Why we need to find an answer and quickly. Malaysia is at a critical stage in its political development,while we look relatively stable on the surface,there is a strong under current of discontent,the signs are there for all to see.The case of the cows head in the Shah Alam temple's case,the MIC election and its "expected" outcome,the going ons in MCA and PKFZs case.As for UMNO,it has yet to win a by election in the Peninsular !The new Selangor's state government has not been spared either,the issue of selling alcohol in a Muslim neighbourhood,SELCATs methods being question and the apparent spilt in Pakatan and PAS.Oh... ,and the "fall" of the elected Perak state government.All these and more in the last 20 months or so.Race relations are fragile,the non Malays feel that things have not changed much since the last general elections while the Malays believe that their rights are being eroded to accommodate the demands of the non Malays. Of course this is a generalisation of the situation in Malaysia. Many Malaysians on the other hand have managed to look beyond racial sentiments ( the reason for strong showing of Pakatan ) to send a strong message to the ruling coalition that "Malaysians" has had enough of mismanagement,corruption,power abuse etc by some members of the ruling coalition. The new Prime Minister is trying his best to solve this image problem of BN,(and in particular UMNO) some real,some imagined.While some of his efforts can be lauded,the overall impact is still too little. For one,in order for the PM not to lose Malay votes ( ie the ones who are Pas supporters but not hard core members) they must stop being critical of personalities like Nik Aziz and Anwar Ibrahim.Instead they should focus on real issues ( nation building,poverty,corruption,economic prosperity,race relations,religious issues ),they should send the message that they are the best solution to solve the country's problems and woes.For the past 20 months,they have yet to provide concrete plans to solve the problems that has cause their worse election results since Independence. At the time of writing this article,what has happen to the Lingams case ? What will be the outcome of PKFZ ? these issues ( and many others)needs a satisfactory ending or else the outcome of the 14th general elections is a forgone conclusion.Sweeping issues under the carpet(and thinking that it will be forgotten and forgiven is a wrong and suicidal attitude.Malaysia still need a multi racial coalition that ensures the Malays that their rights are protected-not through bias contracts or quotas or patronising policies-but by ensuring that the Malay language and culture and religion will be given its due standing.Not through domination but through policies that ensure its acceptance by all Malaysians.What makes a Malaysian ? Most non Malays have accepted that this country must have one binding language and culture and because historically this is a Malay nation than the language should be Malay and the culture Malay based-they don't have to apologize for this by policies that seems to contradict this fact.This happens in all previous civilization,the minority adapts to the majority and still happens in most countries-Australia,Britain,USA,China. the minority adapts but without losing their culture and identity and in some areas there is a mix of all local cultures,which develops over time.This must be the basis of a truly united Malaysia,but it must exist in an environment of "strong and principled leadership"(SPL) there is no choice,if the current leadership of both BN and Pakatan does not reflect the SPL and accept the fact that this is a Malay majority nation,I'm afraid that we are living in a dangerous "time bomb" (that needs immediate diffusion) that is about to explode...God forbids.
things that are killing them
15 years ago
