NAJIB ADMINISTRATION FALLING APART: Political turbulence blowing investors away

Going by media news – especially online reports, and the subsequent flurry of social media exchanges, and conversations in the marketplace, it is a fact that there is far too much of turbulence flowing under the bridge of Malaysia. The question is for how long more can this nation – a bridge for 30 million people of diverse cultures and religions and beliefs withstand such politically-laced turbulence?

And the turbulence we are talking about here is those centered on religion and race. The potpourri also includes an avalanche of claims of treason, sedition and supremacy as well as media statements by individuals claiming to be the vanguards for religion and race, their police reports, and resulting police action plus signature court cases and street protests.

We must also take into account the hollers of “pendatang”, “balik negeri” and other such similar sentiments of race rages within the august house of Parliament.

In this age of unreason where we are seeing extremists rise and do terror battles with their opponents the world over and taking innocent lives most often, would Malaysia want to bring down its own bridge that has stood well for its government, its people and its rulers these past six decades since independence, not discounting the historic past centuries?

In her latest write up in Free Malaysia Today (FMT, 16 January, 2015), Mariam Mokhtar aptly states that Jawi should “stop molesting Muslim girls”. Expressing her concerns – shared alike by netizens and civil society leaders, and with reference to the on-going turbulence involving the K-POP incident, Mariam further illustrates several other cases and incidents that have caused unnecessary turbulence on our social sphere.

The Miss Malaysia World 2013 beauty pagent drama; the dog lover Maznah Mohd Yusof episode; the half-pint beer story about Kartika Dewi Sukarno – all of which Mariam Mokhtar alluded to in her said article, are certainly turbulent incidences.

The fact that the original twenty-five eminent former senior civil servants and Muslims, had to force-express their grave and valid concerns over Malaysia’s future given all the race-religion-politics turbulence flowing under the Malaysian bridge of social harmony further gives credence to the fact that times are proving to be increasing dangerous for the future of this young nation that has centuries of goodwill and acceptance as its pre-national brand reputation.

The issue of custody of children of Muslim-non-Muslim parentage being battled in court at the expense and without due regard for the vulnerability of innocent children; the battle for exclusivity for the use of the word to name one’s God as in the on-going ‘Allah’ Court case; the storm raised over toilet canteens in the holy month of Ramadan; the use of baju kurong by a non-Malay student – all of these have created unnecessary turbulence when we could have thrived on the centuries old track record of acceptance, tolerance, trust and goodwill that we promoted in this country’s journey of moderate nationhood.

In a global climate where the war-on-terror is taking on frightening shapes and resulting in an unpredictable future for civilization, must Malaysia add to the threats on humanity?

Would it not be better off for a growing nation and a promising ‘Asian Tiger’ to be talking and tackling corruption, abuses, omissions and all those ‘sins’ that truly rob us of future?

Would we not be better off to find peaceful ways and means to grow out of race-based political frameworks in order to embrace the new world order that is already taking shape outside our shores rather than wage battle amongst us with a do-or-die strategy to keep worn, political frameworks that obviously are on the expiration shelf?

To continue to tolerate or remain tight-lipped, or even to work in cohorts with all the race and religion agentries will destroy that bridge that connects all Malaysians. There cannot be another way for Malaysia given its rich and unique multiracial and multi-ethnic society.

We need a concerted media war to stop all these turbulences. We need a leadership that can act on a timely manner and not wait for civil society to walk the streets to demand for action or worse, scramble to react only after a repeat of the induced race riots of 1969.

We need to converge despite our political differences if we truly profess to put nation before political agendas. Narrow political priorities, race supremacy madness and religious paranoia can only rob a nation of its patriotism.

In today’s networked environment, it is very easy to destroy all that we have built collectively over the decades since securing independent nation status and disregarding the centuries of wisdom that made the Malaysia of today.

No amount of oil wealth; no amount of favorably high exports of natural resources; no amount of returning tax payers money from the billions of investments undertaken by the ruling government can help save a nation that is brought down by extremism spun along race and religious discord.

Today Malaysia walks on extremely vulnerable grounds for having had allowed these issues of race and religion mantras of divisiveness to have protracted for so long, and especially in these past two decades. Achieving political survival or even supremacy, at all costs and using such discords as the weapons of your political agendas cannot strengthen the bridge of Malaysia’s future.

We need the courage to come together despite our differences and say, “The buck stops here and it better be now, not someday in the future”.

Otherwise, we better be prepared for the worse. That is the honest though painful truth. - MAILBAG