1 Malaysia – Moving Beyond Racial Boundaries

Fifty three years has past since our forefathers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Tan Siew Sin and Tun VT Sambanthan fought for Independence. What was in their mind was to ensure we were free from the British colonisation and we were a sovereign nation. It never alluded in their mind that they were Malay,Chinese or Indian by ethinicity ,what was more important to them was they were Malaysian First .

But come this Merdeka, have our beloved nation achieved the same level of unity that we had in the past ?

Premier YAB Dato Sri Najib’s 1 Malaysia concept introduced last year is an effort that is transformational to reunite and take us back to the level of unity that we once enjoyed. But Is he getting all the support for this initiate?

I remember the days when Dato Lee Chong Wei won the All England Championship. We were all glued to the TV watching yet another Malaysian achievement. Never did we mind that he was a Malaysian Chinese. By the same token, Dato Magendran and Dato Mohanadass who succeeded in the Mt. Everest climb, yet another truly Malaysian football team comprising the legendary Mokhtar Dahari , Santokh Singh , Dato Soh Chin Ann and R.Arumugam who made Malaysians proud with the teams ability to take on the England Team and the South Koreans.

Albeit all this positive characteristic of a Malaysian achievement,the statement made by Dato Nasir Safar, a senior officer in PM’s office, the recent statement by a school principal in Kulai asking the Chinese students to go back to China and abusing Indian students about their religious beliefs and the incidence in Kedah reminds us that despite the bonding of 53 years we remain polarised by what ethinicity we belong to despite all our Malaysianes.

Remember we grew up having the teh tarik, nasi lemak ,roti canai and the kueh teow that we forgot their origins and in turn term this delicacies as a Malaysian food. Even vadai and puthu mayam is now sold by a Malay vendor when they had a different origin.

So what has really gone wrong over the years?

I was a part-time lecturer at a prime public university and had the opportunity to see how polarisation at universities has affected the student’s race relations. Time has come for students at beginning from primary schools are thought about respecting each others religion, culture and believes. Our multi cultural diversity and uniqueness among us is an advantage that can be harnessed to make Malaysia to greater heights. Each community in Malaysia has its strength and this strength in diversity has to be exploited to maximum to make the concept of 1 Malaysia a success. Lets walk the talk !

Many initiatives by Premier YAB Dato Seri Najib like the New Economic Model(NEM) ,The Tenth Malaysian Plan,The Government Transformation Plan are remarkable grand plans but the success of this plans is highly dependent on how we Malaysians of diverse ethnicity truly live to being Malaysian First. Not too many countries in the world who enjoy the diversity that we have and our failure to benefit from this will only be disastrous for our beloved nation. In not too distance future when the history is forgotten, what will be the state of our country ?

The staff of public service being the main drivers of the government ,should be re-trained on the 1Malaysia concept to ensure they utter the right word when addressing all communities and send out the right messages.
Many a times the wrong signals has been send and this hurts our race relations. The 1 Malaysia concept must be culturised i.e practice what is preached ,otherwise it will remain a slogan.

Reflecting on our 53th Merdeka, we need a team of Mokthar Dahari,Dato Soh Chin Aun , Santokh Singh and R.Arumugam with the burning spirit of Tunku Andul Rahman to make Malaysia a model country uniting in diversity to take on the world and remain economically competitive. Merdeka,Merdeka, Merdeka