Malaysia – a nation of fearful people

Forty years after 13th May 1969, the levers of authority and power are still being used and abused to “dictate the kind and quality of democracy we want and need in Malaysia”.

Forty years after May 13th, the insecurities that threatened the nation remain the same threats that the authorities fear.

I will never forget that day on May 11th 1969 when three of us in a car driven by my senior at the RMC weaved its way through Jalan Ipoh around the Chow Kit area, we came to a very noisy and robust mob who were chanting all kinds of offensive labels, as the DAP had almost captured power and control in Selangor after the then General Elections.

We drove through the crowd, amidst a bad traffic jam and otherwise inconsequential drive to the University of Malaya campus for me to enjoin as a freshman student. Some of the banners and labels uttered words and phrases I would not say publicly!

I call such a need for decorum: civility. Yet, others call it common sense, but not all have enough common sense, not the least, a mob. A mob usually develops a psychology of its own to rationalise their existence, or at least that of their leaders.

More than twenty years earlier, in 1948, the government of then Malaya had declared a national emergency in the war against militant communists in the jungles of Malaya. Their then leader, even today cannot re-enter Malaysia to seek his home; although we pretended to forgive him.

Chin Peng’s final appeal to return to die in Malaysia was recently turned down; how unforgiving the nation has become!

Currently, there is also a serious debate on history and whose story it really is!

On the one hand, we have the likes of former USM Professor Collin Abraham and on the other, the likes of UM historian Khoo Kay Khim carrying on a good and healthy dialogue in the pages of the Sun about what and how history should be understood and then written for the learning and education of ordinary Malaysians.

They have agreed to disagree, agreeably. That too is civility.

Wong Chin Huat is a new generation Malaysian Chinese committed to Malaysia as well and as much as any person I know.

Recently, the police arrested him for purported sedition although till today no charge has been preferred.

Laws being used to selectively prosecute

To the police force and the arresting officer, obviously, like Chin Peng and the other provocateurs of May 13th, they are always viewed as a detrimental force to this nation we call Malaysia.

Therefore, we use the laws of Malaysia to selectively prosecute; i.e. we select to prosecute some but not others, on similar offences!

Therefore, 40 years after May 13th and 60 years after our war against the beginning of communism’s terror, we remain a nation of fearful people, afraid of our own shadows and past.

Many of us are first class Malaysians but we still fear the ghosts of May 13th and still fear communism’s latent threat!

So at least the federal government knows and believes!

Are such concerns justified? Can we not exorcise the ghost of both May 13th and the militant communism of a foregone era when even the Berlin Walls are no more?

Can ordinary citizens groups, in community settings, use the May 13th legacy to talk about the hurts and pains caused by that tragic event of the past regardless of the instigators and their impure motives?

I am sure today in any small group of different age groups, we can always find one or two people who were actually involved during the May 13th incident, either as nurses or doctors or blood donors or even as family of victims.

Unless we, as a people can invoke true and genuine forgiveness for the hurts and pains caused without assigning blame, we can never take this ghost out of our system!

The ghosts of such a fear can appear in many forms; sometimes the police who are supposed to safeguard us, will arrest MPs and journalists simply in the name of their protection!

At other times, the ghost of such fear leads us to arrest innocent true leaders of people movements, like the Hindraf over some justified hurts and other sets of issues; or even others for simply wearing black at the wrong place and the wrong time.

Fear leads us to arrest people wearing black

Where else in the whole world; other than in the past of Communist Russia or Communist China would anybody be arrested for simply wearing black?

Come on Malaysia; where is such fear of ghosts taking us?

A group of about 30 of us meeting in UCSI University had instead a very positive experience and reflections about the May 13th: we reflected and reviewed the past in a multi-ethnic format and shared our hearts and minds on what it takes for Malaysia to become a 1Malaysia, or a Bangsa Malaysia.

The One Malaysia concept is a powerful one; if we recognise the alphanumeric form it was expressed. In the digital world of reality, alphanumeric forms define all binary logic and forms; our new reality.

The 1Malaysia language engages all of us in that new meaningful way. The Bangsa Malaysia logic had its own unique attraction; the challenge built within its framing of whether we can transcend our ethnicity to achieve our nationhood!

The beauty for me was the fact that we can talk about this ghost but could do it without either fear or any favour but rather with a solemn recognition that some things were really wrong in Malaysia then and we can collaborate to make this a better place for our children and their children!

The even greater encouragement was that whether it was a 21-year-old or an above 60 person; whether male or female, we could all identify with the past and hurts but we did not feel the need to carry it on and above into future generations.

We also resolved that step by step we can walk together and seek to build a joint and common future for our future generations; if we can forgive the mistakes of the past and move on into the future always recognising that many wrongs were committed by many involved, but the pains must become the basis of us building the future.

We agreed to walk side by side to begin our journey on a path into the future to enable and allow about more than 100 ethnicities found within the four corners of Malaysia to also walk on a journey to become and enjoy being 1stMalaysians or really first class Malaysians.

We agreed that poverty should be eradicated regardless of ethnicity and cultural origins including for newly-registered Malaysians whether from Bangladesh or Indonesia!

Well, I experienced faith and hope in the future of Malaysia on May 13th 2009. The ghost of May 13th 1969 was exorcised for me at least.

It was a joy to meet up and hear very much younger Malaysians, regardless of ethnicity, want to see and engender a future for this nation which has room for all Malaysians transcending ethnicity but tied together by common bonds of universal values. May God continue to bless Malaysia.