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The first challenge that we will be confronted with is how to maintain the inter-racial and inter-religious harmony in our country. To me merdeka means nothing if we are still unable to live in peace and harmony despite our racial and religious differences. The key to achieve this is tolerance. Tolerance means “the willingness to accept other people’s behaviour and beliefs, although one might not agree with or approve of them”. The recent controversy over the relocation of a Hindu temple in Selangor shows that the message of tolerance is still not widespread among some segments of society. To make matters worse, some politicians show no sensitivity over the issue. To say that a cow’s head symbolises the stupidity of the Selangor Government, in itself, is an act of stupidity of the highest order. Don’t these people realise that a cow is considered sacred by the Hindus? I still remember that when I was in secondary school, I learnt how to be tolerant to my Muslim friends. My room was located next to a surau. When the azan prayer was performed, I was the first person to wake up. At first, it really annoyed me and I didn’t know how to complain. But living in a multi-racial and multi-religious country, I taught myself to be tolerant. And I was able to tolerate the azan prayer for years until I left boarding school. A couple of years ago, I went to Sibu to do a field research. I had a chance to visit the Sibu night market. What I saw in the market was really interesting: a Muslim woman selling her kuih-muih next to a Chinese who was selling pork meat. Just several days ago, I visited one of the prominent Muslim political figures in Sabah. What surprised me was that he asked his wife to prepare coffee and biscuits for me! When the wife came, she “accidently” offered a drink to her husband. And her husband cheekily said, “kau tidak taukah kita puasa?” The wife responded, “oh…ya…kan, lupa pula, nilah orang tua”.
We are fortunate that in Sabah the different ethnic groups are able to live peacefully and harmoniously. We should maintain this reciprocity among races and avoid making any attempts that could cause racial and religious conflicts. As long as the 1Malaysia expression in Sabah is intact, I can foresee that Sabah will remain a model for inter-racial and inter-religious harmony in Malaysia. But we may not be able to achieve this if the present political culture remains. This brings me to my next point.
The second challenge is our readiness to move from communal politics to a multi-racial one. Let me explain to you what I mean by communal politics using a very simple illustration. So many people in Sabah are quite critical of UMNO. They say that UMNO is a Malay party and should not meddle, for instance, in the affairs of the Kadazan, Dusun, or Bajau people. But if UMNO is sincere in fighting for the well-being of the indigenous people, I think, it is fairly justified for the party to spread its wings in Sabah. It is good to see that more and more Kadazan, Dusun, and Bajau leaders are now in UMNO. This means that they want to use a powerful party like UMNO to help develop their respective communities. Whether they are successful or not is for the people to judge. The point that I want to make is we can use any party as our platform to pursue our struggle provided we are sincere and honest. But sadly not many politicians nowadays are willing to set aside their personal agenda and be honest and sincere in their struggles. The calls to put the people first is indeed laudable but let us be honest and look around us: how many politicians out there are really serious in putting the people above anything else?
I hope to see a Malay leader, for example, that understands the plights of the Kadazan and Dusun people and is ready to fight for them. In the same way, I hope to see a Kadazan or Dusun leader that fights for the Bajau and Murut people; and a Christian wakil rakyat that sincerely represents his or her predominantly Muslim constituency in parliament. If there is one party that can serve Malaysians well, in my humble opinion, it should be a party that fights for the rights of all ethnic communities in Malaysia. We have seen the struggle of some of the great leaders in our country such as the late Syed Hussien Alatas who co-founded the Malaysian People’s Movement. Alatas was committed in forming a political party that catered for the needs of all ethnic groups and one that cared for social justice and equality among races. Even though he is no longer with us, his ideas on multi-racial politics live on. We should also not forget the struggle of the founding members of Malaysia for their success in gathering people from all walks of life to agree on what our country should be like. Sadly, many of us today choose not to honour the foundation that our founding fathers had laid down for us. That is why, I think, it is critical for the younger generation to re-read and understand the historical background of the formation of Malaysia. When I say re-read, it means asking critical questions and demanding answers from the powers-that-be because they are the ones who normally distort historical facts.
Of course, it is difficult to “re-programme” our minds not to look exclusively for the interests of our own ethnic groups. But if we want to see a sustained racial and religious tolerance in Malaysia, we do not have any other CHOICE but to ABANDON our penchant of using race and religion to win political support.
The third challenge is to maintain racial and religious diversity in Malaysia. Malaysia’s strengths lies in its racial and religious diversity and nothing else. In order to do this, the government has to take several steps. First, efforts have to be made to ensure that all the ethnic groups are adequately represented in the civil service and related government agencies. If the government is serious in wanting to transform 1Malaysia into reality, it has to make sure that no ethnic groups are left out in the decision-making process of the country. The private sector has to follow suit. It has to make sure that employment opportunities are given to all irrespective of race and religion. Secondly, economic opportunities have to be based on healthy competition and not preferential treatment. The decision to abolish the 30 percent equity in foreign companies is laudable but it has to be extended in small medium industries and other direct dealings between the government and private individuals. The country’s economic development has to reflect the participation of various races.
I am not saying that the NEP or NDP is no longer relevant. It is relevant if it is meant for all indigenous groups in Malaysia including those in Sabah and Sarawak. Many of the Kadazan, Dusun, Murut and Iban people in the rural areas are still grappling with the issue of poverty. We cannot deny the fact that NEP/NDP has been successful in reducing poverty level among some segments of society, but there is evidence to suggest that the policy has created a widening economic gap between the so-called Bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak and the Malays in Peninsular Malaysia. Instead of focusing on inter-ethnic disparity vis-à-vis Chinese and Malays, the government has to turn its attention on the economic problem that occurs at the intra-ethnic level. The point that I am trying to make here is that it is time for the government to bring these policies to the people in the two East Malaysian states. Otherwise, NEP/NDP will continue to be branded as a tool to enrich certain politically well-connected individuals and an affirmative action policy that is specially designed for only one particular ethnic group.
The formation of Malaysia in 1963 was one of the greatest moments in our history. But the younger generation of Malaysians including some in the corridors of powers have forgotten the significance of the event. Our gathering today shows our seriousness in wanting to honour what our founding fathers had laid down for us. But by just remembering what they had done is not enough, we need to look at what lies ahead for Malaysia and mobilise our efforts in overcoming the challenges that we will be confronted with. We do not have any other alternative but to cease thinking that we are different from each other despite our cultural and religious uniqueness. As a young Malaysian who is keen on seeing peace and harmony are maintained in our country, I call on all of you today in this gathering to join me to reject all forms of racial and religious extremism, and the use of race and religion for political expediency. Thank you for listening and Selamat Menyambut Hari Malaysia.
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