BN an anathema to nation-building

A Letter by : Amar via M'Kini
Image : Net



I refer to the Malaysiakini report Abdullah lashes out at 'extremist' Hindraf.

So Hindraf is an extremist group in the prime minister's eyes. My first reaction was, of course, to think here is the pot calling the kettle black. Some of us may rightly view it as the pot calling the porcelain black.

However, on closer scrutiny, there may be some basis to the PM's statement. Wikipedia defines extremism as 'the actions or ideologies of individuals or groups outside the perceived political centre of society'.

The political centre of Malaysian society is Umno and any group which does not subscribe to Umno's agenda is an extremist, notwithstanding that the offer of roses and assembling without weapons were the acts described as extreme. Perhaps waving the keris is relatively not as extreme as handing out roses because keris-waving is an excepted part of national policy.

But would waving the keris by Hindraf be acceptable? Not even in our dreams for accepted national policy permits only Umno to wave it which brings us to the failure that BN is.

At a recent speech during a MIC convention at PWTC, the deputy prime minister said that MIC must reinvent itself by strengthening its leadership at all levels to get the confidence of the community. He went on to say that Indians must work within the BN system and not against it.

No amount of reinventing the leadership of any of the BN component parties would be of use till Umno welcomes such a change. The power play within BN requires the other component parties to be weak if Umno is to remain strong and vice-versa as BN thrives on the perverted notion that each community is out to wring the necks of the other communities. They then package their perversion in an outwardly acceptable way by stating everyone is represented in the coalition.

For all component parties within BN to be equally strong at any one time requires a needs-based policy (as opposed to a race-based policy) to be adopted as a platform for governance and this cannot be expected to happen anytime soon as the majority is not prepared for it.

It was pointed out that the Malays turned against BN in the 1999 general elections but the question to be asked is for what reason. Was it to do away with the race-based policies of the BN? Not in the least. It was due to their dissatisfaction over the removal of a rising stalwart who could have made Umno even stronger than it was at that time.

Considering Anwar Ibrahim's current political stand and PKR's model of a needs-based policy in the form of its Malaysian Economic Agenda (MEA), are the Malays supportive of them?

This country will only undergo a political renaissance when the Malays themselves realise the malaise of racism afflicting this nation. Perhaps in two or three generations time when the non- Malays make up just 10 percent of the populace, the majority of Malays would realise that the NEP as it is practised does not make the community self-reliant and competitive in a globalised world besides the primary beneficiaries of the policy being those who are politically connected.

BN as it is today is an anathema to nation-building. Our nation is one of the most ethnically stratified societies in this region. Let us do our part in ensuring the opposition obtains at least 75 seats in parliament, thus denying BN a two-thirds majority it does not deserve.