On being patriotic

I am flattered that I have been invited to contribute to this blog. But don't know why I was invited in the first place: I have never been elected to the position of class monitor - ever! It's a personality thing - any position of responsibility just doesn't mesh well with my personality (or so they say). So, for better or for worse, here I am.

Since the last post was on the subject of patriotism, I guess that is where I'll pick up from.

I'm stumped (even before I've started). So what's new? Anyway, I guess most people will take patriotism to be loyalty one's country. But my question is, at what point in time does one become a patriot? Do you qualify as a patriot if you are someone who feels discomfort at the prospect of misplacing (and subsequently losing) your identity card? Or must you be willing to die a horrible death a the the end of an enemy soldiers' bayonet before you can call yourself one?

My point is, we may all think of ourselves as patriots. But does that qualify us one? I hardly think so. In the same breath, I am also of the opinion that we must not be automatically disqualified just because we don't sing patriotic songs in the shower every morning. Somewhere, there is a line that must be crossed before we can call ourselves a patriot. Just where that line is drawn, is beyond me.

But that raises another question: Does it matter whether or not we have the right to call ourselves patriots? After all, I am sure Hitler and Pol Pot (or T. Blair, or even G. Bush for that matter) saw themselves as patriots. Look at what happened in those cases.

So, where do I stand? As long as I don't feel a need to apologise to any non-Malaysian for my being partial to 'durian' and 'belacan', I guess I'll consider myself a patriot. Not that it matters...