Celebrating 50 years of shallowness
From the SUN, page 10 (Wed, 16 May 2007):-
Chinese are patriotic and loyal: Najib
Press Digest by Kong See Hoh
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak says he believes the Chinese in the country are patriotic but are not good at showing it.
He said there was no doubting the Chinese's loyalty for the country, but stressed that they must know how to express it, such as by taking part in various government-sponsored activities and celebrations.
... Asked for his comments on the criticisms every now and then by certain politicians, and even ministers, that Chinese are not patriotic, Najib said Barisan Nasional leaders no longer harbour such thinking.
He said he has many Chinese friends and gets along well with the Chinese.
On unity, the deputy prime minister said Malaysians now are more united than they were 50 years ago. There is also more interaction among the races now than before, he said.
He said nowadays, the emphasis is not on the differences among the races because when Malaysians make friends with fellow Malaysians they do not see whether the other party is Malay, Chinese or Indian; rather they look at their character and personalities.
"We look at (other people's) personal qualities, more than (their) skin colour or religious beliefs."
... (Blogger's emphasis in bold.)
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107 days to go before our country celebrates 50 years of Merdeka.
Timely reminder to take the Jalur Gemilang out from the back of the closet, give it a good wash and prepare to wave it before another round of "threats" start coming your way to do your patriotic duty.
It happens every year, and this year is not going to be the exception, more so because some people feel so emotional about the half-century mark.
Frankly, how much does it cost to get the elephant off your backs, huh? I mean, they don't really care if you mean it, just DO it!
And, Najib is trying hard to be politically correct in his speech targetted at the Chinese community.
But he is really telling the truth about how unity is so shallowly defined in the Malaysian context, especially what is demanded of you from the Barisan Nasional government.
When you take the economics and politics out of it, Malaysians are great with each other, just as they are warm and friendly to a non-Malaysian who seeks their hand in friendship.
It only gets ugly when the economic pie is up for grabs.
When elections are round the corner and votes need to be secured by hook or by crook.
When economic and politicial survival of a dominant group necessitates the trumpeting of communal cries for individual agendas not necessarily conducive to national unity in the long run. Heck, some of those demands are even suicidal to the long term survival and competitiveness of their people.
But who cares, right?
Being shallow is not a sin.
Being stupid and incorrigible is nothing to be ashamed of. Being mediocre can get you far in this country that rely on dubious standards to measure achievements and success.
Despite coming close to 50 years of Merdeka, we have not achieved much progress in demanding higher standards for ourselves and our country.
Maybe it is time to activate a National Agenda for all Malaysians to take a good hard look at ourselves and start preparing for something that is truly worth celebrating 50 years from now.
Labels: BN politics, Unity
posted by Arena Green at 1:05 pm
9 Comments:
In the olden days, especially in ancient China, people judged each other by values and morals, and not by how much wealth they have. Of course, today. People then also judged their emperors with wisdom and through actions. Today unwise people judge government ministers by the titles they have and of course, wealth. Then, peasants already had a Chinese written word for or to describe imperial palace officials, with "two" characters representing mouths. Yes, imperial officials and local warlords have "two" mouths (their word is law). It maybe wise too to think that there is no difference today. We should be cautiously aware that modern day politicians also have two mouths (one to talk before general elections and the other, after). But some do better, one "good" mouth and the other, a fouled one, as illustrated by the two sexist ministers.
Speaking of Merdeka, they've been showing footages of Merdeka celebrations from 1973 in the cinemas these days - and ended the ad with 50 Tahun Merdeka, like, WTF?
The govt has been having some serious problems disseminating information for the past couple of years. Leaving the countless amount of mouths with foot stuck in them, the govt are having a hard time controlling what the people know, and an even harder time convincing the public as to what to believe.
I think a good way to celebrate 50 years of merdeka is to first improve the communications between the head and the limbs.
I'm sure it'll be a lot easier to solve other problems when there is communication between parties.
i remember how some of my friends who lived in flats were "strongly encouraged" to fly the jalur. they were so strongly encouraged that failure to fly it means... well... let's just say you would rather just do it.
Would the leaders repeat what he said at the UMNO AGM and would others including Khairy & the Youth leaders said the same line?
Since Najib is addressing the issue of Chinese, perhaps, he should study Chinese culture, speak Mandarin. He justified that he has many Chinese friends, Yes. Even the Oxfart University graduate said the damn same thing but in the same breath threw out racist statements. Well, the Chinese used to say too. "Believing politicians is like believing the female hog can climb trees!" Politicians, the higher they climb, the greater hypocrites they become. Like the bank, they will give you the umbrella when the sun shines and take it away when it rains. What damn hypocrisy.
50th celebrations? Celebrating what? Zakaria case? Leaking and collapsing ceilings? Sexist BN MPs? Toll hikes? Petrol hike? Consificating May 13 books? Maybank and Ambank racist bumi equity policy? JJ remarks against Indians? Zam's stupid claasification of bloggers? BN buying votes in Ijok and Machap? UMNO's Mat Rempits? Banning Interfaith dialogues? True colors of UMNO (AGM)? Worsening corruption? Crime rates? ACA Zulkipli issue? Keris raising? Khairy's no apology arrogance? The list can go on and on to fill the hopeless quality of top leadership.
Celebrating the country's independence? How independent are the non bumis when UMNO supremacy behaves like colonialists?
I am sure u know what to do cum election time. Have a nice day.
50 years already? I only remembered passing by the 45th mark. Shows how long I've not been home. Lol.
I'm so bored of all the foot-in-mouth situations! After the waving of 'forced' flags, it'll be another year of circus acts.
When I head back home, I've always hoped something would change but it's still always the same. Not much progress and maybe even backwards, compared to other countries.
Kind of putting me off heading back to Msia. Sigh.
What a script! Why I never hear from the other leaders?
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