Selamat Pagi Malaysia.
Yes, I have lived abroad far longer than I have lived in Malaysia but I have always made an effort to be a Malaysian first because that is really who I am. In fact, I am a human being first, then a Malaysian. And then a distant third is the reality that I am also a Malay. For the Malay in me to come first, something must really be bothering me.
The state of our nation today is bothering me. The way Malaysians have started to treat one another bothers me. The distance between the races, animosity ...nay some say even hate...now seems to be commonplace among our people. For someone who, even after going to an all-Malay boarding school, MCKK, ..for someone like me who have never allowed myself to even think of the Chinese, Indians, and others as anyone else but Malaysians, all these issues about race are not only bewildering but, it has to be said, that this is the sad reality among too many Malaysians. And as a Malay, I am saddened that it is so.
How has all this happened?
In Australia, it was only in 1966 that the Holt government introduced measures towards ending the White Australia policy where Non-white migrants were considered 'undesirable". But it was only in 1973 that the Whitlam Labor government renounced the White Australia policy. In its place, it established a policy of multiculturalism in a nation that is now home to migrants from nearly 200 different countries.
Now think about this.....in the late 1950's, when I was ten years old, all Malaysians were already living in a multicultural society in harmony and in sync with the differences that separated the races. We were aware that the sum of what pulled us together was far, far greater than the things that differentiate us. And when the White Australian Policy ended in 1973, I was in my teens and Malaysians was already living together as one. That was how far advanced we were in comparison to the Australians then.
How is it then, that now, there are many Malaysians coming to live in Australia? And how did Malaysia which was already ahead of Australia in 1966 in multiculturalism are now lagging far behind Australians in multiculturalism?
Two things are responsible for this change. One is education and the other is the commitment from the Australian government to make Australia a multicultural society. Today, while Australia advances by leaps and bounds towards that self-imposed goal of multiculturalism, Malaysia is regressing towards a Malay Malaysian Policy.
Why? What went wrong for Malaysia? One word - politics. Anything But Umno. Enough said.
The motives behind this election have been self-serving for a group of politicians who just want to hold onto power. No vision for the Rakyat and nation, just the pursuit of self-interest. Three prime ministers in as many years, yet the cabinet has largely been the same. Leadership in government is more akin to playing musical chairs than any passionate commitment to public policy, administration, and service to the Rakyat. This is why the election has been called around eight months early, while the country is facing the monsoon season. Floods are already forcing the cancellation of some political campaigning events. When the Rakyat heads to vote on November 19, they must remember these last three years of political instability. The reality they…