ON the eve of our 60th Merdeka anniversary, we tend to recollect the past, contemplate the present, and wonder about the future of our beloved country, Malaysia.

In many ways it is like how we all feel about our own birthday. We are grateful for the many blessings we have enjoyed and hope and pray that our regrets and concerns will be overcome in the future.

I belong to the Merdeka generation in the sense that we closely watched Tunku Abdul Rahman lead us to independence from the British.

We helped our political leaders to develop our country in both the government and private sectors, to progress and to benefit all our people, regardless of race and religion, for most of the time.

I well recall the pride, patriotism, and the great promise that my generation shared as Malaysians on August 31, 1957.

I was at the Victoria Institution on Petaling Hill, overlooking the Merdeka stadium, with a grandstand view of the historic and grand ceremony. 

We all witnessed our dear founding father of independence Tunku Abdul Rahman accept the Instrument of Independence. We joined him in shouting joyously “Merdeka!” “Merdeka!” seven times. 

We had a strong sense of gratitude to God, loyalty to king and country, of freedom, and a deep feeling of belonging and national unity.

Many of us were studying at the only university in Malaya and Singapore then, called the University of Malaya and had come home for the holidays. 

Most of us joined the public services as civil servants (MCS)/PTD) doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants and many other professions. 

Indeed, we were the pioneers, who took over from the reluctant, departing and depressed British officers. The illustrious Group of 25 were some of my colleagues then.

Gratitude for past blessings 

Looking back, there is a lot of gratitude that we must have and currently share. Although there were many doubters at home and abroad before and just after Merdeka, we somehow succeeded in a complex and somewhat complicated multiracial and multi-religious and unique country and society.

Poverty gripped and weakened about 50% of our population at Merdeka. This has come down dramatically, to about 2% now, on the basis of World Bank figures. 

Living standards and all the social indicators like health, education and incomes, have all risen significantly from pre-Merdeka days. Our infrastructure has expanded beyond our dreams and our overall quality of life has improved enormously. 

More importantly we have progressed rapidly to become almost a developed country, under conditions of peace, stability and relatively high social cohesion and national unity.

Indeed we thank God, our founding fathers and our leaders and all our Malaysian brothers and sisters of all races and religions, for their great sense of unity and purpose, in bringing us all so far ahead, in terms of unity and national progress and resilience. 

Concern for the future

But we cannot take our many successes for granted. We have to continue to strive and struggle to achieve greater progress, unity, harmony, and sustainability, as a developed nation by 2020, for all Malaysians, regardless of race and religion.

But here is the real challenge – can we sustain our achievements despite the odds and progress even further? Or do we slow down and weaken and God forbid, fail in many areas and even fade away?
 
What are some of the concerns and solutions?

1. National unity is not as strong as it used to be and must be raised. The basis for increasing polarisation is the growing economic problems. They are income inequality, some distorted New Economic Policies, rising inflation, unemployment especially among graduates, low wages, and corruption. 

The solution is to have a planned phase out of the NEP which could be replaced with the New Economic Model that was seriously considered by the government but then withdrawn. The reasons for this rejection have to be explained to the public and the model modified where necessary in a realistic manner, but not discarded, please.

2. “Bumiputraism” is a divisive title and connotes negativism. It provides undue protection and curbs competition and the competitive spirit of the Bumi. It even inhibits their long term growth and healthy development of their talents and heightens their future tribulations. 

The solution is to treat all low-income Malaysians equally. Hence the underprivileged of all races and religions can be easily categorised under income groups. Priority could then be given for the accelerated development of the low-income groups like the bottom 40%. Race considerations should thus be removed. Then fairness and justice and righteousness will be strengthened and national cohesion will rise and divisiveness will decline.

3. Religious intolerance is a new and dangerous phenomenon, which needs our urgent attention.

The solution to this worldwide problem is to follow the principle and policy of “wasatiyah”, or moderation in religion. This policy should be more actively promoted by the governments, at federal and state levels. 

In recent times, there has been grave anxiety felt by most Malaysians, especially the non-Muslims, over what appears to be the erosion of religious understanding and tolerance in our country.

There is growing evidence of a rise in Islamisation in our schools, universities, government agencies, and government policies.

These trends are divisive. They don`t promote a greater sense of belonging or cohesion and national unity.

The solution is to follow the Constitution and Rukun Negara closely and regard Malaysia as a Muslim-majority country, but certainly not a Muslim country per se.

As I have been told by my Muslim and non-Muslim brothers and sisters, all our religions promote religious understanding, tolerance and mutual respect for each other’s beliefs. So why can’t the government and we faithfully follow our religions teachings. In fact we should actively discourage extremism, ultra-conservatism and bigotry. 

Conclusion 

So, on our 60th Merdeka anniversary, we thank God for all his blessings these last 60 years. 

Then we have to summon our courage and sincerity to address our concerns for the present and future progress, unity and harmony of all Malaysians. 

We need to apply our proposed solutions to our serious concerns mentioned above, in our considerations for new policies leading up to TN50, even now. 

We don’t have to wait and delay decision making, as time may not be on our side!

We have come a long way and we are grateful for our rapid progress since Merdeka. However, let’s resolve on our 60th Merdeka anniversary to adopt some of the solutions that I have mentioned and find new ones, to overcome our many deep concerns, for our future.

Selamat Hari Merdeka to all Malaysians!

*  Ramon Navaratnam is Asli Centre for Public Policy Studies chairman.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.