THE story of a nation is seen in the lives of its people. The Malaysian Insight speaks to citizens who were born in 1957 and are as old as Malaya’s independence. Their stories are a glimpse of what being Malaysian means to them.

As a retiree, the things in life that worry Rosilawati Sabdin the most are the country’s problems that she fears her grandchildren’s generation will inherit.

Rosilawati, who has three grown children aged 34, 30 and 27, said she wondered where Malaysia was heading and worried for the future of her grandchild.

Though she and her husband are comfortably retired, she says she can’t close her eyes to the prevailing urban poverty around her, the lack of jobs for graduates, the rising cost of living, national debt and the devalued ringgit because she sees the consequences of these problems as burdens that future generations will have to bear.

“We used to be an Asian economic tiger. What happened? Are we becoming a developed nation or going backwards?

“I feel sad when I read in the papers that there is poverty in the cities, that people have no money and find life so difficult that they have to steal food.

“This country is prosperous. If there is good financial management, we won’t be reading sad news like this,” said the former oil and gas company employee.

She was also worried about rising property prices that made homes unaffordable for youths.

“Prices of homes are going up out of control. Homes are so expensive in Malaysia. You can’t afford to buy one with a RM5,000 salary,” she said.

She said the government and leaders should pay attention to these problems, or they would widen the economic gap between the rich and the poor.

She remembers the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and how her family was hit hard as her husband lost his job and as well as a lot of money in the stock market.

“We cut spending.  We saved really hard, spending only on what was necessary. We used an old car. Even after it broke down, we didn’t replace it with a new one.

Rosilawati said she was also worried about race relations and if they could ease the communal tensions now.

She has lived through six prime ministers, starting with Tunku Abdul Rahman, and can see the difference in race relations from when she was a young girl till now.

“There was no division among the races back then, but there is clearly division now. Today, the Malay kids mingle among themselves. The Chinese and Indians are the same.

“When I was in school, all the kids – Chinese, India, Malay – mixed together. Asking your friend to visit you at home was second nature. We didn’t think much about it at all. 

In her circle of friends, Rosilawati said her friendships with non-Malays had not changed, even after the May 13, 1969 racial riots.

“We didn’t care about race or religion. Until today, I am still friends with my old classmates. Whenever we chat, we always ask why our kids are not like how we were.”