I have been planning a trip to Thailand for almost a year now. As in, I wanted to go a year ago, but things keep happening until I managed to slide in a short vacation to the great country recently.
Thailand, to me, is a spiritual journey. It is the place where I had my second great realisation, my second enlightenment or some bullshit like that.
I also have to keep my wits about me to avoid attracting unwanted situations. I'm a veteran, but a bit rusty, so will have to be aware all the time.
I leave Malaysia at a time when I think the country needs more positive reinforcement. We have so much to be thankful for, and much to do in order to make the country a better place to live in for all.
I believe that well-entrenched and respected systems like in the States and Germany (but do Malaysians want to pay up to 45% tax?) and the inner peace, acceptance as well as friendliness I find in a lot of Thais would be a good combination.
Bersih 3.0 was just that close to being a bloodshed, and while there are people who would benefit from that - extremists like Perkasa, DAP, PIS-M and whoever - in general it would have been a prelude to destruction.
There are lots of wrong things in the country, but not all of it is bad. Like there are lots of great things in the States - like libraries that open till 2am and Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia. He is American, right? Whatever) - there are are also lots of bad things as well - sub-prime mortgage, Republicans in general, Scientology, Mormonism.
The advantage that Malaysia has is to keep what is good and ditch what is bad. Many paths have been laid out before us. We just have to choose which variation of experience we want.
As I write this, I am making preparations not just for the Thailand trip, but for my retirement. I am 32 years old and I have maybe 10-20 good working years left to do stuff and prepare for my death.
May God have mercy on man and machine.
