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Why Najibâ€™s 1Malaysia will fail â€“ Part 2

Posted by admin

Wednesday, 01 July 2009 18:01

The People's Parliament

In an illuminating piece that appeared in NSTOnline on 29th May, 2009, Dr Salim Argoes wasted no time getting to the points that needed to be made.

In his opening sentence, this is what he said :

“I think we are farther apart now than we were in 1969. But you have to remember that I grew up going to an English school, to a university where there were people of all races. At that time, although we did think in terms of race, it wasn’t in the way people do now. We felt that we were Malayans. We socialised much better than we do now”.

Dr Salim then addressed the contention by certain quarters that Bahasa Malaysia can be a unifying factor, first noting that language can also be divisive, and then made the following all-important observation :

“You don’t have to have a common language, if you have the same jiwa (heart, spirit, passion, devotion). This is what we don’t have right now”.

If Dr Salim’s right, and I think he is, where did Mahathir go wrong with his Vision 2020 such that he failed to put in place all that was necessary to establish “a united Malaysian nation with a sense of common and shared destiny” ?

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Comments (5) Add Comment

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written by wood, July 01, 2009 22:31:55

The answers and signs are for all to see! We really haven't improved. Imagine after all these years we need all these 1Malaysia stuff.! The article is well written. We think like Malaysians and we could speak pretty decent English back then. Even people like the present PM, DPM and all the other politicians of these age groups know that including our so called former Education Minister! What rubbish are we talking about now having to have unity and so on and wondering whether to teach in English for Mathematics and Science!

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written by carlitos, July 02, 2009 01:07:56

1 malaysia? how? Etnic cleansing? Who was the one shouting about bathing in chinese blood?

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written by MalaysianFirst, July 02, 2009 03:57:01

â€œYou donâ€™t have to have a common language, if you have the same jiwa (heart, spirit, passion, devotion). This is what we donâ€™t have right nowâ€.

True. But as a sovereign state, we should have a national language just like everybody else. You're also right, our national language may not necessarily unite us, but our "jiwa" will. If any country were to wage war against us, our "jiwa" as Malaysians will unite us. This issue is about "jiwa".

However, there is another issue. It's about communicating with the outside world. Here, we need to have a "common" language, common to the rest of the world. This has nothing to do with "jiwa". This issue is about survival. We have to accept that there is no known country or people (except for Indonesia and Brunei) that speak or use our national language as a language of choice whether at home or abroad, whether for business, education or leisure.

Go to any hotel, big or small, anywhere in Malaysia and see for yourself. Any foreign guest, whether from Saudi, or Japan, or China, or Tonga, France, Spain, or from any country, you'll find English is the "common" language spoken. Always.

Do we want Malaysians to only speak and understand Bahasa Malaysia while we are abroad doing business or vacationing?

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written by joeawk, July 02, 2009 12:24:20

I don't even understand what unity those fart are talking about. They seems to want to create issues to make themselves busy and be seen to be wortking.

The lesser the management, the smoother the operation and the customer better served.

There is little wrong outside the govt. If only the govt straighjten itself out, Malaysians will prosper. So, cabinet members and the civil swervice, you are all a disgrace. pay you to do a job but you turn your teeth at us. Screw you buggers.

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written by joeawk, July 02, 2009 12:30:31

Would he admit that he has been all wrong in his 22 years. He is the cause of a lost generation. Starngely, he, himaself and some nuts seemed to believed otherwise. They believed that he has done a ****ing great job when he actually took us to nowhere land.

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