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Time for all progressive and patriotic political leaders to come together on a common programme to save Malaysia from becoming a failed state as a result of rampant corruption, abuses of power, socio-economic injustices and the collapse of good governance

Malaysia is undergoing rapid and even lightning political developments and changes.

Issues and concerns which were never thought of by Malaysians for years or even decades have overnight become popular concerns.

This is best highlighted by the headlines in online media and foreign news media in the past few days like:

• Malaysia’s Najib Razak fights for political life amid 1MDB claims

• A broken prime minister?

• Is it ‘Game Over’ for Najib?

• Can Najib Razak Survive 1MDB Scandal

• Malaysian Leader Faces Risk of Criminal Charges Over Fund

• Najib Appears Out But The Kleptocrats May Win

• MP urges AG to prosecute Najib, if proof found

• No surprise if Najib hauled to court, says veteran journalist

• Can the Agong act to depose a sitting PM?

In the past few days, I myself had posed questions which I had never done before:

• Whether the Attorney-General can charge and prosecute the Prime Minister although the Attorney-General is clearly empowered by the Constitution to do so; and

• Whether the Prime Minister will sack the Attorney-General first, if there is any inkling of such a possibility?

It is most unfortunate that at this pivotal period of national development to ensure that Malaysia does not become a failed state, drowned in the morass of rampant corruption, abuses of power, socio-economic justices and collapse of good governance, the two top leaders in PAS are giving the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak the strongest defence and support. Continue reading “Time for all progressive and patriotic political leaders to come together on a common programme to save Malaysia from becoming a failed state as a result of rampant corruption, abuses of power, socio-economic injustices and the collapse of good governance”

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Unappreciated in my own country

Dina Zaman
The Malaysian Insider
26 June 2015

I never thought I would say this but when I arrived home from Singapore, and had a long drawn out battle with baggage delays at KLIA, and then touts at KL Sentral, I looked up to the dark evening sky and thought how Malaysia had become a third world country.

As I stood there with my bags, observing fellow Malaysians shouting at the touts, while the security guards looked away, and then seeing a poor, hapless foreign porter being heckled by a lazy plonker of a Malaysian, I said to myself, there has to be a better way of living and to live.

While I wrestled with anger and contempt at the touts, the Malay in me, the Muslim in me felt dismayed to see much older Malay men wearing the kopiahs (skullcaps) touting cab rides and swearing at those who declined their offers.

Apa dah jadi dengan orang Melayu kita ni (What’s happening to the Malays), I said to myself. Continue reading “Unappreciated in my own country”

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DAP had never aspired to be a Chinese or non-Malay party and we will double up in our resolve to be a fully Malaysian party strengthening our Malay, Dayak and Kadazandusun membership in keeping with our Malaysian ideals and aspirations

There are those who forecast that with the PAS Muktamar resolution to cut off relations with DAP spelling the end of the seven-year-old Pakatan Rakyat, DAP will become a narrow-minded Chinese or non-Malay political party.

They cannot be more wrong. Firstly, DAP had never aspired to be a Chinese or non-Malay party. Right from the beginning during DAP’s formation in 1966, DAP had pledged itself to pursue a Malaysian Dream, not a Chinese Dream, an Indian Dream or a Malay Dream.

This is why DAP is the first political party in the country to be Pan-Malaysian, establishing branches in Sarawak and Sabah before any other political party in the country.

All through the past five decades, DAP had been accused of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam by UMNO, because of UMNO fear that the DAP will be able to make inroads into UMNO spheres of influence with our Malaysian political appeal, transcending race, religion or region.

No political party seeking support from all Malaysians can be anti-Malay or anti-Islam, or for that matter, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Dayak, anti-Kadazandusun or anti-Buddhism, anti-Christianity, anti-Hindiuism or anti-Sikkhism.

The battle against such lies and falsehoods had been a particularly uphill battle for the DAP because we had to face the full onslaught of the UMNO juggernaut with its control and ownership of the mass media, particularly in the era before the advent of Internet, the Internet news portals and the social media.

