Dr Mahathir has stepped up his claim that ethnic majorities are in danger
of becoming a minority or being treated like one in this country
His claim was based on his personal inability to will into existence the ethnic majorities as a political community.
Is competition for resources, recognition and power the root causes that gives rise to his claim?
And Dr Mahathir is not alone in this.
Leaders in some South and Southeast Asian countries does the same too.
Is there any truth to his claim?
The main goal for a country is to build an environment where everyone feels safe, respected, and treated equally under the law.
A rise in majoritarianism in a multicultural country is bad.
To understand this dynamic, a common analogy is looking at a family business where the older generation creates rules to protect the founding members.
Over time, these protective rules make it harder for newer members to get the same chances to succeed.
Will Malaysia ever escape the ‘political religio-race trap’ or will it continue to be entrenched in an ethno-religious political culture that continues to pit one race and religion against the other?
Generally, if one is to follow social media on the good things that Malaysians do and look out for one another, one will find that majority of the Malaysians are neither racists nor religious fanatics.
The impromptu and unofficial movement #KitaJagaKita during the Covid 19 days is a clear testament of how ordinary Malaysians look after and trust each other.
#KitaJagaKita is more than just words.
In Bahasa Malaysia, it means "we take care of each other."
And it became a powerful way for ordinary Malaysians to support one another.
Instead of waiting for the government, everyday people stepped up.
Neighbors set up food banks on the street so anyone could take what they needed.
Volunteers made face shields at home for local hospital workers.
During hard lockdowns, families who ran out of food placed a white flag outside their homes.
Other locals saw the flags and dropped off boxes of rice, eggs, and milk.
But at the political level, the culture is totally different.
It has developed into one that uses racial and religious discourse as a means to gain votes and political power.
The youths should come out and vote for their future in every election, be it a by election or an election of the state or the general election.
Show those politicians who uses racial and religious identity as mere tools for political leverage that the future belongs to all of you and not the structural legacy of the colonial times where race and religion play a role.
Show those politicians that ethno-religious based identity politics should be confined to just a footnote in the country’s history books.
Don’t be influenced by the politicians and the political parties and their empty promises.
Every of the politicians out there has experienced governing and administering this country at least once in their long political career.
And all has demonstrated one consistent trait in them – all uses ethno-religious issues as a front to camouflage their real intent.
What was their real intent?
Power and money.
In summary, their greed.
It is not that the politicians are not aware of the #KitaJagaKita movement.
But yet time and again, in the pursuit of their personal greed, they tend to forget, conveniently, the ordinary rakyat.
The voters who voted them in.
Thus, the youths who will be voting, needs to remind, remind, remind, remind, consistently and persistently all the politicians that, it is the ordinary rakyat who, collectively are helping each other and not the politicians.
Tell and show them ethno-religious politics is a thing of the past.
#KitaJagaKita already showed and demonstrated to everyone that Malaysians are stronger when we help one another.
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