WE are seeing a lot of the figure ‘1’ these days, ever since our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak made ‘1Malaysia’ the principal aim of his government.
Though we are still unclear as to what exactly it means in real terms, nevertheless we are excited about it. Even my school alumni association, which had its annual dinner recently, got into the action.
Prominent on the backdrop of the dinner hall that evening was a big ‘1’.
Frankly for many, the ‘1Malaysia’ concept still remains at the level of mere slogan. I know we are very good in adopting slogans and buzz words. For instance, some time back the popular phrase was ‘paradigm shift’.
Virtually every speech by any person of note would invariably include ‘paradigm shift’. At other times, the buzz word was ‘excellence’ (no doubt inspired by the management guru Tom Peters’ book ‘In Search Of Excellence’).
Then there was the ‘think out of the box’ fad, especially after Edward De Bono and his associates started to do their rounds of workshops on creative thinking. Many cynics would say they came and went like the tide, leaving not too many visible results.
So it is understandable that when the Prime Minister announced the ‘1Malaysia’ vision, many were rather sceptical. Many are concerned that the ‘1Malaysia’ thing could just be a flavour of the season.
Come the next season the flavour might change. After all we did have a vision once — Wawasan 2020. It was a fine one too. It was well thought out with nine clear objectives. I wonder what happened to that national aspiration.
Anyway now we have a new vision with an equally attractive name. The word ‘one’ is so pregnant with meanings and most of them noble and good. Among other things it can mean that we, despite our diversity and difference, stand as one, with one mind and soul to face whatever challenges the world may throw at us; that each one of us is accorded the same privileges and benefits; that as a citizen, each one of us shares the same national responsibility and obligation — in sum Malaysia is for all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region. Those are some of the things which spring to my mind when I think of ‘1Malaysia’.
Our Prime Minister has recruited Datuk Seri Idris Jala — that son of Sarawak and hero who turned the ailing national airline, MAS, from near bankruptcy to a profitable outfit again — into his team to develop the National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) and the Key Performance Index (KPIs), which according to our Prime Minister are to be driven by the philosophy of ‘1Malaysia’.
For some weeks now, the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) of the Prime Minister’s Department has been on a roadshow around Malaysia to make public the NKRAs and KPIs developed by the unit.
As Najib said, “to make it public proves that the government is transparent and committed and that we are serious about achieving what we have set for the people”.
Last week, the show came to Kuching and it was with great excitement that many turned up at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching to hear from the horses’ mouths, so to speak.
They did not quite deal directly with the issue of equal opportunity for all, irrespective of race, rather it was suggested that through the achievement of the six so-called ‘laboratories’ of ‘Reducing crime, a safer Malaysia’, ‘Raising living standard of the country’s poor’, ‘Affordable and quality education for all Malaysians’, ‘Malaysia to fight corruption’, ‘Improving rural infrastructure, a catalyst for change’, and ‘Overcoming urban transportation woes’, the concept of ‘1Malaysia’ can be realised.
Some may argue that the crux of the matter has not been addressed. Take for instance the issue which the case of Marina Undau brought to light. Marina is of mixed parentage — her father is an Iban, the majority race and the prime Bumiputera group in Sarawak and her mother is Chinese.
When she applied for a scholarship, which was earmarked only for Bumiputeras, she was told she did not qualify. It then transpired that in Malaysia there are different rules for qualification as a Bumiputera, namely, in Peninsular Malaysia only one parent needs to be a Bumiputera for the offspring to be regarded as such; while in Sabah only a Bumiputera father can beget Bumiputera children, but in Sarawak the demand is more stringent in that both parents have to be Bumiputera before the children can be accorded the Bumiputera status. How can we talk about being ‘one’ when the law does not apply evenly throughout the country?
Even more problematic is that within the dominant political party of the government is a faction which is driven by the motive of making one race supreme over all the other races in the country. What is more worrying is that this group, which is openly espousing racism, is now planning to export their brand of politics to Sarawak.
In picking the ‘1Malaysia’ philosophy as the driving force for the development of the country, the Prime Minister is facing up to a very big challenge, especially when the core Peninsula politics is race-based and each party is stridently and vociferous fighting exclusively for its own race. In the scrambling for more power and benefits for their own group, equality is the last thing on their minds.
In the last few months many top leaders of the country have come to visit Sarawak. It is hoped that they will be inspired by the state of harmony here, especially at the grassroots level.
This is a place where a Muslim food stall can occupy a place in a coffee shop where pork leg rice is also being sold. This is a place where one can find Tai Chi, that pre-eminent Chinese art, being taught by a Malay instructor. This is a place where during Hari Raya, there are as many non-Muslims as there are Muslims in all the open houses.
In a multiracial country like Malaysia, there is no greater aspiration than that of having the people of different races and cultures respecting each other, treating each other as equals and living together in harmony. It is hoped that the ‘1Malaysia’ concept is the first step in the journey towards that noble goal.
The writer can be contacted at [email protected].