We are now only arguably emerging, albeit barely, from the final throes of one of the worst global economic crisis the modern world has experienced. It is now the time for rebuilding, to pick ourselves up from the mud, rinse through and be reborn. The land now is fertile, like the bush having been eaten up by a blaze so strong only Mother could create. It is a time when the ashes of our past is to be used to allow for a rapid growth of a new, stronger generation. It is a time when the greens born of hope sapplings begin to dot the scarred land as the smoke slowly disappears. It is supposed to be a time of slow unveiling of the butterfly that has long been encased in its silk.

The sudden jolt to the position of the world's economic superpowers have left some in disarray, and most unable to substantiate their current placings in the world rankings. Many are left with empty influences that are based on matters of the past, based on finances that are long gone, and based on promises that can surely never be realised. This is a time when the bold, the agressive, the dreamers, can reach out from the bottom rungs and climb up the very real new world order. This is the perfect moment for worms to become dragons. In a time when new alliances are made, new forts being build, new lands being claimed, new viable alternatives being forged, the underdogs will finally have their day to make their stamp.

In relation to many of our more developed neighbours and that of the western world, Malaysia is in a surprisingly good position amidst this economic scare. Our reserves are typical, our commerce have not been as badly hit due to our Asean and Asian fallbacks/links. Our strategic locations and cheap natural resources can be worked to our advantage: trade-routes, cheap tourism, cheaper labour, cheaper manufacturing.

I have to say, there is no better time than now to make a move and finally get a freaking slice of the world. While the rest of the developed world is slowly cutting their losses, rebranding and regrouping to reestablish their lost emminence, we should mound a thorough offense with our current upperhand. Sure, we won't be the new superpower, but we can finally set a strong and viable groundwork for it!

But of course, we are not doing so. Instead, we are still squabbling amongst ourselves, within ourselves. We are still arguing about the same things since before the British left our shores as colonials. We are still arguing who can be called Malaysians. We are still arguing about languages. We are still arguing about which race is superior. We are still arguing about sensitivity. We are still arguing about boundaries. We are still arguing about unfairness. We are still arguing about who the rightful minister is.

Really now. What we should be arguing is about how to take advantage of the Americans and make them strike a deal with us that is very much in our favour! We should be arguing about how to promote Malaysian tourism to the Brits! We should be arguing about how much we should be charging the Singaporeans for our services in light of their sudden vulnerability! We should be arguing about how we can now make the Ringgit:USD ratio somewhat closer to 2:1!!! Make international policies favourable to Malaysians for Malaysians. Sow the seeds now when the land has been tilled for us!

But we are not. Why is this so?

I think it has to do with what I term the Triple Revolutions. The recipe to a great nation is simple: politically, economically, socially. Every great nation has these three components freed of oppression. All these three components are separate, and each must reach its own independence in order for a nation to realise its dreams of greatness.

Malaysia (the then Malaya) went through a political revolution of sorts when it sought independence from the British. It was a radical change. Dear God, the Malays, Chinese and Indians were united to free the nation from the 'evil' clutches of the whites!! They, for a moment, are no longer at each other's necks! But this truce is merely a political one, and one that will subsist as long as there is a political need for it. Its goals are political, and nothing else. Nevertheless, this political revolution ensured our independence as a nation, it gave us our sovereignty. Hence the first of the triple revolution, the political revolution, given us our political independence.

We were then merely a land putting out ores tilled from our lands and raw materials planted and tapped. We were merely agricultural in the economic sense. It took us several decades and some major risk taken far beyond our comfort zone as small minded peasants to make our little mark on the world industrial map. Ridiculous (for that time) policies were made and stuck to, and a nation unknowingly held its breath for a frutiion that will only be realised many years later. History shows that these gambles taken were taken well. This risky economic revolution have transformed Malaysia from a mere agricultural nation to one that now produces its own car (albeit from 'stolen' technology), produces electronics, manufactures clothes, exports petroleum and so on. The second element of the Triple Revolution, the economical revolution, has gave Malaysia its economical independence.

This double revolution has got us to where we are now. We are now a nation that is sovereign, we make our own rules, we decide how we live and die. We are now a nation that is independant of other industrial nations around the world for manufactured products, we are no longer at the absolute mercy of the 'developed countries' in the economic sense. We no longer need to beg the British to buy our rubber, nor the Americans to buy our oil. They don't want it, their lost.

We are now a sovereign, and fairly rich.

But we are far from even being a dot in the world, let alone a superpower. Singapore, no larger than our Federal Territory, is often the name we use when describing to foreigners where we come from. They often remember Malaysia as that place they flew over from Singapore to Thailand. Even though we have greater ports than in Singapore with top-class facilities, the world would still rather go to the island. We have amazing natural resources, but we have no idea where they go.

We are a sovereign, economically independant nation with a pre-historic mentality. We are, in the literal sense, fuckwits. We are still not the presence our potential allows us to be because we let people fuck with our brains and are happy because they did not rob our decency by buggering us instead. We let our politicans tell us as a society what is allowed and what is not. We let the world tell us that we are inconsequential. We let our subconscious tell us that the Singaporeans are better than us just because of their kiasu nature.

As a society, we are not independant. We cannot think for ourselves. We have to let others do the thinking for us. We let others decide what is best for us. But hey, do you go to the doctors and ask them if your hand hurts?

It is high time that we embrace the third revolution, the social revolution. It is never too late. It is about time that we start thinking for ourselves, and to start telling the politicians who work for us what we want, what we need. To tell them straight to their asses (where most of their brains are) that we are taking jackshit from them. It is high time that we do not listen to people who tell us that we are racists, that we should hate our neighbours who are a darker or lighter shade to us. It is hightime that we speak our mind, voice our opinions, and fight for our rights as a free society. It is when a nation that is socially free from the grasps of selfish powers with vested interest that we can begin to flourish, where the goal of the political and economical independence garnered to be focus for the betterment of the nation, the society as a whole, across the freaking board.

It is high time that we come together as Malaysians, let our cultures blend beautifully like the ice kacang that we love. It is about time that we tell people that it is alright to put your arm around your brothers and sisters of a different colour and religion. Put our differences away.

Many may gawk at this. It may even be weird to some. That is why it is called a revolution. Only when we are independent in a social sense, will we realise our true potential. A utopia will not be that farfetched anymore.