Dragging old baggage into the New Year

 

As the sun rises over the horizon to usher in the New Year, Malaysia will have very little to cheer about. Instead, there is a deep sense of uneasiness over the eventual fate of the country as it moves in aimless directions.

Why this simmering anxiety and fear? Shouldn't we all be rejoicing and savouring the wealth and abundance of this broad land? Shouldn't all be celebrating this unity in diversity?

But the journey, began in 1957 with so much hoopla, is heading down the slope.

It is not that the people entrusted with the power to manage the country do not know the causes of this slide. They know, but they prefer to look the other way.

The causes are many and they are not too difficult to ferret out. Just open the baggage Malaysia is dragging forward to the New Year. Shake out all the contents inside and what will spill out are all the same old problems and unresolved issues that have given rise to so much apprehension.

See the big bundles? Those are labelled racism and religious bigotry that have been stoked up enthusiastically every so often to strengthen the power of one ethnic group over the rest. In the process, the spirit of goodwill has been diminished considerably.

What are all those tattered files piled up sky-high? They are a damning indictment of the endless, mindless games politicians are engaged in, to the extent that it is no longer possible to have a stable, durable government.

Next, you see many alarming figures, charts and graphs scattered haphazardly, showing the economy in an unhealthy state. Has all the wealth been squandered on wrong priorities?

Rummage through the heap and out comes a voluminous folder detailing the decline and fall of the education system.

As a result of all the thoughtless tinkering with policies, the schools and universities are not producing a workforce capable of taking the country to the level of a developed status.

There are so many other worrisome matters of national importance buried in the huge mound that need to be ironed out, but are left to fester and pollute the social milieu.

The national leaders seem to lack the iron will to deliberate on the many controversial and sensitive subjects that have long been the bane of the country and an impediment to any form of advancement.

What then can be done with this unwieldy baggage that will be dragged into the New Year? We can dump it and start afresh with a new wish list:

Treat all citizens equally and fairly; keep religion as far away as possible; give other races the opportunities to climb up the ladder and even occupy the highest political office in the land; stamp out endemic corruption; stop distorting the truth; let the wind of meritocracy blow across the land and chase away the stale air of sluggishness and inertia, and the list can go on ad infinitum.

But it will all be just daydreaming because all the hopes, ambitions and goals will invariably not be realised, given the intransigent behaviour and parochial mentality of our politicians.

All these holders of elected office are more interested in looking after their own turf than seeking permanent solutions to the myriad ills of the nation. They have yet to come to their senses.

Apart from wishing an end to the pandemic, which has upended the economy, the New Year will merely be a replay of yesteryears: internecine feuds over who should have supreme control over the country, relentless quest for a religious-based administration, constant, senseless political bickering and a general feeling of restlessness and resentment among those in the minority.

Come 2021, the scene that will greet Malaysia is of a society unequal, polarised and fractured. 

The choice is clear: either all will have to put their shoulders to the wheel and stop the rot, or tread down the path to assured self-destruction.

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PHLIP RODRIGUES is a retired journalist. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.