EVERYONE should know of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream” speech. It mobilised dramatic and radical democratic change against bigotry and slavery in the US.

Its full implications for Malaysia must be fully contemplated now. I lay out an alternative but similar dream for our nascent democracy: “.my dream.” This takes from .my, the international domain-naming protocol for the country. But, it could also mean a personal and experiential dimension of lived realities within Malaysia. “My4Malaysia” is an alternative to the backdoor leadership.

I believe Malaysia is one of the best countries in the world to be born and live in, and to raise a family. And this we did.

In my doctoral thesis, while researching “dignity at the workplace”, I made a distinction between two sets of core ideas. One is the lived experience in our public life with personal space privileges, and the other is the full implications of all relative relationships and the resultant total lived experience. I call it “dignity at the workplace”, or now, in the “world place”.

There is always a personal and interpretive dimension to all such relational experiences. But, it always has both a “private face” and “public face”, and both exist concurrently.

Within such a framework, there remains an unanswered question: is such an experience an acceptable common space reality, and deemed so by the civil courtesy of the majority of citizens?

Version 2.0 for ‘dot force Malaysia’

In the academic field of organisational behaviour and development, all organisational civil and public space conduct is often labelled “organisational culture”.

For almost the same reasons, in both the criminal and civil courts, we also talk about the first-, second- and third-person realities.

The first is the personal interpretive reality of a public witness, while the second is the experience of a real-time secondary observer with facts or expert opinions. The third is the public space reality as defined by the documents of history, in terms of a third-person objective reality. Sometimes, we use expert opinions here, too.

Mahatma Gandhi once said: “The world has enough resources for human needs, but not enough for human greed.” I believe that truth for Malaysia today.

After 50 years of the NEP, we must be honest and truthful enough to say the policy, managed by Umno over the decades, had failed miserably. The reason is quite simple – we at Intan called it “goal displacement”, or “penyelewengan”.

We as a country in 2020 must learn from this failure. The common nation-state identity we were promised and called to become was that of a “Bangsa of Malaysians”. That promise was made in 1991. Why have we failed so miserably? We must be honest with any answer.

We need our “doctor in the house” or his backdoor successor to take on this new challenge and provide a creative, brand new solution. Last weekend’s political breakdown was the equivalent of “May 13 Version 2.0”.

Malaysia 2.0’s new leadership team must deliver on the following three key and urgent priorities, while discarding the institutionalised culture of CSL, or cheating, stealing and lying.

1) We must have new food security via cost reductions and lower prices, especially for the underserved B40 community. All rent-seeking conduct must end.

2) We need fresh economic momentum after three decades of the “cronyvirus”, which has infected all public and institutional systems. We need to grow an innovative and creative new economy that maximises fully the potential of our multi-ethnic dynamism to deliver a New Malaysia. Why not?

3) We must demonstrate an astute changeability and show the world that a small and modern Muslim country can be a role model of growth with equity for all in free, democratic and modern sectors of society, seeking an improved civilisational vision, regardless of ethnicity.

Capacity for changeability

Two of us former PTD officers met then minister Gobind Singh Deo within a month of the 14th general election.

Our argument/proposal to him was, reconfigure the PTD system and do it through Intan for real and meaningful change, and provide a multiplier effort to deliver a transformational effect. It is doable, but may take one generation. With the requisite measures, perhaps by 2030, we can become a fully developed Malaysia in our own mould.

The greatest failure of the NEP wasn’t its goal or agenda. It was goal displacement through greed. The reason was the greedy players that Gandhi had warned us about. We must all choose a simpler lifestyle, as with social democrats.

Our greatest challenge has been a lack of excellent public service standards. These standards must have an objective value system that guides good decision-making.

New civil family culture

The only way to avoid the “cronyvirus” is by emulating modern public health practices and good human conduct in every home. An anti-corruption culture and ethos is formed through consistent practice. We learn to brush our teeth, and wash our hands and face within the family culture. The way to fight the “cronyvirus” is no different. It has to be learnt at home, too.

We must ensure that we kill the virus behind the epidemic. The same kind of virus has infected our institutions in the form of bribery and corruption. We must learn a whole new way to eradicate this disease.

Dear sir, the eighth prime minister, as I had written on FB on May 10 last year to the seventh PM before the formation of the Pakatan Harapan cabinet, the baton-passing must happen.

Whether it can or how it will be done, I still do not know. If as a nation state we fail, it constitutes the flop of a Malay leadership conducted with sincerity, truthfulness and integrity.

May God still bless Malaysia 2.0, with a second chance for everyone to excel. – March 8, 2020.

* 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.