By Associate Professor Dr Roslina Binti Abdul Latif
School of Media & Communication
Faculty of Social Sciences & Leisure Management
A FEW years ago, I was having a conversation about the future of Malaysia with an old friend, who was also a senior journalist at one of the leading newspapers in the country. He said this to me, “there are two things that unite a nation: a common cause and a common enemy!”
Accordingly, he said that the first generation of Malaysia had the best of both. They had the common cause of Independence. A cause so great, so good, so sweet that there are still nations-in-waiting thirsting for what other countries have fought and tasted as their own nectar of Merdeka Days. We had the founding enemy in imperialism: The force that had to be repelled, that was not an option – and was obligingly disposed to do away as it had become so tiresome in many ways. The last 64 years has seen many common enemies besides imperialism, there was the communist insurrection, ending the Emergency and the formation of Malaysia and the Indonesian Confrontation. Another common cause fought, another common enemy foiled.
For some of us that have been around for most of those six decades, we celebrate the success of our forefathers today, and remember them with fondness and gratitude. But we are always reminded of the darker consequences of their success in attaining these goals and overcoming sworn foes.
Today some might argue that the common enemy has taken a different face and form, while we fight yet a common cause – the fight for survival. Fast forward to the present day with the insurgence of Covid-19 and its murderous effects, the people have banded together to fight for mere existence.
News has been aplenty about the white flags or #benderaputih, #rakyatjagarakyat and #Covid19 and variations of the hashtag that went viral. The flags were a symbol of unity by the citizens when they felt that the government was not doing enough to help them during these hard times.
They were also aided by different non-government organisations, religious communities and individuals that came to their rescue. This common cause has also taught us – that survival demands co-operation, not merely co-existence. A multicultural nation is not simply a partnership of peoples, but it is a synthesis, a coalescence of different cultures within a single common destiny.
Everywhere else in the world, multiculturality is uncertain, at best and a destructive force at worst, if married with race hatred. But as Malaysians we know more about being multiracial than anyone else on earth because we have been multiracial longer than anyone else. No one is more experienced than us in this domain and we have proved it yet again. The fact that we have stayed intact through the pandemic, I would say, we’re not too bad.
It would seem we have inherited common cause copiously. In some things we’re fast learners, but unfortunately not in others. Spanish philosopher and novelist George Santayana (1863–1952) wrote: “Those who cannot remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes”. We are both cursed and blessed with forgetfulness, and sometimes we forget the pain caused by our own past mistakes which takes us right back into a situation where history repeats itself.
This is also true about Malaysia. In the last couple of years, the history of the country has been complicated, to state the obvious – three years, three different leaders. Some have learnt from past mistakes, some haven’t, and we pray that there will be no more blunders as the nation drags itself out from the dredges of the post pandemic or rather endemic, as the stubborn coronavirus is here to stay.
Surveying social media and the news, the anger of the people has not diminished, make no mistake of that, they’re just tired but still agitated with the current condition of the political scenario of our beloved Malaysia. Those in power need to make a positive change for the citizens because they will be a force to reckon with when the time comes.
Make a change that counts for all levels of the community, not just one section of it. There is no gauntlet of change has ever come close to destroying us. Nothing has torn us a part, and surely by now you must know that we have what it takes to ensure that nothing will. Above all – above all the mistakes – our integrity must lie in our realizing the importance of staying intact as a nation. Evolve for the better, in everything you do and not just to stay in power!
In the last 64 years, if we’ve made mistakes, we would also seem to be doing a few things right. We have the right to take pride in those achievements, and we should.
For the moment then, we might as well take pause to savour Winston Churchill’s enduring homily: “Democracy is the worst form of Government known to mankind” he once said, “but it’s better than the others.”
Salam Merdeka and Selamat Menyambut Hari Malaysia everyone!
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of TVS.
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