YOURSAY | Nation-building takes back seat to political ambition

YOURSAY | ‘Just have a look at our politicians.’

No country harping on race, religion has succeeded: NGO leader

Mazhilamani: I agree and disagree with Global Human Rights Federation president S Shashi Kumar.

We began quite well after Merdeka, under the first three prime ministers, when Umno was strong.

The slide happened when Umno started weakening and decided to adopt the ways of the opposition.

Even now under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the focus is on building a strong economy.

If not, we would have perished under the weight of poor economic policies under former prime ministers Dr Mahathir Mohamad (during his second time in office), Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

They did practically nothing to improve the economy of the country from 2018 to 2022.

The culprits were past ministers and the lax attitude of our enforcement agencies. The inclusion of PAS into the federal government was a major mistake.

We failed to act resolutely when it mattered most.

As for the non-Muslims, we have faced many challenges and have become more disciplined and focused in handling our affairs.

Maybe these two qualities are what is disturbing the Malay politicians.

Yes, I do agree with Shashi that religion and race factors are eating at the foundation of our country.

This can be seen not only in Bangladesh and Pakistan but also in Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

It is difficult to recover our country from race and religious issues because we have already travelled too far.

Oct: There is a big difference between nation-building and party-building.

Nation-building is about education whereby intellectual and intelligent Malaysians can lead and build progressive and forward-thinking Malaysians who can accept changes for the betterment of Malaysia.

However, party-building is the opposite. The politicians prefer the party to remain in power so that they can be the government forever and do whatever they wish. Politicians don't care about the nation.

Party matters supersede the nation's needs. This is one of the main reasons why religion plays a strong driving factor in Malaysia.

The party knows that if they want to remain in power forever, the politicians must play the 3R (race, religion and royalty) theme and nothing else.

There is no coherent plan but a polarised plan in Malaysia.

Malaysia will never be at peace and progress if Malaysians do not treat each other as brothers and sisters or see eye to eye on basic fundamental needs.

Hmmmmmmmm: Just have a look at our politicians. If they don't talk about 3R, what else can they talk about?

The more scary thing is that what they say resonates with their voters.

I think that most of their voters believe that they deserve a hard life and are sincerely hoping for a better afterlife.

They can't seem to make the connection between their situation and the leaders that they choose. The whole country is dragged down because of this.

Just a Malaysian: Our politicians do not love this country or the race or even religion. For lack of any ideas and ideals, all they can hit on are race and religion.

Anyone without a conscience can end up a leader just by blatantly attacking non-Muslims for every single imagined fear.

The author is right. As a non-Muslim myself, we used all our energies to build our life, our children and our future.

We have no time to pursue a futile effort to undermine Malay or Islam. We just want to live and be left alone.

But every speech by Malay-Muslim politicians paints non-Muslims as greedy land grubbers, anti-Islam and wanting to take over the country.

The Chinese are very practical people, we do not waste time on things we cannot achieve.

We do not fight imaginary enemies or see ghosts when there is none. We just want to survive.

MarioT: Learn from Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who is the leader of the largest Muslim country in the world.

He keeps religion and race out of politics and the country has made tremendous progress and continues to grow.

But here, the decay has started with Malay politicians fanning the flames of discontent and destruction.

None have the foresight to develop a progressive nation for the benefit of everyone in the country. The political climate here rides on fear and deception.

GreenWolf2141: I think politicians are not totally to be blamed. The public has a responsibility, too.

I blame the public for falling into the race narrative. It’s because the voters believe in these messages, so the politicians play this. Decisions made by politicians are often a reflection of the majority of what the people want.

Yes Sir Yes Sir 3 Bags Full: Well said, but the ruling leaders need to pander on one side to stay in power.

No one in the current leadership has the gumption to do the right thing.

Platypus: Malaysia is still very much a feudal society. Feudal lords throw crumbs and lie to the masses to secure their positions.

Our shortsighted politicians cannot see and think beyond the next election. We get what we vote for.

Mgpowl: Just to correct the perspective. Look at all the developed nations.

They started as mono-racial, mostly white and mostly Christian nations, with Japan and a few other nations being the exceptions.

Race and religion were entwined in their national aspirations because they were the majority.

When they became developed and enjoyed a much higher per capita income that didn’t threaten their future, they became more inclusive. That’s the natural evolution of undeveloped races.

We, who have more and are secure, should understand that and be supportive of helping the still lagging communities help themselves - not become bitter and damning.

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