An early Merdeka wish list

If Dr Chandra Muzaffar has his way, he would be pasting posters throughout the nation saying "Wanted: More Bridge Builders".

And, high on the list, his recruitment criteria would state "preferably Malaysians youngsters" And he would add a postscript too: "Genuine People Only! Bridge Wreckers Need Not Apply!"

MERDEKA WISH

The statements above are actually Chandra's Merdeka wish, a wish he shared in an interview with Bernama on the issue of National Unity at his office here recently.

The Chairman of the Yayasan 1Malaysia Board of Trustees also said that "bridge builders" is a favourite term he has been using when speaking about unity.

"If people are more aware, let's say in our society you have a large number of Malays and non-Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and so on, deeply conscious about unity and are real bridge builders, I think things would be different than what we see today.

"We do not have many bridge builders, we have some individuals here and there.

"And on top of that we have bridge wreckers and people erecting walls," said Chandra.

A CRITICAL MASS

Fostering national unity is definitely not solely the government's responsibility, as pointed up by Chandra, who is also the Professor of Global Studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

The real solution, he said, lies with the rakyat.

"If we have a big number of Malays and non-Malays, what we call in physics, a critical mass, a critical mass of genuine bridge builders, then I think we would have the environment, the atmosphere that is more conducive for national unity.

"I really hope and pray that we will be able to create more genuine builders who will emerge as the critical mass in fostering national unity, he said, adding that ideally the young generation should be nurtured as bridge builders.

True to his words, Yayasan 1Malaysia is fulfilling this requirement by having a programme for school children to understand, among other things, what it really means to be a citizen of Malaysia.

"Citizenship means willingness to exercise not only your rights but also, equally important, exercise your responsibilities," said Chandra.

CONTINUOUS JOURNEY

Emphasising further on unity, Chandra was very firm in saying that maintaining unity is a long and continuous journey rather than a destination especially for any multi-ethnic or multi-religious society anywhere in the world.

In other words, one cannot say "We have achieved unity" and as Chandra puts it, perhaps no country in the world can claim that it has achieved inter-ethnic unity.

"That will never happen, not only in Malaysia but also in any multi-ethnic and multi-religious society in the world.

"Why? Because we are talking about people with different religious and cultural backgrounds, different histories, different memories and with different experiences.

"It is a very complex situation. There are differences and they will always be there. Every now and then something will happen.

"We will have to continue to reduce these differences, we have to continue to work out some sort of arrangement for us to live together," said Chandra.

He cited Northern Ireland as an example where conflict between Catholics and Protestants still persists.

"They achieved an agreement on how to resolve this centuries-old conflict. They worked out an agreement that both sides accepted, called the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

"But recently there were clashes in Northern Ireland and there were deaths, which goes to show that there is no easy solution for problems connected with ethnicity and religion," he stressed.

LIKE A MARRIAGE

Using "marriage" as an analogy to unity, we accept that there is no perfect marriage, and Chandra reiterated that it has to be worked at continuously.

Married couples, he said, would be facing problems, challenges and difficulties from time to time and they would have to resolve them.

As far as Malaysia is concerned, he said it was significant that right from the beginning in 1957, achieving unity was perceived a major challenge.

"From the outset we realised this is a challenge that requires total attention, a challenge that requires all our energies and all our efforts.

"I think we were cognizant of that. We were aware right from the beginning that unity is very important, which is why all our leaders, our opinion makers and the influential elements in our society have always emphasised unity," he elaborated.

Nonetheless, Chandra was quick to add that we have to be realistic in our pursuit of national unity.

In reiterating that unity is a process, a journey that would go on and on, he also asserted that "we cannot place a time frame, neither can we talk of the ideals that we desire."

"What we hope to achieve is that as the years go by we will be able to say our bond is stronger and it is getting stronger and stronger. We have to be positive about this.

"If all communities, all major segments can say that, in other words tomorrow is better than today and we are beginning to feel more and more like one family, if we are able to say that as we go along, that would be an achievement," he said.

GREATER UNITY

On the formation of Bangsa Malaysia, a term that appeared in the Malay version of Vision 2020 (Wawasan 2020), as for Chandra that unity is the key to Bangsa Malaysia.

He explained that in the English version, which was the original version of Vision 2020, the term used was actually Greater Unity amongst the different peoples and the different communities.

"As I have said earlier, stronger bonds is what matters," he stressed.

He lamented a contention that arose last year when a person was asked "Are you Malay first or Malaysian first?"

As for Chandra, the question does not make sense when one can argue in terms of the two defining characteristics of our nation, they are both related to Malay identity.

"For instance, what is the language of the nation? Malay, as spelt out in Article 152 of the Malaysian Constitution, and Malay is the language of the Malay people. What is the religion of the nation? Article 3 of the Federal Constitution states that the official religion of the nation is Islam. What is the religion of the Malay people? Islam.

"So the two characteristics of the nation are actually the characteristics of the Malays. To ask whether a person is Malay first or Malaysian first, actually reveals the questioner's own superficial understanding of what the Malaysian nation is all about.

There are certain contexts in which a person may feel he is Kadazan, but it does not in any way affect his larger attachment to the Malaysian nation.

"Lets say there is a Kadazan festival and he feels he is a Kadazan.

"When it comes to Ramadan he feels he is a Muslim. Because of his love of the pantun, like Pak Ungku (Prof Diraja Ungku Aziz), a person feels that he is Malay because the pantun is an illustrious aspect of the Malay heritage.

"The same with the Chinese, when it comes to the lunar New Year festival they become more Chinese," said Chandra, adding that the whole contention was just a political ploy.

ACCEPTANCE THE KEY

Both Malays and non-Malays have the duty and responsibility to build this nation.

And in the case of non-Malays, said Chandra, there should be an acceptance of, and empathy for, the history and evolution of the Malaysian nation - how we have grown from a Malay polity to a Malaysian nation.

Similarly, he said, Malays should be fully cognizant of the implications of contemporary realities, the accommodation and acceptance of Chinese and Indians as citizens with rights and responsibilities, making us a truly multi-ethnic society.

"We cannot understand and empathise with one another as long as we view the nation through a communal lense. We must overcome communal selfishness, " he added.

According to Chandra, there is also a need for Malaysians to understand in greater depth what the Constitution and Rukun Negara are all about.

"We should have done this from the very beginning, made our people, Malays and non-Malays, understand these documents of destiny. We should have socialised the people into the Constitution and the Rukun Negara.

"We could have used the education system, we could have used the media. We could have used cultural and religious channels.

"We failed to do this. Every now and then we succumb to the pulls and pressures of communal politics.

"In other words, we place politics above national unity. If this continues we will not be moving towards greater unity as envisaged in Vision 2020, which is a mere nine years away," added Chandra.

- Bernama