Today, 31st August 2007 marks the half-century of nationhood for our homeland - Malaysia.

(SOURCE: Vision KL)

"All people must feel that there is room for them in our country and that we can all live in peace with one another, provided of course that we respect one another’s rights, and provided, too, that we realize we owe duties to one another for the good and well-being, the progress and happiness of our country, Malaysia."

Tunku Abdul Rahman

I’m a simple person with a few simple wishes.

My biggest wish is that we anak-anak Malaysia will see beyond skin colors and stay united as one bangsa Malaysia.

I wish our unique bangsa Malaysia’s identity and constitutional rights will be protected at all cost.

I wish more Malaysians will join our Bangsa Malaysia initiatives.

I wish we don’t take independence for granted as it’s a hard-fought sovereignty by Tunku Abdul Rahman and our ancestors.

I wish the country will make better progress in term of its social advancement and economic growth.

I wish there will be new breed of politicians who are sincere in promoting racial unity rather than looking for which keris to wave.

I wish politicians spend precious time debating issues concern about the rakyat rather than engaging sensitives issues and turn the Parliament into a third-world circus.

I wish police force will learn to prioritize cases which need immediate attention rather than putting in effort to intimidate normal civilian.

I wish Malaysians who’re eligible to vote will register as a voter and carry our their voting rights.

I wish more young Malaysians will make a point to mix with friends from other races and understand each others.

I wish Malaysians look to the future with hope that belongs to us and only us.

And finally, I love Malaysia for this country is the place where I was born, breed and brought up because this is the place where tanah tumpahnya darahku.

Happy Birthday, Malaysia!

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

It’s a matter of fact that Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has been a controversial figure ever since he became the Singapore’s first prime minister.

It’s also a matter of fact that no matter how much you hate this guy for suppressing information freedom and openness in Singapore’s society, still, hats off to him for what he has done towards his country together with his great vision.

In a recent interview by IHT, he spoke about how Singapore needs to constantly evolve and stay ahead of pack by being pragmatic and flexible.

Well, we are pragmatists. If, in order to survive, we have to open up a sector, we open it up. Because the best test - the yardstick is, is this necessary for survival and progress? If it is, let’s do it.

Is this necessary for survival and progress? If it is, let’s do it.

I don’t like casinos, but the world has changed and if we don’t have an integrated resort like the ones in Las Vegas - Las Vegas Sands - we’ll lose.

So, let’s go. Let’s try. Can we do it? I’m not sure, but we’re going to give it a good try. [...]

I think we have to go in whatever direction world conditions dictate if we are to survive and to be part of this modern world. If we are not connected to this modern world, we are dead. We’ll go back to the fishing village we once were. [...]

We knew that if we were just like our neighbors, we would die. Because we’ve got nothing to offer against what they have to offer. So we had to produce something which is different and better than what they have. It’s incorrupt. It’s efficient. It’s meritocratic. It works. [...]

The system works regardless of your race, language or religion because otherwise we’d have divisions. We are pragmatists. We don’t stick to any ideology.

The context? Multi-racials, multi-languages, multi-religions.

The management philosophy? Incorrupt. Efficient. Meritocratic.

The ideology? Pragmatism.

The secret?

"Does it work? Let’s try it and it does work, fine, let’s continue it. If it doesn’t work, toss it out, try another one," he said.
 
Like it or not, the above combined factors are intriguing enough to attract Chinese ministers meeting twice with Singaporean ministers every year to learn from their experience and fifty mayors of Chinese cities visit every three months for courses in city management.

And we’re talking about China, the country which is expected to be the biggest economy in Gross National Product (GNP) per capita in 2050,  learning from a tiny little red dot - Singapore.

Finally, something for us to cheer about in football when Malaysia won the Merdeka Tournament for the first time in 14 years after beating Myanmar 3-1 in the final at the Shah Alam stadium.

Malaysia team, who is represented by Under-23 side, may form the core of the national team to play in the pre-World Cup football tie against Bahrain in October, especially with the dismal performance of our senior team in the recently concluded AFC Asian Cup 2007.

Congratulations to the team and its coach B. Sathianathan, the timing couldn’t be better especially when we’re going to celebrate 50th years of nationhood tomorrow.

First, it’s by Reuters. Next comes the roundup on Malaysia by International Herald Tribune (IHT), with the title - So far, so good.

True enough, good points are being highlighted but with a big trap ahead - racial polarization.

