Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, in conjunction with Wesak Day, urged Malaysians regardless of race or ethnicity to come together as one. He said, “If there was one thing I could wish for our country, it would be for everyone to set aside their differences for the greater good. For neighbours to treat each other with kindness, spouses with love and siblings with kindness.”

Nice words, but please walk the talk, Mr Prime Minister. That is all Malaysians ask from you.

Talk is cheap, my parents used to say. Its all “ cakap tak serupa bikin ”, as the Malay saying goes. And it’s empty feel-good talk thus far. Here is why.

Why did you have to start the nonsense with the blatant lie about the ‘Chinese tsunami’ which triggered Umno-owned Utusan to generate hateful emotions from the Malays, such as the racist ex-judge, towards the Chinese? And you, sir, as prime minister, said nothing , and did nothing to rein in the Utusan editors.

You did not bother to retract your statement about the ‘Chinese tsunami’even after the facts proved you so very wrong. That would have cooled down the racial temperature you have generated unwittingly.

You said nothing and did nothing to condemn the extreme racist outbursts of the racist ex-judge Mohd Noor Abdullah.

You said nothing and did nothing to condemn the racist and religious bigotry of Zulkifli Noordin. instead you nominated him to stand for a parliamentary seat under the BN banner in Shah Alam.

You said nothing and did nothing to water down the increasing anti-Chinese rhetoric after the GE13.

You said nothing and did nothing to condemn the stupid remarks of your newly appointed home minister who asked Malaysians who don’t like the political system to leave the country.

You said nothing and did nothing when pro-Umno army veterans insulted Ambiga Sreenevasan, a prominent Malaysian, showing their butts in front of her house and when those aligned to Umno urged her citizenship to be stripped.

Yet you preached 1Malaysia and talked about transformation, but after GE13, you allowed the police to harass, intimidate and arrest leaders from the opposition parties and from civil societies; including arresting a young student, Adam Adli Abd Halim for speaking his mind.

How could the rakyat swallow the remarks of your home minister that he had "no hand in it" in the recent arrest of the former Umno memberTamrin Ghafar, twice-elected MP Tian Chua and civil society leader Haris Ibrahim?

You simply said nothing, let alone being seen doing something, amidst the fears and concerns of the rakyat.

You as leader of our beautiful nation are being perceived to have let loose the attack dogs, so to speak, to maul the rakyat's sensibilities and their sense of decency.

Feel-good speeches from your cabinet ministers have meant nothing in recent years.

To be honest, the rakyat have stop listening to all these meaningless and inconsequential remarks simply because they don't translate into any form of reality by your ministers.

That’s the sad truth, Mr Prime Minister.

We, ordinary Malaysians, do really want to wish you well after GE13 for the sake of the nation. But then, based on recent events and on your lack of response to them, you are in fact not helping yourself, or helping the rakyat, to make Malaysia a better country for our children and grandchildren.

CHOW-KAM FOO is a retired freelance development consultant.