Challenge of 2001 - whether Malaysians can forge greater national unity towards Bangsa Malaysia  or  they are throwing back into the past into their separate ethnic and religious compartments

(Petaling Jaya, Sunday): Malaysia is starting the real first year of the third millennium with general economic, political and nation-building gloom.

Although the Deputy Finance Minister (1) Datuk Shafie Mohd Salleh predicted when launching the KLSE Investors’ Week 2000 on 12th September 2000 that the KLSE Composite Index (CI) should rebound to the 1,000-point mark by year-end, the CI had ended at its lowest level for the year at  679.64 points, down 132.69 points or 16.33 percent from its 1999 closing of 812.33.

The CI is at  a  14-month low, and if stock market analysts are right that the composite index is  likely to hover around the 600 plus to 700 plus range in the early part of 2001, this would mean that the Kuala Lumpur stock market is heading for a 21-month low should it plunge to the 600-point level. The last time the KLCI fell below the 600-point level was 16th April 1999, when it ended at 599.41 points at the end of trading.

In his year-end Bernama interview, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad slashed the projected growth rate next year to 5.8 per cent from 7 per cent because of the expected slowdown of the US economy.

The expected hard landing of the US economy is not the only cause for the economic gloom in the new year when the past month saw a slew of corporate shenanigans reeking with cronyism, bad corporate governance and the sacrifice of the interests of  minority shareholders like the restructuring
of Renong-UEM, the "bailout" buying of 29.09% MAS equity by the Government at RM 8 per share while the market value is RM 3.68 and the floating of RM 6 billion government bonds to restructure Light Rail Transit and the publicm transport system.

Ten years ago, Malaysia proclaimed Vision 2020 and the 30-year Bangsa Malaysia goal of  "a united nation, with a confident Malaysian society, infused by strong moral and  ethical values, living in a society that is democratic, liberal and tolerant, caring, economically just and equitable, progressive and prosperous, and  in full possession of an economy that is competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient".

Ten years later, instead of making an earnest review of the progress of Vision 2020 after one-third passage of the 30-year time span, the Bangsa Malaysia concept appeared to have been totally forgotten when the new decade and the third millennium is starting not with cries of Bangsa
Malaysia and Malaysian Unity but "Malay Unity".

The Bahasa Malaysia media today, for instance,  are  full of articles with titles like "Masa depan politik bangsa - Adakah 2001 akan jadi tahun penyatuan Melayu?", "Agenda bangsa tahun 2001 - Kembalikan semangat persaudaraan Melayu" (Mingguan Malaysia) and writings dripping with communal poison  totally devoid of Vision 2020 and the Bangsa Malaysia concept like the following:

"Kalau kuasa Melayu hilang, ekonomi kucar-kacir, negara hura-hara, orang Melayu yang akan lebih teruk menderita.

"Orang bukan Melayu dan segelintir orang Melayu yang kaya raya boleh lari ke luar negara. Sekarang pun banyak pun juga penyokong reformasi berhijrah ke luar negara, tinggal di England dan Australia." (Berita Minggu)

The new year is going to be a watershed year for Malaysian nation-building - whether Malaysians can forge greater  national  unity towards Bangsa Malaysia  or  they are throwing back into the past into their separate ethnic and religious compartments, where shouts of "Malay Unity", "Chinese Unity", "Indian Unity", "Kadazan Unity" and "Iban Unity" are going to drown out calls for "Malaysian Unity".

There are other grave challenges facing Malaysians - whether the new year will start a new page for Malaysia in restoring national and international confidence in our democratic governance after the slew of adverse international assessments whether on the rule of law, the independence of
the judiciary,  democracy, human rights, corruption and even the country’s ambition to become an  information society in the IT era.

Malaysians must decide whether history will record 2001 as the year where after 43-year nation-building process, they again  succumb to extremist and racist pressures to further institutionalise and harden the communal "divide and rule" political pattern in the country or whether they hearken to the vision of Bangsa Malaysia to give shape to a Malaysian identity and consciousness higher and greater than the separate communal and religious identities in the country to promote the universal values of justice, freedom, democracy and good governance relevant to all citizens, regarldless of race or  religion.
 

(31/12/2000)