MALAYSIANS did not vote for merely a change in government on May 9; instead, we voted for a change in our country. We voted for a more just, fair and equal society where the voices of all the rakyat carry equal weight.

But having a fairer society, one where every Malaysian’s rights are equal, will never become a reality if we continue to rely purely on policy.

After so many decades living with corruption and discriminatory policies, learning to live in a different way can be intimidating and even unnatural to some.

And so, we are tempted to fall back into the familiarity of the past, where the majority remain silent when the minority amongst us continue to become victims of the practices and policies we claim to have fought against.

Take the recent incident where the Kaleg blockade by the Orang Asli in Gua Musang was destroyed by parties allegedly associated with a durian plantation company.

The Orang Asli community had erected the blockade as part of a long-standing protest against what they say is an attempt by logging and plantation companies to bulldoze and take over their ancestral land.

The shocking part of this story is, sadly, not even in how the Orang Asli communities of Malaysia have long been grossly overlooked, neglected and downright shunned by their fellow countrymen.

The saddest part of this recent clash between the Orang Asli community and those intent on wiping out their heritage and rights is just how little the rest of our so-called “new Malaysia” cares.

In fact, this apathy is almost comparable to how so few West Malaysians were outraged by the back-and-forth and lack of decisiveness on the issue of returning Sabah and Sarawak their rights according to the Malaysia Agreement 1963, or MA63.

One of these rights our new government has pledged to return is 20% oil royalty from the existing 5%.

The lack of clarity on how this 20% is to be calculated had raised suspicion and fuelled anger in our fellow Malaysians in Borneo, who believe that the writing on the wall stinks of a federal government that is once again trying to find a way out of its promise.

How much outrage do we see among those in the peninsula?

Similarly, how many of us demanded a better way when our home minister proudly declared Malaysia would be “cleansing” itself of illegal migrants by rounding these workers – most of whom were victims themselves of syndicates – like herd of cattle and throwing them into Immigration detention centres with deplorable conditions.

It’s the same, old tired story with the LGBT community, racial and religious minorities and the list goes on.

In an “old Malaysia”, the voices of minorities have often been drowned out, but we always had a convenient boogeyman to blame – discriminatory government policies and brash, loud-mouthed politicians who embodied the schoolyard bully.

But in the “new Malaysia”, the spotlight is cast uncomfortably on us, and our silence in standing up for the smallest and weakest amongst us is deafening.

Our new government will only be as good, effective and just as we demand of it, and if we are to start right, we must fight for a Malaysia for all.

Knowing what was wrong with our country was always easy; it’s making the necessary changes in our mentality to correct those wrongs that is the hardest part.

And until we realise it’s the most important part, we can change governments and leaders a thousand times over and will still find ourselves right back in old Malaysia. – August 6, 2018.

* Julia Yeow has been in journalism for two decades and counts it as her first love, despite enjoying brief stints as a lecturer, clown and salad maker. She is a strong believer in social justice, and holds that there is sometimes more truth in the greys, than the blacks and whites.

* 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.