The fight for equality has always been the backbone of every struggle encountered here in Malaysia. There is always this tendency for the government to label these struggles to be challenging the special privileges accorded to the bumiputras. However, the government is not entirely to be blamed in its action to crack down hard on these “elements” since most of the methods employed could be construed as extreme and sometimes to the extent of being violent. It cannot be denied that equality is a form of basic human rights preached by the doctrine of democracy. Everyone should be treated as equals regardless of race, religion or nationality. However, the main question that everyone should ponder on, what is actually regarded as being treated equally?
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In Malaysia, there are many races and with different faiths living side by side. How do we determine then that what is accorded to one race is actually not equal to another race? For example, in education, the Chinese are well known to emphasize in this area from generations ago and they normally excel in this area. Therefore, in order to be equals, don’t the Malays or maybe Indians required additional help in order to be on par with their fellow counterpart? There are many other areas that one race requires much needed assistance compared to another race and vice versa. Everyone should be given an equal chance to compete with the necessary tools. Isn’t that what is construed as everyone being treated equally? The Malaysian constitution and the political landscape actually promote this ideology of protecting each race’s interests. Where else in the world that we can find a ruling government consists of various race-based parties working together so effectively? Not to belittle the oppositions’ contributions, the current ruling coalition is the best bet entity to bring success to Malaysia.
The next question that comes to mind is, why are there so many rallies demanding for equal rights? What the people that supported these rallies don’t realize is that they are barking at the wrong tree. The system does promote equality but the people executing the system are the failures. For example, why the bumiputras still cannot achieve the 30% equity of the economy? How will they be able to achieve that if the whole pie accorded to them is being given to a selected few only? Imagine a tender for a RM10 million project being given to a sole beneficiary. Wouldn’t it be better to have spread it out to 10 beneficiaries? It might be a mistake by thinking this happens, but all doubts can be eliminated if there are open tenders published publicly. Corruptions are rampant within the government and some officers are publicly charged. It would be wishful thinking if these are considered as isolated cases. Government agencies wasting millions on pointless projects and shadowy claims whereby these money can be used to benefit every Malaysian citizen.
Every citizen must realize that the peace we achieved here in Malaysia is envied by other countries. We must never jeopardize that by being guided to the wrong direction. The equality we all should be fighting for is to ensure the government treats its citizens and its “elite friends” as equals.
The next question that comes to mind is, why are there so many rallies demanding for equal rights? What the people that supported these rallies don’t realize is that they are barking at the wrong tree. The system does promote equality but the people executing the system are the failures. For example, why the bumiputras still cannot achieve the 30% equity of the economy? How will they be able to achieve that if the whole pie accorded to them is being given to a selected few only? Imagine a tender for a RM10 million project being given to a sole beneficiary. Wouldn’t it be better to have spread it out to 10 beneficiaries? It might be a mistake by thinking this happens, but all doubts can be eliminated if there are open tenders published publicly. Corruptions are rampant within the government and some officers are publicly charged. It would be wishful thinking if these are considered as isolated cases. Government agencies wasting millions on pointless projects and shadowy claims whereby these money can be used to benefit every Malaysian citizen.
Every citizen must realize that the peace we achieved here in Malaysia is envied by other countries. We must never jeopardize that by being guided to the wrong direction. The equality we all should be fighting for is to ensure the government treats its citizens and its “elite friends” as equals.
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