Unity

Ever since Mr. Najib took office on 3rd April 2009, the word unity is still another empty word printed on slogans without much effort in actually putting this word into serious action. Lets look at the latest and hottest slogan promoted by our dear PM Najib himself, 1Malaysia.

The 1Malaysia slogan is now everywhere from Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia (KR1M), 1 Malaysia clinics, 1Malaysia pillars, banners, posters etc. I am not trying to blast down the idea as I think this message has successfully reached everyone from the urban cities to rural areas. However, I personally feel that these are just all talk and show but no action as I see many people talking about it, but doing nothing about it. Furthermore, this 1Malaysia slogan is contradictory in so many ways to the extent that instead of promoting unity amongst Malaysians, it is possible that it is doing the exact opposite.

Why is it contradictory? To start off, different race interpret the meaning differently. Dr. Mahathir mentioned in his blog (http://chedet.cc/blog/?p=468) that

“The Malays generally interpret 1 Malaysia to mean real adoption of the national language as the home language by every citizen as happens in other multiracial countries. They also expect the abolition of Chinese and Tamil schools and ensuring the private sector has a fair participation of Malays and other Bumiputeras.”

According to the constitution, the rights of the Chinese and Indians to continue studying in their vernacular schools are protected. So maybe there is a problem with the demands of the Malays.

Similarly for the non-Malays, they interpret 1Malaysia as having abolish the rights of Bumiputeras and a fair and equal treatment towards all Malaysians according to article 8 of the constitution which talks about equality. This is also a problem because the largest proportion of Malaysians which are Malays disagrees with this. They have been brainwashed to think that this is their land and no one else but them have the “legitimate” rights towards Malaysia.

Without a proper outline on what is 1Malaysia, it will just be another empty slogan, at best, no matter how effective the government advertises it. On a more negative scale, it may even create complications and arguments on what is truly 1Malaysia.

Let me give you another example on how contradictory and unhealthy this 1Malaysia slogan can be. In two different speeches given by Mr. Najib and Mr. Muhyiddin, when Mr. Najib tried his best to promote the 1Malaysia slogan, his deputy goes around and tarnishes the slogan by shouting “I am Malay first, Malaysian second”. Even within the party grounds itself we can already see this stark contradiction made by two of the most powerful man in Malaysia. How can Mr. Najib expect Malaysians to understand his slogan if his deputy is confused himself? Or maybe it was Mr. Najib himself that was confused? On a side note, this internal conflict in UMNO was taken advantaged of by PR where Lim Guan Eng checkmated UMNO and BN when he said “I am Malaysian first, and Malaysian last”.

Although our nation is only 54 years old, but our unity has not improved at all. After half a century, I still see Chinese hanging out only with the Chinese, the Malays with the Malays, and Indians with the Indians (in majority by the way). Even when I celebrated Hari Raya in Melbourne, the Chinese and the Indians hardly mixed with the Malays. Neither groups wanted to take the first step in blending in.

Similarly in Malaysia, how often do you get to see this mixture of different races? Hardly any Indians celebrate Chinese New Year; hardly any Malays celebrate Thaipusam (heck, some do not even know the meaning of Thaipusam); hardly any Chinese are able to differentiate the meaning between Hari Raya Puasa/Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Haji! How can we expect unity if such wonderful cultures are not even shared?

To make matters worse, even some conservative Malays are demanding for Muslims to not celebrate Christmas simply because it is an annual celebration to commemorate the birth of Christ. What is wrong with Muslims celebrating Christmas? Do they not know that Nabi Isa, who is also Jesus Christ, is also a well known prophet in the Quran?

Michelle Yeoh once said in an advertisement about a decade ago, “This is Malaysia, truly Asia”. I personally envision and believe that Malaysia, that has three major races, can one day blend together peacefully to create the truly Asian flavour. Lots more work must be done than just the current 1Malaysia slogans. We need more actions from our government. We need to see that the government can be united first, if they ever wish for a united Malaysia. Until our leaders themselves can be effective in showing us some unity, all these hope will just be another dream waiting to be realized.