COMMENT As the clock ticks toward the new year, I find myself deep in thought about what is in store for us in the New Year.

This essay is my thoughtful assessment of where we are now as a nation and where we could be with the strength and purpose given by God to all of us concerned citizens.

This essay calls for all of us to do our part ourselves without the hope of any help from two political coalition parties, one governing and the other bidding for the rule of our beloved country.

One coalition party is slowly becoming a Barisan Main-Sendiri while the other can be renamed as Pakatan Harap-less.

I call on all Malaysians to place no hope in these two entities and call on for a third political and social force to help reshape this country by transforming our citizens, the young and old, into a true harmonious Malaysia.

If we are to avoid Zaid Ibrahim’s doomsday prophecy of a Peninsula that burns, we can prove him wrong by coming together and putting our thoughts deeply and opening our hearts widely. Let’s not book our Sarawak tickets before we actually try to do this… shall we?

It is a pointless wish to hope for the ruling coalition to change into a more moderate, well-mannered and compassionate political party true to the old ideals of Barisan Nasional that helped forge this country into its pre-1980 existing and assured self rather than its selfish, racist and bigoted entity of the present.

It is also pointless to wish for all the governmental institutions of administration and law to be more professional and fair dealing than what it is now for they choose to follow whoever is in the hallowed halls of power.

It is also too much to wish that our public universities spend a bit more time and effort producing better Malaysian graduates appreciating culture, faith and identity of one another rather than focusing on divisive seminars and conventions.

All of these wishes are nothing more than wishful ephemera. Thus, this will be the shortest paragraph in this essay.

Now, before I list and describe in detail my wish for Malaysia, let me say something about the alternative political coalition that I have renamed as Pakatan Harap-less.

After a sterling performance in the previous election that saw much promise of a new style of governance, this coalition is slowly dwindling into a Pakatan Hopeless. Well, look at its track record of nation building and co-operation.

One particular party is so big-headed and arrogant that it does not feel the need to consult any of its partners in dealing with the sensitive issue of Islam and the Malay people. It just shoots off its mouth anytime and in anyway it wants.

It is arrogant because it wins in almost all its seats and has a corruption-free record (bravo!).

Instead of being more humble it has become more brash and brutish.

Its merciless attack on Rayani Air and rejection of a two-term chief ministership are just appetisers to a more totalitarian expectation.

Now, one other party that makes up the coalition is floating in limbo over the question of leadership. This party does not know who leads who and who follows who.

They are going round and round this issue like the proverbial musical chairs. How can thinking Malaysians leave their children in the care of this kind of party?

Israeli sportsmen visa, Zionism and Palestinians

Finally, we come to the newly-minted, orange-clad party that promises a new kind of “Islamic Openness” than the Ustaz-minded closeness of their previous one.

But… are they any different? Let’s examine.

Firstly, these leaders still love speaking to general audiences using Arabic laden phrases like “Maqasid Shariah” and many others.

Why they can’t understand that by using such phrases instead of the acceptable ones in English or Bahasa Malaysia, they are actually distancing themselves from their call for a multi-faith and multi-ethnic participation is completely beyond my intellectual scope of comprehension.

They are still reliving their “PAS-t” glory I assume.

Next example. Has anyone noticed that their criticism of the MP’s statement on the Israeli sportsmen visa issue is exactly the same as the criticism of the representative of their former party?

The MP was clearly making two criticisms: firstly, asking why the double standard on these particular Israeli sportsmen from the one given visa in 2011 and, secondly, asking why did Malaysia accept the offer to organise the event knowing full well who the champions were as well as to honour all participants of this event?

But the criticism of the two twins - the orange party and the green party - was that the MP supports Zionism and is insensitive to the plight of the Palestinians. I do not know about you readers but I had not read anything about Zionism and Palestinians in the MP’s statement.

From where I am standing, this new orange party is different only in colour and not in its bigoted Muslim mind-set.

With these clownish acts by the Pakatan Harap-less political parties, I am seriously thinking, for the first time in my life, of not casting my vote at all in the coming election.

I shall now commence to elucidate my wish list for Malaysia.

At the top of my list, is a wish that the great individuals who had organised the many extremely successful rallies change their modus operandi and become an NGO that would create and run programmes that would bring the various communities together as a harmonious Malaysia.

Personalities such as Ambiga Sreenevasan, Maria Chin Abdullah, Pak Samad and other unsung heroes and heroines are our greatest treasure to turn this country around from the brink of racial and religious conflict into a better Malaysia, not even envisioned by our forefathers of this nation.

They should reorganise their efforts to promote programmes that would make Malaysians want to understand each other's cultures, religious beliefs, social concerns, health matters and economic woes so that we move as a people of many colours but of a united heart.

We have many millionaires and wealthy individuals who would generously contribute to the running of programmes of cultural exhibitions, activities, sharing religious experiences, rethinking the economic structure for social ends and many more.

