MALAYSIA DAY Forty-seven years after the original date of unification, we celebrate Malaysia Day today.

NONE As we think about the country, its past, present and future, we must be guided by universal spiritual and moral values.

In our quest for unity we must out of necessity revisit many aspects of our social being and restructure them if necessary so as to accommodate current needs and expectations.

Where there are visible weaknesses, remedial steps must be undertaken. We cannot ignore ethnic challenges that have emerged.

The Malaysian ethnic landscape in the last few years has become somewhat complex.

If we are keen to move forward without fear then it's important to appreciate that the psychological gap between the ethnic communities appears to be the most formidable challenge facing Malaysian unity today.

Remember that any discussion on ethnic relations in Malaysia must pay serious attention to the juxpaposition of communities in the country.

The claim for special position, scholarships for education, quotas for recruitment into institutions of higher learning, reservation of land, preferential quotas and special commitments are matters on which we as a nation must come together and engage in a civilised dialogue with a view to resolving differences and search for permanent solutions.

The problems superficially highlighted above have no doubt created a great dividing line. These problems have their own very peculiar and strange characteristics and in many ways have threatened and may continue to threaten and undermine our very peculiar cradle of democracy.

Having said that it is now important that we must identify those weaknesses and formulate and implement policies which could bring the communities closer together. This is by no means an easy task. It will require collective effort and approach.

Dividing lines through the body politic

Note, as long as there are great dividing lines that run through the body politic there can be no Malaysian solidarity.

The current inequality, unfairness, discrimination and marginalisation permeates and pervades almost every sphere of social existence. For the moment those issues that require serious maximum evaluation are as below:

(i) The bumiputera and non-bumiputera dichotomy has become the most powerful reality of Malaysian life. This dichotomy must go. Everyone should be considered a Malaysian citizen and no more. This in turn would create a common identity;

(ii) MCA and MIC did very little to free their respective communities from the shackles of colonial rule. However, despite their failure they are still in power;

(iii) More is to be done to reduce communal polarisation in the country. The current divisions are becoming bigger. While this is not desired, there aren't any actual policies to tackle such problems. In fact the respective communities today have become defensive and slowly beginning to react;

(iv) It is now time to revisit the New Economic Policy. Perhaps there is a real need to restructure and the fluctuating element of quotas and targets must be abolished;

(v) Policies of the government in general require serious restructuring and faithful implementation. The present policies implemented thus far created unhappiness especially in education and employment thus giving rise to negative attitudes which will have serious consequence on the country;

(vi) Trading privileges and special banking facilities require re-evaluation. It should be made available to the privileged minority and to the under privileged majority. If an honest restructuring is carried out I am confident the privileged minority and the under privileged majority will flow naturally into commerce and industry;

(vii) In an urge to maintain unity and harmony PAS, DAP and PKR cannot be completely oblivious to the needs and aspirations of the non-Malays. They must understand the very strange contemporary situation, which otherwise would be impossible to transform.

There is no room for hostile politics or atmosphere. They have not shown enough interest in the question of ethnic integration. They have never articulated the interests of the non-Malays whether in employment or education or health. They have not shown nor indicated any concern for the political and cultural future of the non-Malay population.

In the ultimate analysis both government policies and opposition attitudes are linked to various vested interests that respectively benefit from communalism. Those vested interests by and large influence the strata of society.

These strata ultimately determine and decide the interests, concerns, values and ideas of the rest of society. As responsible individuals we are entrusted with a huge task of creating a better Malaysia.

Let us today renew our hopes and ideas and strive to create a better country for all Malaysians.

R KENGADHARAN, a lawyer, is a former Internal Security Act detainee.