Who would have thought that the RM100 million spent last year to celebrate the 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations proved to be so short-lived and ephemeral, making so little impact on the Malaysian psyche and nation-building process to unite all citizens with the common sentiment and vision that they are Malaysians first and Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans and Orang Asli second!
This is why one of the fundamental questions confronting Malaysians today is: –
Why not Barisan Nasional-Pakatan Rakyat talks instead of Umno-Pas talks if the top national priority is to save Malaysia from being a “failed state” and establish that on the eve of the 51st Merdeka anniversary, we are Malaysians first and Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, Orang Asli second and not vice versa?
This is particularly pertinent as the great challenges of Malaysian nation-building today concerning justice, freedom, solidarity, integrity and progress can only be addressed in an effective and meaningful manner through BN-PR talks and not through Umno-Pas talks.
The proposal by the PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat that the implementation of Islamic hudud and qisas laws, among other things, be the basis of Umno-PAS co-operation and even merger, has raised serious concerns.
It is not only against the well-known position of the DAP, running counter to the secular character of the founding national “social contract” and Merdeka Constitution publicly upheld by the first three Prime Ministers, but also contrary to the fundamental commitment of Pakatan Rakyat to uphold the rights and interests of all Malaysians, regardless of race and religion, as enshrined in the Constitution.
The foremost challenges facing Malaysia today is not one of race or religion but whether we can harness and mobilize the talents, resources and energies of all Malaysians as one dynamic, vigorous and progressive entity to stop the nation from becoming a failed state like Zimbabwe and Myanmar when half a century ago, we were the second most developed nation in Asia after Japan.
[ML has just emailed an article by former Bernama general manager, Ahmad Mustapha written last year on Lee Kuan Yew’s 84th birthday on September 16, 2007 and why Malaysia has been left behind by Singapore in the past four decades. If Mustapha’s warnings are not heeded, then there will be no way to check Malaysia’s continued decline down the league of nations. Mustapha’s article should be serious food for thought by all Malaysians.]