52nd National Day message
Recent events, particularly in the past few weeks, cannot but raise the concern and even alarm of Malaysians who want to see the evolution of a Bangsa Malaysia after half a century of nationhood – as Malaysia is only just a decade from the Vision 2020 deadline of achieving a Bangsa Malaysia out of the diverse races, languages, cultures and religions in the country to become a fully developed nation in 2020.
Of late, there is not only a recrudescence of the irresponsible politics of race and religion, the exploitation of the race and religion cards have reached new intensity utterly reckless of their damage to the multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural fabric of Malaysian society.
As a result, there is a further polarization of race and religion with the hardening of intolerant attitudes and stances, creating situations unseen or unheard of in the previous history of the nation – like the cowhead sacrilege in Shah Alam on Friday where a group protesting against the construction of a Hindu temple threatened bloodshed and committed the ultimate act of religious insensitivity, insult and profanity to Hindus by severing the head of a cow and stomping on it.
Let all patriotic Malaysians of goodwill recognize the danger signals to our plural society. Let all patriotic Malaysians regardless of party come together to save Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia motto from heading for the rocks 150 days after becoming Prime Minister to stave off divisive and centripetal forces from further dividing and polarizing Malaysians along race and religious lines.
After five months, Najib’s 1Malaysia had failed to inspire Malaysians as an all-encompassing inclusive policy to unite Malaysians – best illustrated by the fact that Pakatan Rakyat whether at parliamentary, state government or state assembly levels are completely excluded from the formulation of a 1Malaysia policy so that it could be embraced by all Malaysians as a policy to unite rather than to divide the people.
This is the most important food for thought for all patriotic Malaysians of goodwill on the occasion of the 52nd National Day.
Already many Malaysians are asking what is there to celebrate on this National Day with the backdrop of a national polity which is not prepared to rise to the challenges and aspirations for change so unmistakably expressed in the messages of the political tsunami of the March 8 general elections last year.
Can Najib’s 1Malaysia symbolize a reaffirmation of a national resolve and commitment to build a Bangsa Malaysia where all Malaysians regard themselves as Malaysians first and their race and religious identities in second place or will it go down in history as representing the very opposite?
#1 by monsterballssgoh on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 11:09 am
boh-liao…UMNO should hang their flag upside down.
Who is in distress and who is riding high and mighty?
#2 by k1980 on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 11:12 am
Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi is celebrating his 40th year in power…. Jib is green with envy after only 5 months in power
#3 by monsterballssgoh on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 11:13 am
[deleted - let this spat end here. There should be better ways to spend the National Day. - Admin]
#4 by Jaswant on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 11:32 am
“What i said is flags are symbol of nationhood.” limkam-poop
Please write English properly. It is ’symbols’ and not ’symbol’ and ‘was’ and not ‘is’. It is hard enough to make sense of the ramblings of an old man, also the self appointed resident gatekeeper, struggling with paranoid schizophrenia
#5 by son of perpaduan on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 11:40 am
Tear the wall ? which walls ? ah ha.. Umno wall ! This wall divided the true malaysian spirit for the past 52 years. Betray all races malaysian for their own good. PDRM, MACC, JUSTICE DEPT and many more is their instituition.
#6 by veddy.lum74 on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 11:51 am
yes,malaysians’ past n present top leaders always ‘cakap tak serupa bigin!’
they always ask ppl to unite,but they are the ones that created hatred amongst the multi-races n religions in this country!
as a matter of fact,their cronies such as GLCs also being dragged into these type of evil deeds!i.e.CAKAP TAK SERUPA BIGIN!
try to ask some mat sallehs that had watched these GLCs’ tv ads presented by Petronas,TMnet,Perodua,Telekom n ects….they will tell you,see,Malaysian is a blessed n fortunate country,the GLCs are sooooooooo understanding and fair,but the moment you step into their showrooms or plants,it is only ONE COLOUR,truely ONE MALAYSIA!that’s what Najis’s rily meant by 1Malaysia! :-((((
#7 by cseng on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 12:15 pm
Happy Merdeka! What to happy about? after 52 years, are we still celebrating for a same old reason Merdeka from the British? If not what are we Merdeka from?
