I RECENTLY picked up (finally) to read the personally autographed book Lat: My Life and Cartoons that has been sitting on my desk for some time now.

For those of us who grew up in the 1980s, Lat was indeed a household name and his cartoons found their way into many of our homes (and hearts).

As a young boy I used to look forward to his cartoons that appeared in our local daily. What attracted many is the simplicity in which Lat was able to translate ordinary Malaysian life and events into a moment that would put a smile of many faces.

Among several of his complications, Kampung Boy was one of my favourites. It recounts the life of Mat, a Muslim boy growing up in rural Perak in the 1950s. A life of simplicity that seems to depict much joy and satisfaction.

One of the amazing things about Lat’s cartoons is the ability to integrate the lives of Malaysians into his drawings. If anyone needed to be reminded of the harmony that we shared a long time ago, the drawings of Lat would be a great reminder.

His characters did not understand racial or ethnic polarisation and there was always something that brought people together.

We have come a long way since then… 61 years on independence and 55 years since Malaysia was formed.

Our lives have certainly, at a first glance, progressed and probably much better than that of the Kampung Boy. However, I will be the first to admit that life is a lot more complicated that what it had been since we first gained independence. Every year, we celebrate our independence from the grip of colonialism.

In the days leading up to our Merdeka celebrations, many of us would have heard several versions of patriotic songs like Setia, Sejahtera Malaysia and even Sudirman’s Tanggal 31.

Almost everyone wanted to get into the act. I will say that some of the versions did cause me to feel more patriotic then before. There seems to be a renewed sense of being part of this new Malaysia and certainly a much-needed enthusiasm from the dull and gloom that hung over our head prior to May 9.

Though we celebrate our independence from the colonial powers, there is a need also to fix our eyes, more now than before, to work towards “independence” from all forms of prejudices and biases, polarisation and exclusivity, suspicion and mistrust.

It is the spirit of unity that many people witnessed at Merdeka, is what is needed for Malaysia today. In the words of our first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman: “We are all Malaysians. This is the bond that unites us. Let us always remember that unity is our fundamental strength as a people and as a nation”.

We live in an age where we have better and more efficient means of communication but we seem to have lesser ability to sit at table to build friendship or even to talk through our differences.

I recall the Dalai Lama writing about the “paradox of our time”, which points to the fact that we have progressed much since our parents and grandparent but regressed much in terms of the quality of life.

In this complex world, many of us still long for the simplicity and unity exemplified by the Kampung Boy. If unity is indeed our fundamental strength, then make it happen, whoever the government of the day is.

Yet our politicians continue to speak divisively with the intent of polarising society in more ways than one and bring up racial and ethnic issues to divide us even further.

The time has come for them to not tell us how to live our lives but for us to tell them how we want to live our lives and hold them accountable to make it happen.

“For we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided,” said J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series. – September 3, 2018.

* Dr Clarence Devadass is a Catholic priest and director of the Catholic Research Centre in Kuala Lumpur. Moral education is an issue close to his heart. He focuses on paving resourceful ways to promote virtues for living in a multireligious society, for a significant life together.

* 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.