And apparently, international press are not being kept in the dark on what’s really happening in Malaysia.

They aren’t stupid and seems to be quite aware of the situation, where they agree that even though Malaysia has advanced in term of its economic growth, racial integration and corruption index are going to the other way round.

It was also concluded that race-based parties should gradually become an anachronism if "Malaysian" is to become an identity that is much more than a passport.

Official efforts to advance Malay ownership, education and incomes have been very successful and have had limited negative impact on economic growth. But they have not been matched by increased racial integration.

Indeed, quite the opposite. Under Middle East influence and driven partly by domestic politics, official Malay Islam has become increasingly restrictive in its interpretations, increasingly arrogant in its assumptions about the primacy of Islam and the extent of the jurisdiction of sharia courts.

UMNO is living proof that a monopoly of power is increasingly corruptive. The combination of political power and pro-Malay economic policies is especially corrosive. Nor is there much justification any longer for racial preferences, given that Malays have wealth as well as now easily outnumbering the immigrant races. It has created a Malay elite that is highly dependent on official favors.

The problems of race, religion and corruption may have increased since Mahathir Mohamad stepped down as prime minister. Mahathir was an authoritarian who undermined democracy and the independence of the judiciary, but he was secular at heart.

His successor Abdullah Badawi is more tolerant and less tainted by money politics. His looser grip has allowed civil society to gain ground and the judiciary to become less subservient. But he is arguably not strong enough to confront either the UMNO patronage system or the pretensions of official Islam.

The conclusion made is for us to learn from our poorer but more tolerant, diverse but socially less fractured Malay neighbor, Indonesia.

Don’t be surprised, I told you so in 2006.

Less than 3 days to 50 years of nationhood, Reuters did a roundup on Malaysia.

The title: Fifty years on, race, religion still haunt Malaysia.

(SOURCE: Reuters, 28 August 2007)
In the article, it says that while Malaysia has made progress on the economic front, race and inter-faith relations are lagging and effort to mesh the races into a single Malaysian identity are far from reality.

The reasons for that are deep-rooted as Malaysia’s political, education and economic structures, as well as faith, continue to be entrenched along racial lines.

"Views of increasing intolerance and religious polarisation have negatively impacted how Malaysia has been perceived and Malaysia has benefited from a largess of resources, which, if depleted, will lead to greater racial tensions," said Bridget Welsh, a political scientist at John Hopkins University.

Ooi Kee Beng, an analyst at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore and the author of The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr Ismail and his Time blames it on the political system.

"The powers that be in Malaysia survive on the paradox of keeping inter-ethnic peace and being champions of their race at one and the same time," he said.

While the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently proclaimed that "I want to be fair, I’m fair and I will always be fair" but doing the other way round, it’s better we’re being fair to ourselves and doing the right thing we’re supposed to do.

Lacking a sense of real unity, spontaneous rejoicing in the 50th Merdeka remains rare. Being unsure about what it is we’re supposed to be celebrating, Malaysians experience a national anxiety.

Also, given the pessimism that many Malaysians feel about the political economy together with the the lack of confidence in the Prime Minister’s ability to reform the country and the discomfort about the de-secularisation of society, there is little optimism.

After sound contemplation, some change must be done, let’s make a start from the latest Bangsa Malaysia initiative - Penyayang Legasi & Inspirasi Tunku Abdul Rahman (PELITAR).

Meanwhile, Pak Lah strongly defended the unity of the country, accusing critics of wrongly painting a bleak picture.

"There are many naysayers and detractors both within and outside Malaysia. They seek to paint a dark and bleak picture of Malaysia," he said.

You ok, Pak Lah?

Early this month, when Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Malaysia is neither secular nor theocratic state, in contrast to what his deputy Najib Tun Razak said, blogger Tony Yew came out with a diagram which deciphers the current state of the country.

(SOURCE: alliedmartster, 5 August 2007)
Three weeks after the statement, Malaysiakini reported that Pak Lah for the first time said Malaysia is an Islamic state and not a secular state.

He said that Malaysia was an Islamic state ruled by Islamic principles, and at the same time, was also a country that believed in Federal Constitution.

"Malaysia is an Islamic state, ruled based on Islam Hadhari which I have introduced."

True enough, he has successfully confused the rakyat with his flip-flop decision making within a short period and that’s in line with what had been predicted by Tony (read the diagram above!).

