TIME TO MOVE MALAYSIA FORWARD

Dear Editor,

I TOTALLY agree with the remarks of Lim Kit Siang in the Malaysiakini on 11 May 2013. His message clearly propagated unity. Gone are the days of May 13. Words that are spoken to cause disunity and the fear of that date should be regarded as sedition, as that in itself, is not in line with the Rukunegara or the creed of the nation.

We must from today affix our minds and hearts on the vision of our founding fathers. Malaysia should be for Malaysians and not just any race. We must be a country which will give and grant justice and fairness to all regardless of skin color or creed.

We must remember that Malaysia is only 50 years old and its birthday is the 16 September 1963. We the people would love to see this nation continue its prosperity for centuries to come, not be broken due to the myopic views of politicians who would do anything to win, regardless of what division that the words that spew from their mouth would cause.

Truly, I must echo the words of the PM, who just said that he wants to be a prime minister for all Malaysians. If that is true of his aspirations, then UMNO should no longer be known as United Malay National Organization but renamed as United Malaysian National Organization. This would definitely picture the really true aspirations of a truly Malaysian Prime Minister.

Why divide and rule when you can unite and rule. As I can observe from the recently concluded 13th General Election, the popular votes were for unity not division. The younger generation no longer wants to be identified as Chinese or Malay or Indian or Iban or Kadazan, but they want to be known as Malaysians when people ask them a question about race.

Although it is good to know our ethnic backgrounds and cultures to stay in line with our heritage, let that not be the divide that rules us. The spirit of being a Malaysian should always inspire and spur us to greater heights and achievements.

I must also include Mohd Asri’s remarks on 11 May 2013 which basically says it is unIslamic to be racist. Islam is taught and practiced in every nation under the sky. If Islam is racist, then we would not be seeing a cacophony of colors during the annual Haj pilgrimage in Makkah every year.

Islam is not only for the Malays but for everyone to understand and nurture. We should by all means respect the religions that are practiced by others as well. Islam is a religion of peace and should be known as such. We can see that the extreme were also rejected by the people.

We can never succeed if we keep our divide. There will remain an eternal unbridgeable boundary which will eventually break the bonds of unity in this beloved country we call home as we will always be enemies of our neighbors and we will have no friends outside of our community that stays within the racial divide.

We cannot unite as one party only during a general election and quickly blame others when the accounting of losses comes. That does not reflect the Malaysian spirit. We are accountable for what we do.

If I fail, I must never blame my neighbor or friends, for it is my failure. If I succeed, I must credit others for my success because as we are humans, we can never succeed without others for we are flawed and as such, we need others to complement our flaws and help us attain the success we dream of.

Now comes the time for reconciliation and the mending of injuries caused by unwarranted, unwanted and unwonted remarks which had led to anger and hurt in the society. Now comes the time for friendship and camaraderie to be upheld.

Now that the dust has settled, we are foremost Malaysians and we must stay united for our beloved country and the generations to come. We cannot overlook the future of our children and our nation.

Our time will pass and we may no longer be there when it happens and I, for one, will never want to see my son or daughter or my grandchildren for that matter, to fight with another person because he or she has a different religion or race or creed. It is to the future that we must look, not the past.

Best Regards,

JOHAN S ABDULLAH