A New Malaysia is not a lost cause but it will not be an easy battle – we have taken only the first step in a long, arduous and uncertain struggle for justice, freedom and dignity for all Malaysians

I have said that with the jailing of the former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, there is now light at the end of the tunnel that Malaysia can return to the nation-building principles our founding fathers have entrenched in the Malaysian Constitution and Rukun Negara – constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, separation of powers, rule of law, good governance, public integrity, meritocracy, respect for human rights and national unity from our multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural diversity where there are no first-class and second-class citizens whether based on race, religion or region.

Not all agree. There are those who do not see any light at the end of the tunnel and others who are so pessimistic that they expect the light to die off before the end of the tunnel is reached.

I do not agree and I hope the pessimists are not right.

I maintain my view, but while I emphasize that a New Malaysia is not a lost cause it will not be an easy battle either. We have only taken the first step in a long, arduous and uncertain struggle for justice, freedom and dignity for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

The events of the last five days have reinforced the view that a New Malaysia has not yet come into being, that it is very much a work-in-progress. But it is very significant that this these challenge facing Malaysians are being highlighted on the eve of Malaysia’s 65th nationhood.

Three great issues were the focus of Malaysians in the month of August 2022, corruption in the form of the RM9 billion littoral combatant ships (LCS) scandal opened up by the report of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) followed by the Cabinet’s declassification of two reports on the LCS scandal, the rule of law and the doctrine of separation of powers.

Is Malaysia becoming a less-corrupt country? The signs are disturbing, for there is a new 1MDB scandal in-the-making in the form of the RM9 billion LCS scandal (which may even cost more than RM11.145 billion to complete all six LCS as calculated by the Ambrin Report of the Investigating Committee on Procurement, Governance and Finance report on LCS) and attempts to cover up the LCS scandal.

Will the 14th Parliament be used to cover up the RM9 billion (or +RM11 billion) LCS scandal as the 13th Parliament was used to cover up the 1MDB scandal?

Will the doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary be restored as intended by the nation’s founding fathers and entrenched in the Constitution and Rukun Negara?

These are the core issues of the Malaysian Dream.

I am now 81 and I have a classmate from Batu Pahat who was in so poor health that he was not sure whether he would live to celebrate his 80th birthday. I congratulated him last Thursday because that was his 80th birthday.

But the battle for a New Malaysia must be borne by the young generation of Malaysians.

The dream that my classmates and I dreamt when we were in Form III when Malaya attained her Independence on August 31, 1957 for Malaya, and then Malaysia, to be “a beacon of light to a difficult and distracted world” and a world-class great nation must be taken up by new generation of Malaysian youths.

My dream 50 years ago that 18 year-olds will be given the right to vote has come to fruition and it is my hope that to see a Malaysian youth between 18 – 21 years become a Member of Parliament in the 15th General Election and fight to justice, freedom and dignity for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

The voices in UMNO last night demanding immediate general elections and the pardon of Najib Razak without any regret or contrition for the 1MDB scandal and other corruption scandals went against the very nation-building principles of the country’s founding fathers, including Najib own father, Tun Razak.

We must eschew all forms of extremism whether race or religion-based.

In Saudi Arabia, there is news that the specialised criminal Appeals Court in Riyadh has sentenced Sheikh Saleh Al Talkib, a former notable imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, to 10 years in prison for a sermon denouncing mixed public gatherings.

But in Malaysia, we have the PAS president claiming that non-Muslims and non-bumiputera make up the bulk of the “root of corruption” in the country.

The youths in Malaysia must be in the fore-front to save Malaysia from kleptocoracy, kakistocracy, a rogue and a failed state by ensuring a re-set of the nation-building principles and policies to ensure that our children and children’s children have better lives and opportunities: economic, educational, social and political.

For close to half a century, we have been losing out to one country after another.

Can we buck up and stop being overtaken by more and more countries in the coming years and decades?

Can we rediscover the spirit of hope and challenge in the 2018 general election to continue to press for change and excellence in Malaysia in the 15th general election to save the country so that Malaysia can be a world-class great nation?

This is the challenge for all Malaysians, particularly the youths, regardless of race, religion or gender!