“Soon I’ll be sixty years old…” goes the song, sung by a 28-year-old young man, Lukas Graham.

If one is almost sixty and has not come of age he has not reached maturity. Malaysia will be sixty this year and it will have come of age only when Malaysia is Malaysia and Malaysians are Malaysians.

There is so much talk and controversy now on choosing a Malaysian for a national leader.

Malaysian citizens do not directly elect their Prime Minister unlike in some countries.

A young man, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said that the decision of choosing a leader must be returned to the people through an independent survey.

Another young man, Radzlan Jalal, re-echoed that by saying that this would involve the majority of the people in picking the highest leadership of the country as a proactive measure and a reformed system much needed in Malaysia.

These two young men have demonstrated a degree of maturity.

However, they are working on the premise that the independent survey would be based on the candidates shortlisted for the prime minister’s post by Pakatan Harapan. This, of course, puts a limit on the people’s choice.

Malaysiakini has joined the bandwagon in casting a broad net to get Malaysians to nominate a Prime Minister.

The unutterable conundrum is that the Prime Minister cannot be someone who is not a Malay.

We are born into a race and often into a religion. Why should race and religion get in the way of exercising the rights of a citizen? All citizens of all nations in the world come from a plurality of ethnicities and religions but manage to hold one identity united under a national flag.

We have allowed the polarities of race and religion to smear the image of Malaysian instead of adding colour to it. The underlying element of being a Malaysian is the identity of a people of many colours belonging to this land united under a single flag.

Alas! We appear to be fearful of an unspeakable catastrophe if a non-Malay Malaysian is named. The perception is that the Malays will not accept a non-Malay prime minister. This is yet to be put to the test.

People of different race and religion have always interacted in harmony and lived in peace until bigots and fanatics dislocated the people.

The ordinary Malays have no problem seeing a non-Malay doctor, seeking the help of a non-Malay advocate, working under non-Malay bosses and welcoming with respect a non-Malay minister or parliamentarian.

We are a group of people who share the same history, traditions and language and live together in this land.

There is no reason why the Malays, left to themselves, will not accept a non-Malay prime minister. The problem is we are afraid of the fanatics and bigots who terrorise the common people with extreme ideologies.

An unconditional choice

A prominent member of the opposition has called for the formation of multi-racial political parties. What is the point of that when the national leadership is reserved for only one race?

How long are we going to live in fear? When is the right time to break that ice? When will we seek the best to lead us instead of juggling with the same few names over and over again? When will we choose the most competent person as our leader?

We will be Malaysia when we can hail a Malaysian as the leader of Malaysia. He or she may be of any ethnic origin and profess any religion or even no religion.

All that is of no consequence as long as that person is trustworthy, competent, firm, honest, confident, positive and inspiring and an exemplary statesman/ stateswomen, the best of the pick who is prepared to put aside personal affiliation to race and religion and put Malaysia and Malaysian first.

He/she must also be the one who will harness all the relevant machinery of the state to eradicate the extremists.

Do we have such a person? Of course, we do and more than one. Let the choice be unconditional.

Am I misreading the reality on the ground? The ground needs to change.

Is this wishful thinking? Perhaps it is but I wish to think.

Nevertheless, this whole exercise is somewhat premature.

The nature of this political game is that the Pprime minister has to come from the party or coalition that has obtained the majority of parliamentary seats. This should be the preoccupation of the moment.

This would be a legitimate narrowing of choice that has already been made by the ballot box.

The people as a whole could then be asked to make the choice from the winning candidates or a shortlisted number of competent candidates who have already won the confidence of the people.

This choice for a PM is best done after the general election and not before.

“I only see my goals, I don’t believe in failure; 'cause I know the smallest voices, they can make it major…”

- Lukas Graham, Once I was Seven Years Old.

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