Malaysia Baru? Yes, this is a term coined, not by the new government that we had elected, but by the media. Is it really a new Malaysia that we are living in now?
I had the chance to be in Singapore over the long weekend break and had a chat with an ex Malaysian Professor that has resided overseas for most of his working career. He had chosen to settle down in Singapore for the last 30 years maybe and it was just recently that he gave up his Malaysian citizenship.
What started our chat was a simple question of “Is New Malaysia better now?” and we progressed to his Singaporean citizenship. I asked him why did he give it up? He said with a tinge of what could be regret, “I thought that there wouldn’t be a change of power and UMNO with its racial politics will not change”.
Rakyat, the one in power
Now, he noted that, at least Malaysians now know that they are the one in power. I noted in jest that he chose to stay on in a country that has the same government for the last 50 odd years as well.
Yes, Singapore in all her glory, has a stable economy and strong currency. In a country of 5.6million people, Singapore has been the regional hub for ASEAN and a thriving business environment. She has also long been touted as the safest country in this region as well. But their political scene is really no different. There is a lot of leg work done now in 2018 to ensure their citizen’s voices are heard, tabled in Parliament and in preparation for their next General Election that must be held before 15th January 2021.
New Malaysia?
Where is this New Malaysia that we have been touting about? Well, for one, news are not censored anymore and there is no fear of repercussion. Malaysians are now more social media savvy, where everything that goes wrong will be uploaded on social media and it becomes viral. Ministers in the government are more engaging through Facebook and Twitter. Complains are piled on nonstop, blame shifting and fingers pointing galore in the last few months. People are shouting to purge out and weed all the bad ones. One hopes that the people of Malaysia will keep the current government in check, from their election promises to really seeing it through for New Malaysia.
And finally one hopes that Malaysians abroad will now come back and contribute to the country, stay on and persevere. I did and millions as well. This is homeland, like it or not, Malaysia, be it new or old, is HOME.
Happy Malaysia Day
– Amoi Malaysia
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