COMMENT | It must be an exciting time to live in Malaysia despite pockets of cynicism, but let not history repeat itself.

The government has to explain why promises it made may not be fulfilled and apologise if it is to retain its credibility. It will appear irresponsible, even duplicitous, if it says the manifesto it publicised was merely for an election it might not have won. Such cock-and-bull story is the modus operandi of Umno not Pakatan Harapan.

On the positive side, it is time to harvest the ripe fruit of ‘reformasi’. Regime change is not only to restore integrity in governance but to change the mindset of a nation bedraggled by old ideas of race and religion. Any policy built on race and religion is unsuitable for Malaysia. The country has experimented with such flawed discriminatory policies that nearly ruined it.

Let not history repeat itself.

Help the Malays by ridding the nation of the toxic idea of privilege, entitlement and instant riches. Reject the doctrine of ‘Keturunan Melayu’ that results in the practice of separate development, Malaysia’s version of apartheid. It is time to place educated and capable Malays, not the politically-connected, in positions of influence; Malays who are progressive and can uplift the Malay communities.

It is time to eradicate the rent-seekers and coalesce nation-building around those in government and leaders in civil society for the common good. It is pointless to speak of ‘reformasi’ when the mother of all evils - the policy of race - that divides the nation into ‘they’ and ‘us’ sits smugly on top of Mahathir’s agenda.

Good has triumphed over evil since the historic trouncing of the 61-year-old Umno-led government by Harapan. Rome was not built in a day, as they say, and the repair of Malaysia requires time, effort, resources and the faith among Malaysians that it has never been a better time to love their country.

To love a country is to do more than paying your taxes and waving the national flag. Or singing ‘feel good’ songs. It requires those especially with the ability and circumstances to initiate activities that will improve the country’s living conditions. Real leaders lead without being invited. They see a need, they act.

Malaysia belongs to every Malaysian who has a say in what happens to their country. It does not become more or less your country because there is more or less of members of your race. That is why countries have an affirmative action policy to safeguard the welfare of the minority. But in Malaysia, the policy is turned on its head when the affirmative action is for the majority. And what a disaster.

No government has all the bright ideas or right leaders to manage a nation. But a smart and serving government will want to tap into every conceivable source of talent and resource to build the nation. Ultimately there has to be a common ethos, a strong sense of ‘fair go’ - borrowing an Australian phrase - to provide a national value of social justice. Where discriminatory policies persist, there is no social justice.

The silenced majority

The need for ‘thought’ leaders and ‘action’ leaders has never been as great as now. I recall the advent of online daily Malaysiakini almost two decades ago that changed the media landscape. Malaysiakini created a sanctuary for open expression to exist. It spawned copycat publications and replaced the once popular The Star as the truly ‘People’s Paper’.

This was possible because Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as the country leader then, had the foresight to protect the internet from censorship, even if his brainchild the Multimedia Super Corridor project flopped. Then there were those prepared to let their necks out and have their say.

Malaysiakini is successful because the people contributed their ideas. Often Malaysiakini got into hot soup only because the police had nothing better to do, like the time they raided Malaysiakini’s office six years ago because of an innocuous article of mine they published.

It is a challenging road to navigate when you face a government used to silencing the dissenting views. The silent majority risks becoming the silenced majority. Still, many Malaysians spoke out, and took the risk because they believed in the power of the written word...