Every year during the Merdeka to Malaysia Day celebration, one will hear the repeated debate over the date of Merdeka, Merdeka is only for the Peninsular states, and this year, a new debate: Is it National Day or Merdeka Day?
From the Sabah and Sarawak side, a new one surfaced. A history Professor claim their independence is sometime in 1945. Jeffrey Kitingan used the occasion to rant over addressing Sabah as a state. More to be heard approaching Malaysia Day.
Oh boy, good thing Johoreans did not bother to gloat of their history of never formerly a colony of Britain. As sovereign, it had embassies abroad in as far away as European capitals.
These are all talking of the past. Needed is introspection into the present and set foresight for the future. Being correct merely gives a false sense of national or state or racial pride.
Its a matter of different forms, but the reality was all states in Semenanjong, Sabah and Sarawak were British colonies. All were poor!
Better be practical and address the problems of nation building.
Trading nation
The short practical answer to his question is a big NO! And NO it is not possible.
As a trading nation, due to our history, location on international trade route, and as a maritime nation, it is a natural choice to be linked and interdependent with trade counterparts; be it other nations, regions and multinationals or since its Merdeka, call them post-colonial commercial interest.
Naturally a small nation like Malaysia need to get plugged into the global trading ecosystem for opportunity, sourcing of raw materials, investment, and growth. Malaysia is too small a market for the goods produced and services provided by Malaysians.
Jeyakumar is not wrong to claim we are only benefitting from the crumbs and bone soup, not the bigger chunk of meat. If the volume is large, that is sizeable for a small nation like Malaysia. Done right and smart, smaller Singapore is more prosperous and a success story.
Nothing wrong with the economic and development model or business model.
Common concern
Jeyakumar raised issue with high household debt, low household income, low tax revenue, low corporate tax, and rising national debt. The same issues the government; current and past administrations are grappling with and the solution is always needs a balancing act between a myriad of political, economic and commercial realities.
The socialist mindset of Jeyakumar seemed to be leaning towards greater role of government and more spending for the public healthcare system, old age pension scheme, subsidised public transport in all our cities, and free tertiary education. Fair, its the same aspiration of non-socialist leaders from Pak Lah to Najib and sidestepped to Anwar.
The concerns are universal thus the more relevant discussion would be on the not so visible causes of the problems and how to achieve the desired outcomes from the presently available inputs while taking account of the present and future variables and constraints.
That's being practical.
Ideological
More than likely Jeyakumar will be ideological and discussed along solving identified problems.
He is likely to suggest along the socialistic "political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole."
So happen, one of the flank the Republican Presidential candidate, Donald Trump is attacking Democrat candidate, Kamala Harris is to call her a 'female socialist', a negative label in capitalism or anti-communist America.
Kamala was labelled so for her people friendly positions to tax the wealthy more, improve on healthcare, more jobs, price control, financial assistance for first time home buyers, student loans, and so on. Similar to the concerns of Jeyakumar and Malaysian national leaderships.
However, the solution will differ between government role or free market mechanism. As for Kamala, she denied the allegation. Economist Professor Richard Wolff seemed infuriated and vehemently disagree with the label on her.
There is no element of community in Kamala's programs and she is hardly Bernie Sanders. Nothing socialistic or ideological about her.
Yet Republican campaigners and media is pressing on with the problems of shortages, empty shelves and poor housing conditions in socialist countries like Cuba, and Venezuela to scare off voters. That's political campaigning, but ideological leaning in America is for liberal democrasy.
However, free market mechanism is supposed to fulfill every facet of human needs but it is neither working nor democratic.
Practical and accomodating
In fact, the current successful model in China is a practical form of socialism with state and private free enterprise. Its still centrally planned and like capitalism, not owned/operated by the community but the few.
Hear out the socialism vs capitalism debate between Prof Richard Wolff and Prof Gene Epstein four years ago at NYU HERE. Since communism is seldom raised when socialism is discussed, Wolff on Communism HERE.
In Malaysia, socialism and more so its unfair close association to communism gets a bad rap from the colonial capitalist legacy, feudel incumbency, anti-British communist terrorism sentiment, and long lasting prejudicial stereotype against the Chinese community.
Throw in PAS's version of conservative Islam, it becomes common to dwell on sensitive issues such as the use of the national language and concert by foreign acts. Bring in Sabah and Sarawak sentiment, all gets muddled up into hodgepodge of unclear ideology and mishmash mosaic of public policies.
The answer lies in being practical and a "more accommodation and understanding and less prejudice and judgement, making our nation a kinder place for all" to quote from Star columnist, June Wong as solution.
But it is not easy.
Just move on
Perhaps, like in any long standing family feud, head-on to rectify past disputes or ideological rivalry is not the solution but time is the healer by ignoring the past and just move on forward.
In the words of Robert H Schiler, "Let your hope, not your hurts, shape your future".
To quote former Bernama CEO and Editor-in-chief, Dato Yong Soo Heong's hope for the nation in his NST column leading to Merdeka celebration:
The unity government is tackling these issues, but it's crucial to recognise that true national unity requires commitment. Sceptics are aplenty. Fence-sitters even more.
While there may be cynics to affirmative plans, many believe that providing crutches forever may not be good over the long term.
Being cocooned from the grim realities of life may be detrimental to our competitive spirit as many of our neighbours have surpassed us in areas where we once held sway.
The challenge is clear: we must address key areas for improvement, particularly in education and skills development.
History shows us the consequences of neglecting these areas. Nations with robust educational systems and reform — Japan, Germany and China — have surged ahead. It's time we invest in our future with the same vigour.
In addition to educational advancements, we need to champion better governance and accountability. Corruption is a disease that undermines our nation's integrity and wellbeing. Tackling it head-on is essential for building a better Malaysia.
So, as we celebrate our nation's milestones, let's remember that our journey is ongoing.
By embracing unity, investing in education, and demanding good governance, we can build on our successes and create a Malaysia that will shine on the global stage.
Tired of past pettiness that will never get anything resolved but same issues repeated like a longstanding family feud. Lets just move on and not be lost in ideology.
To pun John F Kennedy, the spirit of nation building lies in the advice: Ask not what Malaysia can do for you but what you can do for Malaysia.
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