin lebih selesa
dan menguntungkan
jika bergesel bahu
dengan pemegang
kuasa dan harta

III

Ada bersuara, negara
ini sudah merdeka
kerana kekayaan
melimpah ruah
Meskipun begitu
tsunami kehidupan
mendedahkan padah
penghambaan,
kemiskinan,
kehampaan dan
keterasingan

Rakyat menggelitik
cemas ketika harga
melonjak ke langit
tinggi
Tabung dana kontang
dicengkam kebuluran
dan pengangguran

Maka berkecailah
suatu harapan dan
tenggelamlah
sebuah Impian

IV

Pondok berteduh,
tempat menumpang
rezeki dan kebun
sekangkang kera
Dirampas, diroboh dan
diranap lumat
Demi membelai gara
keangkuhan pelabur
dan kerabat terpilih
Kian mempertuhankan
kuasa, darjat, pingat
dan harta

Anak (janin) dalam
rahim ibu mengeluh
hiba
Kerana dibebankan
hutang piutang
negara
Meskipun belum lahir
di bumi nyata

V

Kesemuanya angkara
nafsu gerombolan
pemimpin durjana
mensucikan wang
haram
Dan menggondolkan
harta negara
Maka bermerajalelalah
budaya birokrasi,
korupsi, hipokrasi
dan kering hati

VI

Mana perginya
kasih sayang mu
kemanusiaan mu,
naluri keinsafan mu
dan amalan bertolak
ansur mu?
Bukankah awak
dianugerahi amanah
menjiwai keluhan
dan melindungi
kebajikan rakyat
Mangsa tersisir dan
tersepit di celah celah
sisa pembangunan

Ramai enggan
ngerti … tidak
mahu menjadi saksi
atas diri sendiri
Sibuk meraikan
kehadiran penjajah
tempatan alaf baru

VII

Maka disarankan
budaya pautan/
subsidi
Kian melumpuhkan
saingan, inisiatff dan
harga diri
Namun begitu
Warga nan lelan tidak
serik dengan umpan
politik menjelang
pilihan raya nanti

Maka, tanyalah lagi
pada diri sendiri
Merdeka kah Negara
ku yang tercinta ini?

Sedarlah, kembalilah dan hormatilah diri kerana roh mu sudah lama dilengkapi fitrah insani, kesedaran hakiki, intelek murni dan kasih sayang sejagat.

– nasir, Ogos 2025

English translation

Am I Free?

I

Am I free?
My mind colonised by corrupt culture
My pulse driven by
oppression,
racial arrogance,
religious prejudice and
intellectual ego
Therefore
Development leads
nowhere…
And progress serves
whom?

II

The people are treated as ammunition
for battle
And proud adventurers
proclaim
the spirit of unity
While sowing seeds of
hatred and
division

Why must we be
like this?

Where are the mighty
defenders
Who would challenge
these injustices?
Perhaps it’s more comfortable
and profitable
to rub shoulders
with those who hold
power and wealth

III

Some claim this nation
is already free
because wealth
flows abundantly
Even so,
life’s tsunami
reveals the consequences of
servitude,
poverty,
emptiness and
alienation

The people fret
anxiously as prices
soar to the
heavens
Savings drained,
gripped by hunger
and unemployment

So hope withers
and dreams
drown

IV

Humble shelters,
places to earn
a living and plots
no bigger than a monkey’s stride
Are seized, demolished and
crushed to dust
To appease the whims of
arrogant investors
and chosen cronies
Increasingly worshipping
power, status, medals
and wealth

Children (foetuses) in
their mothers’ wombs
cry out in sorrow
For they bear the burden
of the nation’s
debts
Though not yet born
into this world

V

All this is the work
of lustful gangs of
corrupt leaders
laundering dirty
money
And plundering
the nation’s wealth
So bureaucratic culture runs rampant,
corruption, hypocrisy
and heartlessness

VI

Where has your
compassion gone,
your humanity,
your instinct for awareness
and your practice of
tolerance?
Were you not
entrusted with the responsibility
to embody the people’s grievances
and protect
their welfare?
Victims left behind and
trapped in the gaps
of development’s remnants

Many refuse
to understand… unwilling
to bear witness
to themselves
Busy celebrating
the presence of
new-age
local colonisers

VII

So a culture of handouts/
subsidies is promoted
Increasingly crippling
competition, initiative and
self-respect
Even so,
Weary citizens are not
deterred by political bait
ahead of the coming elections

So ask yourself again:
Is my beloved
nation truly free?

Realise, return and respect yourself, for your soul has long been equipped with human nature, true awareness, pure intellect and universal compassion.

– nasir, August 2025

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama

1. Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
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