Did the goverment institutions independent? Ask if candle more dangerous then cow’s head. Did the press independent, ask Awang Selamat? Did the democracy process indenpendent in Negeri berak (it has to be ‘b’ as it is upsidedown now)? Did we indenpendent from abuses of NEP, where the bumiputra themselves ripped-off to pay AP enriching Umno-elites. Did we independent from divide-and-rule, into boxes of races, into racial parties of BN component. The list get longer as it goes!
We have Merdeka from Bristish but yet to Merdeka from our own abuses and stupidity!
Let us be a change-agent!, influence other to make changes to the country. Change BN, create 2 parties system, to understand the real meaning and spirit of Merdeka!
#8 by boh-liao on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 12:17 pm
Was A(H1N1) pandemic in the little red dot?
Yes
Did the little red dot cancel its annual National Day Parade on 9 Aug 2009?
No
#9 by limkamput on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 12:31 pm
#10 by Sony boy on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 12:32 pm
I believe good intentions for Malaysia has to start with me. I need to believe that I can do good for Malaysia in what I say and do.
In terms of government, let’s not have such things as in below Malay Mail report to happen again. (I read from a comment in margeemar’s blog)
THE MALAY MAIL
Friday, January 31, 2003
Eddie Chua
DID Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik use his office and the Ministry’s facilities to run his private business?
Businessman Datuk Soh Chee Wen alleged that Dr Ling was doing that in the past.
Yesterday, Soh, a former ally and trusted aide of the MCA president, said: “I was his business partner and I know what he did.”
He said Dr Ling used Ministry’s facilities and his office to conduct his personal business.
“He used the telephone line, fax machines and other facilities in his office for his family business,” he claimed.
“It was an abuse of Government properties for personal gain.”
Dr Ling could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Soh also alleged private meetings with businessmen to secure business deals at the Ministry.
Yesterday, Soh backed his allegation by providing a copy of a sale agreement between Berjaya Group Berhad and Linksun Avenue Sdn Bhd bearing the Ministry’s fax number and name.
It also showed the Berjaya Group Bhd company and its fax number on top of the document.
“He had used his office to exchange draft faxes between him and the company while drawing up the shares sale agreement,” said Soh.
He said he was aware of Dr Ling’s alleged ‘abuse of power’ as he was advising him and his son, Hee Leong, when they acquired the Berjaya Industrial Berhad equity.
“It is no joy for me to expose or discuss this, but I have no choice as Dr Ling had repeatedly denied our partnership and dealings.”
He said he just wanted to show who is telling the truth.
Soh claimed he had other documents to support his claims and would released them from time to time.
“There is more evidence,” he said.
#11 by OrangRojak on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 12:33 pm
Why save Bajib’s version of Malaysian Unity? It’s an obvious shadow play. Malaysian Unity is just another Great Malaysian Lie, one that all Malaysian political parties subscribe to.
You will never, ever be united while you continue to subscribe to the discriminatory policies and practices of the last few decades. DAP should accept that they are also not blame-free in this respect, as even their party symbol reinforces the distinction and separation of Malaysians by race:
http://dapmalaysia.org/newenglish/au_sr.htm
How are DAP to explain to the peoples of East Malaysia – the people who prevented PR from winning the last election (PR won on votes in Peninsular Malaysia right? BN is the minority govt on the Peninsula isn’t it?) – that they are ‘Others’ in their own land?
I don’t respect this call from LKS to save Najib’s 1Malaysia. I want to see Absolutely Anybody Else’s 1Malaysia being supported – one that isn’t based on dividing the people of Malaysia up into 3 arbitrary in-breeding groups and 1 set of rejects. It’s time to face up to the fact that if you really want a Bangsa Malaysia, you have to stop deliberately dividing the people.
Look at the cow-head issue and the content of this blog. That’s a problem of outrageously inconsistent policing and unpunished public threats of violence. Someone said “it’s an MIC issue stay out” and several others said “non-Muslims need not worry”. Are we to believe inconsistent policing and idiots threatening violence in public are things a non-Indian, non-Muslim person could comfortably ignore?
If you want to be part of the solution, you have to stop being part of the problem. If the solution is 1 Malaysia, you have to get rid of that ‘4Malaysias’ in your party symbolism. and attitudes. 4Malaysias is precisely the problem.
