The prospects for true racial harmony in Malaysia lie in the recognition of our plurality, not just by race, but also the various identities and allegiances each of us has as individuals which cuts across racial lines. We are not just Malays or Chinese, Muslims or Non-Muslims, but also parents, wage earners, consumers and so on.

One underdog is the same as another whatever his colour. There is more commonality among us than we realise and it is this broad human commonality that works against any sharp and rigid divisions. But by incarcerating ourselves in little containers with different labels we forget our human commonality.

Creating ethnic categories and encouraging racial solidarity (as our race based political parties constantly do) only helps to feed racial discord. To be told that we are not just Malaysians but bumiputera and non-bumiputera Malaysians, Muslim bumiputeras and non-Muslim bumiputeras, does not help to foster national unity. To foster narrow group identity is dangerous. As the Nobel laureate Sen observed, "With suitable instigation, a fostered sense of identity with one group of people can be made into a powerful weapon to brutalise another."

We have seen this in Rwanda and to a lesser extent in Indonesia. We had a taste of it in 1969 and more worryingly in the Kampong Medan racial clash of March 2001. It is as if we have learned nothing. Racism is not in our Malaysian culture yet it is so easy to instigate gullible people to foment trouble when there is racial categorisation.

In any social engineering exercise of the scale that Malaysia has undertaken, there are bound to be a few problems but overall it has been a successful exercise. The socio-economic equation has changed. There is now a large urban Malay middle class, Malays will dominate the professions in the near future, and there is a viable Malay business community. There is political stability and we are a relatively prosperous nation. We are managing, but is 'managing' enough?

As long as our socio-political structure still works we don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water. But we need to refocus our efforts on building a true Malaysian nation as our founding fathers intended and not as a conglomeration of ethnicities and religions. Starting afresh means ditching bad habits.

Misguided notion

For too long we have laboured under the misguided notion that contentious issues are best swept under the carpet. But hiding our problems don't make them go away, it only postpones the day of reckoning. We are told that such issues are best left to politicians to solve behind closed doors. But the failure to create national unity even after 50 years of independence is an indictment of this process.

Fifty years of sweeping issues under the carpet has given us a false sense of racial harmony. We must start talking openly and frankly to each other. It does not help when our laws discourage open discussions and our media will not touch 'sensitive' issues, making meaningful dialogue difficult. However unless we talk we will not know the other side's perspective

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The non-Malays must understand that for the majority race to be marginalised is not only morally indefensible but it would also invite problems reminiscent of May 13. Thus it is necessary for affirmative action policies to uplift the Malays. The fear of the Malays that the non-Malays will overtake them is something that ultimately only they can overcome. But unless we deliver to the Malay masses we cannot remove their sense of vulnerability especially in what is an increasingly competitive world. In that case the discrimination against Non-Malays will continue even though they are not the cause of Malay backwardness as such.

However at the same time, the Malays must be weaned from a dependency mentality. Mollycoddling the Malays stunts their growth and insults their intelligence, initiative and ability to compete. It reinforces the age-old fatalism that they are not good enough. Yet history records the Bugis as traders par excellence. And even in colonial times the Malays have shown themselves to be self-reliant.

The rural Malays on realising that education was one way out of poverty, on their own initiative asked for English-Language Schools in their kampongs but were turned down. The elite wanted to keep them in their place. As Raja Sir Chulan the Raja di Hilir of Perak said, "English educated Malays will not take kindly to the pursuit of their forefathers ". Similarly when the Malays planted rubber to take advantage of the high rubber price, so as to improve their earnings, their efforts were thwarted by the authorities who rather they grew padi.

Surely the above are not the racial traits of an indolent, uncompetitive people without initiative? Perhaps it is pertinent to note that then as now, it is not the Chinese or Indians who have kept the Malays back.

While the Malays have progressed they continue to dwell on their alleged weaknesses, perhaps subconsciously not wanting to move out from their comfort zone. The Malays must accept that the Non-Malays have an equal right to live in this country, which they helped to found, develop and defend. Anything less than equal status is not good enough. Unequal inclusion is as bad as exclusion. It is the indignity of being 'second class' more so than looking for greener pastures that has driven thousands of non-Malays away. Discrimination is an assault on the human dignity be it socio-economic discrimination or racial discrimination. Just as the Malays do not want to suffer the indignity and humiliation of being poor and marginalised, the non-Malays too do not want to suffer the indignity and humiliation of being in the second tier of a two- tier citizenship.

