Forty-four years after independence, the people of Malaysia are still searching for an identity. Are they Malays or Muslims first; are they Chinese, Indians, Ibans or Dayak or Malaysians first?

This identity crisis is a result of the failure of the Barisan Nasional government, which has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957, first as the Alliance, later as the expanded National Front or Barisan Nasional. The initial marriage of convenience of racial groupings has become entrenched; the divide nurtured so as to accrue to the respective leaders, absolute powers.

Democracy has suffered but a greater victim has been nationhood. Of course, the early leaders claimed they needed time to mould the country into a nation, but time appears to have overtaken them.

Umno had used every opportunity to mobilise the Malays to assert themselves as a race, profiled as such by their religion, Islam. Umno's call for the Malay to be the dominant race, paid off handsomely. The Malay vote became Umno's forte. It made Umno the premier party within the Barisan Nasional, its leaders becoming the wielders of all power in government.

The component parties have been slowly relegated to parties of minions. The racial groupings were substantial but concentrated in areas in the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia. Electoral manipulations ensured dilution of their weightage.

Their leaders were given liberties and were also nurtured by Umno. Although this led to the creation of sectoral warlords with their excesses and tantrums and arrogance, it served Umno well. Once in a while, these leaders had to be bailed out, or eased out when pilloried by their respective groupings, but the system worked to contain the opposition groups.

Nationalism was therefore kept on the back burner; racism had been the order of the day until the advent of the ummah . Transcending political boundaries, it has galvanised the 60% Malay population of Malaysia to look further afield and not limit their horizon to merely the land at their feet.

As a result, the Malay vote has been disappearing from Umno's reach. PAS led the Islamic flag, holding the Kelantan state and taking over another eastern state, Terengganu, and making major inroads into the Kedah state in the 1999 general election.

Having lost its hold on the Malay vote, Umno is buying time to reinvent itself. There is no doubt Umno and the Barisan Nasional will form the next government. Their priority now is to contain the situation, and if possible, turn the tide while searching for a new formula.

The election call against corruption and for a committed civil service (comprising of 80% Malays) are enticements for the non-Malay vote. The arrest and charge of some individuals has been bandied round as proof of the government's seriousness, but doubts remain that these are mere election posturing.

Despite promises that Barisan candidates would be thoroughly vetted; the final list was a disappointment. There were too many tainted names, too many who had overstayed but were still fielded.

Tomorrow's vote will be a vote of whether the non-Malays believe in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's promises, and whether the Chinese will rally to the new MCA leadership and the unity call between MCA and Gerakan.

The Indian vote is fragmented with MIC's leadership crippled, and a baggage of community woes. The Malay vote post-Sept 11 is yet to be convinced the BN government is post-Mahathir. It has also been too long immersed in the religious cocoon to expect dramatic changes in directions.

Whatever the swings, the future of the country will lie with the creation of a national identity. The National Service appears to be a step in the right direction but it will require time for results to be seen.