#12 by OrangRojak on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 12:34 pm
Oops, ‘Bajib’ is an honest typo – N, B are next-door neighbours on my keyboard…
#13 by k1980 on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 12:48 pm
“Tear down the walls”
Very funny. The PM with the army, police, judiciary, macc, mat rempits and the whole cabinet behind him to tear down the walls above, yet he is unwilling to do so. Yet he is calling on the ordinary people who do not have the army, police, judiciary, macc, mat rempits and the whole cabinet behind them to do the job. What a joker….
#14 by frankyapp on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 1:08 pm
The national flag is the symbol of our nation malaysia no matter who is the regime in power.Though BN is now the regime in power,though they are corrupted,we as loyal and patrotic citizens,we should always raise our flag high up and even defend it with our lives.Hence as good citizens we must not allow any mockery of the national flag.
#15 by boh-liao on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 1:32 pm
Until our politicians, esp BN’s, learn to be honest and gracious
To accept and respect opposition politicians as fellow patriotic Malaysians contributing to nation building
To respect the wishes of the rakyat to have a healthy two-party system
To ensure the national systems/agencies are not abused to oppress opposition politicians n the rakyat
We can never celebrate Merdeka Day with pride
Because we are not free from oppression, corruption, racial discrimination, divide and rule abuses
#16 by frankyapp on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 1:43 pm
Though we celebrate today our 52nd nationhood,I feel so sad,our nation has been turned up side down and inside out by the regime in power ie BN.Hence what’s there to be proud to celebrate on this 52 years of independence.Instead we should mourn over the sudden death of innocent people like TBH ,the many innocent people being arrested and detained under ISA,the insult by a particular race against christian and hindus,the clear racial and religious discrimination ,the bias classification of race,the sudden switch of English language to BM in the teaching of Science and maths,the H!N! flu pandemic and the death of so many people and the list goes on by the regime in power ie Umno/BN.I think in view of the abovementioned irresponsibility and insensibility of the Umno/BN corrupted government towards the rakyat/people ,we should make a resolution on this 52nd anniversary of merdeka to put Umno/BN into the trash bin in the 13th general election.
#17 by AnakxoxoMalaysia on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 1:45 pm
I remember back then when i was in primary and secondary school, I use to get all excited when this time of the month comes. I’l be in and out of class.. practicing for a play or a dance for the Independence celebration that we all have in school..It was the time we all looked forward to, to celebrate as proud Malaysians!
What happen to that mood we used to have back then..it all died off..
Now I use this day as an excuse to get out of the house to party all night long. Why should I be excited anymore? Is there a reason? Maybe there is for you..but to be honest there is no reason for me to be excited and its a shame.
Its even hard to see flags around this time..
Theres no spirit.. Its all dying
Whats happening to our lovely country..
Its like no one has the semangat to celebrate anymore.. and I’m not even gonna elaborate more on why we don’t feel like how we used to..
cause we’re all scared to voice out..this is wht Malaysia has become..
I miss Malaysia when I felt secured then and I don’t like it now..
Give us back our spirits and hope to be one nation
Happy Merdeka to those of you who hopes for a change…!
I believe Malaysia can do it
God bless
xoxo
- From a 19 year old college kid-
#18 by boh-liao on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 2:09 pm
Anyway, really, don’t be upset if there is hardly any celebration going on today
31 Aug is NOT the real Merdeka Day for Malaysia
For the Federation of Malaya, yes
To Malaysians, esp those from Sabah n Sarawak
Merdeka Day is 16 September
And it’s NOT 52nd, it’s 46th
Know history or not one
No know difference between 31-8-1957 n 16-9-1963 ah
#19 by Lee HS on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 2:17 pm
All ills we are facing now is due to only ONE cause. The Malays have been given the wrong education whether formally or informally.
Why they hate non-Malay citizens so much? Why they think that Chinese and Indians are their enemies? The non-Malays are not considered citizens by them? A lot of discriminations have been institutionalised. I come to know lately that Petronas is discrinateting the non-Malay companies like Maybank earlier.
What have the minotiry non-Malays done to deserve this treatments?
No doubt that Lee Kwan Yew’s observation is on the spot. The non-Malays have been intentionally marginalised in all aspects.
This is a problem that will be with us as long as UMNO is practising divide-and-rule policies and as long as they are in power.
