I ATTENDED the launch of a new book, 509: The People have Spoken; Essays On the Making of New Malaysia. It was edited by a team of younger Malaysians whom I call Malaysians 3.0. Why so?

Why then also squabble with the question of old versus new politics, or whether version 1.0 or version 2.0? What then is version 3.0?

Old versus new, or baharu dan lama, are language-driven etymological of both; ideas and ideals rooted in different languages. They are an etymology and language reflecting all three: literature, history, and science of any particular language.

Therefore, such a heritage is an intellectual concept and requires one to better understand both a language and her historical content and context.

Etymology is, therefore, defined as “the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history, philosophy and science within any language”.

Conceptual etymology

While language etymology is based or located in such recorded history, usually of an ethnicity and her heritage, conceptual etymology must be located in the philosophy of science of that idea or ideal.

For one instance, the version 1.0 of any modern technological innovation is “a particular form of something differing in certain respects from an earlier form or other forms of the same type of thing.” Thingy-ness is easier than non-thingy-ness.

Such matters, while always related to material reality, are usually an applied form of a particular scientific innovation. Mostly these are usually available in popular forms amplified by the field computer science field and a full plethora of applications we call “apps”.

Therefore “versioning” is numerical and scientific language for newer versions and defines a product class series like we find in any of the models of phones, or systems of logic embedded within most operating systems

From May 13 to May 9

Premised upon all of the above, why then did OHMSI, our civil society group, print T-Shirts and label them Malaysia2.0: From May 13 to May 9, or “From 0513 to 0509”? May 13 is located in 1969, almost 50 years ago. What happened then in Malaysia as recorded in Wikipedia.

The May 13, 1969 incident refers to the Sino-Malay sectarian violence in Kuala Lumpur (then part of the state of Selangor), Malaysia. The riot occurred in the aftermath of the 1969 general election when opposition parties made gains at the expense of the ruling coalition, the Alliance Party.

In fact, Kua Kia Soong, a CSO activist, has written an entire book on that same topic, as a historical account of events, after the British Museum released sealed records of the same.

Now, almost 50 years later, what happened on May 9, 2018 may have redirected the current history of this nation-state. Publicly and by global recorded definition of accounts of the same as follows:

The 2018 elections, formally known as the 14th general election, were held on Wednesday, May 9, for members of the 14th Parliament.

The transformative change can benchmarked as a paradigm shift in the peaceful transition of governance, globally.

The new direction defined by scientific truths of fact vide “institutional processes and definitions”. Such a political transition was recorded and acceded as “legitimate change” right before the global media and scientific community.

In Malaysia, therefore, after being 61 years in power, the ruling party Barisan Nasional was dramatically and legally dethroned. That history and full effects/impacts are only now being written. Mine is simply one more contribution, although, more on a sociological tangent.

Therefore, those Malaysian editors’ version 3.0 is a group of much younger third generation of Malaysians. By my definition, the first generation being the pre-Merdeka generation, the second being the Merdeka generation and 3.0 being post-May 13 babies.

Their account is one of many such reports currently being published because of relevance of such interpretive truths.

The currency of all such good public records is valid, as inclusive historical accounts of what really happened. After all, many of these younger ones flew back to make for the reality of Malaysia version 2.0. – December 22, 2018.

* KJ John worked in public service for 32 years, retired, and started a civil group for which he is chairman of the board. He writes to inform and educate, arguing for integration with integrity in Malaysia. He believes such a transformation has to start with the mind before it sinks into the heart!

* 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.