The sad thing about this country is we seem to cannot break away with anything about race. We have recently alot of talks about unity among Malays and later we have MCA talks about Chinese unity, we are going no where. I mean aren't we suppose to be talking about National unity? My good friend, Ashvin has a good analysis on this whole unity thing. I am really fed up and you know what, I think UNITY IS A DIRTY WORD, we should not talk about it anymore but should actually do it and practice it in our policies, daily activities, etc. No more Bumiputra vs non Bumiputra, no more lain-lain, no more Muslim Bumiputra vs Muslim non-Bumiputra, no more quota for university, government positions, etc. Let us have unity without talking about unity, unite the people based on hope and love. Can they understand or not..?
Malay Unity or National Unity by Ashvin Raj
I refer to the Sun report where MCA Youth Chief Datuk 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 even urged the Chinese community to be united in support of MCA. This gives rise to parochial communal thinking and an 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 above statement. This is because it gives rises to the implication that Malaysians are still divided along ethnic lines and that communal politics continue to dominate the political scene, rather than National Unity in the first place. The idea of Ketuanan Melayu as espoused by UMNO is going bankrupt, as the recent talks between UMNO and PAS seems to indicate they are 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 5 states to Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO would not have bothered having secret talks with PAS.Datuk 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 that nation building should not solely belong to any one particular race or religion. Non-Malays are not foreigners in their own land, but that 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 beliefs.All Malaysians of rational minds must make a heart-searching 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, as there will indeed be national unity. However, if there is no agreement on this fundamental issue, where we continue to harp on racial unity talks, instead of national unity, then clearly there is no will or determination to build a multi-racial nation, that is based on one common Malaysian dream or identity – Bangsa Malaysia.
I refer to the Sun report where MCA Youth Chief Datuk 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 even urged the Chinese community to be united in support of MCA. This gives rise to parochial communal thinking and an 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 above statement. This is because it gives rises to the implication that Malaysians are still divided along ethnic lines and that communal politics continue to dominate the political scene, rather than National Unity in the first place. The idea of Ketuanan Melayu as espoused by UMNO is going bankrupt, as the recent talks between UMNO and PAS seems to indicate they are 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 5 states to Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO would not have bothered having secret talks with PAS.Datuk 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 that nation building should not solely belong to any one particular race or religion. Non-Malays are not foreigners in their own land, but that 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 beliefs.All Malaysians of rational minds must make a heart-searching 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, as there will indeed be national unity. However, if there is no agreement on this fundamental issue, where we continue to harp on racial unity talks, instead of national unity, then clearly there is no will or determination to build a multi-racial nation, that is based on one common Malaysian dream or identity – Bangsa Malaysia.
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