What a big hypocrite he is and what he said is in contradict with his cakap serupa bikin administration style. Indeed, what we Malaysians need is a Prime Minister who is capable of putting up his thought in a decisive manner and telling the rakyat as what it is.

Clearly, as a Prime Minister, being unsure of things and not able to circulate his idea well together with the fact that we always have second thought on our PM is trying to say are among signs that many of us have lost confidence towards his administration.

It’s time to wake up, Pak Lah. The same call goes to the rakyat too.

The Bangsa Malaysia Hari Merdeka Get-together was a blast.

That’s about it? No, definitely not!

So, what’s the way forward, you may ask?

It’s Penyayang Legasi & Inspirasi Tunku Abdul Rahman (PELITAR) which was announced by The People’s Parliament Haris Ibrahim.

It’s an Anak Bangsa Malaysia initiative to make the legacy and inspiration of Bapa Bangsa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman a national reality, where some concrete roadmap will be formulated.

If you would like to be involved in this initiative, or would like to share your ideas as to how the legacy and inspiration of Tunku may become a national reality, send us an e-mail at pelitar@gmail.com.

Remember, there is no colour. No race. No religion. No barriers.

There is only one nation, Malaysia.

There is only one race, Bangsa Malaysia.

As Rocky said earlier in his blog, two young bloggers - Aishah, 11, and Aiman, 12 - were among the future hope of Malaysia who attended the Bangsa Malaysia Hari Merdeka Get-together.

While Aishah was part of the 6 volunteers who were asked to read passages from Usman Awang’s unpublished work about Bangsa Malaysia, I was told that Aiman was busy running here and there helping around with the logistic arrangements.

Later that night, when most of the participants had left, I saw him sitting at a corner listening to MP3 on his mum’s mobile. I went to spoke with him for a while before I asked him what he thinks about Bangsa Malaysia.

Yesterday evening, I received an email from him.

Bangsa Malaysia means racial unity. That is, after all, what it’s aiming at. I believe racial unity will benifit all, and if you object, please tell me why. Racial unity can only be achieved if we all chip in, and that will seem like an uphill strugle, but isn’t everything? Look at our country, Malaysia. Didn’t TAR experience an uphill struggle in making our country what it is today? [...]

What I don’t understand about our government, in all the hype of promoting racial unity, still ‘prefer’ having roughly 98% of teachers in Sekolah Kebangsaan schools Malay. If you try and promote something, show the people that it works. If your not passionate about something, you can only achieve so much.

If the kid who is yet to sit for UPSR exam can tell us what’s racial unity all about, what’s wrong with our people up there? What’s wrong with many of us who can’t see beyond skin color?

For kids are the future of Malaysia, I’m going to give Bangsa Malaysia Kids’ Club a serious thought.

I hope you hear me, Haris.

I see hopes, dreams, aspirations, thoughts, musings and etc. at Bangsa Malaysia Hari Merdeka Get-together.

Picture courtesy of TV Smith
(Click on the image if you want to see what’s written on the banner)

Thank you folks!

… and I’d like to assure you that you’ll be receiving email(s) from me soon of any upcoming events.

Picture courtesy of TV Smith

Tanah Air
(Menjelang Kemerdekaan)

ENGKAU, Tanahair, pemilik perut yang berbudi,
Penampung hujan, penyedut sinar mentari,
Lahirlah anak-anakmu dari semaian-semaian petani.

Engkau, ibu murni, dengan jasa abadi,
Berdetik di denyut nafas kami,
Kerana kita adalah satu dan sama dipunyai.

Telah kaurasa segala seperti kami,
Dalam kengerian perang dadamu dibongkar besi,
Di mana-mana wajahmu tak pernah mati.

Tapi begitu sejarah hidup zaman-berzaman,
Yang pernah merangkul pahlawan kemerdekaan;
Mereka sujud dalam kaku memohon perlindungan.

Bukankan dengan kasih dan harapan,
Kautenggelamkan mereka dalam dakapan?
Di mana bunga ganti nisan bertaburan?

Negara baru di atas rongga jantungmu,
Akan tegak bertapak dalam kebebasan,
Cinta antara kita wahyu dari Tuhan.

Usman Awang

* The poem above was recited by blogger Big Dog during the forum

Meanwhile, let’s keep the flame alive!

No Colour.
No Race.
No Religion.
No Barriers.
One Nation, Malaysia.
One Race, Bangsa Malaysia.

The day is today.

Help us to help yourself, towards a true Bangsa Malaysia.