As you appropriately observed, the crux of our separation is due to
race-based parties that needs race-based agendas to perpetuate their survival.
Having multiracial political parties is the first step forward to move beyond
the baggages of our past and embrace the future.
~ Nik Nazmi, The Race Dilemma in Malaysia: An FB message from a local university student and my reply
Dear Ahmad,
Thank you for your e-mail.
I believe the concerns you express reflect the sentiments of many Malaysians including my own. I actually address it in my book called ‘Moving Forward: Malays for the 21st Century’. You can get it at Popular, Kinokuniya, MPH or my own website www.niknazmi.com
Essentially, I believe that Malays were lagging behind in the economy and that the New Economic Policy was justified in uplifting the economic condition of the Malays. At the same time the NEP aimed at eradicating poverty regardless of race.
But I think we need a policy that addresses the challenges of the 21st century. The success of the NEP means that there is a Malay middle class that is capable at competing not just in Malaysia but in the world. At the same time, many non-Malays want to feel included in their country. There are also many Malays and non-Malays who are left behind.
Hence, a policy that is relevant for today would provide for both meritocracy – allowing the best Malaysians to compete, and affirmative action – lending all Malaysians that deserve help a helping hand.
The issue of vernacular education is also addressed in my book. Essentially, I believe that vernacular schools provide a challenge to national integration but Malaysians do not have the confidence that national schools can be inclusive and provide high-quality education.
Rather than abolishing vernacular schools, I believe a workable way forward is to create a voluntary unitary stream to combine all the different streams and providing time for the schools to teach civic and multiracial education, to teach students about our constitution and history, as well as the different stories of the different races.
As you appropriately observed, the crux of our separation is due to race-based parties that needs race-based agendas to perpetuate their survival. Having multiracial political parties is the first step forward to move beyond the baggages of our past and embrace the future.
Regards,
Nik Nazmi
At the end of the day, without getting rid of the Race/Religion paradigm in our socio-political environment, this country (I wouldn't call it "nation" as yet) is doomed 15-25 yrs down the line (if not sooner).
You wanna know when that will happen?
Watch the money -
where there is no virtue, where men live by "entitlement" and not industry,
where laws are meant to protect pirates rather than the vulnerable,
where the might of the gun-barrel supersedes that of the law -
money will never stay.
When is that?
It has been happening since the nineties.
It's happening right here, right now - there has been an unprecedented flight of capital since the advent of the Najib regime - RM350 Billion!! Malaysians have invested RM8 billion in foreign real estate alone over the same period. This is not taking into account the "black money" (which is believed to exceed the "white-economy"). This cuts across all racial/religious lines. Meanwhile, Perak boasts about its 11 billion investment .....
Who suffers?
It is the vulnerable - the people on the street, regardless of the God they worship, the color of their skin, or their political affiliation.
It is those who live on debts they cannot pay. They who depend on "govt contracts" to pay their debts. They who depend on pointless mega projects to fund their lavish lifestyles.
And the majority are "Malay/Bumiputera" - for they have lived a life of delusion under the pretext of "entitlement". The industrious cannot be stopped in surviving - except through death - and with racists seeking scapegoats when they fail, it may very well come to that if they don't leave.
I do not suggest that they should leave now - on the contrary, they should stay to fight the destruction of this beautiful land in the hands of Umno.
For that to happen, the "Malays" need to open their eyes, and realize that they have much to thank the non-Malays for. For it was their industry that has helped propel this country to what it is today. For it was from their taxes that the "entitled" got their freebies.
I do not begrudge those who were deserving of affirmative actions - in fact I believe that they should be given that benefit in any caring society. However, most of these entitlements are simply a front for pirates to squander the country's resources - yes, that of bumiputeras' too. This affirmative action cannot be used to deprive those who hold different convictions or cultures. All have to be given due recognition.
The future will depend on the knowledge the Malay community is willing to embrace. It will depend on a truly bold Malay leadership which understand the meaning of "leadership", and does not capitulate and pander to sectarian/subversive "sensitivities".
