51st Malaysia Day Message

Tomorrow September 16, 2014, the 51st Malaysia Day, should be an occasion for reaffirmation of a Malaysian Dream as an unifying vision for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, for a harmonious, democratic, competitive and prosperous Malaysia.

There are gathering dark clouds on the national horizon, for instance:

• The blitz of sedition prosecutions of Pakatan Rakyat MPs and State Assemblymen as well as social activists, including members of the academia, the press and the legal profession, to create a new climate of fear which signal the end of a decade of very tentative and unsteady democratic flowerings after the end of the 22-year authoritarian Mahathir premiership.

• Greater intensity of the rhetorics and politics of race which had not only drowned out Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s signature 1Malaysia policy, but saw the worst racial and religious incitement and polarisation in the nation’s history in the past year.

• Failure to make public the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Immigrants in Sabah although the report had been presented to the Federal Government for more than four months, making a dismal comparison between the Cobbold Commission Report on the formation of Malaysia, whose report was made public within seven months of the commission’s appointment (as compared to the RCI on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah, which was first approved by the Cabinet in February 2012, took six months to finalise its terms of reference and members of the commission, and the report is still to be made public after more than two-and-a-half years after the Cabinet decision on the formation of the Commission).

The voices of extremism and intolerance, however, come from a raucous minority and we must keep faith with the overwhelming majority of Malaysians, from all races, religions and regions, who believe in moderation and the middle path of unity, harmony, tolerance, justice and fair play for all Malaysians.

Malaysia’s future as a nation is assured so long as the overwhelming majority of Malaysians promote a Malaysian Dream transcending a Malay Dream, Chinese Dream, Indian Dream, Kadazan Dream or Iban Dream.

Happy 51st Malaysia Day.