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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright February 2023
Let's transform the Madani Concept into reality using food as a medium.
Madani is Malay acronym for SCRIPT, which stands for sustainability, care and compassion, respect, innovation, prosperity, and trust to be attained through the framework. A tall order for the ordinary folks on the streets.
For the guy who dreamt up the concept it may sound easy enough, but to the B40 it's just another pie in the sky handed down by Putrajaya for the rakyat to swallow. It's always the case of easier said than done.
Anyway, Anwar is inviting all to realise that it is a shared responsibility to raise the dignity of human beings that ought to be based upon confidence, values, morals, fairness and effective governance. But that has little to do with ordinary folks who would often leave the government in the hands of a few political elites.
If you were to look back at all campaigns introduced by previous governments, none has survived because they are purely in the hands of a few people who love slogans and sloganeering for their own political mileage. Consider Vision 2020, Islam Hadhari, One Malaysia or the most recent Keluarga Malaysia, they are forgotten once the incumbents walk out of the PM's office.
In order for the Madani concept to survive, it has to be internalised and adopted by everyone in the country regardless of race, creed or class in society. The government and the people ought to make madani concept part of their daily lives. What better way to make it part of our family rituals than by weaving it onto our daily dining at home or in the office, the Madani way?
The ritual that accompanies yee sang we just experienced during the recent Chinese New Year celebration is full of phrases in Chinese to motivate participants as diners verbalised them when tossing the salad in unison. They are "gong xi fa cai" (may you be rich and wealthy), "wan shi ru yi" (may everything be as you wish) and "lou hei" (move upwards). That's the reason why the Chinese believes that a family that eats together sticks together. They often push each other uowards too just the way they do with yee sang.
The hopes expressed by the Madani concept, sustainability, care and compassion, respect, innovation, prosperity, and trust are similar to the Chinese phrases quoted above and could be easily weaved into Malaysian family values as they dine together on a daily basis.
How do we achieve that?
First step make the six concepts in SCRIPT easier to the tongue. Right now it's a tongue twister. Simplify it so the man in the street understands and becomes more convinced of the need to embrace it. Something they can feel and touch. Something they can attain without trying too hard.
The easiest way is to develop a Madani bowl to be created by any world renowned Malaysian ceramicist to make the idea more meaningful. Like tagline which is uniquely Moroccan.
In 1960s I spent years lugging a "Malaysian Steam Boat" made of brass to serve the dish by the same name using charcoal to fire up the pot, all over the US. It was unique and fascinating to the Americans who came to my regular Malaysian Steam Boat Dinner party trying to sing Rasa Sayang with a deep yankee slang.
Meanwhile if we need to develop another dish, one name that comes to mind is Khairul Nizan of Nizan Ceramics who is recognised by the Japanese, Australians and Europeans as an authority in ceramics. He would be able to create a bowl that symbolises the Madani concept easily enough.
To fill the bowl you would need a recipe that encompasses food of all ethnic groups in the country. It would need to be tossed and mixed as you would a yee sang.
I toyed with the idea of roping in Chef Johari Edrus the Chief Juror of MASTERCHEF Malaysia for five seasons and former President of Chef Association of Malaysia who has worked years in China and Europe. He has been an Executive Chef for many 5 star hotels locally and abroad. He's a creative guy and would be the best to develop a Madani dish that would be easily accepted by everyone.
Perhaps we may want to compose a Madani song to go with the dish. Someone like Wah Idris might be good for the job.
Anyway, the conclusion is you have to do more than just announce six principles and expect people to internalise them and use them in their daily lives. Malaysians are already extremely inundated with slogans to try and remember six more new ones.
You have to create some song and dance to make them love this Madani concept a little longer than previous ones.
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