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.
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