WE have just celebrated our National Day and in 10 days, it will be the day 58 years ago our nation was formed. About seven years ago I wrote a post. It was a time when the Barisan Nasional (BN) regime seemed immovable, but I had hoped that Malaysians would rise.
I had faith that one day a new strong Malaysia would emerge. Four years later, we began that journey of a new Malaysia and then as swiftly as it came, to many it seemed the hope was snatched away. I disagree.
We cannot expect to fix something that has been battered over decades, overnight. Or even in a few years. We are a complex nation, and this journey we are on now, is something we need to go through.
Slowly all hearts and minds will be impacted, and real changes will occur. Hopefully those changes are positive ones, but in a democracy we never know.
There have been enough lectures, enough diatribe and enough anger. So, no lecture, just a statement from the heart.
This September 16, 58 years ago, Sabah, Sarawak and Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (and for a short while Singapore) became equal partners in a dream – the dream was to create a united, multiracial, multireligious country where Islam was the official religion that would provide inspiration but not dictate the laws of the land.
It was to create a country where all religions were respected and free to practice without hindrance, all languages spoken and supported, but where Bahasa Melayu would become Bahasa Malaysia – a unifying national language.
The Malays in Malaya were asked to share their language and give it up as their own, so it can be everyone’s. They did. The hope of our founding fathers led by Tunku Abdul Rahman was to create a dynamic and cultured nation that would become a beacon of hope for the rest of the world.
And for a long time, that’s exactly what we did. We became the global leaders in rubber, palm oil, tin, timber, petroleum – we modernised our nation, had one of the most respected judiciaries, civil services and education systems in Asia.
We had football teams that beat South Korea and Japan. Players such as Datuk Mokhtar Dahari, Datuk Soh Chin Aun, Datuk R. Arumugam and others flew the Malaysian flag proudly and we were proud of them.
Now, 58 years on, we all accept that somewhere along the way, we took a wrong turn. But you know what, that's ok. For a nation to be truly great, to be ready for everything that the modern world and the hell it’s going through can throw at us, we must go through our own catharsis.
An enema of the soul if you like. We’ve allowed too much junk and gunk to accumulate. The detour we were put on was to teach us how easy it is to go wrong; how easy it is to allow fear to control us.
Our founding fathers left a brilliant document called the federal constitution for us, they also left the Rukun Negara to us. We as a nation may be a little battered of late, but that which does not kill us, only makes us stronger. And we are strong.
I know I hit out at the government, I know I attack many race-based political organisations. Malay, Chinese and Indian. I have no love for them because they collectively thrive on fear to survive, they peddle fear and anger as currency, and provide no hope and no inspiration.
But despite them, and despite the government’s wrong turns, despite the many “monkeys” we have in Parliament from both sides of the political fence, despite them ALL, there is no country on Earth like my country, my Malaysia.
There is no country with as warm a people, there is no country with the quality of life matched with a lower cost of living, there is no country with the variety of food.
We have everything, the modernity and ego of metropolitan cities and the beauty and humbleness of the small towns and villages – all connected by the most modern highway system in Asia.
I will criticise my government till the cows come home because we have so much to do, so much to fix and we can be so much more.
But no one can tell me, and no one will ever make me accept that there is a better country. Because from experience, there is none.
So, I defend my nation with foreigners till the end, but I will continue to hit out at my government (state or federal) because they can and must do better, and Malaysians know and deserve it.
Yes, we are a little battered, a little worn, but we are also strong and resolved. So today I say to you, get up, stand up. We have work to do. And I will do it with you.
I am proud of Malaysia. I am proud to be Malaysian. I am you; you are me, and we are Malaysia. May Allah bless us all, and God bless our country.
On September 16, I look forward to celebrating Malaysia Day. I look forward to celebrating it with my fellow Malaysians. – The Vibes, September 6, 2021
Datuk Dr Vinod Sekhar is chairman and group chief executive of the PETRA Group
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