Tomorrow, we will be celebrating our 49th year of independence. The national parade will extol the greatness of nation's history over these past decades.

But we need to create the space and the time for some serious discussions. It is about time that the nation stops to reflect in silence and prayer about the destiny of this tiny nation of 26 million citizens.

Over the past years, we have done well. Our development has brought great progress in terms of amenities, facilities, super structures and economic gain.

But lately, we are beginning to realise that despite all the progress we have attained, the country appears to be wallowing in a Third World mindset and its many traps.

The on-going political fracas is not adding any solutions to the hour. While other regions are seriously battling the challenges of globalisation, we seem to be burning precious time and resources in slugging it out as to who is more right.

While the world appears to be divided on religious lines, we are unable to stand out as a beacon for all, given our more than four decades of experience as a multiracial and multi-religious community. Instead we seem to be wasting too much time and energy debating on parameters that will only divide us further.

Our social fabric does not reflect the colours of material progress the nation has achieved. We litter, we hog the roads and break the laws. We cheat on the weights and quality of produce.

Our education system never seems to get out of its web of problems. The fact that tuition is moving ahead in a big way across the nation is a manifestation of how serious the problem is.

Corruption is taking on a new cloak. Employees cheat on time. Builders cheat on material quality. Traders shortchange. CD pirates thrive. Imitation goods are going up in sales.

Our national drug problem has escalated to the tune of having some two million addicts. The rehabilitation centres are bursting at their seams. Snatch thieves and robbers are having a easy get-away while the citizens spend huge amounts on all kinds of security devices to the point that we now live in homes barricaded with metal grills with padlocks from entrance to ceiling.

Reading is at an all-time low now so much so that the cabinet has to address it. We do not spend on books and the prices are not getting any cheaper.

We therefore need to ask: What good is all this so-called development, infrastructure, roads and buildings if our society has not matured in tandem with the growth? Of what greatness is our long history of peace if we are not able to go beyond the realms of religious tolerance? What pride can we really take in the fact that the nation is a multiracial one when our politicians still sing along racial divides and we still call ourselves Malay, Chinese, Indian or 'others' instead of Malaysian?

Let not our golden jubilee next year continue as another mere window-dressing. Otherwise Vision 2020 will only be a mere academic exercise.