I VOTE FOR UNITY

I question my leaders.

Why bring up racial sentiments and provoke the nation? Now, the Malays, Chinese and Indians are at a very uneasy state. They see one another with caution and differences. This has never happened before when BN was ruling the nation in a stable manner.

It seems like the leaders of UMNO are self destructing. They are playing the racial card. UMNO must not forget the alliance with MCA and MIC. MCA and MIC suffered great losses when they did not receive sufficient backing from their communities in the seats they contested.

As far as I know, even a PAS candidate managed to defeat a MIC candidate in the GE in March 2008.

Judging by the fact that even a PAS member can beat an MIC member in a State seat, we can see that quite a handful of the Malays are supporting PAS and PKR.

Some Malays even told me that they voted for DAP because “kalau nak pergi ke Bulan, kami akan undi Rocket juga”. And with the non Malays not supporting Barisan Nasional candidates be it MCA or MIC or worst still Gerakan, where will UMNO stand?

If UMNO carries on like this, UMNO will be left in the cold and in fact, we might see more and more UMNO leaders leaving UMNO itself for PKR or PAS. UMNO might be heading towards a big crash.

After the dismal election results, MCA and MIC have been rebranding their parties and reaching out to their communities to explain why Barisan Nasional, a united multiracial party, is still relevant. Now, with UMNO leaders playing the racial card, MCA and MIC are getting slapped and stabbed even by their own communities.

If UMNO keeps singing the tune that they are superior and keep disrespecting the many decades long alliance with MCA and MIC and maintain a harmonious multiracial country, then UMNO will be the smallest party in Malaysia soon.

Given the fact that UMNO held talks with PAS recently, there is a possibility that the restructuring of political landscape in Malaysia might see not only a Barisan Nasional breakup and crossovers to Pakatan Rakyat but also PAS leaving Pakatan Rakyat to form an alliance with UMNO. That will also mean 5 years of great political instability.

I hope UMNO, MCA and MIC can maintain their alliance together because the alliance was forged by our founding fathers to unite our nation.

Remember that these three parties formed Parti Perikatan which is the Barisan Nasional today together with other parties like Gerakan, PPP, SAPP and many more. MCA and MIC are the largest and longest partners of UMNO to form a multiracial Barisan Nasional.

UMNO must play their strategies right. MCA and MIC cannot reach out to their communities and to all Malaysians under the name of Barisan Nasional if UMNO keep singing the racial tune. The survival of Barisan Nasional is at stake. Do not make mistakes.

I once wrote the story which a Malay teacher highlighted to me. He asked me “Apakah itu hak istimewa orang Melayu?”. I said it is a special right that cares for the Malays’ welfare.

He told me, he doesn’t feel any different with or without the hak istimewa. He doesn’t get rich or better off with or without the hak istimewa. The only thing he sees or personally enjoys is just the 5% discount on property purchases and nothing besides that.

It seemed to him that the Malay privileges here are more noted in tenders and contracts or favors for UMNO members. Obviously, he is from PAS. But if a voter like this teacher thinks like this, UMNO must rebrand itself and make it more appealing to the Malays especially.

UMNO does not have massive support from the Malays, and now they are also chasing the non Malays away from supporting their fellow Barisan Nasional partners. UMNO needs a rebranding!

If not for the words of the leaders, the friendship of the Malays, Chinese and Indians will not be affected be it in schools, universities, workplaces, food courts or anywhere you can imagine. We, the citizens of Malaysia, are heavily influenced by the words of our leaders.

Leaders should mind what words they use and place unity as their top priority. This message goes out not only to UMNO leaders but also to Gerakan, MCA and MIC party members.

Personally, I hope UMNO, MCA and MIC can unite for the sake of Barisan Nasional and the people of Malaysia. Even if BN becomes the Opposition as claimed by Anwar on Sept 16th, BN must not lose its members and break up the alliance.

Otherwise, Pakatan Rakyat will have a “political monopoly” and we all know the characteristics of a monopolist, don’t we? There is also always a “comeback” for Barisan Nasional if Sept 16th sees BN and PR changing roles.

According to an article in Rockybru, there is a SMS going around saying :

Sebarkan: BN: 140 Kerusi (MP Islam - 89 kerusi; MP bukan Islam - 51) Pakatan: 82 kerusi (MP Islam - 43 kerusi; MP bukan Islam - 39) Katalah jadi 30 yg lompat, semua bukan Islam, maka kerusi Pakatan 43 MP Islam & 69 MP bukan Islam..jika 30 yg lompat, 5 Islam 25 bukan, maka Pakatan jadi 48 MP Islam & 64 bukan Islam..jika inilah yg Anwar kehendaki, maka dia akan memusnah Islam & Melayu di M'sia..kita berdoa agar ia hanya impian kosong & Allah lindungi BN.

Not that I am a fan of the Opposition, but allow me to note that even if Pakatan Rakyat has a higher percentage of non Muslim MPs, the Dewan Rakyat has in total 132 Muslim MPs and 90 non Muslim MPs.

If a non Muslim MP tables a motion that slams Islam and wants the Parliament to declare that Malaysia is not an Islamic state or that Islam shall not be the official religion in Malaysia, do you logically think that will be passed?

I can bet with every dollar I have now that Islam and the Malay rights will be protected in Malaysia given the equation of 132 Muslim MPs and 90 non Muslim MPs. Text messages like these are really foolish!

Please take note that I am not implying anything here and I for one would like to set the record straight that I respect the Malays as the majority population of the country with specific Bumiputera rights.

Note that Bumiputera rights here include not only Malays but the Indigenous people as well. Also, I strongly agree with the Constitution of Malaysia and our policies that Malaysia’s official language is Bahasa Malaysia and of course our official religion is Islam.

There is no question about this and I will defend my country and my views if anyone questions these.

Again, I vote for unity and a progressive society !