COMMENT | Malaysia needs to hit the hard reset

COMMENT | It is time for a reset. A rebooting of the nation.

In 1957, the Federation of Malaya became independent of Britain. Leaders of the three main communities and the Malay rulers sealed a compact that was encapsulated in the Federal Constitution,

We remember our first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman resplendent in traditional dress and headgear extending his right arm and proclaiming Merdeka seven times.

We remember how proudly we as young students lined the streets shouting Merdeka.

We remember how proud our fathers and mothers were to serve the independent nation. They were teachers, civil servants, engineers, doctors, lawyers, judges, surveyors, veterinary surgeons, farmers, fishermen, rubber tappers and many others who made up this fledgling nation.

We remember how we all helped build this nation together. The photographs taken of that time depict the then reality of diversity in leadership and mutual respect.

Yes, we had rural poverty and labour was exploited in plantations and elsewhere.

That was the colonial legacy.

But we were proud to be Malayans first.

And then after 1963 as Malaysians first.

In September 1963, Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak came together as the Federation of Malaysia. Singapore left Malaysia in 1965 to become an independent nation. The basis on which Sabah and Sarawak joined Malaya was set out in the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 (MA63).

We progressed rapidly as an independent nation but following some disturbances after the general elections on May 12, 1969, the decision was made to embark on a social engineering exercise with twin objectives of eradicating poverty without regard for race and of removing the identification of race with location and with economic function. That was the New Economic Policy (NEP).

The NEP was a good thing in the formulation.

There were significant gains made under the NEP. A huge Malay middle-class came into being, comprising professionals, civil servants, military personnel, teachers, academics and businessmen.

But we took a wrong turn somewhere...