Much hype had been raised in the media on the ascendancy of Barack Obama as the first black president of the US replacing the incumbent George W Bush comes Jan 8, 2009.

A black man in the White House is something extraordinary and a novelty which has caught the attention of the world at large. Although Barack Obama is not a descendent of bonded slaves as his father was from Kenya, it still a historical moment as without the whites supporting him, he would not have become the 44 th president of the US.

Closer to home, it is just like Lim Guan Eng, the chief minister of Penang becoming the next premier of our country in the next polls. But then again, we are not the US where people judge you not based on your skin colour but on the content of your character.

It will take a while for our people to come out of their cocoons and not to see things from the prism of their race and religion. Ketuanan Melayu, which is a battle cry among certain sections of the Malay communities especially those from Umno, is an outdated mode of thinking which will make the Malay race regress rather than progress in the global world that we live in.

To think that there was a big hue and cry when the forward-thinking Selangor menteri besar appointed a Chinese woman to be the acting head of the PKNS, a state subsidiary, speaks volumes on why merit and competency won’t take you to the top in this country but your skin colour will.

Coming back to Obama, his enormous victory in the last US presidential race was due to desperate voters unhappy with their economy and are looking for a new direction in leadership. George Bush has been a disaster for the world as US president for the past eight years.

The Iraq and Afghanistan wars where scores of civilians were killed and maimed have not endeared this president to the majority of Muslims both in those regions as well as elsewhere. Hopefully, the new president-elect will keep his promise to withdraw the US troops in 16 months time as he had promised during his election campaign.

Whether Barack Obama , the incoming president of the most powerful country in the world, will be good for his country is yet to be seen. The US economy has tanked out and recession is making its presence felt although the US treasury has provided a US$700 billion stimulus package to prop up the economy. When the biggest economy is in trouble, it will also spell trouble to countries who depend on trade with the US.

Our local politicians of both sides of the divide need to shed their ‘local mentality’ if they want to raise the standard of their competence while debating articulately in the august house. The recent incident of the use of vulgar words by the Pasir Salak MP shows that our politicians are still of a low standard and cannot control their emotions while debating in parliament.

Really, our country with all the blessings that the Almighty has given us including good natural resources and educated people can go far if the people do not fall into the trap of bigots who use race and religion to divide us.

Corruption and abuse of power remains unabated and have caused public funds to dry up while the lacklustre performance of the government has not instilled confidence in the poor public. All this against the backdrop that a new prime minister will take office comes March 2009.

If Obama can, Malaysians also can too become an agent of change for the better. But don’t hold your breaths for political reform to take place soon as we are still stuck with the feudal politics of a past era.