The only way to change Malaysia for better is to vote them out during 13th GE.
Otherwise we will surely join Zimbabwe and other failed states soon once our natural resources run out. Malaysia has enjoyed (mainly by UMNO and its cronies) 52 years of its natural resources. There won’t be much left of the natural resources now.
What Malaysia should do now is to develop human resources to meet future challenges. If the culture of bias, prejudice, discrimination, segregation, jealousy are the eductional theme for te Malays, then Malaysia has no hope. This is unwise as a nation.
Malaysian of all races need jobs and economic security. The only way to guaranty this is to develop our economies. So blocking the enterpreneurship of its citizen will stagnate the economies. New jobs will not be created to cater for ever increasing population.
How much jobs can Malaysia create in the Government ministries? Two million the most. What about the other Malaysians who need jobs?
The hope is in the private sectors NOT with the government.
If the present government can’t see this, then they are not qualified to run the country.
Please wake up my fellow Malaysians.
#20 by Jeffrey on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 4:10 pm
Likening unity to a bridge that connects the people and disunity to walls that divide them, there is no point for the 52 national day statements including (the latest) 1 Malaysia to exhort (hollowly) the people to restore the bridge and tear down the walls that separate them, when year in year out official, legal and public policies santify and uphold the walls and politicians – and I don’t mean only politicians from ruling coalition – stoke up racial and religious issues with their communal constituencies/vote bank to score political brownie points and secure votes.
When the PM said that groups were exploiting the fine lines that existed in a multi-ethnic society, be it political, religious or social, to serve their own warped agenda, does he seriously exclude his own party or parties within BN coalition as part of these groups?
It would serve well for those who exhort others to build bridge and tear wall to look (honestly) at the mirror and examine themselves and ilk whether or not they are the ones who are the first to tear bridges down and build walls when it suits their political expedience.
Then we have a supposedly elderstatesperson, Tun Dr Mahathir, sharing his wisdom in his blog CheDet to apologise that politicians should not alone be blamed for these “walls” – and I quote “It is no good blaming the politicians for perpetuating racial schism. Some of them who tried to ignore racial loyalties simply failed politically… For various reasons the races preferred to stay separated…. Those who reject racialism simply lost popular support. But those who embrace racialism won”. What is there to say some more??
So ultimately are the majority of people/voters primarily responsible for erecting the walls and thereby influencing the politicians, in interest of getting their votes, to pander to these tendencies or its the other way around that it is the politicians that are ratcheting up racial and religious issues influencing their constituencies to think and behave along these lines to facilitate vote getting or is it a dynamic process for which both people by majority and the politicians (equally by majority) are equally culpable of erecting and maintaining these “walls”??
#21 by Jaswant on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 5:51 pm
““What i said is flags are symbol of nationhood.” limkamput
I’m not here to teach anyone English but this is one invitation I cannot miss. A call to public service, let’s just say.
Then you should have written “What I am saying is …” “What I said is ..” is ungrammatical English. It should be ‘What I said was ..”
The alternative and correct way of writing it would be ” … flags are a symbol” and not “flags are symbol” which is again written in ungrammatical English.
This demonstrates how a flawed policy such as the NEP benefits the mediocre.
#22 by Jaswant on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 6:00 pm
You’d do well not to translate Malay directly into English word for word because then you’d be making this kind of mistakes. You must learn to think and write in English and not think in Malay and write in English.
#23 by boh-liao on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 6:21 pm
#8: “but I wonder at the motivation for the racial epithet he used”
Aiyah, OrangRojak, Y so sensitive one
No motivation lah
Ang moh is used widely here and now with no malice
Unlike previous generations terms such as Ang mo kow and Ang mo kui were used
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ang_Mo
You unique mah
In the little red dot, there is “Crazy Ang Moh”, the food stall named by the Caucasian owners
Also, Ang Mo Kio
If you really offended by the term, my sincere apologies
Peace be with you! V!
#24 by katdog on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 9:21 pm
Why they hate non-Malay citizens so much?… The non-Malays have been intentionally marginalised in all aspects. – Lee HS
Who said Malays hate non-Malays? And who says non Malays have been marginalised? Look at the likes of Vincent Tan and Eric Chia or even Tiong King Sing. Boy oh boy, these people were practically living in paradise here in Malaysia.
