1Malaysia? Not at the rate we are going

Recently I participated in the citrawarna 2010 with my school. Now the reason I'm starting of with this is because it was during this that I truly got to understand how oversatured the 1Malaysia campaign is. Everywhere you look it is 1Malaysia. For starters every morning there was a laungan 1Malaysia. I don't know who came up with the idea of shouting 1Malaysia as a form of motivation but apparantly that's what the Government departments do so that's what we do too. I humbly pardoned myself. The thing I couldn't stand is the fact that you could see the 1Malaysia logo plastered everywhere. It's bad enough that they defacated a national monument the Sultan Abdul Samad Building by plastering not one but two 1Malaysia logos on it. Then they changed the theme from 'Colours of Malaysia' to 'Colours of 1Malaysia'. Next thing you know they're going to change the name Malaysia to 1Malaysia.

During one of the finale dances, everyone is supposed to hold hands which is suppose to symbolise unity amongst races EXCEPTION is if the person next to you is of a different gender. And the thing is all the participants are in their teens and older so it's not like we're shy or anything. To me that means we are striving for racial integration but not gender equality. Hmmm?

So personally I feel that this campaign is the best idea our country has seen in decades and I am proud to be part of the generation that gets to move this forward. However if our politicians keep acting the way they do, saying they things they say, and doing the things they do there is no way we are going to move forward. How do you expect to create a Bangsa Malaysia when your Deputy Prime Minister says he is Malay first not Malaysian. And even then UMNO shunned the a Malaysian race concept not once but twice. When Lee Kuan Yew mooted the idea of a Malaysian Malaysia, one with an equal playing field and meritocracy. Meritocracy you say? Isn't that one of the principles in the 1Malaysia concept. Then there was the Malayan Union during post World War 2 colonial rule which suggested making all immigrants and their families Malaysian citizens and at the same time creating a republican style Government which would effectively isolate the individual monarchy of every state which would also remove the enshrinement of Malay special rights which came under the protection of the monarchy. This itself was what got UMNO going to fight the Malayan Union which they eventually succeeded and led to the Malays being given special places in Government scholarships, civil office and etc under Federal Constitution Act 153. And remember during Ops Lalang YB Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, then UMNO Youth Leader unsheathed a keris and said so long as there is UMNO there is the NEP . He even went so far as to say that this keris will taste Chinese blood. And now he's the one who is calling for unity. Why the sudden change? Because the Malaysian people have grown up and now when we go to the polls there is another viable box to tick

Now I don't feel good comparing us with Singapore but of you want to see what Malaysia would've been all you need to do is to look South. A Singaporean will always associate themselves as Singaporean first. I honestly believe that there seriously needs to be a change in the mindset of the people who run this country. I can't name names cause I honestly don't know who is running the country. Hopefully the Government will realise that they need to chance before things are going to happen ASAP.

There definitely has and still is racial tension in this country. Now from my observation it wasn't always this way. When my parents tell me stories of living in the city as well as going back to their hometowns and playing with friends. Getting up to mischief in school with friends of different races. But somewhere in the last 40 years there was shift in the way we saw each other especially at a grassroots level. We started seeing each others races and not each other. I am however happy to say that the Internet has broken down some if these walls but I come from a middle class English speaking family. Most of my friends who come from different racial backgrounds still represent the same demographic. The problem as I see it lie in the lower income groups where children get involved in bad hats but generally stick to their own races. A lot of gangs are racial centered. But we don't go around instigating fear and dischord amongst races . We don't go around calling each other pendatang. All it takes is one guy throw the stone and it'll all begin. But throughout all this we must stay united. We must not give in we must stay united and our resilience will shine through.

But you must remember that Malaysians need to proud of our culture. Not ancestral culture but a Malaysian culture. The culture of 24 hour mamak stalls, blatant double parking, how everyone can curse and swear in all major languages here in Malaysia. These are the things the makes us all uniquely Malaysian. This unity, this underlying bond that we share this is what makes us truly. Foreigners come to Malaysian because we symbolise the very essence of Asia. I know it's corny but Malaysia Is Truly Asia. It's either here or Singapore and face it everyone chews gum.

I blog this final entry as a proud Malaysian youth. A Malaysian, not an Indian, not a Malay, not a Chinese, not a Punjabi, not an Orang Asli, not a Eurasian, not Sri Lankan but a MALAYSIAN!!!!

I hope you all have enjoyed reading my posts just as much as I have enjoyed writing them. I especially enjoyed rewriting this post after my initial post which took me 2 hours to write got wiped out. And just to prove how Malaysian I am, I'm typing this out on my iPhone just so I can watch tv and blog at the same since my dad is using the cursed laptop that wiped out my work.

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