LETTER | The current leaders in the government of our so-called "New Malaysia" may have missed the forest for the trees. They have forgotten to understand or consider a larger situation or problem facing our nation. They were voted in to replace the previous set of arrogant and self-serving leaders not just to get rid of corruption and inefficiencies but, more importantly, to put in place the foundation on which all Malaysians, irrespective of race and religion, can be united to live harmoniously as one people.

Well, we had the ‘1Malaysia’ slogan during the tenure of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak. which supposedly meant that we are all one but it did not serve its purpose at all.

We eagerly longed for a new government to bring about a New Malaysia where every Malaysian can feel that he or she is an equal among all the races and be treated as such, but of course with due respect to the provisions of our Federal Constitution with regard to special privileges, official religion and language, to name some.

The New Malaysia hope has so far failed to materialise as the Pakatan Harapan government is not doing much to promote unity among the people. In fact, unity is at an all-time low now.

Even Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad acknowledges this fact. Racism and extremism in the country have gone from bad to worse, like never before. Examples are aplenty.

And our new lawmakers and leaders of New Malaysia do not seem to be doing much and are looking lost with regard to this agenda.

We, the peace-loving rakyat, should really forget about this new slogan called ‘New Malaysia’; what we should be doing is making sure that we embrace ‘Malaysia First’, instead. This means that each and every individual, irrespective of race, colour, religion and background, in this country should respect each other as fellow Malaysians with understanding and tolerance.

We must reject all forms of racism, corruption, cronyism, self-centredness and selfishness. Malaysia First is also about being a Malaysian first, above all else - united to achieve great things in commerce, education, nation-building and undertakings in the global arena.

Malaysia First will only work if the new government takes the lead in embracing it. It starts with the leaders. But do we have the right set of leaders? We have leaders still fighting with each other or are blind to racism rearing its ugly head in this country right now.

We need ministers and chief ministers from Pakatan Harapan to be more serious in this agenda of promoting Malaysia First. Currently, the New Malaysia is just empty talk and there is really nothing new about this New Malaysia.

Lawmakers, wake up! Champion the Malaysia First cause through your administration and in your policies! It is the only way forward to a better and prosperous Malaysia for all.

Let’s face it: race politics is obsolete and will never work in this age and time.

Education at all levels from preschool to university must emphasise the inculcation of good values, in particular, unity. Otherwise, it is a failed education.

Even our forefathers had the wisdom when they came up with the Coat of Arms of

Malaysia (Jata Negara), theming it ‘Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu’ meaning, ‘Unity is Strength’.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.