51 years and more fragmented than ever

A year ago, I complained about the bad traffic in the lead up to the National Day celebrations. At the time, Malaysia was to celebrate our 50th year of independance. Then, I complained some more on the 31 August itself, feeling quite unpatriotic.

At the time, the fires of resentment were already spreading slowly through the Malaysian population, displeased at the way things were going, the way the country was heading and in general, displeased with the ruling party.

Perhaps we felt that at 50 it was time to stand up on our own two feet and use our heads to vote instead of just voting on partisan lines as before. Perhaps the fear of voting for the Opposition had passed when we hit the half century mark. Perhaps the petrol hike to RM2.70 did it. Whatever it was, 7 months later on 8 March 2008 Malaysians stood up and went to the polls, turning in a decision that they felt was enough to send a message to the ruling party - We don’t quite want you, but we will give you a simple majority only because we don’t have much of a choice yet.

The problem is that at 51 the country is nothing if not more fragmented than it was pre-Merdeka. At least at the time, there was a common goal for the citizens to work towards - independence. Malaysians in the 1950s were a much more united bunch transcending race and religion - just ask our parents, products of the Merdeka era - everyone was working towards one common goal.

A mere 51 years after Merdeka, I’m seeing the racial unity that was once held in great esteem by the world fall apart. 51 years down the road and we are individually Malays, Chinese and Indians. We are not Malaysians.

We have politicians (leaders of the country mind you!) telling the Chinese that they are squatters and temporary residents in the country they are born in and which they call home. All in the name of trying to garner votes in a by-election. Votes that never translated into votes for the BN anyway. Are the people perhaps not as uneducated as the leaders try to make them out to be?

I have walked into a predominantly Malay part of town and I always find that the people are pleasant and friendly. They will stop and help and they are not all monsters out to slit our throats and drink our blood just because we aren’t of the same race. Yet, the politicians try to stop this integration from happening by waving race and religion in our faces, reminding us that we are different and should not mix. They aren’t fostering goodwill and “perpaduan” but are instead dividing to conquer. So much for being a model of racial integration and racial harmony.

The leaders of our country are not practicing what they preach. Our slogans read “Perpaduan Teras Kemajuan” and yet our leaders exalt in their status and there is no racial harmony practiced or preached. Minority races are side-lined, protests are held (with police permit too!) when a proposal is made to include other races in an institute of higher learning, there is racial discrimination everywhere. Because of national policies, the present crop of youth are more racially aware than ever which is wrong and which is sad to see.

We don’t have to learn to live with discrimination. We should be learning to eradicate it or at the very least, reduce it.

In the early part of the  21st century, with the world getting smaller and smaller, the USA is preparing to inaugurate their first non-white President (at least it looks to be that way). The world’s greatest superpower which has seen some of the worst racial tensions has learnt after 400 years that just because a person isn’t white or isn’t from the majority race, he isn’t any less qualified to lead the country.

Malaysia is turning 51 in a few days.

Perhaps we too will need 400 years to learn or maybe we will just never learn.

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