Malaysians must have a vision for the future for the country to rise up again and be a great world-class nation and not to fight the battles of the past before Independence whether Malaysia is a mono-ethnic or a plural nation.
That Malaysia is a plural nation and an example of “unity in diversity” is best exemplified by the Malaysian Constitution first in 1957 and more so in 1963 when Malaysia incorporated Sarawak and Sabah, the Rukun Negara and even Vision 2020 with its nine strategic challenges.
There are many things wrong with Malaysian nation-building which is best illustrated by a Member of Parliament who is a PHD holder who could not distinguish between right and wrong, truth and fake news, changing the surname of the founder Prime Minister of Singapore to “Lim” Kuan Yew, and accusing me of being cousins of Kuan Yew and Malayan Communist Party leader Chin Peng.
We have reached a stage when Parliament meets, the 2Rs of race and religious disunity and polarisation are enhanced instead of being reduced.
We must find ways to fight the 2Rs polarisation, strengthen national unity and build political stability so that Malaysia can rise up again and be a role model of the world in inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance and harmony.
Malaysia is in fact one the most suitable countries in the world to be a role model of inter-racial, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance and harmony.
Unless Malaysians have common vision for the future, we cannot get out of the trajectory of a divided, failed and kleptocratic state in the coming decades.
The “unity government” of the 10th Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim surprised many and marked its first anniversary a few days ago.
Many expected Anwar’s unity government will not survive for a year, but the six state general elections in August probably marked the high-water mark of the “green wave” in the 15th General Election in November last year.
After the six state general elections in August where the Perikatan Nasional (PN) of Bersatu and PAS failed to capture Selangor or Negri Sembilan, the stocks of Bersatu and PAS have been on the decline.
The Kemaman parliamentary by-election was supposed to gauge the new high-water mark of the PN “green wave” movement but now it will register to what level it has declined as Bersatu and PAS are in serious trouble.
When you are fighting for your political life, political perspectives and priorities are different.
But with the restoration of political stalbility, the time has come for Anwar’s unity government to deliver its reforms and changes.
There is going to be mounting criticisms that Anwar’s unity government has failed to deliver its promised reforms.
One of the things I have learnt from the 22-month Pakatan Harapan government of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was that reforms cannot come overnight.
I would urge the critics of Anwar’s unity government to give it three or four years as the time of judgment whether it has failed its reform promises is the 16th General Election in 2026 or 2027.
I am myself not happy with various things that have happened but with the restoration of political stability, Anwar has three to four years to fulfil his reform promises.
If Anwar failed to deliver his reform promise, whether the doctrine of separation of power, the rule of law, an independent judiciary, the fight against corruption, good governance, educational reforms so that Malaysian educational institutions produce excellence instead of media illiterates, human rights, freedom of speech and religion, there is a possibility that it might be thrown out by the voters.
We are a critical juncture of the nation’s history.
Can we rise up again to be a great world-class nation or are we condemned to be divided, failed and kleptocratic state?
This will be decided in the next three to four years.