FEB 8 — A new Malaysia is dawning.

When I was in school, I learned of then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s vision for a new Malaysia. A vision whose ultimate objective would be a nation where children are born to a fully developed society in every sense.

We sang the national anthem, Negaraku, and the Wawasan 2020 song every Monday morning at assembly, with much gusto, enthusiasm and off-key musical talent. The nine challenges of the vision were drummed into our reluctant skulls.

We were told that by 2020, Malaysia would be a united nation, with a confident society, infused by strong moral and ethical values. A nation of progressive and prosperous people, democratic, liberal, tolerant, caring, equitable and economically just. With an economy that is competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient. 

It is and continues to be a bold vision. One that is anchored in the principles of the Federal Constitution. The formation of a united nation whose Bangsa Malaysia are secure in the belief of a common and shared destiny. It is the promise of a new Malaysia whose time has come.

Who knew that the path of self-determination declared so gloriously 55 years ago and immortalised in the word “Merdeka!” would lead us to the progress we have today. I am not only talking about the progress physically embodied by skyscrapers which dot the landscapes of the major cities, the billions in foreign investments, and the massive monuments. These can be bought and built but more importantly I refer to the generations of people who have had a hand in building this nation with their blood, sweat and tears. 

Malaysia is a young nation and there is so much to be proud of. Yet, there remains much to be done.

Despite all that we have gone through, the lessons learnt and the bitterness of hardships endured, we are still clinging on to obsolete and harmful notions and practices which continue to divide rather than unite us. We have not worked through these issues as much as we would like to deceive ourselves into thinking that we have.

Consider the issue of race and ethnicity in this country. For too long, we have allowed the spectre of May 13, 1969 to define ourselves as a people. Forty-three years later, we are still paying for and held hostage by the consequences of that tragedy. So many ideals espoused by the founders of Malaysia and are embodied in the spirit and text of the Federal Constitution have been dumped along the wayside while opportunists have created environments favourable to themselves, their families, ethnic group and communities at the cost of depriving and marginalising others. 

In the past, colonial powers utilised the strategy of “divide and conquer” among the multiple ethnic groups, playing up communal differences and fanning the threat of inter-racial conflict to ensure that the people would never be able to rise up against them. The enduring irony has been that decades later after Independence and throwing off the yoke of colonialism, those in power today (both in the government and opposition) have readily embraced, sustained and seemingly aim to perpetuate this strategy with the same goal.

Why does this continue to happen? For too long, we have been gripped by a form of Stockholm Syndrome. The belief is that Malaysia can never be changed, that there is no other way of doing things and that everything must always be viewed through the polarising lens of race and ethnicity.

If there are those who insist on maintaining racial purity and continuously attempt to demonstrate their superiority and domination over others or if a fourth generation Malaysian can still be labelled as a “pendatang (immigrants)”, who are we to blame when resentments shape and dominate today’s landscape and discourse? It is because we have allowed this to continue. 

However, I would argue that the time of race based politics in this country is over. 

I say this because I saw something in the faces of the many who showed up at the July 9 rally last year. A willingness to find meaning in something greater than ourselves. The large gathering of people from all walks of life, from all ethnicities and corners of Malaysia showed us that there is so much that we do when we join imagination with a common purpose.

Anyone who looked down at the sea of people at the foot of Menara Maybank that day would see, nay, believe, that the experiment in creating a united society irrespective of racial, religious and ethnic divides has actually succeeded. What that day clearly showed was the belief that we do have a stake in each other’s successes and that what is good for one community can be good for all.

That diversity is a strength, not a weakness. That there is unity in diversity. We may have different stories, look different and come from kampungs and cities, but we hold common hopes and dreams and we all want to move in the same direction. Malaysia is greater than the sum of its parts.

It is time that we chose the aspirations of hope and change over the politics of fear.

For Malaysia to find itself in the world, it must be at peace with itself. We must go beyond the rhetoric and start to trust and believe in ourselves. We should not falter in our efforts to deliver upon the belief and promise of a common and shared destiny.

We have a choice in this country. No society is static. We can accept the status quo that breeds continued division, conflict and cynicism or focus on what is right and strong about Malaysia and her people irrespective of race.

We can drop the dinosaurs with their racist policies, worn-out dogmas and Orwellian institutions of a bygone era and consign them to the dustbin of history. We can establish strong civil society institutions to check the concentration of power, encourage the development of a strong and vibrant press and build an open society that rejects abuses and exploitation.

We have an opportunity with the young people of this generation. Fifty per cent of the country’s population is under the age of 25. Let us not weigh them down with the toxic baggage from the past, and with the sins of our fathers. It is necessary to learn from history and move on. Not to be enslaved by it.

There was an unspoken promise made during the formation of this country and a pact that was cemented through the tremendous sacrifice of those who have gone before us. It was not the threat of communal strife and mutually-assured destruction.

Nor that the rights of a particular group were guaranteed above all others. What was promised was that as a people, we would be equal; that we would live together in harmony, in full and fair partnership; that we would be unified in our pursuit for a better life for all Malaysians.

We need to live up to the promise, and with eyes fixed upon the horizon, together endure the storms that will come our way.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.