Sunday, June 17, 2007

Best at everything: Vision 2057. But you're leaving out the main ingredient.

Pak Lah has a really inspiring speech writer. In 50 years, we'll be leading the world in... well, everything. The whole of Malaysia will advance and become the best in every field.

A 100 years of Merdeka would see this society, this nation achieve the unimaginable. We will have Nobel laureates, truly global corporations, respected and market- leading brands, internationally acclaimed poets and artists, among the largest number of scientific patents in the world and even the best football team in Asia.

Our students and professors will dominate Ivy League universities and our own universities will be citadels of excellence for international scholars.

We will be pioneers in alternative energy, drawing on our strength in biofuels. Our cities will be the most liveable on the globe, blending cosmopolitan facilities that are rooted in a tolerant and just societal ethos.

This is the Malaysia in my dreams for 2057. One hundred years of independence, one hundred years of advancement.
Well everything and every field... EXCEPT POLITICS! According to Pak Lah, as far as politics is concerned, it's status quo.
The Prime Minister also said that politically, the power-sharing system would continue to be the best of all possible worlds, given the country’s historical legacy.
So, he envisions UMNO and ketuanan Melayu still holding the reins. MCA, MIC & dan lain-lain (and their constituents) as the 80% taxation base, whipping boys and scapegoats. The perpetuation of the divisive communal politics will stagnate (and probably worsen) the country's multi-ethnic and multi-religious relations. The race-based political system is the underlying cause of the country's problems and it is the main thing that needs changing. I'm sure Pak Lah knows that, but I also think he knows that to change it means sacrificing UMNO's grip on power. And that I'm sure, is too high a sacrifice - even to be the best at everything.

100 years of advancement konon, just stop the damn crime and corruption first lah!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

... not to forget, the biggest dreamer (and strictly nothing beyond the dreaming stage)!

Pak Lah, why not envision something in the near future when you'll still be in power (like reduced corruption or crime leve), and not something u only do the envisioning part and someone else has to deliver the promises?