1 Malaysia! Najib's Inspiration or Nightmare! Whence it comes from?

Najib Tun Razak finally ascends to the highest office in the nation on the 3rd April. He makes his maiden speech the same night. And, as it would seem, he introduced his inspiration, or so he must have thought. 1 Malaysia! Just the label. No packaging. No content! What has happened since then?

Many have narrated. But I shall pick from what SIM KWANG YANG wrote in his missive published by Malaysiakini entitled Long live the king(makers.

1. Within a week of becoming Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, who many tell me may be racist, although I have not been able to tell, tells Samy Velu to just shut up. And dutifully Samy complied. (Well trained)

2. That same weekend Mingguan Malaysia begins to define for Najib its version or understanding of 1 Malaysia where I suppose Ketuanan Melayu remains in all it embraces in the eyes of bigots. (This was not quoted by Sim).

3. After the results of the by-elections in Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau came out Muhyiddin Yassin once again comes up with a statement that is best described, racist. Somehow he expects appreciation from the Chinese when the government does what it is supposed to in the first place.

4. This is followed through by Utusan Malaysia calling for Malay unity to counter the "increasing demands" made by the Chinese and the Indians.

5. Ibrahim Ali, the "independent" PAS ticketed MP from Kelantan, makes a similar call for Unity.

6. Muhiddin more or less warns the Chinese people on the peril of seeing themselves as king-makers.

7. Then Utusan comes out with its very contradictory front page masterpiece. On the one hand you have a picture of the newly minted Prime Minister making chapatis in a Sikh Temple. Yet the main heading was "BANGKITLAH MELAYU". I don't know what that means. But from what I have read so far it does not seem to be very nice. Asking Malays to Rise up to counter the "increasing demands" of the non-Malays.

But hey, these Utusan buggers completely forget that if the Chinese overwhelmingly voted PAS or PKR, theirs only contributed to the substantial numbers of the Malays who voted PAS or PKR. Or is it more convenient to forget as the intention is to raise the temperature of the Malays a bit. To instill fear in them maybe. And then to draw them back into a common fold. And all because they see demons amongst them in the form of the Chinese and the Indians. It always stumps me when our Malaysian leaders allow these ultra Malay papers to get away publishing all these seditious and incitement filled articles and yet proudly declare "Malaysia Truly Asia"!! unless of course they are trying to tell the truth about Asians of course. That we might say one thing when the truth might be another.


Origins of 1 Malaysia!


Of course it was just as surprising to me that in his very first speech Najib has to refer to 1 Malaysia. It is only too obvious that many in UMNO did not like the sound of it. Unity is only for Malays. Not between Malaysians.

Najib too comes with a lot of baggage going back to the time when he pulled out his keris in Kampung Baru, way back in 1987, shouting out that the streets will run with the blood of the Chinese. Or something to that effect. People remember that. I remember that. So, 1 Malaysia coming from him is a little surprising, although beyond that caption, we don't know the packaging. And obviously there is no content.

So where did 1 Malaysia come from? How is Najib inclined towards something as haunting and anathema as this to many of his UMNO colleagues and war lords? Surely nothing that he has said or done in his lifetime that I can think of that I could associate 1 Malaysia or its theme to.


What about DAD? RUKUN NEGARA!


Looking back, It reminds me that the Rukun Negara was proclaimed on the 31 August 1970 by the Yang Di Pertuan Agong. It was at a time when his father, the former Prime Minister Tun Razak, was chairing the National Operation Council that was formed shortly after May 13 1969. Presumably, Tun Razak is credited with the Malaysian National Ideology. And yet, what is it that we recite and remember of it? The pledge:

"We, the people of Malaysia, pledge our united efforts to attain these ends, guided by these principles:


Belief in God.

Loyalty to King and Country.

Supremacy of the Constitution.

The Rule of Law.

Mutual respect and good social behaviour. "


But hey, look at the pledge once again. So what if we said that pledge? So what if we abided by those principles? What are we supposed to achieve?

Now this is not anything that is a big secret. Indeed on this matter I am copy pasting from the Malaysian government's own web site. Not Raja Petra's Malaysia Today!! In fact what we are supposed to achieve is what is stated first. And if you re read the pledge above you will see "We, the people of Malaysia, pledge our united efforts to attain these ends,". Yes. to attain these ends!! Anyone knows or recalls what those ends are? Here it is:

"The pledge of the Rukunegara is as follows:

Our Nation, Malaysia is dedicated to:


Achieving a greater unity for all her people;

Maintaining a democratic way of life;

Creating a just society in which the wealth of the nation shall be equitably distributed;

Ensuring a liberal approach to her rich and diverse cultural tradition,

Building a progressive society which shall be oriented to modern science and technology.


Oh boy, Oh boy, Oh boy!!!

this is certainly very inconvenient to all those who have obviously responded to Najib's utterance of his 1 Malaysia!

I can see 1 Malaysia drawing its inspiration from what our nation is dedicated to according to the Rukun Negara. Was Najib in fact referring to the Rukun Negara when he stated 1 Malaysia? I cannot see any of the Prime Ministers since Tun Razak, presumably, drawing any kind of inspiration from the Rukun Negara. Surely everything that Tun Mahathir did or followed, policy wise or otherwise was in direct conflict with the Rukun Negara. The same can be said of Abdullah Badawi too.

Najib did not say anything new. Najib did not say anything that was in conflict with the pledge all of us subscribe to. Why the hypocrisy of these UMNO bigots in government as well as in the press? Don't they know the Rukun Negara or the National ideology? Or is this ideology one of Tun Razak's crazy ideas? Now that he is dead and gone, maybe it is a question for Najib to answer!

I can see the 1 Malaysia prescribed by Najib is consistent with what his late father, Tun Razak, prescribed as the National Ideology of the nation way back in 1970. It is sad that this has been throughout this time been shafted and mostly forgotten. Najib may have tested waters including reference to 1 Malaysia in his opening speech. Many have tried to define what it might be within the acceptable mores of their convoluted minds. But I say, 1 Malaysia is right there for all to see in the Rukun Negara. If we have only been able to recite the principles without seeing where it is supposed to head us to, maybe it is about time we started reciting the dedication of the Rukun Negara. Once again:

The pledge of the Rukunegara is as follows:

Our Nation, Malaysia is dedicated to:


Achieving a greater unity for all her people;

Maintaining a democratic way of life;

Creating a just society in which the wealth of the nation shall be equitably distributed;

Ensuring a liberal approach to her rich and diverse cultural tradition,

Building a progressive society which shall be oriented to modern science and technology.