Sunday's walkabout DEJA VU

This morning's frontpage headline in the NST grabbed my attention at breakfast: Have I heard this one before? Why does it sound so familiar?

In LARGE fonts, occupying half a page, it read:-

SHAKE-UP

Malaysia's top cop wants to bust the complacency syndrome. Tan Sri Mua Hassan is shaking up things with his "walkabout" style. He's on the move to make sure that the nation's policemen are always on their toes.

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I distinctly remember when our current Prime Minister took over the hot seat, the first thing he did was also some sort of "walkabout" to the immigration department.

It certainly got things moving in double quick time after that "surprise" visit. And he followed up on the success of it with a promise to do more "ground" checks from time to time.

And then, predictably after a very short while, I think he got tired of walking on the ground, preferring instead a more glamorous jetsetting lifestyle of preaching to an overseas audience.

So, what happened afterwards was that "the mice came out to play" while the cat was away.

And it has been one grand party ever since he abdicated his responsibility to clean up his own backyard as promised in his election manifesto, hence the little and Big NAPOLEANS that we see scrambling to grab whatever they can get their greasy hands on while the going is still good. (Bet they too heard the rumour that it's not going to last, so better make haste while the sun still shines, or rather while their boss is still in power.)

While some people are busy looting, we also witness the warlords coming out to stir some excitement on the ground by whipping up some long-buried racial sentiments ahead of the race for pole position in the coming elections. These people of course, are doing all they can to ensure their political survival, never mind if they need to sacrifice national unity and harmony in order to achieve their selfish ambitions.

*(What's national unity & harmony anyway but another pretty slogan?)

So this new IGP's first task is really nothing new in Malaysia.

Almost every top brass getting their first taste of power do the same standard routine. And routinely too, they do not last very long, I'm afraid. The trouble with every top brass is that they too will fall into the "complacency syndrome" given enough time to warm their seats. The frailty of human nature, perhaps?

But I guess it must be a Malaysian culture - this "hangat-hangat tahi ayam" syndrome that we all fall prey to so often and never really feel embarrassed to admit that we always like to "cakap tak serupa bikin" in the long run.

We all know, and we all have come to accept that this is the way Malaysians do things. Seperti biasalah. It's just all in a day's work. Besok sudah lupa.

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It has been heavily rumoured that the General Election is going to happen sooner than we think.

A few things crossed my mind.

Shouldn't we all take this opportunity in the next General Election to voice our collective disapproval of racism in our multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious country?

Like - reject communal politics?

Reject parties where memberships are only open to ONE particular race?

Parties like these are the ones who almost always stir up communal and racist feelings without any shame and in the process create hatred and distrust amongst our otherwise rational and peace-loving rakyat.

We have all seen how ugly such racist talks can be. We have all been embarrassed by it. So, why should we allow it anymore? It is time to say a BIG NO!!

And, the only way we can send a message that politics of race is NOT GOOD for our society anymore, even dangerous and harmful to our well-being and peace, is to NOT VOTE for parties that promote such values.

If we reject racism, we must reject such political parties. By NOT VOTING for them in the general election. By only voting for parties that are multi-national and multi-religious. That would be a great message to our future leader who is supposed to be the leader FOR ALL. That would be one way of heading in the right direction for the future good of this country.

And another thought came into my mind.

Multi-level marketing, or the pyramid system.

If one person can convince three others that we can have better governance by changing the system that has proven again and again to be so disadvantageous to the disadvantaged in our society - can you imagine how powerful this force can be?

One important vote plus three more plus nine more plus twenty seven ...

Do we want to convince people that a fair and equitable society can only benefit EVERYONE and not just the chosen few by voting for A CHANGE?

Can we use the multi-level marketing system to generate the momentum and desire necessary to achieve something which has never been achieved before in the history of Malaysia, in a peaceful and democratic manner?

I hope to see more people rise to the challenge of displaying our patriotism and love for this country. Let us all reject what is morally wrong and bad for every citizen, regardless of your race, religion or status in society.

We must learn not to tolerate anymore.

Instead, mutual genuine acceptance and respect for the rights and dignity of each individual should be a way of life for all of us in Malaysia, from the young to the old.

Then, truly then, can we say we are united as Malaysians and we need never be forced to display our Jalur Gemilang proudly each and every day of our lives.

A good government will gradually help us to learn to love our neighbours, not just tolerate them.