I love my country, does my country love me?
Malaysians are obsessed with slogans and bombastic concept-titles. In the area of National Unity, we had the oft mentioned Malaysian Malaysia (Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's creation of 1965), then Bangsa Malaysia (Tun Mahathir's 2020 brain child), then 1Malaysia (Najib's concoction of what it means to be a Malaysian) and the latest, Middle Malaysia (Lim Guan Eng's version of his father's version of Malaysian Malaysia).
And the reality is that, whomever coins such names and concepts, we still see a spiraling and worrying national divide of racial polarisation. The situation is not any better than when we achieved Independence but worst off. This fact is most prominent whenever I visit national universities and government sponsored colleges.
You don't need to venture far but just go to the canteen and you can see how bad the polarisation is. One group of Malay students will be sitting among themselves, another group of Chinese students at another corner and a third group of smaller Indian students some where else. There is no attempt to mingle among themselves and exchange views or even greetings. The only time I see some signs of improvement is when the teenagers goto Khidmat Negara for 3 months and they seem to be able to 'tolerate' each other for the duration of their stay. Otherwise, once let loose, its back to square one again.
If after 52 years of Merdeka, we still have this kind of things happening in Malaysia, when is the situation going to improve? When can we see the light at the end of the tunnel?
Politics seem to have taken a foothold in all things big and small in this country. From how you travel, to what you study, to how you raise your family, to what you eat in public places, all of these and many more are governed tightly in the hands of a few. And if the few in power turns out to be ningkumpoofs, we are 'fixed' for life.
So lets disregard all the semantics and the rhetorics for the past 52 years and get serious in seeing a change in how Malaysia conducts its own affairs, a move towards a - fair and just – society.
Yesterday, the 18 Jan 2010 saw the United States celebrating the birthday of one of its most illustrious sons – Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The civil rights leader employed humble yet effective leadership ways to achieve his goals and was one of the most thrilling speakers of our time.
It took America almost 50 years to see his 'Dream' come true. To have 'equality' in all strata of American life right up to the coveted title of the Presidency itself.
Does Malaysia need to wait another 50 more years before we can also see some light on this. Or by that time, most of the liberal Malays, Chinese and progressive Indians would have migrated elsewhere and there's no need to talk about a truly Malaysia for Malaysians anymore.
What is saddening is that, nobody cares enough to truly provide a solidarity movement to face this challenge of National Unity squarely in the face. None of the appointed Minister for Unity or Minister of Home Affairs since Merdeka have had any success with it. And I dont see any of them in the future would either, if we still go on the way we have been.
When can we learn to be truly tolerant and compassionate enough to say that yes, apart from Ali, Ah Beng and Muthu too has rights in this country and those rights are never subservient to any others. Bar the fact that policies like the New Economic Policy etc etc still has its role to play in an economically divided country, we shall allow such policies to prevail at all cost if it helps to allevate the plight of all Malaysians.
We seriously need to think through this deeply and widely. And it must start with the top. And the top means the Cabinet itself. It doesn't matter if there's not a single Chinese or Indian in the Cabinet of Ministers but if each and every one of the Ministers can think, live and struggle for the good of all Malaysians, we are so much more closer to what our forefathers wanted for Malaysia many decades ago. The sad truth is, are these Ministers thinking in unison or are they trap by divergent interests?
Gone should be the days that there should be 6 Chinese in the Cabinet or 3 Indians at the top or that one deputy Chief Minister must be Malay and one must be Indian. If we still think like that, no amount of shouting of 1Malaysia or Middle Malaysia would help the country, at the end, its just a word!
Salam 1Malaysia, Hidup Middle Malaysia, anything else to shout about?
Can humans ban a sacred word?