The 14th General Elections on Wednesday, 9th May, 2018 provided a second chance to Malaysia to reset nation-building policies and directions.
Sixty-one years ago, when the country attained Merdeka in 1957, and 55 years ago when Malaysia was formed in 1963, we set out as a young nation, brimming with hope and confidence, dedicated, in the words of the Merdeka Proclamation 1957 and reaffirmed in the Malaysia Proclamation six year later, that the nation “shall be for ever a sovereign democratic and independent State founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of its people and the maintenance of a just peace among all nations”.
We promised to ourselves that the nation will be “a beacon of light for a disturbed and distracted world”.
But we lost our way and became instead a black hole of kleptocracy and kakistocracy.
Malaysians must go back to the basics, and what better way to begin than to return to basic constitutional and nation-building documents like the Merdeka Constitution 1957, the Malaysian Agreement and Constitution 1963 and Rukunegara 1970 to fulfil the Malaysian Dream to be a model to the world as to how a nation of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures could be united, harmonious, democratic, progressive and prosperous, with a government of integrity guided by the principles of good governance and accountability.
This is the challenge to all Malaysians today, because it is unlikely that Malaysia will be given a third chance to fulfil the Malaysian Dream.
(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 14th May 2018)
#1 by Bigjoe on Monday, 14 May 2018 - 10:54 am
Its not so simple, there remain some very intractable problems the short cut ways dealt with effectively.
For example, what about oil royalty to Terengganu? By right it belongs to PAS state govt.
BUT it should not be if the constituency seats are not corrected. Frankly a bill put forward to firmly give Terengganu its oil royalty BUT parlimentary and state seats has to be fairly distributed across the country and state.
#2 by waile on Monday, 14 May 2018 - 11:15 am
It is not easy but it SHOULD and MUST be done correctly. As YB LKS puts it correctly, we may not have a third chance to do this. So we gotta do this right. Richness in Malaysia belongs to all Malaysians and not of certain state alone.
We must embrace the Malaysianness or Semangat Kekitaan if we want to succeed.
#3 by winstony on Monday, 14 May 2018 - 1:28 pm
Malaysia now has a Council Of Elders to advise the newly formed government.
I have suggested a Forum For The Electorate to be implemented under PH to enable the Malaysian electorate to gauge the performance of the newly minted government.
For far, far too long, the Malaysian electorate has been completely left out of things in this country.
It is also well known that our MPs are only interested in the voters once in every five years!
Yes, most of our politicians have their blogs.
But blogs are monologues unless you want to “speak out of turn”!
I am sure PH is also interested in the views of the voters.
#4 by Bigjoe on Tuesday, 15 May 2018 - 8:52 am
I disagree to completely write off UMNO joining Pakatan Harapan. Certaintly not currently when Pakatan is still struggling with how to move forward, the old tendencies, habits and ideas of ex-UMNO clearly visible.
BUT old UMNO Baru must die, but UMNO of Tunku Abdul Rahman is with great merit, if its still there. So if its possible, that UMNO is as much part of Pakatan Harapan ideal, perhaps even more than the current Pakatan.
The first test for UMNO to join Pakatan is would they be willing to redraw the constituency with Pakatan to be align with the Constitution, the long term vision of Tunku Abdul Rahman of a multi-racial and liberal state?
#5 by Just_True on Tuesday, 15 May 2018 - 11:58 pm
We all agree on this one point that the task ahead for New Malaysia is not an easy one, but if we were to put the country and the rakyat first before our own tribe, colours or whatever political leanings, if we stretch out our hand to help our brother or sister, irrespective of race, colour or religion, that we treat each other with respect and honour, that we set aside age-old prejudices, the task ahead will be somewhat lighter. The clarion call is for all to unite for a common purpose, to garner every able-bodied citizen to work hard together towards building a prosperous and peaceful nation so that there is more than enough for everyone, to lend a helping hand to the needy (not the greedy), to watch out for each other and build a society of caring Malaysians. Let us not waste this second chance.