August is usually the month for copious gestures of Merdeka celebrations. In past years, the miniature national flags would be fluttering from all manners of motor vehicles. In a collective outburst of patriotic pride, Malaysians would be preoccupied with baking the longest cake, sewing the largest flag, sleeping with the greatest number of scorpions in a cage for the longest duration, all these to put the name of the nation on the world map.

August this year though has been rather subdued in this department. It probably does not mean that Malaysians are less ardent in their love for the nation. In a country where the media has been used effectively to germinate and explode jingoistic fervours of all sorts, that noble sentiment of patriotism can be whipped up in no time anyway.

Perhaps a change of prime minister and information minister has something to do with this subtle shift of emphasis. A change of personnel at the helm of power may not always mean a drastic shift in major policies of nation-building, especially in a conservative polity like Malaysia. But occasionally, one detects the nuances in the personal style of leadership in the slightly different way of doing the same thing. Such subtle variations are not unwelcome, given that we have been subjected to the domineering will of one single individual at the top for over two decades.

Eventually we will have our national day parade on Aug 31, televised live on all channels. The success of this annual ritual is guaranteed by a bureaucracy that is particularly adept at organising just such a public event, even if it has shown neither great competence nor aptitude for serving the public meaningfully.

After all, participation is guaranteed by careful orchestration of groups who have been long used to the drill, the civil servants with or without uniforms, the various social groups who are either endeared to, or who are beholden to the government for their well-being. It is no big deal for the participants: it is just another event on their calendar.

Sooner or later, a kind of rut sets in. I, for one, have not watched a National Day parade on TV for many years. One does get tired of the same old thing, year after year. But then, an official version of Independence Day celebration is unlikely to be interesting, since officials the world over are not likely to be known for their imaginativeness or originality anyway.

Times are hard

And then, the general mood this year seems to cool any suggestion of great joy in commemoration of our country's liberation from colonial rule. Simply put, times are hard for your proverbial man-on-the-street.

The nation's economy may be growing still, and the shares market indices seem to be clambering slowly towards the pre-1997 level of over 1,000. But Malaysians with bulging bank accounts, properties for investment, a fleet of luxury cars, and children studying overseas, cannot be in the majority.

For your average urban middle-class Malaysians, they have to slog away at a salaried job, or a small business of some kind, trying to pay bills on time, and pinching pennies where they can just to survive from month to month. The pressure of living in modern-day Malaysia is not all that enviable.

For one thing, petrol and diesel prices went through a second hike in three months. This seemingly innocuous price adjustment immediately makes a dent in consumers' disposable income, and jacks up the cost of all goods and services.

After all, energy is the engine that drives the modern economy. Any increase of fuel prices is bound to set off adverse rippling effect across all sectors of our economic production.

To begin with, given the nation's crawling pace in developing an efficient public transport system, a car or a motorbike has become a necessity for work and for leisure. The launching of the national car project in the 80s, against the advice of some economists and environmental groups, has meant heavy dependence on the automobile industry for the mirage of vibrant consumption and rapid economic growth.

It is only now that everybody is suffering from paying the highly inflated prices of our national cars, which has captured a large market share, not by virtue of their superior qualities and competitive price-tags, but rather by the operation of highly protectionist structure of taxes imposed on imported cars.

Daily expenses

Today, for anyone to buy and maintain a small car, it would easily cost RM1,000 per month, taking into consideration monthly instalment, road tax, insurance, spare parts and the servicing, petrol bills at the pump, parking fees, and the inevitable toll wherever you drive. Add to this the occasional rent you have to pay certain uniformed personnel for tiny infractions of traffic rules and regulations, the financial burden of owning a car is considerable.

A fresh university graduate is likely to earn a starting salary of less than RM2,000 every month. (How many working Malaysians are paid over RM2,000 per month anyway?). After deduction for EPF, Socso and so on, and having set aside expenses incurred in owning the car, he has very little to live on, let alone supporting ageing parents, getting married, and having children. No wonder young people are shying away from early marriage when in their 20s!

The pressure of living a decent life in the Klang Valley is even more daunting. Here, everything costs a little more, and you dispense with RM50 bills, like your parents would spend RM5. The city of Kuala Lumpur is so badly planned, badly run, and so horrendously congested, that it is not uncommon for some people to drive for over an hour (at least) to go to work.

If anything that can exacerbates life's hardship more than the tension and stress of driving around the Klang Valley, amidst the snarling bumper-to-bumper crawl all hours of the day everyday, it is the bad news that petrol prices have taken another leap.

Blame it on the global hike in oil prices if you like. It has now surpassed the US$65 level. Experts opine that it can break the barrier of US$80 per barrel if the present trend persists. Apparently, production cannot keep up with demand, especially from burgeoning economies like China and India.

That may be so. One cannot help wondering what would happen to our world when this non-renewable source of energy runs out eventually. Perhaps we will go back to using candles and go around on bicycles. Meanwhile you also wonder: is not Malaysia supposed to be an oil producer as well? Why is it we cannot enjoy cheap petrol like other oil-producing countries like Brunei and Iran? What has happened to the billions of profit raked in by Petronas over the past many decades?

It is not only that motorists will now have to pay more to drive around in this snarling choking traffic. Goods and services will now cost more across the board simply because businesses have to pay more for fuel and transportation. The beleaguered ringgit - pegged to other currencies or otherwise - will shrink even more. No matter how the wage earner pinches his penny or how hard he works, the acrobatic feat of balancing income with expenditure simply becomes so much more of a daily challenge.

But are we happy?

By and large, Malaysians have accepted this latest round of price hike with a gracious sense of resignation, as they have accepted the unwanted haze from their neighbours, and the daily corruption that goes on from the very highest level of government, down to the men in uniform by the roadside. That is the Malaysian character; as long as there is food on the table, and their family around them, Malaysians do not like to wear their anger or their frustration on their sleeves.

Are they really happy though?

This brings me to the point of our Merdeka celebration. Of course it is only appropriate that the country should be reminded of our difficult history at least once every year, of how the founding fathers fought for independence against the threats of external aggression and internal insurgency nearly half a century ago.

But the life of an entire nation cannot be nourished on the memories of past heroics alone. The reality of living and working in Malaysia today is both complex and fraught with anxieties. Merely glorifying the constructed past cannot assuage the hurt of going through the daily struggle for survival by hard-working decent citizens.

Without a clear vision of where our country is heading, and how citizens are going to enjoy the fruit of their labour, all these official functions organised to celebrate Merdeka are pretty much for show only. They have little relevance in the daily life of the people.