Despite the last half a century of rapid development, relative peace and prosperity, Malaysia has miles to go before it can call itself a nation united. There are those that say that the peace that exists is fragile; that all it takes is one major incident to re-ignite the racial riots of 1969. However, it is not fear of such a tragedy that drives the quest for 1 Malaysia. Rather, it is the knowledge that to achieve its goal of being a nation on par with the rest of the global community, Malaysia must rely on its people - all of them - and make full use of its human capital to achieve its potential. Only when this occurs can an achievement like Vision 2020 become a reality.
Interdependence has always been Malaysia's secret to success, however, it has never been truly embraced. Now, with 1 Malaysia, the new Prime Minister has decided that it is time to stop apologizing for who we are as a nation and begin exploiting it as the vehicle to drive the nation to its next phase of success. It is not merely a cliche to say 'unity through diversity.' Malaysia has been doing it for over fifty years. However, more work needs to be done to make it a lasting reality and the very source of success itself.
1Malaysia is designed to re-orient Malaysia toward a new direction geared towards greater unity and success. The days of a nation functioning as independent and separate ethnic and racial communities are gone. The new world we are living in requires the nation to act as one - to live, eat and breath interdependence in everything that we do. The time has come, therefore, to give real life to the term 'bangsa Malaysia,' or a 'Malaysian people' - that puts its loyalties to the greater society above all else by dedicating to eight noble principles as laid out by the Prime Minister. Through these eight principles, the nation has a blueprint for moving towards becoming united, able and ready to take on any and all challenges that might come its way.
1Malaysia, in fact, already exists. Its foundation is written into the founding principles of the nation (rukun negara) and the country's constitution and we live it everyday in our communities. It's called interdependence, yet due to political and historical realities, a united Malaysia in both form and spirit has yet to reach its full potential. It is a story that, God willing, will have a happy ending for the simple reason that it must. A nation disunited in challenging times is doomed to fail. And right now, the nation and world are facing challenges on multiple fronts.
A united nation is a confident nation. A nation that is confident believes that no challenge is too great and that nothing can stand in its way. The spirit of 1Malaysia is toward creating a nation that truly believes that it can not only compete with anyone in the world, but that it can lead. To date, much of the discourse has been limited to the wish to be competitive as a nation. This is limited thinking and is at least partially due to the fact that Malaysia is not a confident nation. 'Malaysia boleh' which means 'Malaysia can' must be transformed into 'Malaysia yakin' which means 'Malaysia is confident'. Malaysia yakin will naturally result when we learn that all we need to be successful already exists within our borders, and that we have everything we need to succeed, we only lack the belief and will to do it.
Unity is contagious. When people are united in their beliefs, the result can move mountains. History is the best teacher in this regard. Dedication to the nation and its development requires a belief that what one is doing is important and valued. Dedication does not result from fear campaigns, forced labor, propoganda or misinformation. Dedication results from a strong, unwavering belief that what one is doing is important, and that one's efforts will bear fruit. Traditionally, those who have been most dedicated to movements, whether they be political, social or other, have been those who have believed in those movements with all their hearts and souls. Those who have been willing to give everything of themselves, even their lives, for their beliefs in something better.
The belief that one can be the best results in the confidence and dedication to working towards that goal. Malaysia must also embrace its unique founding principles and bring them to life through the policies and practices of the country as well as the interactions between its diverse people. Malaysia, among developing nations, is often referred to as the best example of how a pluralistic, multi-religious country can live peacefully and enjoy the benefits of prosperity. As a nation of only 52 years, what Malaysia has accomplished has, by many measures, far exceeded what the developed nations were able to achieve in their first 50 years of statehood. Yet, many Malaysians do not realize these things about the nation.
Loyalty, in practice, means working to strengthen racial and faith communities for the betterment of the nation as a whole. 1Malaysia means supporting each other and in doing so to ensure that individual identities are not threatened, that people can still maintain their cultural and religious freedoms and traditions while being wholeheartedly patriotic at the same time. It's what makes being a Malaysian so unique.
A nation requires balance and equilibrium for harmony to ensue. This can only be achieved if each of the major groups in society are capable of knowing and fulfilling their respective roles and realizing that one group can only prosper when all the others do. If any one group is successful at the expense of another, it is a sign of disequilibrium that indicates peace and prosperity will not last for long. It further indicates that we are not valuing unity, for a truly united nation will not tolerate seeing injustice and inequality among the other groups. If one of our communities is hurting, it is up to the others to help that community overcome its challenges. Thus, the test of unity is whether or not the nation functions as a living system, or is it merely 'tolerating' each other's existence. None of the major groups in Malaysian society should rest if and when the others are suffering.
The vision of 1Malaysia should not be a utopian dream where each of the major groups in society are expected to be good at all things, look like one another, sound like one another and do the same things. Rather, in the same way that a football team has unique roles for each of its players, each of the groups, through a focus on individual strengths, can maximize its contribution to the whole, resulting in balance and equilibrium. To accomplish this feat, eight lofty principles have been put forward by the Prime Minister of Malaysia in the context of the 1 Malaysia initiative. These eight principles are: humility, acceptance, loyalty, meritocracy, education, integrity, culture of excellence, and perseverance. These principles, when realized, will result in not just a unified nation but a harmonious and dynamic human community comprised of different shapes, sizes and colours that represent the richness and uniqueness of Southeast Asia.
Source: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=77666
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