Malaysian are or at the least had been, racist and they have become and remain as racist, as well. We are the members of a much larger community: Malaysia - the racist nation!
The term community is somewhat misleading. We are not united as such (as the term seems to imply), as a nation should be. We are only united by the fact that all of us - at one time or other - had been, are, or will become, racists...
All of us formally became racists when racism was institutionalised in Malaysia. Not that racism didn’t exist before: it did; it lurked underneath, which -- as everyone knows -- erupted as the May 13 ethnic riots. Hence came the New Economic Policy, set up to divert the winds off the sails of racism. Ballasting the boat, and listing it in favour of the economically disadvantaged Malay-Malaysians may lead to Malaysians seeing each other as equals, it was thought
Then came the 80's, which also gave Dr. Mahathir Muhammad. Few years after the arrival of Dr., there was much talk about "isu sensitif." People were angered whenever the matter came up. But people who stood up for their rights was bundled up and put behind bars for the safety of the nation, under the name of ,“Operasi lalang“.
Racism remained, all of us practiced racism, in schools, on the streets, in the house, and in shops, but racism was never blatant .That changed as the 80's came to a close.
Dr. Mahathir Mohammad put forward him dream: the much lauded, much talked about "Wawasan 2020"! In less than thirty years from then Malaysia would become a fully developed nation, Dr. Mahathir said; economically, politically, socially, spiritually, psychologically and culturally Malaysia would match any developed nation. In that world (it was indeed otherworldly, in many respects) we would have "developed in terms of national unity and social cohesion, in terms of our economy, in terms of social justice, political stability, system of government, quality of life, social and spiritual values, national pride and confidence."
Are we doing anything to make that happen?
Economically, yes. Socially? Is racism showing any signs of receding from the foreground?
There are so many basis to illustrate how entrenched the racist feelings are in our society, and why the Vision 2020 would never be realised.
Some may, of course, brush this criticism off as something minor, as something not worth the cost or the confusion. Maybe. But, there is a point to it all: for hearts and minds to change, the right institutions must be in place. In our case, it is quite apparent that the very institutions that were supposed to build a united nation are disuniting in reality. The very fact that a wrong usage should continue to be present shows how ill prepared our institutions are. can anyone even imagine a multi-cultural Malaysian nation -- where no one discriminates the other on the basis of race (ethnicity should be the preferred word), where everyone treats the other as a brother or sister - being run by the same racist parties that exist now? Is such a future even conceptually possible (except in the minds of die-hard "Malaysia Boleh" optimists)?
Malaysia has become a state of the model racist nation where the fundamental principal to safeguard race based political parties are so central to its psyche which focuses on: long live, racism! Long live, racist Malaysia!!!
We could only envisage a future where "Bangsa Malaysia" is a reality if these ‘dinosaurs’ racial political parties cease to exist.
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