However difficult the terrain, DAP had never wavered from our objectives and principles that the DAP had been formed not to fight for any one race but for all races and Malaysians in the country! Continue reading “DAP had never aspired to be a Chinese or non-Malay party and we will double up in our resolve to be a fully Malaysian party strengthening our Malay, Dayak and Kadazandusun membership in keeping with our Malaysian ideals and aspirations”

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Prospects for coalition making, post-muktamar

By Steven Sim
Malaysiakini
Jun 23, 2015

MP SPEAKS Two months ago, Lim Kit Siang proposed a crazy idea; a post-BN post-Pakatan Rakyat “Save Malaysia” grand coalition. Many criticised him, including allies and supporters and even DAP members.

Lim, the DAP parliamentary leader, was inviting Malaysians, including Malaysian politicians, to “think the unthinkable”, going beyond the much cherished two-party system into something else.

What does this “something else” look like?

I was to discover part of the answer when I joined Lim on a trip to the Middle East. Continue reading “Prospects for coalition making, post-muktamar”

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Malaysia’s Long Road to Change

Asia Sentinel
June 20, 2015

The headline issues behind Malaysia’s current political crisis often puzzle outside observers, not just for the specific and sometimes bizarre details but for what they reveal about a system designed to maintain the status quo at all costs. Taken in the current context, it is remarkable that Prime Minister Najib Razak remains in power. In an actual democracy – instead of the kind of purpose-built one-party state in Malaysia – he would presumably be long gone and perhaps in the dock.

The 1Malaysia Development Berhad debacle, with its overtones of greed, political favoritism and inside deals is exactly the kind of sleaze that should and does bring down governments worldwide. Add to that the lingering issue of the 2006 murder of the misbegotten Mongolian party girl Altantuya Shaariibuu by bodyguards linked to Najib, the shamelessly cooked-up jailing of long-suffering opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, the poisonous stew of bitter racial politics manipulated by the ruling elite and the widespread disgust with the acquisitive ways of Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, and it is a wonder that anyone can keep a straight face while claiming Malaysia’s system is anything but a thinly disguised playpen for the Barisan National and its cronies.

Still, and finally, we may be witnessing the endgame in the country’s painful transition from the 20th century politics and governance that started with the transition from British colonialism to rule by the Barisan Nasional, the race-based coalition of political parties led by the United Malays National Organization. In power since 1957, the Barisan is the world’s longest-ruling parliamentary coalition. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Long Road to Change”

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Skewered for joining ‘Chinese party’, Pak Samad laments Malaysians’ racial lens

by Boo Su-Lyn,
The Malay Mail Online
June 23, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 ― National laureate and new DAP member Datuk A. Samad Said has questioned Malaysians’ race-centric mindset that remains prevalent almost 60 years after the country achieved independence.

Commenting on reaction to his entry into the DAP, the 83-year-old bemoaned how his Muslim friends responded to the news negatively and rebuked him for joining what they described as a “Chinese party”.

“We’ve been independent for almost six decades and it’s a shame if we still think racially,” Samad told Malay Mail Online in an interview yesterday.

“I received phone calls and SMSes scolding me and asking me why I joined a Chinese party. I said, ‘Who said it’s a Chinese party? It’s a Malaysian party’,” he added.

The Malay-Muslim novelist and poet said although his wife and family members supported his decision, his friends were concerned and mistakenly thought that he had rushed into joining the secular party on June 13.

“I’ve been thinking about it for two years already. I’ve known Lim Kit Siang since the 50s. We were journalists then,” said Samad, referring to the senior DAP leader.

Samad, who has written 75 books comprising novels, short stories, dramas, essays and poems, said the DAP may have started off as a predominantly Chinese party, but pointed out that the “visionary” Lim’s “Malaysian dream” of making the party multi-racial.

“They want to be a Malaysian party. What is important is their ideal, their dream,” he said. “Because of that, I think I made the right choice in joining DAP”. Continue reading “Skewered for joining ‘Chinese party’, Pak Samad laments Malaysians’ racial lens”

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Civics bureau: from attendee to slideshow feature

Lyana Khairuddin
The Malaysian Insider
22 June 2015

I was amused to find a picture of me, particularly the one used for the profile of this column, on one of the slides sourced by the National Civics Bureau and recently released online. The slide cited the online petition I founded, I am #26, my age and affiliation. Upon sourcing for the whole slide deck and reading through them, I could only roll my eyes at the sheer audacity and idiocy of it all.

For someone who was (un)fortunate enough to have attended three “Kem Bina Negara” courses organised by the bureau, I am thankful that I ended up being the liberal, rational-minded person that I think I am today.