I would gladly contribute five percent of my gross salary as my obligatory religious charity to these events rather than give it to officially sanctioned religious entity that I have completely no faith in.

With enough funding, this entity can sponsor young film-makers to make stories of religious and cultural acceptance and compassion as well as artists singing songs of love and care for all life.

The Bersih rallies saw the “hardcore” Malaysians wanting to do something to change the direction of this country. Now, this is a vehicle that would truly set the pace and the platform for the next generation of Malaysians.

There is no need for any more demonstrations but hard work to implement the programmes.

Produce more meaningful graduates

Next on my list. I call on all private university leadership to come together and form a Council for Malaysian Academia to lead the education of this country towards producing more meaningful graduates that can work anywhere in the world because they understand that they cannot survive in the small cocoon of their own religious and cultural belief but excellence lies in opening their minds and hearts to all the differences that would trigger the awakening of a truer, enlightened mind and soul.

The leadership of the private universities of Malaysia shall call upon their talented academics and provide a better research and writing opportunity into reconstructing the history of our nation and her people, identifying a more balanced perspective of all that has contributed to the formation of its ideals.

The private universities have hundreds of thousands of young minds to be re-educated into a new Malaysia with new subjects like An Intra-cultural Perspective of Nation Building History and also books about the Role of Universal Religious Values as the Foundation of Humanity.

There are many programmes that the vice-chancellors can encourage to ask our graduates to dream of a different Malaysia, where it is clean, affordable and peaceful. Where have we placed these dreams?

As I can tell, presently, nowhere.

The only dream that I have heard vice-chancellors call out are for private dreams of individual fame, wealth and recognition.

We must replace this small view with a larger, more enlightened perspective of saviour to humanity because not only in Malaysia lies the human dissension of each other’s differences but also the very world at large.

My third wish is to call on the eminent scholars – Siddiq Fadhil of IKRAM, Farouk Musa of Islamic Renaissance Front and Mohamad Asri Zainal Abidin, the Perlis mufti - to sit at the same table as eminent scholars and religious figures in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and others in order to perform three important functions.

Firstly, they must educate each other about the true values of each faith and unravel the cultural and historical layers that have turned each faith against one another.

Secondly, they have to also educate each other about the development of each faith within the political backdrop of the nation in order to separate the faith from the personal and accidental agendas of various political and institutional entities.

Finally, they have to derive a common value framework that would eliminate the self righteous attitude of the adherents and proclaim the added value of having different faiths to strengthen each other’s spiritual fulfilment.

This framework must then be used by educationists to write books of religious education that would have a complementary effect rather than a divisive one.

There must then be an active effort to hold workshops and seminars to educate the religious teachers of Malaysia so that they would preach with a global understanding and not a parochial one.

My fourth and final wish is for a third political party that is truly Malaysian in its vision, operation and membership.

For this wish to materialise I must call upon our own Saifuddin Abdullah, Wong Chin Huat, K John, Zaid Kamarudin and Zaid Ibrahim to initiate a party that is not arrogant, that is not confused in leadership and that does not have an Islamic baggage on its shoulders.

Perhaps this party can be the leading party that would hold together the alternative coalition or that it should go on its own is something that needs to be tried out.

Perhaps it would fail to capture any seat in the next election but I, for one, plus five children and one wife will certainly cast our votes for this party.

The leadership of this party must come from these veterans to set the foundation and quickly train and usher in a new crop of young leaders from groups such as Ideas, IRF, KMU and many other organisations.

This party will be fresh and free from the baggage of the older political entities that have leaders still clinging to a dinosaur age of racial mistrusts.

With these wishes in mind, Malaysians can now look upon 2016 as the year that makes a turn-around for the better rather than the stale racist calls of shallow-thinking individuals as well as the tit-for-tat exchanges of party leaders.

All of the suggestions in this essay are doable. We have the talents and do not need much money. We welcome the millionaire philanthropists who have enough vision to play a last and lasting role in this world before they meet their maker.

We, too, can all do the same for the sake of our children and grandchildren. Malaysia is for all and for all will she belong… if we fight for her.

The real history of this nation was founded upon the sweat of all the forefathers of all the races. Let the real history of this nation be read aloud.

Shallow-minded institutions of higher learning can say whatever findings from their inept researches. This country stands on the strength of all our shoulders or she shall stand no more.

We and we ourselves can change this nation. We will be a new Malaysia within a Malaysia.

What we need is the will and the courage to forge through our stated programmes. Never mind the jeers, name callings and threats by the rabble-rousing voices of silly hardcore Malay extremist groups and Muslim bigots.

Stay true to our cause and then can we honestly say... The Force has now Awakened!

PROF DR MOHAMAD TAJUDDIN MOHAMAD RASDI is Professor of Architecture at UCSI University, Cheras.