I was at the Seri Delima nomination centre this morning with the Pakatan Harapan candidate, Connie Tan, and I thought of my plunge into Malaysian politics some six decades ago.
Connie Tan’s nomination support team was more than my nomination support team when I contested for the first time in the parliamentary election for Bandar Melaka in the 1969 General Election, as there were several hundreds this morning as compared to several scores in my case in Malacca in 1969.
I saw many young faces, reflecting their hopes and vision for a better Penang and Malaysia.
When against the advice of all my friends and family, I decided to take the plunge into Malaysian politics in 1965 at the age of 24, against the prospect of a four-figure salary for the non-university person, it was all idealism working – in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream.
We want freedom, justice and fair play and we want a united Malaysian society out of our diversity races, languages, religions and cultures, as expressed in my public debate with Professor Naguib al-Attas in November 1968 on Malaysian culture.
Looking at the youths, I wonder whether the six state polls on August 12 will see new wave, not the green wave, but the youth wave, so that the legacy our children and children’s children inherit is not a failed, divided and corrupt Malaysia but a Malaysia that rose after the August 12, 2023 to become a great world-class nation whether in the political, economic, educational, social, sporting and entertainment field, punching above its weight.
We want to able to win back the Thomas Cup, excel in Olympics and Paralympics, not only win Oscar but even the Nobel Prizes.
Is this possible?
Singapore is great today because of Malaysians.
We do not want a second Malaysian Diaspora where some two million Malaysians went all over the world in the first Malaysian Diaspora to make other nations great.
We want Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, to stay in Malaysia so that Malaysia can rise again to make Malaysia a great world-class nation, punching above its weight.
In launching the Ekonomi Madani on Thursday, the Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim spelt out his economic vision for the country which included the following salient points:
- Top 30 biggest economies in the world. In terms of nominal gross domestic products, Malaysia currently ranks 35.
- Top 12 in IMD World Competitive Index. The current rank is 27.
- Top 25 in the UN Human Development Index. Current rank is 62.
- Top 25 in the TI Corruption Perception Index. Current rank is 61.
I myself believe that there are several salient points of Ekomoni Madani which have been omitted, but the important question is whether Malaysia can reset and return to the original nation-building principles of a plural Malaysia our founding fathers have written into the Malaysian Constitution and the Rukun Negara (which included the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Razak Hussein, and Hussein Onn, who were also UMNO Presidents) — constitutional monarchy; parliamentary democracy; separation of powers; rule of law; an independent judiciary; Islam as the official religion and freedom of religion for all faiths in the country; Malay as the national language and the sustenance and preservation of other languages; special provision for the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak to abolish poverty and development backwardness and the legitimate interests of other communities; good governance with public integrity and minimum of 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.
With the current salient points in Ekonomi Madani, Anwar has set the country on track for Malaysia to rise again and become a great world-class nation punching above its weight instead of continuing in the trajectory of the last few decades of national decline losing to one country after another. We have already lost out to Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam; are we going to lose out to Indonesia, China, and India, and even worse, are we to end up as a failed, divided and corrupt state like Sri Lanka?
The Perikatan Nasional has no agenda to make Malaysia great again.
This is why the six state polls on August 12 is so important – it is once in-a-century opportunity to decide whether Malaysia rises or falls, whether Malayia can rise again to be a great world- class nation or be condemned to end up as a divided, failed and corrupt state.
I am retired from front-line politics – from the DAP and Pakatan leadership politics. I am in full support of the DAP as the new DAP leadership under Anthony Loke is moving in the right direction.
But one cannot fully retire from politics, unless we leave this world, as politics influence every facet of one’s life.
I do not believe in cutting myself from the world and I have been pondering on my new post-retirement plans – one of which is the role Penang can play in Malaysia.
Penang today after the Pakatan Harapan came into power in 2008 is very different the days when a Prime Minister called it “Darul Sampah”.
It has won international awards and recognition for its food, beaches, nature and historical heritage. It was listed by many as a Must Visit City.
In 2008, George Town, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in 2021, Penang Hill was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
But could Penang do more.
I believe so.
Penang should be the front-line state to enable Malaysia to be the role model of the world in inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance and harmony and provide the intellectual leadership for such a transformation.
This is the greatest challenge in Penang and Malaysia.
The greatest international problem is how to ensure that China and the United States do not go to war.
There are also global problems like climate change and environmental degradation, cybersecurity and digital threats, the era of AI, and many new problems which the people of Penang and Malaysia can give their perspectives and contributions.
These are some of my concerns, which should be concern of more and more people in Penang and Malaysia.