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SEPT 9 As a young Malaysian who loves his country, the rising sectarian tensions of the past few weeks have caused me no small amount of pain and worry. I have always believed this country's greatest strength was its diversity and multicultural ethos. The machinations by certain quarters to deny or even negate this will surely spell the end of Malaysia.

Allow me to be blunt: Datuk Ahmad Ismail's comments are un-Malaysian and go against the tenets of every faith or system of ethics. You can bring up "history" (which we all know is written by the victors) or whatever excuse you can think of but it still does not justify the mean-spirited and retrograde nature of his comments.

There is simply no way any sane, peace-loving citizen of this nation can possibly subscribe to his version of our nation's past, present and future.

This and other statements of that ilk are not an attack on just one group or political party. It threatens all of us because it strikes at the heart of all that is good and noble about our country. The racialist voices that are being heard with increasing frequency make a mockery of the foundations of our nation, namely that disparate peoples can come together and live in a harmonious, progressive society.

Ahmad Ismail's statement cheapens and besmirches all of our citizenships, whether we are Malay, Chinese, Indian, Melanau, Dayak, Iban or any of the 60 or so ethnic groups who make up this land.

How long do Malaysians have to be straddled by the milestones of ethno-religious sentiment? Our country prides itself by its nationalistic and anti-imperialist stance. Why then do we still let the categorisations and divisions of our colonised past, which were set in place to serve the interest of a foreign power, to still govern our passions?

When can we stop looking at ourselves and each other as -native- or -immigrant-? When does -citizenship begin-? When does -nationhood-?

You cannot convince me that -this is the way things have always been-. You cannot tell me that this mental, social and spiritual apartheid (pronounced "apart-hate") that we have found ourselves in is an ideal situation which can work in the long run.

You cannot make me believe that it is impossible for me to reach out to my brothers and sisters of a different skin colour, who pray to Almighty God in a different way, to link hands and move our country forward. You will not compel me to drop my own belief that the time has come, more than ever before, to think and speak out on -sensitive issues- like this, rather than bottle it up all inside and hope for the best.

When you look at our nation, and at each other, with eyes stripped away of the petty rivalries and political skulduggery, you will come to realise how superficial all these barriers we place between ourselves are. Malaysians are all, despite their being of so many -races-, hardworking, honest people who love their families and their country. Why can we not concentrate on the things that unite us?' Why must we sabotage ourselves and the greater cause of Bangsa Malaysia for trifles?

We have more in common with each other than we do with the politicians who are trying to play the same old game of pecah dan perintah. There is a vast reservoir of compassion and empathy in all of us, if only we could look beyond our (supposed) self-interest and to the bigger picture.

We are a better people than that. We are a more united, liberal and progressive people than we give ourselves credit for. We can be one nation, if we could only take the national agenda back from the hands of the reactionary elites who currently hold it in a vice-like grip. Malaysia can change, but only if its people have the will and the courage to do so.

This is not a time to lose faith in democracy. This is not a time to lose faith in ourselves. Whatever happens to our political landscape in the coming weeks and months is only incidental. What is necessary for the creation of a just and unified Malaysia is a citizenry that is active, virtuous and conscious of both their rights and responsibilities. Malaysians have to take their country back if they wish to make it a place that their children and grandchildren can be proud of.

I can already hear the hackles I am raising by these words. Leave and go to another country if you don't like it here. Apply for citizenship in a certain North Asian country, as a certain website advised Malaysian youths of a certain ethnicity dissatisfied with the nation's state of affairs.

Well this penduduk who is the descendant of pendatangs is not going to do so. This is my country too and I have just as much a right to it as anyone else. We all have a right to it, but ultimately, Malaysia owns all of us and not vice-versa.

Let us resist the temptation to act out of anger, fear or spite. Let us not easily be fooled when partisans speak of our communities -being threatened-. We can rise above the divisions, if we could only realise our common humanity.

There will always be incidents like this one, individuals who will try and cause tension. It is a sad fact issues like this will always crop up in multiracial societies. But the acid test for the strength of such communities lies in their ability to stand up and against such baiting, to make those individuals see that such statements are unacceptable in a civilised nation.

If Malaysia is truly the multiracial entity that it claims to be, then the challenge posed by the latest round of ethnic demagoguery cannot go unchallenged. We need to show these people that they do not speak for us, and that we do not share their hate.

Malaysians need to speak as one voice and reject the scaremongering, reject the sectarian passions. The time is here and the time is now.