Do Not Abuse 1Malaysia

Malaysia has long been labelled a country of first class infrastructure with a society of third world mentality. Though one should discount the appalling public transportation and faltering rural schools to justify this statement.

But yes, Malaysians are a third world society. If history stands to witness, Malaysians abuse everything that is provided to them. First, it was public infrastructure. Nowadays, we seem to have gone one step further in perverting government policies to satisfy our own personal interests. We simplify and misinterpret government policies, hence constipating the whole society building process. 

News was, Malaysians have already started to abuse our PM’s barely infant 1Malaysia concept. Malaysians saw the concept as an opening to demand unreasonable provisions from the government even as Najib has yet to reveal details of the concept. 

He did, though, summarize the three main thrust of the concept. Comprehensive acceptance, nationhood and social justice. These are noble virtues but I don’t see the opposition making any concessions. They would continue abusing the 1Malaysia concept as they have everything the government has afforded them since independence. Here are notable examples:

1. Infrastructure

Remember when phone booths used to exist? And remember how a working one never existed? A defect phone booth wasn’t neccesarily useless. In fact, the first form of texting (SMS) was invented with a phone booth. We vandalized them phone booths and signed off by either carving or using permanent pens to write stuff like “Jimmy was here” or “I love Amy”. The next passerby would then get our messages. We have since replaced phone booths with mobile phones and kids these days abuse them by taking naked pictures of themselves.

Primitive SMS Spam

2. The National Car

Mahathir established our own national carmaker in 1983 so that people could afford cheap cars and at the same time cultivate patriotism. The Proton maybe cheap and slow but the pride driving in one is priceless. Not only do Malaysians complain about the quality of Proton cars and the government‘s protectionist policies, we drive our Protons recklessly and cause accidents even when driving at low speed. Road accidents cause the highest number of deaths every year but accidents involving foreign made cars are comparatively less. Why do we hate our national car so much? 

3. The Freedom of Speech

The freedom of speech is guaranteed under the constitution. However, it is sad that many have exploited this right by criticizing the government and other authorities. Our founding fathers have gravely overestimated the intelligence of the people. Criticizing is not in our culture as it not polite to do so especially if the government says it is not constructive. Of course we may offer our objections and opinions. But only through pantuns (Malay poems).

4. The Democratic System

Half the nation abused the democratic system in 2008 by voting against BN. The Alliance didn’t grant this nation democratic elections to be voted out of power. People are allowed to vote every five years so that we could show our gratitude towards the UMNO led government. That’s why the ballot is secret, so that our sincerity is assured. 

5. The ISA

The ISA is another example subject to frequent abuse. The ISA may be a throwback from the colonial era but today it serves as a preventative measure to counter rising crime. But guess what do people do? They become candlelight terrorists. They hold candlelight vigils and strike angst into neighbourhoods during the night. When the police haul these terrorist and throw them into jail, they play victim and accuse the ISA of being draconian and undemocratic.

6. Blogs

The most recent, yet the most rampant of abuses. A recent survey showed that 93% of BN lawmakers do not know what “blog” stands for. Okay, that isn’t true. But nobody would be surprised, no?