Racial politics spawn racial division. It encourages racial competition not cooperation. It is largely because of this racial competition that appeals by the government to the non-Malays to help develop Malay entrepreneurial skills have met with a lukewarm response.

Inter-racial mixing

The perception that the Malay's reluctance to start from the shop floor and go through the 'school of hard knocks' has perhaps also contributed to the non-Malay's tepidity.

Similarly the government has been unresponsive to calls to end Malay bias regarding recruitment and promotion in government services, business opportunities and education. If the non-Malays are excluded from the affirmative action policy they will not cooperate, and therefore make the Malay problem more intractable. Inclusion on the other hand makes them equal stakeholders with everything to lose if the Malays are left behind.

In order for us to prosper we must encourage the best of the crop irrespective of race. To face global competition we cannot afford to lose any more of our human capital. It is paradoxical that while we are bound together by our Malaysianess when we are abroad - finding comfort and security in each other as Malaysians, yet how quickly we don our race hats at home.

National unity cannot be decreed. There is no law we can pass to oblige Malaysians to get along with each other. The best governments can do is to honestly facilitate and encourage inter-racial mixing. This it can do by applying the principles of justice, fairness and decency to all its policies. These values transcend race and religion.

It is just as unjust to leave vast sections of Malaysians lagging behind economically as it is to discriminate against others on account of their race or religion. Both stifle the human potential that can best serve our nation. Our leaders cannot keep ducking, diving and bending every which way, to avoid dealing with the prickly issues. Good leaders perform their duties independently of sectarian pressures.

The stakes are too high to indulge in the choreographed minuet of 'Bangsa Malaysia' while promoting sectarian interests. While leaders are often tempted to play to the gallery they must not sacrifice the core values, otherwise short-term gains can lead to long term problems. In a multi-racial country it is dangerous to allow narrow interests to override the broader ones.

No one should doubt the difficult racial balancing act required in managing Malaysia. While our legislators try to promote unity, the executives often distort the policies. Hence the gods may decree but if the priests demur, little can be done. The fact that the civil and uniformed services are almost exclusively Malays makes it that much harder to implement policies, which promote national unity. Civil servants are less likely to implement policies if they perceive those policies are against their interests individually or communally. A more balanced and merit based civil and uniformed service benefits everyone.

New dimension

We can learn a lot from India (which is not much older than us as an independent nation). The plurality of culture, language and religion in India is just as great as ours yet it has refused to foster and prioritise communal agendas. India's population is 80% Hindu yet it has a Sikh prime minister, a Muslim president and the head of the ruling party is an Italian woman by birth. There are no hyphenated Indians. Citizenship once bestowed entitles every Indian to the same rights and obligations. In this India is not an exception; this concept of citizenship is embraced by all nations.

South Africa is the other nation (much younger than us), which can teach us a thing or two about national unity. Despite their bloody past, despite the humiliation of colour discrimination, despite the suffering of the masses, there was no retribution, no evening the score. It would have been understandable if South Africa created their own version of 'bumiputraism' just to make up for the years of suffering and marginalisation. South Africa has its own affirmative action policy but it is not based on race, religion or colour.

No Malay, Chinese or Indian have suffered the same indignities as the Black South African. Nor have we had the religious violence that killed so many on India's road to independence. Yet we are so caught up with race and religion. We let both come into our everyday lives. We don't have another 50 years to sort our inter-racial differences.

The country is unraveling before our eyes. Many of our young are voting with their feet. We are losing our competitive edge in an increasingly global economy; our prosperity is not guaranteed. The journey to national unity is long. It can be lonely and distressing at times. In this train there can be only one class. No one should be forced to leave the train because they are made to feel unwanted. On the other hand those who do not want to make the journey should leave the train. And those who insist on disrupting the journey should desist. We cannot proceed on the double track of racial exclusivity and religious intolerance.

The present arrangement where we share according to the racial balance does not work. The minority is in no position to negotiate, its influence on policies marginal. It has to accept what is given even if it is unfair. More importantly racial separateness invites racial competition not cooperation and it does not encourage national unity. We have to move to a new paradigm which is colour blind.

We need a new dimension of understanding which cuts across the racial divide, across culture and religion, we must start to trust in the goodness of decent Malaysians. We must understand that no one race acting alone can achieve success. Malaysia has enough for everybody. Nobody needs to be deprived of their place in the sun.

YIN EE KIONG is a Malaysian who has lived in Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Australia, the UK, US, Qatar, Sudan). He is the founding president of Ipoh City Watch and wrote the 'Ipoh Watch' column for The Sun daily for almost a year prior to his departure to Sudan.