Merdeka Day: Two Hearts as One

By Wang Yingyue

"亲爱的, as long as we are in love, I promise you, not even the heavens or the stars may do us part."

"Urgh, why are you saying things like that, sayang? Our fates will remain intertwined, for we are two hearts as one, meant to stay together in this life and the next."

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Muzium Negara was crowded, filled with people of all ages and races to the brim akin to sardines in a can on the 31st of August, year 2023 as the clock inched closer to ten in the

morning.

And Raihana Adelia hated crowded places and people.

Damn public holidays and tourist attractions.

The museum was buzzing with life on this particular day: squeals of excited children filled the air as they ran around fragile displays of art, accompanied by the incessant drawl of harried museum guides weaving the tales of long past gone, of sultans and merchants, of voyages and communists. Even with the ample air conditioning, the musty stench of sweat wafting from the museum visitors lingered in the air.

Not exactly my plan for an ideal day out, for sure.

"Kakak, I'm hungry." A whine came from Raihana's younger brother, and Raihana merely let out a resigned sigh.

Didn't we just eat before coming here…?

"Go ask Mama or Papa to bring you to the museum's cafe or something. I'm sure they have something like that. Why are there so many people here anyway, shouldn't they be at Dataran Merdeka instead?"

"No, dear." Her father cut in, shaking his head as they headed deeper into the Hari Merdeka exhibition venue. "This year's Merdeka parade is held at Putrajaya instead."

Raihana raised an eyebrow in question as she dodged a kid running in her direction at the last second. "Oh? Why so?"

"Not sure. Bigger venue, perhaps?"

Her mother, an imposing woman that towered over Raihana by an inch chimed in, concern lacing her voice.

"Kakak, we're gonna take adik to get some food. Do you want to co–"

"No, Mama, Papa, I'm good. I'll remain here, come find me later." Raihana dismissed her mid-sentence, waving a hand towards the exhibitions. She watched them leave, fading in the crowd of people like bubbles of ocean waves that rose and ebbed before returning her attention to the exhibition. She took her time, lingering longer than others usually would at each display to examine details, such as each small snippet giving more historical context to every brushstroke of a painting.

Eventually, she came upon the final painting in the Hari Merdeka exhibition, which had garnered the most attention– especially from the youth and younger adults, who were too occupied with their repeated attempts at posing for selfies worthy of Instagram. The painting itself was the typical acrylic on canvas, but what impressed Raihana the most was the smaller details– the art depicted two lovers of different races, albeit a rip had been painted (which Raihana had been tricked into thinking was real) between the two of them.

They were both lying down on grass, eyes closed albeit they faced each other. The boy, a Chinese, laid down on his right side from the top of the canvas, whilst the girl, a Malay, laid down on her left side from the bottom of the canvas. The both of them donned attire which aligned with fashion of the 50s, their hands nearly touching albeit the painted "rip" was the gaping, insurmountable chasm standing in between them.

Raihana squinted, trying to make out the details printed on the miniscule label beside the painting– but the distance between her and the painting was too great, all thanks to the overenthusiastic crowd of visitors in her way.

"That painting is called The Star-Crossed Lovers, inspired by the infamous Romeo and Juliet by you-know-who, but make it late 50s to early 60s Malaysia when racial tensions were sky high between the Malays and Chinese."

A wry chuckle followed that clarification, and Raihana turned to her right with wide eyes and a slack jaw. A Chinese boy her age stood beside her with twinkling eyes that she could only describe as charming, hands tucked in the pockets of his black trousers. Raihana wondered if said boy was someone she knew, albeit the difference between their social classes was glaring from their preferred attire alone.

Why does his voice sound… familiar? I know that face from somewhere… Nah, I’m imagining things.

"To further quote the description of the painting: 'not even the heavens or the stars may do us part' and 'our fates will remain intertwined, for we are two hearts as one'. Romantic, isn't it?"

Raihana raised an eyebrow at his explanation, unsure of what to say as she crossed her arms.

"...You know a lot about that painting."

