1Malaysia

I am very happy to see the many things happening in Malaysia ever since Najib took the seat. Many initiatives were devised to hopefully improve the economic and social well-being of the country and the rakyat. The 1Malaysia concept is good. Stop criticizing it folks, it is a concept developed with only the best intentions in mind and heart for the people of Malaysia. Hopefully someday we will be a true nation, not merely existing as a country. It wishes to see fellow Malaysians being united under the same umbrella, all striving towards excellence, moving the country forward, pushing through obstacles, jumping over hurdles through loops of fires into a developed nation, without intentionally or unintentionally allowing any sectors of the rakyat being left behind, be it by race, religion or geographical locations. It benefits both, the haves and the have nots, and it does not discriminate between the politically-connected and those without any connections. It is for you and for me to enjoy.

Now that we have this wonderful concept briefly outlined, I could not help but wonder:

1. What is the baseline scenario, i.e have we agreed where we stand now? I have heard arguments that we ARE multiracial and we DO live together in harmony. So where are we, people? Where are we starting from?

2. Where are we heading to? Is there a target we all aspire to achieve? To be honest, I do feel that the 1Malaysia concept was announced without much deliberation and description of what we hope to be and….(continue in point 3 below)

3. …by when? Timescale people… if it is not time-bound, then it will never be achieved. But of course, it has to be reasonable too.

4. What are we doing to get there? What specific steps are we taking to get to where we want to be? Any implementation strategy? Who is responsible, and who is accountable for making sure of this ? And don’t tell me everyone is responsible, because it will not work…I have heard that far too many times before, and trust me, it has never worked in the past and it will never work in the future!

5. How do we know if/when we are there? What will be used as the yardstick? A target without any defined way of measuring “national unity” is as good as not having any targets at all. We need a clearly defined methodology.

My view is, without the above, the idea of 1Malaysia will be just that, a concocted “concept”. A make-believe idea for political gains. I hope it is not the case here. I may sound very pessimistic, but I do believe in the concept, and I sooooo want it to work. I just hope that all politicians will want it to work more than I do, so that at least I can be rest assured that someday we will get there (wherever that is)! I have heard far too many talks, but seen much less effective actions. Be different Najib!