Bangsa Malaysia

Bangsa Malaysia in mind - “Bangsa Malaysia means we do not evaluate someone by his skin colour, race or religion,” Najib said when closing the Johor Umno Convention at Persada Johor here yesterday. “It does not question the special rights of the Malays, our quota or anything of that sort.” (The Star, 7th Oct 2006)

In short, I believe what Najib means is there is NO Bangsa Malaysia. How does it make us one united race when some received a better treatment than us?

Success story of unity in diversity - MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said the people should be talking about the spirit of Rakyat Malaysia, and added:”Our freedom to practise our respective cultures, beliefs and religions is en-shrined in the Constitution. The question of assimilation of any one race into another does not arise at all.” Citing the Barisan Nasional as a prime example of “unity in diversity”, Dr Chua said it was a fact that Malaysian political parties – ruling or opposition – were still based on a racial basis. (The Star, 7th Nov 2006)

Unity in diversity or dictatorship in disguise? When the leaders are slapping the face of the minorities and yet the representing parties are still able to keep their mouth shut, this is what they call unity!

Soul of a nation - The term Bangsa Malaysia merely reflects the spirit of a Malaysian and it should be looked at from a broad perspective, MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said.
“To us, Bangsa Malaysia means the Rakyat Malaysia spirit, which already exists rather than the formation of a new race. When you are a Malaysian citizen you enjoy all the rights in the Constitution, which were already agreed upon by our forefathers. “We promote unity in diversity. No race will be deprived of its original identity, culture, religion, language and traditional practices. This is the key to the success of the multi-racial Malaysian society. This is our strength,” he said (The Star, 7th Nov 2006)

Were we being deprived of our original identity and culture when government disallowed burning of fire crackers during Chinese New Year? Our forefathers might be short-sighted when they put their signature on the dicriminating agreement, but evolution theory promises that each new generation will be more critical than the generation before. It will be a tough challenge for the government to convince them of accepting such discriminating treatment.