Syukur Alhamdulillah, the brainwashing did not work on me. Continue reading “Civics bureau: from attendee to slideshow feature”

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‘Ultra Malay racist’ BTN undermining multicultural Malaysia, says G25 rep

By Zurairi AR
Malay Mail Online
June 17, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 ― The National Civics Bureau (BTN) is undermining Putrajaya’s effort to promote inclusiveness among races, former ambassador Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin said yesterday after the agency’s slides critical of several groups were leaked online.

Noor Farida also slammed BTN for toeing the line of religious authorities by demonising liberalism and pluralism without explaining why, when such concepts are reflected in the Quran, the Federal Constitution, as well as the Rukunegara.

“There seems to be very little doubt that BTN is an ultra Malay racist agency. How the government can establish an organisation like this and use civil servants and public funds boggles the mind,” said Noor Farida, the spokesman of G25, a group of former Malay high-ranking civil servants.

“Instead of promoting national unity, the BTN is undermining it. Notions like Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) appears to be it’s main agenda. Whatever happened to the Ministry of National Unity? It has now been relegated to nothing.” Continue reading “‘Ultra Malay racist’ BTN undermining multicultural Malaysia, says G25 rep”

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Why the BTN must be shut down

Azrul Mohd Khalib
The Malay Mail Online
June 19, 2015

JUNE 19 ― Ask anyone who has ever done their undergraduate degree in Malaysian public universities and quite a few of them will tell you how they were forced to attend and endure the Biro Tatanegara courses.

Each year, hundreds of students join civil servants from various departments, ministries and institutions to be indoctrinated or brainwashed into becoming unthinking, obedient and compliant drones whose allegiance is arguably not towards God, King and Country but more likely leaning towards Umno, Melayu and of course, Umno.

What they often produce instead each year are groups of people who are often embarrassed, cynical and frustrated listening to a bumbling group of individuals who have no business being instructors of anything other than potty training.

Many former attendees admit to being shocked and mortified at the content of these courses which are often unashamedly racist, bigoted, and ignorant and Malay Muslim supremacist in nature. The thing is the attendees are often multi-ethnic and reflect the rich diversity of Malaysian society.

Instead of fulfilling its stated aims which are to nurture the spirit of patriotism and commitment to excellence and good values among Malaysians, and to train leaders and future leaders to support the nation’s development efforts, this government agency which exists under the Prime Minister’s Department has for decades promoted racial and religious discrimination and divisiveness. Continue reading “Why the BTN must be shut down”

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BTN is a tool for Umno’s propaganda

– Iskandar Fareez
The Malaysian Insider
21 June 2015

I am appalled to read the recent statement made by the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Razali Ibrahim in defence of the National Civic Bureau (BTN).

Perhaps the leaking of presentation slides are not enough and Razali needs more testimonials from participants before he admits that BTN was and will continue to be a tool for Umno’s political propaganda.

From my personal experience going through training at BTN during my secondary school days, the modules were designed with the purpose of indoctrinating participants with a Malay supremacist agenda under the guise of nation building.

Being only in my teen years, we were called on to defend Malaysia’s current leadership to avoid any split of Malay political dominance.

We were cautioned that any hints of discord among the Malay community will be used by the opportunist non-Malays to take over the country. Continue reading “BTN is a tool for Umno’s propaganda”

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DAP launches Impian Kedah/Perlis as part of Impian Malaysia to promote an inclusive vision to rally all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or class to unite on a common agenda of Malaysian unity, justice and prosperity

Tonight, I am pleased to announce another Impian Malaysia project, Impian Kedah/Perlis, following in the footsteps of Impian Sabah, Impian Sarawak and Impian Kelantan.

The Impian Kedah/Perlis project will be headed by Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Shaffee who is the Kedah Chairman of the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Associations, Malaysia (FPMPAM) and other members of Impian Kedah/Perlis are Dr. Tan Poh Teng, Nurul Shifa and Abdul Manan.

DAP is launching Impian Kedah/Perlis as part of Impian Malaysia to promote an inclusive vision to rally all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or class to unite on a common agenda of Malaysian unity, justice and prosperity.

Impian Kedah/Perlis, like Impian Kelantan, is born out of the two convictions: Firstly, Malaysia cannot be progressive and prosperous if Kedah and Perlis continue to be poor and backward in infrastructure development.

