Of Idul Fitri and the commercials

The recent TV3 Raya commercial had caused quite a furor among some members of the public who view the commercial as insensitive of the Islamic views on the Id Celebration. The depiction of the Christmas-like advert together with the lotus leaves was believed to be an attempt to bring the multiracial Malaysia with its many cultures and creeds into one advert of Hari Raya Celebration which has to sacrifice its own uniqueness as a religious celebration of returning to human sense of fitrah and emancipation from a month-long Great Fast of Ramadhan into a blend of multi-religious celebration under a Malaysian concept.
Although I must say that the advertisement scores on its creative style and approach, it's rather inappropriate at any time now or in the future. The various ethnic and religious celebrations over hundreds of years in this beloved country has always been unique in their own respective rights.

Independence

Celebrations have gone with the passage of time. How could the feels of Merdeka affect the next day in the office, in the coffee shop and in the home we cherish. Over 53 years of celebrations, I have not heard of any returns on investment in nation building albeit the oneness of the peoples of this beloved Nation. The Prime Minister had started his campaign with the revival of the One Nation that had been initiated by the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra. The build-up was marred during his (Tunku's) own life time when the Nation's first tragedy occurred in 1969, the infamous May 13. The impact was so strong that the Tunku had to hand over to Tun Razak who began the next phase of nation Building with a development oriented approach tackling the greater masses of the people. It was this tragedy that had given rise to the review of the economic activities of the various sectors of the people and their economic activities. By criss-crossing wealth distribution through the New Economic Policy the generally economically backward bumiputera groups were given opportunities in capacity building and wealth acquisition to come at par or at least narrowing the gap that exist between the economically enterprising Chinese business community and the bumiputera groups for a period of twenty years.

The time has lapsed. A review and fresher strategy has been introduced as the target was shown to have failed to achieve the 30% benchmark. We are going into areas that had not been thought of when the first phase was designed. With the shrinking world stage and the advances achieved through communication and information technology, the Nation is exposed to the world stage in real time. Policies and strategies are not anymore confined to selected groups among the policy makers and implementers. The improvements achieved through education and capacity building in the past had created a different group Malaysians irrespective of race and creed. The very thought of achieving the fair equity distribution is now facing a wider playing field and of different kinds with sophisticated regulations and laws that also include groups of nations and individuals that are becoming protective and competitive. The tasks are therefore more massive and require highly sophisticated inputs to put the nation building back to its course that wad been determine by the Tunku.

I believe the people themselves have to make this happen which also mean that their individual and groups needs are being made available in order the support is going to be holistic. The differences in groups and individuals understanding of nation building are very wide because of their separate training and educational base so the nation building strategies designed by those tasked to develop them will have to cope with these differences intelligently. Those formulating policies and strategies for the importance of nation building must themselves be aware of the differences within the peoples of the Nation and challenges facing them with the greater openings of the different windows of the world stage which are free for them to view and enter. It would be sad if the building of this national goal of One Malaysia be hacked by the opinions that exist in the different windows that are available to the generations of Malaysians who already have gaps in different degrees with the captains and generals of the Nation. We cannot reverse the flood gates of information flows and the best thing to do is to manage them well before we meet a second failed attempt in our endeavor to create a truly Malaysian Nation.

Merdeka.

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