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Interesting to note that PM Badawi said the race relations was showing “not so good signs” as discussed in the cabinet. It seems this is due to number of sensitive issues that were not discussed openly previously, but now being talked about everywhere. The sensitive issues covering economy, education, religion, social, etc all revolve around one key area – lack of equal rights.
“Issues that are not normally raised are being brought up and turned into issues. Matters that have never been discussed before are being discussed now and this is bringing about all sorts of reactions.
“All this while we have been able to control the situation and prevent any untoward incident. But we cannot allow a fiery situation to prevail as it could jeopardise the peace and security of our country,” he said after chairing a special Umno supreme council meeting.
Abdullah said the respective ministries had been directed to keep tabs on the situation, and act accordingly.
“We hope the people will understand that in a multi-racial, multi-religious country like ours, we need to take care so that there will (continue to) be peace and mutual respect among us. We need harmony so that the country can develop.
“We need to do what is best for the country. We need to save Malaysia from racial fights and tension,” he stressed.
However, people still go about doing their work and make a living. All races still work together without any problem. If any problem, money is the ultimate cure. Just push some ringgit and everything can be settled – Malaya will be brothers with Chinese, Indians will be anne-thambi with Malays, etc. (NOTE: I’n not advocating bribery here, but just stating that it is one of the possible tool for racial harmony). Oh ya, forgot to add – Bangladeshis, Indonesians, Nigerians, Pakistanis, etc., all also can become brothers. Money makes wonders come true.
The problem here, as I see it is that for quite some time, things have been pushed under the carpet or discussed by the political parties behind doors. In this era of openness and freedom of information, it is futile to be doing so. Secondly, the issues more often that not favored the majority race rather than minorities. Maybe the minorities feel that this has been going on for too long and they have been pushed to a corner. This could not go on forever, and the time is here now. Looking at the responses from people from all walks of life, can we say that the last 50 years of administration failed to instill proper harmony and brotherhood feeling?
The newer generation (born after 1970s) are not much into historical sacrifices now. Only those that are indoctrinated by the education and political machineries on race supremacy, and those who come from political lineage families, still tend to hold on to the ideas that Ahmad Ismail exhibited. The current generation want things to be fair and square. They really can’t see the idea of discriminative policies, especially on a global scene. 30 years ago, maybe things could be easily explained. Not now and not in the future.
