A Failed Nation

If I am not mistaken that's the title of the book written by Allahyarham Rustam Sani, the son of Allahyarham Ahmad Boestamam, that venerable opposition politician who thrived on the failings of the first PM whenever there were slip ups of the former in Parliament. Of course the world knew that the Tunku was a Cambridge educated Prince from Kedah who in his own ways won the hearts of all people irrespective of race. But this condescending attitude were taken advantage of by unscrupulous rascals and this led to his political down slide after the May 13 Riots which shook the world because he was always known as the happiest PM. The greatest tragedy that could happen to this beloved Nation of ours is that we did not learn anything from history. The tragic event which took place more than three decades ago must be a lesson that must be learnt by all, irrespective of their ethnic origin or political affiliation. The main cause as portrayed by the official account which was tabled as a white paper in the Parliament was basically hostilities between races which was fanned by racist statements by politicians of all hues and colours, beginning with tension being stoked up when Singapore was still part of the Federation of Malaysia. Going by some accounts which could be believed, if not all, at least some, it was the fire that was started by certain individuals who were inciting a certain ethnic group to rise up against what was then intepreted as a discriminatory action by the PAP Govt. This group of people who were affected by the urban renewal programme in Singapore happened to be not only Malays but also Chinese who were Singaporeans. But somehow, the Malays from Singapore felt they were the only group that was discriminated. And with the oil being poured into the angered community from across the Johor Straits, it became a dangerous and ugly conflict between the Malays and the Chinese who were largely the supporters of PAP Govt led by Lee Kuan Yew. The opposite personalities of LKY and the Tunku overflow into politics and it became fodder for opportunists who were looking for a battleground and they were as the Malay proverb call it, " Orang Mengantuk disorongkan bantal". And thus perceptions became reality and truth was of no significance to everyone in Singapore and the Peninsula. When trouble broke out in Singapore between the Malays and Chinese, the Tunku was away and Tun Razak had to deal with it firmly. LKY and Tun Razak had an uneasy relationship, because there was no trust between the two, unlike Haryy lee and the Tunku. If these lessons from the past were to be of any benefit to present day generation, one of the most important ingredient that fueled a failed State is distrust of one another either on the personal level or at the National level. Trust had to be earned and it's not a commodity which can packaged and sent by post. Trust between the races in this country had it ups and downs but we have been able to stay on even keel for as many decades we want it to be. Racial tension could easily become explosive,like a tinder-box with a lighted match, just waiting for it to catch fire! One way to defuse such a tension is to go back to basics whereby our schools must represent the racial composition of the country and so does the private sector of Malaysia must represent the distribution. Unfortunately we have heard of racial discrimination amongst those who work in aChinese dominated PLc's, whereby however good a Malay is, he'll be assigned one of the most insignificant positions in the firm. Therefore I am not all surprised after reading Rustam's book and compare the scenario around me, that we have failed as a Nation in the psychological and realpolitik sense, simply because we think of ourselves first not as Malaysians but Malays, Chinese and Indians. Even when you make a police report, say of a burglary, the first question asked by the I.O. would be, whether one suspects that it was a Malay, Chinese or Indian, and mind you we had been an independent nation since 1957!! In many forms which we use to apply for things like passports and other similar documents, we are still being asked for our ethnic origin, and this mentality also prevailed when filling up forms to register your phone with private companies! When I was still a student in the then FMC, I had an article written about the establishment of a Malaysian literature as a prelude to a Malaysian Nation, because a Nation without a mind of it's own through it's literary tradition using Malay as the main medium and English as a second language would be doomed right from the start. I had in fact moved much further whereby if we still think in terms of Malays, Chinese and Indians, then we would be like a bunch of Lunchai's paddling hard in a round dnghy without a rudder and not moving from the spot where it began. It just moves around aimlessly no matter how hard one paddles. Of course we can't shed our colour overnight by being Malaysians, but the least we could do is to mould our minds first and followed by our hearts. Our future leaders must be forthright on this score and no matter how much slogans are being bandied about, a successful Nation is one with it's own identity and our destiny as well as our dreams must be the same. Otherwise a united Nation of a plural society like in Malaysia is just a pipe dream.