The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is denying the undeniable when he claimed that his 1Malaysia concept is not political but a tool to foster unity among the different communities for nation-building.
Najib cannot deny that in the 20 months since the introduction of Najib’s “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” slogan, instead of giving Malaysians a new sense of being Malaysian, the reverse has taken place.
As a result, the brain drain of talented Malaysians regardless of race has again returned to the fore, despite the proposed establishment of a Talent Corporation to attract the best brains in the world to Malaysia.
In the past 20 months, despite Najib’s 1Malaysia concept to create a Malaysia where every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second, there had been an unprecedented rhetoric of irresponsible politicking, racist extremism and religious bigotry.
The year could not have ended on a worse note for 1Malaysia when even Malaysia’s religious pluralism came under attack as if it is something anti-national, un-Malaysian and a great liability when the country’s racial, religious, cultural and linguistic diversity are the nation’s greatest assets and keys as to whether Malaysia can achieve inclusive, sustainable high-income developed nation status.
What is worse, those guilty of the worst rhetoric of irresponsible politicking, racist extremism and religious bigotry completely inimical to the concept of 1Malaysia emanate from within Umno, in particular the Umno-owned mass media, Utusan Malaysia – raising serious questions about Najib’s sincerity and commitment to the 1Malaysia concept and his political will to promote it.
The three simple tests which I posed in Parliament in March this year for Barisan Nasional Cabinet Ministers to demonstrate that they have the 1Malaysia DNA have yet to be fully taken up, viz:
• establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia; • declaration that the basis of 1Malaysia is “ketuanan rakyat Malaysia” and not “ketuanan Melayu”; and • declaration by all Ministers that they are Malaysian first and race, religion, geography and socio-economic grouping second.
The Minister for Information, Communication and Culture Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim claims that a survey carried out by his Ministry from June to July showed that 84 per cent of Malaysians understand the 1Malaysia concept, with 72 per cent accepting the concept.
There will have to be an independent opinion poll to establish what percentage of Malaysians believe in the findings of this survey by the Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture.
In the first place, do all the Barisan Nasional Cabinet Ministers and leaders have a common understanding of the 1Malaysia concept?
I said in Parliament in March that “1Malaysia means ‘a thousand-and-one’ different things to the Najib Cabinet and government – both to Umno and non-Umno Cabinet Ministers”.
This applies equally to Umno and non-Umno parties and leaders in the Barisan Nasional.
I am still waiting to be proved wrong.
But before this, the Cabinet Ministers must demonstrate that they fully accept Najib’s 1Malaysia concept, with the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announcing his full fealty to the 1Malaysia concept by declaring that he is Malaysian first, Malay second and not Malay first, Malaysian second as he had publicly vouched in response to my challenge in April.