Malaysia can be paradise for all races if we reset moral compass

 

Unity lost can now be unity found under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

"Unity is Strength", the national motto, once held the nation together. Lost in time, national togetherness is integral to Anwar's renaissance. What was it like then to live with unity?

Tunku Abdul Rahman during a speech at his alma mater sometime in the 1960s exhorted us to "study hard, achieve success, and be the future leaders for the country".

The Tunku was the personification of multiracialism and multiculturalism. He walked the talk on accepting one another regardless of one's race, rank and religion.

A reason for disunity is the divisive political concept of security in race. This mistaken idea - that only those of your own race can help you undergird and perpetuate the politics of race - inevitably spawns racial prejudice, animosity, and disunity.

It is rather a fallacy that race takes care of its own as all race-based political parties have obviously failed to help their race across the board, and unite among themselves, let alone the nation. Cronyism and corruption became rife under the dark cover of race and religion. Only the politically connected benefitted the most, whatever the race.

There is no national unity when one race unifies itself against others and a racist government is part of the problem. Racist South Africa and Western nations learned the bitter lesson decades ago. Race politics destroys national unity and ultimately the nation. A house divided will eventually collapse as we all know.

Divide, exploit, and profiteer - a colonial leftover - was artfully honed into a local craft of "disunify and plunder". That so many politicians are charged with corruption is the tip of the iceberg. I'm glad there is a new government of hope to redress the "sinfulness of the government".

The DAP is unfairly typecast as "communist" and "Christian" by serial troublemakers. It is a ridiculous idea to be both communist and Christian when everyone knows that their ideologies are worlds apart. That's the problem with false accusations - they hold no water, are self-contradicting, and make no sense.

Teachers, including the local ones trained in England, were the backbone of education in our time. We had school teachers of all races, dedicated to helping their students learn.

My alma mater, Penang Free School - Southeast Asia's first English medium school - had educated, among other notables, the country's first Agong, Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Penang's past chief minister Dr Lim Chong Eu, and the Tunku himself. Dr Wu Lien Teh, a former student, achieved astounding global success in medicine.

The legacy of our schooling was found not only among the countless success stories and achievements of former students but the ageless bond it established among them. Women can attest as to how Convent schools run by Catholic nuns nurtured their intellectual and emotional growth in their youth. Mission schools built lives.

School taught us to live with and bond with one another and our teachers. More importantly, education was not politically weaponised. Our schools united us and my alma mater did it exceptionally well.

The esprit de corps and priceless, close friendship we formed have lasted over the decades. But it was not unique to our school. Others have a similar story to tell, affirming the colour-blindness and superiority of a broad education and conducive social conditions in their schools. Our schools unified the youth of our nation. Education had a different meaning then. Schooling was such a life-enriching experience.

School taught us unity and we lived it within and without the school compound. My circle of friends inside and outside school revolved around sports and music. We held many social events at the Boon Siew villa at Tanjung Bungah. I was the nexus in bringing my Malay musician friends, schoolmates, and other friends of different races together. The late KK Loh, son of the late Penang tycoon, known simply as Boon Siew, was my close friend and made the lively social events possible. We mostly from Malay and Chinese backgrounds became genuine friends across sex and race.

The insular communities in Penang, though diverse, created their distinctiveness from those on the mainland. The affable Malays got along with the majority Chinese and minority Indians.

The ideal world for us all after Merdeka was shattered with the shocking ouster of the Tunku in a sinister political coup after the conspired bloody May 13, 1969, political riots. The young Merdeka nation had lost its innocence, analogous to a young virgin ravaged.

Politics was the bull in the china shop, the fox in the chicken coop, and the mother of divisiveness. The New Economic Policy was to disfigure the nation. The policy-makers weaponised race, religion, education, the public institutions and split the nation. It is bizarre then for leaders to expect a nation divided to be united.