Secondly, that the people and states of Kedah and Perlis are entitled to the right to development compared to other states and not to be relegated as Malaysia’s poorest state. Continue reading “DAP launches Impian Kedah/Perlis as part of Impian Malaysia to promote an inclusive vision to rally all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or class to unite on a common agenda of Malaysian unity, justice and prosperity”

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The failure of Vision 2020

Syerleena Abdul Rashid
The Malaysian Insider
5 June 2015

Sometime in 1991, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed envisioned “Malaysians of all colours and creeds are free to practice and profess their customs, cultures and religious beliefs and yet feeling that they belong to one nation”. This dream was the essence of Vision 2020, or Wawasan 2020, as it is known in the national language.

Vision 2020 called for a united Malaysian society; one that indicated a progressive society where all of its citizens were more than able to embody compassion, civility and ethnic labels were a thing of the past. Malaysia in the year 2020 boasted an economy that was sound and healthy; there was fair and equitable distribution of wealth and development was spread out evenly throughout the Federation.

Now with only five years left before this vision becomes a reality, many of us can see how far off we really are. With only five years left, the vision of a colourless society seems far beyond our reach. Five years of catching up to a vision that has become some sort of a utopian concept that has lead this nation into a bitter cycle of suspicion and passive aggressive hostility.

The saddest part of humankind is that most of us are unable to shake off the “us and them” mentality and the harm we inflict upon other fellow Malaysians – be it physically and verbally, this is due to our own insecurities, humiliation and pain. Such feelings stem from our inability to understand human diversity – we want them to be like “us” and if they aren’t, there is no way we can accept them into our fold. Continue reading “The failure of Vision 2020”

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50 shades of religious harmony

by Emmanuel Joseph
The Malaysian Insider
3 March 2015

Somehow, over the years, ‘harmony’ in Malaysia, much like ‘democracy’ and ‘liberty’, has been reduced to more of a buzzword than an accepted social norm.

We are, now, in effect, at best, an occasionally harmonious country. When it suits tourism and business interests, we put on this façade of a melting pot of culture, race and religion.

But the once-very-real concept of accepting each other as brothers and sisters of different faiths and cultures appear to have been replaced with a more practical, clinical version of harmony. Continue reading “50 shades of religious harmony”

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Racial supremacism

Syerleena Abdul Rashid
The Malaysian Insider
27 February 2015
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There is nothing more man-made than the concept of race. Issues relating to race and ethnic relations are often regarded as highly controversial. As a result, communities are left making assumptions (usually the worst) about one another’s motives rather than openly discussing issues that can help us understand things better.

Malaysians are habitually “reminded” to tip toe around conversations that touch on the 3Rs – race, religion and royalty. To most, these are the three that must never show up in conversations, literature or even thoughts. To the rest of us, we find the lack of debates quite unsettling, given the increased animosity fellow Malaysians are starting to show one another.

Supremacism is best defined as a belief system that chooses to identify, divide and control others less informed about the ever-changing political and cultural climate of modern sophisticated civilisation. It is the worldview that a certain age, ethnicity/race, religion, gender, social class or culture is superior to others and warrants those who identify themselves with this blinkered view to tower above everything humane and rational. This mob mentality happens when political parties hijack the concept of culture and religion. Continue reading “Racial supremacism”

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UMNO decision to stay out of Chempaka by-election welcome but it should be forerunner to promote a virtuous cycle of national unity and reconciliation

The decision announced by the UMNO President and Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak after the UMNO Supreme Council meeting last night that UMNO will stay out of the Chempaka state by-election in Kelantan is most welcome although not for the reasons given.

Najib said that the decision was for the sake of Muslim “unity” as well as to allow the federal government to focus on its flood relief, rehabilitation and reparation works still in progress.

It is sad that 58 years after Merdeka, and six years after the launching of his 1Malaysia signature policy, Najib has retreated to talk about Muslim unity instead of Malaysian unity.

