Clinging onto fading
hope
Like me, many Malaysians in their sixties, would be marking
this 60th Merdeka of our nation with heavy hearts. Having seen
better times before we are disturbed to see the state of affairs in the country
today. Our nation is being plagued by a number of ills that makes our hearts
painful.
As a nation we have made tremendous progress since our
independence, but today we seem to be losing all that we have achieved. These achievements
did not come to us freely but earned by the sweat and toil by all of us,
regardless of race, creed and political believes.
The ills in our country today that must be addressed with
some urgency are:
1. Racial and religious polarisation that is leading to
tension among the races. Racial and religious unity and goodwill has become a
top priority in the country.
2. Failed education system leading to declining levels of
moral values and standards in all areas. We are failing to produce people of
calibre and integrity. There is lack of role models in every aspect of
Malaysian life today
3. Financial mismanagement with massive corruption and
escalated cost of living that has become a big burden to the people.
4. Blatant abuse of power and lawlessness leading to high
crime rate and insecurity for the people
5. Politicisation and commercialisation of all services and
all aspects of life
The just concluded KL2017 Sea Games may give us some hope that all is not lost.
The victory in the games may bring some feel-good effects but it will take much
more commitment, determination and sacrifices on our part and especially of our
leaders to bring the right changes for lasting peace, harmony and prosperity
for our people.The
contribution of every citizen counts towards realising this aim of creating a
united and progressive nation that we were once proud of in the world.
The coming 14GE offers us another chance to save the nation.
As citizens let’s do our part and hope and pray that our leaders do theirs to
bring the nation back in the right direction.
Selamat Hari Merdeka ke-60