Non Malays contribute almost 90% of taxes because the Malays are so poor they can’t pay taxes. How has the non Malays been marginalized?
Wake up friend! The people who have been marginalized are the common Malaysian people, Malay and non-Malays alike. The people who have gotten everything are the UMNOputra cronies including the likes of VT and EC.
#25 by OrangRojak on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 10:25 pm
And they accuse me of nitpicking. I think what a person wrote continues to be the same thing for as long as it does not change. If you asked limkamput what he made that caused the smell in the kitchen, he might answer “What I made is a cake!”, unless he had eaten it before answering in which case he would have to say “what I made was a cake”.
In speech, “what I said was” is usually correct, because the words are lost. In writing, we could also say “what I said [wrote] is” because it continues to be the same – verifiably so.
I’m not an expert on English, but in the context, “was” or “is” seems reasonable to me.
#26 by cemerlang on Monday, 31 August 2009 - 10:31 pm
Even rebels of the laws are celebrating but not sure exactly what they are celebrating.
#27 by OrangRojak on Tuesday, 1 September 2009 - 10:21 am
Aiyah, OrangRojak, Y so sensitive one
Thin end of the wedge, mate. I’ve also been exposed to too many ‘zero tolerance’ programmes, obviously.
I have an aunt whose ancestors were far more recently from Africa then ours were. Her sisters call her ‘nigger’ when they’re joking around, but her husband (my father’s brother) doesn’t get to call her that.
In crazy moments, I too have considered opening a restaurant in Malaysia called ‘White Food’ or ‘The Slightly Longer Sausage’. I can’t help thinking, however, that there has to be a better way of making a living than as a freak show.
While I was lecturing in the UK, one of my studentswas a bright young woman from Shanghai. She was very chatty, and asked me about my first trip to Malaysia, so I told her all the new words I’d learned like “Mat Salleh”, “Orang Puteh”, “Ang Mo”, “Bai Zhong Ren”. She laughed at Bai Zhong Ren and said it was funny. I laughed too and asked her if I could call her “Huang Zhong Ren”. She suddenly looked angry and said “You must never say that. It is very rude.”
Perhaps racial epithets can sometimes be used between people who share the referred-to characteristics as a way of bringing them closer together? I’m not so sure. I am convinced that casually highlighting those characteristics which are not shared will only push people apart. I don’t think that’s a good thing.
I’m not personally offended, if it helps – skin thickens with age. Perhaps ‘frustrated’ is closer to what I feel, when I read things like that on the blog of a man who is close to being the most credible proponent of unity and equality in Malaysia. I asked about ‘motivation’ because it didn’t seem like you posted the link to Kessler’s interview with the intention of objecting to him personally – and that’s the impression I got from the racial epithet.
I don’t want to make a big deal out of a (comparatively) small matter. I am in no doubt as to how effective I could be as a one-man ‘Race Relations Act’!
#28 by limkamput on Tuesday, 1 September 2009 - 2:59 pm
//Then you should have written “What I am saying is …” “What I said is ..” is ungrammatical English. It should be ‘What I said was ..”
// jaswant ball
w
What are you talking about? What i said (in the past) is (the meaning is this) … so why not? You are just trying to find fault for reasons you know best. In any case, the realithy is i have a blog and my writings were publised in newspapers and magazine. Do you have any?
#29 by limkamput on Tuesday, 1 September 2009 - 3:02 pm
My ass undergrad2, you wrote this before and you are writing this again. I wonder what dignity and honesty have you got to come here to talk about truth. You have none, so just shut your ass mouth. I wouldn’t be gentle with you anymore.
#30 by ktteokt on Wednesday, 2 September 2009 - 10:33 am
A building built upon shaky foundation is unsafe! What’s more a building built without foundation. Najis ascended the throne of PM not by the conventional way of being elected but by way of appointment. Besides, with the load of accusations on him, how can he clear himself of all those allegations? Or has he ever done so? Or he intends to do so?
Perhaps he thought that being the PM means he has absolute power to suppress the thoughts of everyone in Malaysia into thinking that he is CLEAN! Najis is erecting a building from the rooftop downwards, intending to put in the FOUNDATION last!