The UMNO decision to stay out of Chempaka by-election should be a forerunner to promote a virtuous circle of moderation, tolerance, national unity and reconciliation, after a most prolonged, cacophonous and divisive period where the rhetoric of hate, intolerance, extremism and bigotry whether of race or religion, have held sway in the public domain raising disturbing questions about the future of Malaysia. Continue reading “UMNO decision to stay out of Chempaka by-election welcome but it should be forerunner to promote a virtuous cycle of national unity and reconciliation”

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Call on all Pakatan Rakyat leaders, including PAS President Hadi Awang, to focus single-mindedly on how to save Pakatan Rakyat and discourage efforts and elements within our ranks who are prepared to destabilize and even destroy PR

In my Chinese New Year Message on 17th February, I had said that many issues will jostle as the top Malaysian concerns and conversational topics during the Chinese New Year.

This is the third day of the Chinese New Year, and I confess that I had expected Anwar’s conviction and five-year jail sentence for Sodomy II by the Federal Court and his fourth incarceration in his 47-year political struggle as the No. 1 conversation topic of all Malaysians in the Chinese New Year.

I was however wrong, for another issue caught up and gained an edge over Anwar’s conviction and 5-year jail sentence to compete for the No. 1 Chinese New Year top conversation topic – another Federal Court decision concerning a nine-year-matter, the heinous murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu and the blowing up of her body with military C4 explosives in the Shah Alam bushes on Oct. 19, 2006.

On the day I issued my Chinese New Year Message on 17th February, Sirul Azhar, one of the two convicted murderers of Altantunya who had absconded and is seeking asylum in Australia, told Malaysiakini that he was mulling over the possibility of “telling all” about the Altantuya murder as he was only acting “under orders”.

The fast-paced five-day developments of the Altantuya murder case from the Sirul perspective, threatening to reveal “all” in a video conference from Australia tomorrow (Monday) morning, catapulted the issue into a greater cause celebre during the Chinese New Year family re-unions, get-togethers, discussions and coffee-shop talks than the Anwar case – although both these cases were unchallenged as the two top-most first and second conversation topics in the Chinese New Year.

These two high-profile cases highlighted a common defect in our system of governance – a deep rot in the leadership of the 130,000 strong police establishment in not allowing the men and women in blue to act efficiently, independently and professionally to uphold what is right and lawful rather to be subverted to glorify “might is right”’ and the shocking lack of commitment and quality of performance by the political leadership and public service to provide good governance.

I am thoroughly shocked and outraged at the failure of our system of administration of justice in both these high-profile cases in keeping with the maxim to ensure that “justice is not only done, but seen to be done”.

There were several burning issues which qualify to be described as the concerns and top conversation topics of all Malaysians on the occasion of the Chinese New Year of the Goat in the past few days, and among those competing for the second tier level of the Chinese New Year concerns and top conversation topics are: Continue reading “Call on all Pakatan Rakyat leaders, including PAS President Hadi Awang, to focus single-mindedly on how to save Pakatan Rakyat and discourage efforts and elements within our ranks who are prepared to destabilize and even destroy PR”

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DAP’s SSS (Support Sympathy Solidarity) Anwar Ceramah has 3SAVE objectives – to save Anwar from prison, to save Pakatan Rakyat from disintegration and to save Malaysia from becoming a “failed state”

This is the third DAP SSS (Support Sympathy Solidarity) Anwar Ibrahim Ceramah, the first in Taman Cheras Jaya in Selangor on Sunday and the second at the Han Chiang School Hall in Penang last night.

DAP proposes to organize hundreds of SSS Anwar ceramahs, vigils, gatherings and events throughout the country in the next three years before the 14th General Elections with 3Save objectives – firstly, to save Anwar from prison, secondly to save Pakatan Rakyat from disintegration and thirdly, to save Malaysia from becoming a “failed state”.

Anwar has exhausted the judicial process and lost out when the Federal Court returned a shocking 5-0 unanimous decision to dismiss Anwar’s appeal, as even the most pessimistic about Anwar’s chances believing that he would lose in the Federal Court appeal had expected either a 3-2 verdict or at worst a 4-1 decision.

Everybody was floored by the unanimous 5-0 decision. There were not only no dissenting judgment, there was no other judgment from the five-member Federal Court quorum, apart from the single judgment by the Chief Justice, Tun Arifin Zakaria!

