I REFER to theSun report “MCA supports PAS-Umno talks” in which MCA Youth chief Datuk Liow Tiong Lai declared his support for the talks between the two rival parties. I find it retrogressive for him to state that MCA takes it with an open mind in an effort to unite the Malay community, and even urged the Chinese community to be united in support of MCA. This gives rise to parochial communal thinking and an old narrow mindset of racial politics.

As a Malaysian who believes in the social contract which is enshrined in our Federal Constitution and based on the notion that ‘all Malaysians are equal’, I am indeed puzzled by Liow’s statement which implies that Malaysians are still divided along ethnic lines and that communal politics continue to dominate, rather than national unity.

The recent talks between Umno and PAS indicate that Umno is desperate to salvage its waning support among the Malay electorate and to stem the tide of the Anwar factor. If not for the losses suffered by Barisan Nasional in the March 8 general election, where it lost five states to Pakatan Rakyat, Umno would not have bothered talking to PAS.

Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad’s caution against turning the dialogue into a racial issue completely misses the point. This is about putting national interest above party interest.

All Malaysians are stake holders in the affairs of our nation, and nation building should not solely belong to any one particular race or religion. As a multi-racial nation, we should strive to achieve national unity and economic prosperity for all Malaysians, irrespective of their race, religion, status or political beliefs.

All Malaysians of rational minds must make a heart-searching reappraisal as to what they conceive to be Malaysia’s destiny. If it is the common hope that our destiny lies in a multi-racial nation, where there is no discrimination on the grounds of race, then the Malaysian dream of ensuring opportunity and security for all will become a reality, as there will indeed be national unity.

However, if there is no agreement on this fundamental issue, where we continue to harp on racial unity talks, instead of national unity, then clearly there is no will or determination to build a multi-racial nation, that is based on one common Malaysian dream or identity – Bangsa Malaysia.

Ashvin Rajv
Subang Jaya

Source: The Sun – August 1, 2008