Decide whether it's party or national interest
Ashvin RajPublished: Jul 29, 2008 9:10 AM | Updated: Jul 29, 2008 9:12 AM
I refer to a media report where MCA Youth Chief Liow Tiong Lai was reported to have declared MCA's support for the Umno-PAS talks.
I find it retrogressive for him to state that MCA takes it with an open mind in an effort to unite the Malay community, and he even urged the Chinese community to be united in support of MCA.
This gives rise to parochial communal thinking and is the old narrow mindset of racial politics.
As a Malaysian who believes in a social contract which is enshrined in our federal constitution and based on the notion that ‘all Malaysians are created equal’, I am indeed puzzled by his statement.
This is because it gives rises to the implication that Malaysians are still divided along ethnic lines and that communal politics continues to dominate the political scene, rather than national unity.
The idea of ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ as espoused by Umno is going extinct and the recent talks between Umno and PAS seem to indicate that Umno is desperate enough to go to that extent to salvage their waning support among the Malay electorate and to stem the tide of the Anwar factor.
I dare say if not for the losses suffered by Umno in the recent March 8 Elections where they lost five states to Pakatan Rakyat, Umno would not have bothered with having secret talks with PAS.
Shahrir Abdul Samad’s caution against turning the dialogue into a racial issue completely misses the point. This is about putting national interest first and not party interest.
All Malaysians irrespective of their race are stakeholders in the affairs of our nation, and nation-building should not solely belong to any one particular race or religion.
Non-Malays are not foreigners in their own land and as a multi-racial nation, we should strive to achieve national unity and economic prosperity for all Malaysians, irrespective of their race, religion, status or political belief.
All Malaysians of rational minds must make a heartfelt reappraisal as to what they conceive to be Malaysia’s destiny.
If it is the common hope that our destiny lies in a multi-racial nation, where there is no discrimination on the grounds of race, then the Malaysian dream of ensuring opportunity and security for all will become a reality and there will indeed be national unity.
However, if there is no agreement on this fundamental issue and we continue to harp on racial unity talks, instead of national unity talks, then clearly there is no will or determination to build a multi-racial nation, one based on one common Malaysian dream or identity – ‘Bangsa Malaysia’.
I find it retrogressive for him to state that MCA takes it with an open mind in an effort to unite the Malay community, and he even urged the Chinese community to be united in support of MCA.
This gives rise to parochial communal thinking and is the old narrow mindset of racial politics.
As a Malaysian who believes in a social contract which is enshrined in our federal constitution and based on the notion that ‘all Malaysians are created equal’, I am indeed puzzled by his statement.
This is because it gives rises to the implication that Malaysians are still divided along ethnic lines and that communal politics continues to dominate the political scene, rather than national unity.
The idea of ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ as espoused by Umno is going extinct and the recent talks between Umno and PAS seem to indicate that Umno is desperate enough to go to that extent to salvage their waning support among the Malay electorate and to stem the tide of the Anwar factor.
I dare say if not for the losses suffered by Umno in the recent March 8 Elections where they lost five states to Pakatan Rakyat, Umno would not have bothered with having secret talks with PAS.
Shahrir Abdul Samad’s caution against turning the dialogue into a racial issue completely misses the point. This is about putting national interest first and not party interest.
All Malaysians irrespective of their race are stakeholders in the affairs of our nation, and nation-building should not solely belong to any one particular race or religion.
Non-Malays are not foreigners in their own land and as a multi-racial nation, we should strive to achieve national unity and economic prosperity for all Malaysians, irrespective of their race, religion, status or political belief.
All Malaysians of rational minds must make a heartfelt reappraisal as to what they conceive to be Malaysia’s destiny.
If it is the common hope that our destiny lies in a multi-racial nation, where there is no discrimination on the grounds of race, then the Malaysian dream of ensuring opportunity and security for all will become a reality and there will indeed be national unity.
However, if there is no agreement on this fundamental issue and we continue to harp on racial unity talks, instead of national unity talks, then clearly there is no will or determination to build a multi-racial nation, one based on one common Malaysian dream or identity – ‘Bangsa Malaysia’.
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