After 50 years of independence, it is sad that what the British intended was to leave their colonies divided so that we will be busy fighting amongst ourselves and not against the Kingdom. This till this day rears its ugly head and our path towards nation-building is thwarted.

Our closest neighbor understood this and focused on nation-building. Their wise leader only had to utter the phrase that the ‘Chinese and Indians (in Malaysia) are marginalised’ and we predictably responded to his plot of causing distraction so that we could not get our act together to compete with them globally - so simple yet effective. We have the same three communities with more resources but somehow our neighbor has managed to play the Indian, Chinese and Middle East markets better than us. Shame on us, the competition is not in Malaysia but it is global.

Are we becoming a banana republic? It is defined in Wikipedia as a country that is politically unstable, dependent on limited agriculture, and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy and corrupt clique. Well maybe not yet, but we’re getting close - oil running out, cronyism pervasive and elections a farce.

Is there any point in elections and voting for Parliament? Why do we need law-makers when those who are supposed to enforce the law (the police), the executive and the judiciary are all corrupt? So why debate and pass laws when there is no respect and integrity for the rule of law and hence why elect?

It is for this reason that we need to make sure there is an opposition to put in checks and balances and restore accountability! We know we have arrived as a nation when we have a two-party system that debates about economic welfare rather than communalism. Any opposition is better than none. In the absence of a single-party alternative, PKR, DAP, PAS together will do - deny them their two-thirds!

The true competition in the globalised world is about attracting - or in our case retaining - talent. So let us start with government. We do not want leftovers, unaccomplished self-serving businessmen, poor academicians and low achievers in government to lead us. We need leadership that has talent to make Malaysia proud and confident to compete globally. We need leaders that know how to rally and build a nation - not outdated sensationalist keris -waving ones that distract from the core issues of creating industries, investment, fighting corruption and attracting talent.

We are not ready for meritocracy but let us we fight for fair play, an NEP for all who are poor regardless of race. No one has a monopoly on poverty, life is just not fair to all. We are not ready to rid ourselves of corruption entirely but let’s fight its cancerous spread and let’s fight for good leaders at all levels. We are not ready for total integration but let’s fight for tolerance. Let us fight to build the brand MALAYSIA. Enough is enough!