I have a dream Pt 1

I am borrowing the title of this column from the speech of Martin Luther King Jr, as seasoned readers would have noticed already. Thrust into national spotlight after the bus protest march in Birmingham, where he was duly arrested and incarcerated, King built on that momentum and months later led a massive march to Washington, DC, on Aug 28, 1963. On the steps of Lincoln Memorial, he evoked the conscience of a nation in the name of Honest Abe in his ‘I have a dream\’ speech, which amassed cross-sectional support for desegregation culminating with the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

I felt the same evocation while listening to Professor Shamsul Amri at the National Affairs Policy Dialogue. The Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) organised this event, and high on the agenda and in the ensuing discussions was the imperative to revert to need-based ethnic relations and public policies. Shamsul Amri is the co-ordinator of ethnic relations courses taught in local universities.

I postulate the following questions as a means to examine the situation in Malaysia. Can every Malaysian dare to dream King\’s ideal and therefore claim our rightful place under the Malaysian sun? Can every Malaysians thereby be treated with dignity, respect and honour? Where then do we find such a guarantee other than in our Constitution, as Raja Nazrin Shah so ably reminded us?

Can every last Malaysian living in the hills of his barrio, for example, experience and enjoy the freedom and dignity that our founding father Tunku Abdul Rahman echoed in immortality in his: ‘ Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka !\’

And, in extension the probe builds; do the Hindraf Five, for instance, enjoy the rights and privileges of all other Malaysian who are still free? Do we not, all Malaysians, have the same sentiments and feelings for the marginalised poor Indians whom Hindraf fights for?

Should we all therefore not be in jail with them for we share their cause and reasons? Should Chin Peng and Rashid Mydin, who fought the British and Japanese for ‘different reasons\’, enjoy the rights and privileges of Malaysian citizens, now that the British have left? Do the handicapped in Malaysia enjoy equal rights?

Why is development in Malaysia so unequally distributed? Why does KL City Hall get a development budget that is greater than that of the whole state of Sabah or Sarawak, both blessed with oil revenues? Why is City Hall run by the federal government when the opposition controls almost all of KL? Why are the land rights of traditional ‘peoples of the soil\’ in Sabah and Sarawak being denied to them in the interests of others, or of even that of the state?

These are all questions about the dignity of the different ethnic or need-based groups in Malaysia, 50 years after Merdeka.

Therefore, please allow me the privilege of borrowing the whole of King\’s speech, but with some localisation to demonstrate that his issues of yesterday are the same today for us in Malaysia and will continue to be for many others, tomorrow, in the region and elsewhere.

Here goes. (King\’s ‘I have a dream\’ speech in italics, and my transposition to local context in non-italics)

‘ Still not free\’

‘ Five score years ago, a great American (President Abraham Lincoln), in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. \’

Two scores and decade ago, a great Malaysian, in whose mighty shadow we stand today, signed the Merdeka Declaration. That momentous event came as a beacon of hope for all Malayans, who metamorphosed into free citizens of the Federation of Malaya overnight. It was a freedom from colonial rule to determine and define our own fate. It came as a joyous daybreak from a long night of British captivity.

‘ But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatise a shameful condition. \’

But fifty years later, the poor Malaysian is still not free. Fifty years later, the life of the poor Malaysian is still crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. Fifty years later, the many poor Malaysians live in secluded and isolated islands of poverty in the vast ocean of material prosperity. Fifty years later, the poor Malaysians are languishing in the corners of Malaysian society and find themselves in exile in their own and only land. So, many have marched in the last few months, to dramatise the shameful conditions of some Malaysians.

‘ In a sense we have come to our nation\’s capital to cash a cheque. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\’

In a sense all these Malaysians marched to the nation\’s capital to cash a cheque. When the architects of our nation wrote the magnificent words of our Constitution and the Declaration of the Rukunegara, they gave a promissory note to which every Malaysian was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men (and women) of all colors and shades would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of hapiness.

‘ It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of colour are concerned. Instead of honouring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad cheque, a cheque which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds\’. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this cheque – a cheque that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

‘ We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilising drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God\’s children. \’

It is obvious today that Malaysia has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as the poor Malaysians of various ethnic origins are concerned including the pribumis of Sabah and Sarawak. Instead of honouring this sacred obligation, Malaysia has given the poor Malaysians a bad cheque, a cheque which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds\’. But, we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity in this nation. So we have come to cash this cheque – a cheque that will give us, upon demand, the riches of freedom and security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind Malaysia of the fierce urgency of doing it now.

This not time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilising drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make and deliver the real promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation onto the sunlit path of of ethnic justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of ethnic injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood of mankind and the celebration of diversity therein. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all God\’s children in our land.

May God bless Malaysia.