Time for needs-based policies to bring the nation together

Having just watched the movie “Invictus,” I began to think about our country heading into the 14th general election this year.

Against the wisdom of all neutral political analysts I harbour the hope that finally, the rakyat will cast away the deadweight of the Umnoputras around our necks.

This nation of ours, blessed with multiple natural resources and not cursed by any major natural disasters has been sliding southwards since the 1970s.

But the past decade under MO1, the rot had gotten worse, we have seen a kleptocracy almost unparalleled in recent times in world history.

Billions of ringgit have been siphoned from the nation's coffers yet all the law enforcement agencies of our country dare claim not a single sen has been lost through 1MDB.  

As I survey the leadership of Pakatan Harapan, I feel disheartened that in the lineup there is not a leader there who seems capable of uniting our nation's diverse ethnic backgrounds, of charting a new path if the unimaginable happens and the Umnoputras are evicted from Putrajaya.

If my memory serves me correctly, Anwar Ibrahim was making all the right sounds about a united nation before he was incarcerated at Sungai Buloh. Perhaps, like Mandela, his time behind bars will help him see what needs to be done to heal this fractious nation of ours.

I think we delude ourselves if we fail to accept the fact that the unity and harmony prevailing in our nation at this moment is only skin deep. Just a tiny scratch will reveal the yawning chasm that exists between the rakyat of different races.

I have been told the rakyat in Sabah and Sarawak have better interracial relationships. That is well and good, so perhaps the model there can be a basis for improving race relationships in the peninsula.

In the movie “Invictus,” Mandela was able to use rugby to unite a nation torn apart by more than three decades of apartheid rule.

I am only all too aware that we live in a different time and age. Yes, the circumstances facing our nation are different as well. Yet, like many who call this nation our homeland, we yearned to be able rightfully stake our claim as equal citizens in this country.

Where has the decades of positive discrimination and race-based policies led our country? Is it not time to boldly go where no politician has gone before- to use a needs-based discrimination policy as the way forward?- Mkini