Sean's blog

Unrequited love and Malaysia

The Nut Graph asks this morning “Stay or leave Malaysia?”. I think they published an article on the theme of Unrequited Love not so long ago, but I imagine it’s a recurring theme for many Malaysians, or anybody who has ever lived here for long enough to develop an ‘attachment’ to the country.

The Nut Graph’s article reminded me of going to watch my daughter in her school’s end-of-year graduation ceremony last month, where she sang her heart out on stage for Negaraku (‘My Country’ – Malaysia’s National Anthem). This is a bit off-topic for my blog, so I guess if you know Malaysia, you’ll catch the drift – and if you don’t, maybe you can enjoy the clippings. Make a cup of coffee and have some tissues ready, if you’re a tissue-kind-of-person.

Robert Burns nearly always puts these things best:

“Anna, thy charms my bosom fire,
And waste my soul with care;
But ah! how bootless to admire,
When fated to despair!

Yet in thy presence, lovely Fair,
To hope may be forgiven;
For sure ’twere impious to despair
So much in sight of heaven.”

But to be honest, if I get the time and the opportunity to dwell, I prefer songs. A big favourite of mine is Etta James singing “I Would Rather Go Blind”. She would give anything – even her freedom

“Most of all, I just don’t want
just don’t want to be free”

… as long as her relationship doesn’t end:

Listen to the plaintive question in Lauryn Hill’s “Ex Factor” …

“Who do I have to be
– to gain some reciprocity?”

… in this home-cooked version on a terrible webcam. I think this girl does a great job of the song. I post this version because it’s not just superstars who have these feelings – and not everyone who can vocalise them is lucky enough to be a superstar! I hope you can adjust your ears to make up for the terrible quality of the microphone she’s using:

Her desk organisation seems like mine. I hope that plate isn’t representative of her diet! Just in case you found the sound quality too awful to bear, here’s Lauryn’s version – it’s not on the same budget:

I’m sorry that Robert, Erin and Lauryn aren’t actually Malaysian. I could have used namewee’s Negarakuku – which I happen to think is superb. We should remember that unrequited love is something all people everywhere around the world share – always have, and always will. “Walking away” isn’t always easy. What makes unrequited love so hard is always hoping that everything is going to be great, if you can just get through one more painful episode.

It’s a tough choice: abandon hope – and “just accept it” (sounds familiar?) – or abandon love. I’m not going to pretend I have any relevant or even useful advice. I just ‘experienced a strong emotion’ (I think Woody Allen said that once) and thought I’d share it. Time to get back to work.