Anwar may have lost in the courts of the Malaysian judiciary, but he has won two battles in the first week of his five-year jail sentence – firstly, the court of public opinion in Malaysia and secondly, the court of international opinion, as it will not be easy to find another Federal Court judgment in the past two decades which had met with such instant universal condemnation, not only inside the country but also outside. Continue reading “DAP’s SSS (Support Sympathy Solidarity) Anwar Ceramah has 3SAVE objectives – to save Anwar from prison, to save Pakatan Rakyat from disintegration and to save Malaysia from becoming a “failed state””

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Will Cabinet meet tomorrow to resolve once and for all Ismail Sabri’s racist call to Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses or will the Cabinet play truant and will not meet at all or will meet but evade the issue?

Will the Cabinet meet tomorrow to resolve once and for all the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri’s racist call to Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses which had dragged out for two-and-a-half-weeks without acceptable solution and conclusion or will the Cabinet play truant on the ground that it is Chinese New Year Eve and will not meet at all or will meet but evade the issue?

I do not know whether to laugh or to cry when it was reported that Ismail Sabri had said he would not attend the Chinese New Year event held in his Bera constituency in Pahang as the “brouhaha” over his racist fulminations calling on Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses has yet to die down.

He claimed that he had received a tip off that if he attended the Chinese New Year event, DAP supporters may attend too and some may throw objects at him.

This is his second reckless and irresponsible statement in a matter of weeks, reinforcing the question as to his fitness to continue as a Minister for all Malaysians in a plural nation like Malaysia.

It reminds of the Chinese idiom of “mouthing blood to smear people”, a most despicable and dishonourable act by anyone, not just by a person holding the high status of being a Cabinet Minister of the land!

Bera DAP officials were spot-on when in their denial that there were any such a plot and accused Ismail of being guilty of “yi xiao ren zhi xin du jun zhi zhi fu” (gauge the heart of a gentleman with one’s own mean measure). Continue reading “Will Cabinet meet tomorrow to resolve once and for all Ismail Sabri’s racist call to Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses or will the Cabinet play truant and will not meet at all or will meet but evade the issue?”

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Former students of Najib’s alma mater tell him to stop extremism

The Malaysian Insider
16 February 2015

Another group of Malaysians has penned an open letter to Datuk Seri Najib Razak calling for an end to extremism, this time by 58 former students of St John’s Institution in Kuala Lumpur, where the prime minister himself had studied.

The alumni of the renowned mission school from the class of 1975 urged the country’s leadership to take a strong position against racism, religious bigotry and extremism, and themselves pledged to “always walk on the path of moderation”.

“As patriotic citizens we will not allow any form of destructive extremism, divisiveness and racial or religious turmoil to be planted in our country.

“In this context too, we plead with our leadership, rulers and law-abiding citizens to stand up against extremism,” the 58 Johanians said in their open letter, which carried all their names. Continue reading “Former students of Najib’s alma mater tell him to stop extremism”

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The book “Tragic Orphans – Indians in Malaysia” eloquent testimony of the failure of Vision 2020 of a Bangsa Malaysia

Dr. Carl Vadivella Belle’s new book “Tragic Orphans – Indians in Malaysia” is timely as it is the most eloquent testimony of the failure of Vision 2020 of a Bangsa Malaysia.

In 1991, Vision 2020 spelt out nine strategic challenges which must be overcome if Vision 2020 of a fully developed nation is to be achieved – “a united nation, with a confident Malaysian society, infused by strong moral and ethical values – living in a society that is democratic, liberal and tolerant, caring, economically just and equitable, progressive and prosperous, and in full possession of an economy that is competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient”.

2020 is only five years away. What are the prospects of achieving the Vision 2020 of a fully developed nation?

In actual fact, we cannot even pass the first of these nine strategic challenges, which is “establishing a united Malaysian nation with a sense of common and shared destiny. This must be a nation at peace with itself territorially and ethnically integrated, living in harmony and full and fair partnership made up of one ‘Bangsa Malaysia’ with political loyalty and dedication to the nation”.

Can anyone remember when was the last time the Prime Minister or any Minister had talked about “Bangsa Malaysia”? The term “Bangsa Malaysia” has become a dirty term or unsanctioned aspiration.

Are we moving closer to the objective of a united Malaysia nation “with a sense of common and shared destiny”, “a nation at peace with itself… ethnically integrated living in harmony in full and fair partnership? Continue reading “The book “Tragic Orphans – Indians in Malaysia” eloquent testimony of the failure of Vision 2020 of a Bangsa Malaysia”