Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email I’m interested to read the views of the deputy minister below. I agree that nationalism may be hard to inculcate among the rakyat, especially the younger generation. This group can easily see the blatant discrimination happening around them, so how to convince them to be nationalists? Or is it the people are patriotic but not in favor of the government, for example? I saw many people cheer the Malaysian badminton team, so maybe the nationalism is there after all? Concepts like 1Malaysia should not be linked to nationalism, in my opinion. Nationalism should be things that go beyond government or politics. Maybe things like food, sports, tourist spots, culture etc. can be made into nationalism focus.
Malaysians still have a poor spirit of nationalism and this can be an obstacle to attaining developed nation status, Youth and Sports Deputy Minister Datuk Razali Ibrahim said.
He said Malaysia should look to Japan, South Korea and Singapore for lessons in nationalism.
“Singapore is the best example,” said Razali, who is also Umno Youth deputy chief.
“Kiasu is the nationalism spirit for Singapore. It means that weaknesses will be corrected without smearing the country’s good name. Kiasu is the key or secret to Singapore’s success.”
Razali said the people’s confidence in the country would reflect the confidence of foreigners.
He claimed the nationalistic spirit of Thais and Indonesians was also stronger than Malaysians’ despite the anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok which ended recently.
He said Indonesia also has had its share of problems but a lack of nationalism among the people was not one of them.
“We have lost the spirit of nationalism. Even the 1Malaysia concept to make the people and nation develop is attacked by some people.
“Will running down your own country make others respect us more?” he asked. — Bernama