Bad politics produce bad policies because of bad assumptions. And politics based on the assumption of race entitlement is a recipe for disaster. The Malays in Singapore have prospered without crutches or privileges and many are pious Muslims in a secular nation. Singapore, once part of Malaysia, is a pertinent comparative model.

The idea that you need an Islamic state to be pious is a fallacy. Religion is crucially a private and personal spiritual exercise of faith whatever the religion. No institution or state can act for anyone. It all depends on the individual.

Blood was spilled over race during May 13 but politics was the raison d'etre. The politics in the aftermath of blood-letting gave the plotters reason to establish the controversial "Ketuanan Kingdom", a neo-colonial edifice of racial domination.

Much that the power-holders did based on a fatally flawed concept of race supremacy has failed the nation. The "bastardised" NEP also created a new dilemma for the Malays themselves because of new class and wealth gaps. Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's flawed policy of creating instant Malay tycoons was a possible catalyst for a culture of endemic corruption.

The "Ketuanan nation" which replaced the "Merdeka nation" promulgated policies, many of which were not wise, fair, or constitutional. Nobody challenged them because it was deemed "sensitive" and anyone who dared criticise even the unfairest of policies was accused of offending the Malays.

It was all a pretext. The plotters knew how to deftly play the race card and spread intimidation and fear. Race had become synonymous with the government before Anwar's Reformasi. When Malays later openly opposed Malays it defused the racial time bomb.

One country with two classes of citizens, dichotomised by race and religion, was to divide the country psychologically, politically, and socially, even before the advent of racist indoctrination through government-sponsored courses. "Non-bumiputera need not apply" job ads in the aftermath of the NEP then were as divisive as they came.

Corrupt politicians were experts in subterfuge and stealth. They took the lion's share of public wealth but knew how to give scraps or nothing to their Malay clientele. They stole in the shadows and in broad daylight. Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak was caught but how many got away is anyone's guess.

Money stolen is recoverable but a nation's integrity and unity hijacked is a tough recovery challenge, perhaps a mission impossible for any present leader ransomed to fragile political alliances. Hence, the need for the nation to stand behind the Agong-anointed unity government, however imperfect.

The idea that race is king, like a divine right, ignores the teaching that there is to be no racial discrimination in Islam. The truth rather is those who are racists are the sinners, those who say things, like, "if you don't vote for me you will go to hell". They should look in the mirror.

Lim Kit Siang in his appeal to the facts provided by academician Bridget Welsh in his latest article is credible compared to the incredulous Hadi Awang, who is testing God's patience by allegedly spreading fake news. Lim, though retired, remains the voice of reason, the apologist for a fair Malaysia for all, a dealer in facts, not a merchant of lies.

Kudos to DAP's three new Malay members of parliament. Can any other political party besides PKR match such achievements?

If Malaysia is to be the racial paradise lost and found, it has to turn back the clock and reset the nation's moral compass. Schools, society, and politics are the battle fronts, not just economics.

Politicians spoilt the nation and politicians must make amends. Right now, the closest leader with similar ideas on race to the late Tunkus' is Anwar. He can with the support of other politicians and the people lead Malaysia into a brighter future for every Malaysian. Unity is not a pipe dream. Every race is better off without their pied pipers of racism.

Stop the politicians and preachers of hate and banish them to the political desert. Drive out the mocker and there will be peace. Chastising these "heretics" is not to be confused with opposing Islam. Don't ban them but engage them in open debate so that their nakedness can be exposed.

The way of the future for Malaysia is open political parties regardless of race. After all, the Alliance, the BN, PN, and Pakatan Harapan coalitions are a defacto political party of all races. You now have a national leader in "let's do it together" Anwar who can make it happen. Together, Malaysia shall arise. - Mkini

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Steve Oh grew up in pluralistic Penang when race and religion were not weaponised. He is author of eco-novel Tiger King of the Golden Jungle and its musical. Togetherness is a theme of the novel now out of print.