100. 1-FOR-1MALAYSIA

In this – my one hundreth post for this blog, I want to take some time out to ponder on the ‘oneness’ of the 1Malaysia campaign that has been put in place in my country by our criminally beloved PM, Datuk Seri Najib.

A year and half mega media campaigns later and the biggest selling point of his political term is beginning to show signs of wear and tear already.

A recent demand by Malay fanatical rights group Perkasa to Najib to explain what 1Malaysia was all about or risk losing his support in UMNO and power,

Najib himself defended his 1Malaysia policy yesterday, claiming that it was not a failure but a “work in progress”.

As his words echoed down the local newswires yesterday, quick reactions from the opposition leaders in PKR which included DP leader Lim Kit Siang, reverbed back sentiments that the utopian-like idealism behind the campaign was actually a “work in regress”.

As Malaysia struggles to pull up its economic pants and salvage whatever political integrity it has left in the eyes of the world, locals have to deal with such meaningless political rhetoric day in and day out.

Word on the street as this writer has experienced it is that people are beginning to tune out. No longer does the ordinary Malaysian pick up the daily edition of major local newspapers, flips through its pages and believes a word in it.

So now, the country not only has lousy and inefficient politicians, now even its journalism standards have taken a sharp nosedive.

One very astute and intelligent Malay cabbie driver who picks me up regularly on Mondays from my home in JB said to me once in his impeccable English, that Malaysians have become an apathetic lot despite the fact that the last election results eroded  the ruling party’s confidence and gave its people new hope.

The weariness has set in and that, he said is more dangerous than anything else in the world because it simply means that the people are not interested any longer in how their country and its people are being abused by the “Be-End” party.

“Only when they are forced to eat tapioca for meals and have their homes taken away from them will they realise how much BN polticians have stolen from this country – a country that could’ve have been one of the richest in Southeast Asia – even more than our neighbour, Singapore, you know what I mean,” he said with much vigorous frustration in his voice.

Other Malaysians I’ve spoken to agree with this sentiment. The fact that for over 30 years, Malaysia, a beautiful peaceful country with boundless natural resources can still sustain its population at a reasonably decent standard of living despite corrupted politicians and businessmen plundering these very same resources is testiment of the fact how MUCH this country is blessed with and yet…..

I don’t finish the statement above because I want to come back to my initial point of the 1Malaysia campaign and its irrelevant messages.

Malaysians are fed up of taglines, campaigns and media statements that hold no water. As Abe Lincoln once said “You can fool some of the people some of the time but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” and that’s where Malaysia is at this point – at its lowest.

She’s tuning out and she’s tuning out to 1Malaysia too.

She has no need for this because 1Malaysia was happily taking place when she attained her independence in 1958 and was under the rule of the great Tengku and Prime Ministers after that.

1Malaysia was even at its height back in the 70s and 80s when I was growing up in a neighbourhood where my immediate Malay neighbour and the Chinese ones after that were letting their kids play with me, an Indian kid.

Despite the language barriers, we were displaying 1Malaysia traits without having expensive ads produced to show us what it means.

1Malaysia was already in place before one tyrannous (and I need not mention his name because most of you probably know who he is) PM came in and corrupted the nation with his prejudiced “Bumiputra” campaign which didn’t lead to ultimate strength and development of the Malay race but instead crippled them and made them more dependent on the government for their financial and social well-being.

Take these privileges away and what do the Malays have to show for themselves as a community after 50 years of independence?

1Malaysia? I think not!

In any case, the campaign deepens the ravines of ignorance and prejudice the races already have against each other and makes everyone more aware of their racial situations in life. Do we really need more reminders about the various racial habits and streotypes?

Again to that, I reply a resounding ‘I think not!’

I love my country. It’s one of the most beautiful in the world with lush jungles, serene getaways, and witty, funny warm intelligent people.

Sadly though, this is a country that has been raped by greedy, lying ministers who will do ANYTHING to retain whatever power they have. Hence, they will use ANY means necessary to convince people that what they are doing is right and justified. Furthermore, they will also convince you that what they are doing is for YOUR good.

But Malaysia – you have a brain. You have first-hand experiences which are your facts; your truths. You must know what if for your own good and the good of the country for the future.You are no longer the ‘katak di bawah tempurung’.

Use them wisely to make your next vote count, which incidentally is set for 2013.

If you don’t rock the vote then, I’m not counting on Najib and his 1Malaysia drivel to be putting food on the table or providing you nicely for your retirement.