LETTER | I do not wish to respond to Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh's recent comments on the Constitution with more divisive rhetoric.

Rather, I will quote three exceptional Malaysians who actually deserve to be called national leaders.

And I hope that Akmal will at least take their wise words into consideration.

Here is one from our first prime minister and former Umno president, Tunku Abdul Rahman, who said: “The main thing which we have to remember is that we have got to make a home of this country and we have got to live happily together ever after.

“Let us contribute our share towards it, each and every one of us, no matter what may be our race or creed.”

And first Umno president Onn Jaafar said this in his final party general assembly in 1951: “If Umno wishes to create a sovereign nation out of Malaya, then I hope Umno will expand its nationalistic views, instead of keeping a narrow mindset by ignoring the other communities living among us.”

And last but not least, this is what Perak ruler Sultan Nazrin Shah said last year: “Malaysians of all races, religions, and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun.”

Stop the bigotry

Therefore, I urge Akmal to stop taking non-Malays for granted. You must recognise the contributions of non-Malays in nation-building and our right to call Malaysia our one and only home.

Malaysia belongs to all of us, not just a single race. We have built our families and homes here for generations past, present and future.

Independence was not won by just one race alone. As a national leader, Akmal has the responsibility to foster unity amongst all races, no matter which party you are from. Stop seeing race first and dividing our multifaceted society with your bigoted vitriol.

We do not question the provisions of Article 153 in the Constitution. We are not challenging the position of the rulers or Bahasa Melayu as the official language of the federation.

We have long ago acknowledged the special position granted to the bumiputera communities.

We only hope that our nation will be able to progress with unity and harmony, which will only happen if all of us are treated equally and not as second-class citizens.

Writer is the Malacca DAP Youth chief.

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