Selamat Hari Merdeka!

And to celebrate the 53rd year of our nationhood, we speak to six individuals who everyday particiipate in our society deep below the surface and superficiality of daily life -- the daily life of sloganeering; the hurrahs and hurrays of being Malaysian, the flag-waving lives that the government wants us to live.

Well, we all know that things are not that hunky-dorry ...

by Indrani Kopal and Shufiyan Shukur