Is 1Malaysia still on track?

The voices of racism and bigotry are drowning out the call for moderation.

COMMENT

A local English daily recently carried an article headlined “PM: Reconcile differences”, in which Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was quoted as urging Malaysians to “reconcile their differences for the sake of the country’s future”.

He was also quoted as saying, ”Every citizen has a place under the Malaysian sun” and “In celebrating our Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day, let us come together as one nation, 1Malaysia.”

These statements from our PM are timely. But while Malaysians want desperately to believe him, there are many who remain sceptical (and rightly so), thanks to the many loud racist voices that we hear almost every day.

Definitely all of us want to support our PM in his effort to cultivate national unity. We know that if the people are not united, the nation will fall to pieces.

It is therefore imperative for us to stand united to propel the nation forward to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Yet this seems a Utopian dream, but only because race issues still dominate our everyday life.

As it stands, we are already lagging behind two or three of our Asean neighbours in terms of attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as well as in the area of broadband speed.

Yet, problems facing our nation are too often discussed and dissected from a race-based angle, leading us to believe that in terms of race relations, we have stagnated, or even regressed, after 57 years of independence.

To be sure, many countries face their own race-based issues. However, no country has the penchant to make race its main issue of contention like Malaysia.

We have to rid this nation of its pre-occupation with race, and we can do so by making the voices of moderation louder than the voices of racism and bigotry.

Any politician or NGO who harps on race or makes racial slurs should be shown the door. We shouldn’t allow the racists and bigots to continuously voice their stand when we, the majority, are trying to foster goodwill and harmony.

Our PM has shown the way forward with his statements on moderation, but he must act to chastise those who go against his 1Malaysia plan, regardless of who they are.

His voice of moderation is still drowned out by the screams of the racists, many of whom swear allegiance to him. They speak louder and stand taller as they go about their business of shattering every principle of the 1Malaysia dream.

Our PM should remember that working towards the 1Malaysia ideal is a 24/7 job. If he does not do it diligently, we’ll have to conclude that he is just spewing empty rhetoric.