"Course I do. See those red flowers on the grass they're lying on? Those aren't flowers, actually.

Take a closer look, and you will notice that they're actually drops of blood."

She must've made quite the face at his words as he burst into boisterous laughter, clapping his hands amusedly at her reaction.

"Sorry, that sounds kinda morbid for Hari Merdeka, right? Anywho, do you like my painting?" She blinked in surprise, averting her gaze to the painting then back to the boy. "That's your artwork?"

"Yep. You see, those are my initials over there in the corner of the painting. J.C for James Chang. Nice to meet you."

He grinned as he pulled him along with her to the painting using her sleeve– the respectful gesture coaxed a smile onto Raihana's typically solemn face.

"Come, 亲爱的! Let's go, we've finally gained independence from the Brits! Tunku's gonna

announce it for us today!"

The unnamed boy from her dream earlier that morning tugged on her sleeve excitedly, leading her to the place that called Dataran Merdeka today with an exuberant grin on his handsome face.

"What? Wait, I'm not done with my hair, sayang!"

"...Pleasure to make your acquaintance, James. Don't you think your artwork is a tad bit too… controversial?"

They now stood next to each other in front of the aforementioned painting, admiring it. Up close, a small gasp escaped her lips: the side profile of the girl in James' painting resembled hers to a terrifying degree. She gulped before speaking.

"Your art alludes to the 13th May incident– nothing about it is related to Hari Merdeka."

"Ah, ah, that's where you are wrong, gorgeous." James tutted, shaking his head in mock disappointment, a distant look in his eyes as if he was reminiscing the past. "The late Tunku Abdul Rahman toiled day and night to create a united nation for all races of Malaysia to live together, but look at us now. More divided than ever, with religion and races reduced to mere

political tools. Isn't it sad that the 13th May incident happened not very long after Merdeka?"

Raihana couldn't help but to nod at James' musings– there was no denying the weight of his dour expression and thoughtful words. Albeit James wore a mask that covered the lower half of his face, his irises, so dark they were almost black, were filled with utter despondence.

Wait. Did he just call me… “gorgeous”? Is he… flirting?

"I painted this for a reason: I want all of us to wake up and realize that we are living like this, in such disharmony and strife. History is bound to repeat itself if we refuse to learn from it."

…Did he just quote George Santayana in his own words?

He raised a hesitant hand and gestured at his painting vaguely, the look in his eyes unfathomable.

"I… dreamt of this random Malay girl and I as two young lovers in the late 50s. We fell deeply in love with each other as we worked towards independence. Our hard work paid off; we celebrated independence together at Dataran Merdeka when Tunku made the announcement. But good times didn't last long. We died in each other's embrace during the 13th May incident."

…That sounds awfully similar to my dream last night, what in the world?

"...Tragic. The Malaysian version of Romeo and Juliet."

Raihana spoke, unable to keep the awkwardness out of her voice. James chuckled, rubbing his nape sheepishly as he shifted his weight from foot to foot– for a boy well over six feet, he was rather diffident.

How endearing.

"I just think my dream was very legit, you know? Love transcends all boundaries; religion, culture, race, politics, love conquers all. That's how the Malaysia of today should be. Rather than fighting about our differences, why not get along? At the end of the day, we are all Malaysians, no?"

And quite the romantic person too. Damn. I can listen to him rambling for hours.

"True." Raihana nodded along, tugging her own mask down to show him a smile of her own, genuine and heartfelt. James stilled at the sight of her, stunned.

"W-Wait! Have we… Have we met before?"

Raihana simply shrugged, deciding against telling James about her dreams just yet and proffered one of her hands to him.

"I'm Raihana Adelia. Selamat Hari Merdeka yang ke-66, James."

A playful chuckle left James before he tugged down his mask– as Raihana expected, James' visage matched the boy from the painting and the boy from her dreams– and shook her hand in the manner of an excited puppy.

"Selamat Hari Merdeka yang ke-66, Raihana. Friends?"

"Friends."

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"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."

Aristotle