The True Strength of Our Nation

Dear all,

I would like to dedicate this open letter to all netizens of Malaysia. This is a desperate plea for you to open your eyes; to see things from a different perspective; to agree to disagree; and to look at the bigger picture.

I will start this letter with my favorite quote from the President of the United States of America, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama :

“Tonight we show that the true strength of our nation (USA) does not come from the might of our arms, or the scale of our wealth, but from democracy, liberty, freedom, opportunity and unyielding hope…“

What I really want to do is to invite a critical discussion on the strength of our nation. What is the true strength of our nation? Is it democracy? Is it transparency? Is it the effectiveness of our civil servants? Is Malaysia more educated and matured now - so that we shall now agree with Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s claim that the government should not underestimate/insult the intelligence of the people in Malaysia?

Without even going into the statistics of degree holders in Malaysia, or the quality of our education; I submit that we are not educated, mature, or any of the things the Opposition likes to bark about. We see our politicians as the yardstick in measuring our maturity in an open democracy. I look at their conduct and I started laughing to myself. The same leaders who keep telling us that we are matured, that we have entered a new dawn of democracy, and that we are educated, are the very ones who are hypocrites and immature.

I had the opportunity to watch some video clips of political ceramahs via Youtube. I listened to various allegations - that the wife of our TPM shopped in LA with 15 motorcars as escorts – with his fist in the air, this politician claimed that she spent 4 million ringgit on a shopping spree but the poor in Kelantan only got 3 million ringgit last year from the Federal Government.

I was laughing so hard, I almost burst into tears. The politicians were simply lying, with no regard to the rules of evidence. Even President Bush didn’t have fifteen escort vehicles escorting his wife for a shopping spree. The traffic in LA is ridiculously busy, and to believe that a wife of a leader in Malaysia obtained such privileges would require you to believe that she could force a total shutdown of LA traffic (or some of it). Maturity? I submit not. Rather, I call it stupid, arrogant, and defaming people at will. Like what the Malays always say: “Sedapnya cakap!… Kerana mulut badan binasa.”

On another spectrum, we see the leaders of the opposition claim that Dato’ Mukhriz should be charged under the Sedition Act for advocating the abolition of vernacular schools. This is the same person who claimed that open democracy and freedom of speech are the pillars of their political motives. Hypocrites!

Another funny story that I picked up was the attempt to sue Utusan Malaysia for defamation and libel, by one of our famous YBs– claiming that the articles falsely depicted her as… (I shall not continue, for fear of being sued). This lady turns up in the court office, in her baju kurung, helplessly trying to clear her name. Well, this is what I would tell her:

“Janganlah menggelabah. Yang YB terasa tuh mengapa? Kalau tak betul, bertenang lah. Atau, siapa makan cili dia yang rasa pedasnya”

What I was thinking to myself was, well, this could be true after all - that someone really tried to impede our rights to perform the fajr adhan. A friend of mine, Cik Qurratul Ain, told me that for 50 years, no one complained about this. Now, all of a sudden, Azan is an issue?

For me, I look at Ruzaimi’s article, and I totally support a legislation on the banning of or the limiting of alcohol consumption. But who has the political will to advance/promote such legislation? Any politician would have stepped on such a Bill, politicized the issue, and tried to become a hero. Sadly, this happened in the Bukit Antarabangsa tragedy (politicizing an issue of national tragedy).

It is up to us, ladies and gentlemen. We are the ones with the political will, knowledge and capability to change this country. I do not like the direction in which we are going. The Opposition, who are supposed to be the checks and balances to our Government, are merely hypocrites and stubborn to boot: shooting from the hip aimlessly whilst our government is put on the defensive all the time. Consequently, no one works for the rakyat. Not much is done.

It might be too early to say all this but I believe in what Dr. Martin Luther King said : “the fierce urgency of now”. I am scared that one day, we might look at things in our country and realize that it is too late. Malaysia, the time is NOW.

I call for bi-partisan cooperation. It is time for us to move beyond this petty, immature partisanship, and work together, in one singular motion, and in one direction - to make our country a better place. It is time to stop bickering about trivial things, and to accept this truth:

“The true strength of our nation does not come from petty concepts like Ketuanan Melayu or open democracy or freedom of speech, but it derives from our mutual respect of each other, unity, co-operation and the spirit of friendship “

Let us go back to the true strength of our nation.

I rest my case.

*This letter has previously been submitted by the author for publication on other sites. It is now published here at the author's request. While some of the examples used may not be current, the underlying themes are felt to be timeless and in the author's opinion, most applicable to our nation and its people in its current state.

*This piece is the personal opinion or view of the writer. NRC11 does not endorse this view unless specified.