Malaysia needs political stability to be a great plural nation again and cannot be like Lebanon whose Parliament voted 12 times in nine months but could not elect a President.
Lebanon is in political turmoil, which must be a lesson for all Malaysians.
The advice of the Yang di Pertuan Agong and the various Sultans that Malaysia needs political stability to ensure an united, just, progressive and prosperous nation for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, gender or age is a right and proper one and should be heeded by all Malaysians who want to see the nation great again.
This is why the Anwar Unity Government deserves support from all voters in the six state polls on August 12, as Malaysia should stop regressing and should reset and return to the original nation-building principles for a plural Malaysia which the nation’s founding fathers (which included the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Razak Hussein and Hussein Onn, who were also UMNO Presidents), have written into the Constitution and the Rukun Negara — constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, separation of powers, rule of law, an independent judiciary, Islam as the official religion of the country and freedom of religion for other faiths, Malay as the national language and the preservation and sustenance of the use and study of other languages, good governance, public integrity with minimum corruption, a clean and honest government, meritocracy, respect for human rights, an end to the various injustices and inequalities in the country, a world-class economic, educational, health and social system, and national unity, understanding, and harmony from our multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural diversity.
Recently, there were many global and regional questions – the war in Ukraine; whether China and the Unites States will go to war; whether the young political leader Pita Limjaroenrat of the Move Forward Party (MFP) will be elected Prime Minister of Thailand; Support of Turkey’s Erdogan for Sweden’s NATO membership, etc.
Malaysians, like people from other countries, must think more about global questions because the globe is becoming a smaller place as a result of the advances of communications.
But Malaysians seem to be doing the very opposite, and there are personalities who want Malaysians to think about race and religion instead of global questions of war and peace.
In the run-up to the six state polls on August 12, there is preoccupation to think of the past instead of the future.
All political parties and candidates should act responsibly because we must think of the future generations, whether Malaysia can become a world-class nation to produce world champions again or we are fated to become a divided, failed and corrupt nation.
This is why I have proposed that all contesting political parties and candidates in the six state polls enter into an agreement not to exploit the 3R issues and ensure that there will not be another May 13, 1969 racial riots in the country and to set up a mechanism to expose lies, falsehood, fake news, and hate speech in the election campaign.
Let Malaysia show the world how in era of social media, we are not drowned in a tsunami of lies, falsehood, fake news, and hate speech during election time.
Let Malaysia be a role model for the world of inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance and harmony.