I ran an afternoon clinic on Thursday the 24th of November 2022. Just about every patient walked in with a smile saying “ It is a good day for the country…” – news had just broken out that Datuk Anuar Ibrahim was going to be our 10th Prime Minister. As everyone knows it has been a roller coaster of emotions for Malaysians since the last elections and especially for the last few months we could not see a silver lining in the clouds that covered the country.
Sordid tales of corruption at the highest echelons of power, shameless public servants telling and getting away with blatant lies about millions of dollars in their bank accounts, and selfish politicians who appeared willing to do anything just to keep themselves in power and out of jail even though the country’s economy was plunging, causing ordinary Malaysians to despair.
Then we had our elections. We went out to do our duty. The old, the infirm, and the sick placed the country’s needs above their personal discomforts, people stood in knee-deep flood waters to go out and vote knowing that this was our only chance to save our beloved country. We then sat and bit our nails as the results rolled in.
We had worried about the economy, a good education for our children, and keeping flood waters out of our homes but the results of the elections unleashed a bigger problem that has been festering for some time – racial harmony. Whereas most common Malaysians live in blissful harmony with neighbors of different ethnic groups, selfish and immoral politicians stoke the fires of racial hatred to divide the populace to get their votes.
Some are not above telling blatant lies to deceive simple trusting Malaysians just to advance their agenda even if this could result in unrest in the country. Before the elections, at least one senior politician tried to create fear and doubt in the hearts of a segment of the populace by suggesting falsely that another religious group was planning to usurp their beliefs. In addition to the threat to racial harmony, the election results also raised the risk that our freedom and way of life were going to be curtailed and controlled by extremist groups.
In spite of all the negative rhetoric, the voices of moderation in the land rang out. I was very heartened by two letters in The STAR newspaper on 24th November 2022. The first from the Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan (Patriot) voiced their strong support to His Majesty The Yang Di Pertuan Agong’s attempts to help forge a unity government. Patriot did not mince their words – they wrote that politicians’ public rejection of His Majesty’s advice was nothing short of treason.
The second letter was written by the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim) founded by Datuk Anuar Ibrahim when he was a student. Abim’s letter spoke out against racism and wrote “the future of the people and the country should not be handed over to groups that promote racial or religious extremism”. The last few days revealed to Malaysians across the racial divide, a very important role that our rulers play.
It was so heartening and heartwarming to hear our King and his fellow rulers preach about the importance of an all-inclusive Malaysia – all of us felt protected. Thanks to the intervention of The Agong and his fellow brethren rulers, warring politicians have made peace and Malaysia has been gifted a unity government. Daulat Tuanku! It was heartwarming that in his opening speech Datuk Seri Anuar Ibrahim declared that he was “..a Prime Minister for all Malaysians..” In an immediate response, the Malaysian Stock Market boomed and the battered ringgit rose.
So are we out of the woods yet? Hardly. Malaysians still cannot forget the euphoria after GE 14 and the despair we felt less than two years later. The current crop of leaders must walk their talk. There are many issues, but it is paramount to assure every Malaysian that they will have their place under the Malaysian Sun and that their rights and beliefs will be protected and not usurped.
Lessons from the past have to be learned. All we need is one arrogant politician from one political group to behave stupidly and say something idiotic to unravel months of unity-building. Malaysia is in a fragile state – everyone has to think twice before opening their mouths. Politicians have apologized – that is certainly a start but their actions in the months to come will show their true intentions and everyone must work towards healing and building our nation.
Politicians must cast their differences, egos, and personal needs aside and work together to ensure political stability which will ensure that the nation will prosper and thus lessen the suffering of the ordinary Malaysian – at the end of the day that is what matters and that is the thanks they can honestly give the Malaysian electorate who got up in the early hours of November the 19th braving personal pain and the elements to vote them into power.
Our politicians owe us all, at least that. And finally, the corrupt amongst them should not be spared, must face the full brunt of the law, not be allowed to disgrace our parliament by their presence but be sent to jail where they belong.
Dr. Kannan Pasam is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.
Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
Newswav is solely an aggregation platform and hosts the content. The views expressed and content above including media (pictures, videos, etc) were provided by the author. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
