We have now had six decades less one year of Merdeka. Six decades less one year of our nation being governed almost exclusively by a Malay dominated political entity with untethered political impunity to govern as they think fit. And govern as they think fit they have done! Six decades less one year that have taken our people, our nation and our future to the place we are now at.
We are bombarded by the same rhetoric's from both side of the political divide.
From the opposition : The kleptocrats who steal from us. From the government : PM Assures Govt Will Continue To Look Into Plight Of Rakyat In Need Of Assistance.Call them keyboard warriors, cybertroopers, paid bloggers..whatever... the Neitzens are all lecturing the government and the opposition alike from what they should have for dinner (NOT Wagyu beef) to who they should be facing the next election with (Umno with PAS?)
Has it all really come to this? Is there really no leader among both side of the political divide that WE can consider to be up to the job of being leader and by default, in an electoral victory in the next general election, become our nation's leader? And if Najib Razak and Azizah (in the absence of Anwar Ibrahim) are all you that you have..then are we to just sit back and wait for the inevitable outcome of the next general election when the Umno led coalition will once again be swept into office?
We will not go into the shortcomings of these leaders because arguments re the political shortcomings of politicians are endless and it's outcome tainted by the participant's own shortcomings.
What is happening is that they are all offering yesterdays solution to today's problem.
Within the Umno led Barisan Nasional, Malaysia's future is inexorably tied to race and religion - the Malay Race and the Islamic Religion. Maju nya Melayu dan Islam maka maju lah Malaysia!...goes Umno's mantra!
To the Azizah/Anwar Ibrahim led opposition, they insist that their future is Anwar Ibrahim. And for the opposition to succeed at the next general election and form government and bring much needed change to Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim must lead.
The Malays, Islam and Anwar Ibrahim is not the only way forward for our nation, our people and for out future...they may each have a role to play in what we aspire our nation to be...but by no means are they the only "answer" for Malaysia's future.
Unfortunately for the majority of the electorates, if not all Malaysians, the issue of race, religion and Anwar Ibrahim is uppermost in their list of priorities at the next general election.
This is so because in the six decades less one year since Merdeka, this is what the Malays (the largest electoral block ethically) have been educated by the Umno led BN government to be mindful of. Race and religion, the Malays have been told, are the essential elements to ensure their survival. Anwar Ibrahim, depending on your political inclinations, is either the devil incarnate or he is the only one who will be able to exorcise our nation of that Umno devil that is now wrecking havoc on all things Malaysians.
That none of these issues - race, religion and Anwar Ibrahim - has anything to do with providing a solution to the economical and real problems our nation now has after almost six decades less one year of BN government seems to escape these politicians.
The biggest cost of living pressure on Malaysian households today is their inability to make ends meet. Income earned has not kept up with the rising cost of living. And these rising costs is felt across the whole spectrum of business and manufacturers. Where has our government economic policy failed us?
And the mantra from the government and the opposition is always the same.
The government will tell us that the global economic outlook is bleak. Oil prices are down. The government is doing all it can to assist the poor, the needy and the underprivileged through BRIM and a slew of transformation program that will benefit the people in the long term....give them more time in government to achieve these goals!
The opposition tells us of the abuse and mismanagement by the government of the nations resources and of the nations wealth and expose endemic and structural corruption within the government
And the solution to all this? Vote BN if you want BRIM and the various transformation program to continue and benefit you personally.
Vote the opposition if you want the abuse and misuse of executive political power to stop.
In 2016 and in the future, the problems we face will not be resolved by any of what these politicians are advocating.
The situation we are in today are similar to the one we face at Merdeka six decades less one year ago.
That of bringing of our people together to become Malaysians, do Malaysian things for Malaysia's future.
And since our present generation and the generation before and after the one we now have will be too ingrained with the negativity of six decades less one year of what the Umno led BN government has infused in all of us about race and religion....then it is obvious that any hope we may have for a viable future lies with the generations of Malaysians that is yet to be born. The next two and three generations to come.
You and me are the guardians of this next generation. We will make or break our future by how we undertake our responsibility to care, nurture and guide this generation to take back from our politicians our right to build the future we aspire to.....one where morality and ethics will guide our leaders in doing good governance.
Our big problem today is that neither side of the political divide has that vision to be able to link their social political aspirations, their plan to manage the economy and the future of our nation in a clear narrative. That is why there is not one political entity that has been able to reach out to the electoral mass and present to them a viable option for them to move away from the politics of race and religion.
Let us hope that our future generations are not burdened by these problems. There are already many among us that are already attempting to free themselves of these negative vestiges of race and religion. But really we need to cleanse two or three generations of Malaysian of these negativity if we are to succeed in truly having our people say that they are Malaysians first ...and everything else is an accident of birth!
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