Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has captured the imagination of many Americans because of his ability to transcend previously well-demarcated boundaries of race, religion and political ideology. Even after it was revealed that his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, had made inflammatory and what seems like anti-American remarks in a series of sermons, Obama used this opportunity to make a measured and mature speech on race relations in the United States.

But I wished that he could have gone further. I wished that instead of only explaining the deep misgivings of the African American community from the perspective of an African American, he could also have reached out and spoke about the legitimate fears and dissatisfactions of White Americans and even Latino and Asian Americans.

And I wish that there are politicians in Malaysia who would do the same.

I wish that there was a Malay politician who would tell his Malay constituents about how a Chinese or Indian middle class family feels about having to save enough money to send their children for an overseas education when they see their Malay middle class neighbor with equally bright children not having to do the same, safe in the knowledge that they will be able to obtain government scholarships easily.

I wish that there was a Malay politician who would tell his Malay constituents that many non- Malays feel as if they were second class citizens in their own country because they come across government policies on a regular basis which seem to imply this, be it in the field of education, government contracts or jobs.

I wish that there was a Malay politician who would tell his Malay constituents of the deep injustice felt by a Chinese or an Indian whose family had been in Malaysia since the turn of the 20th century as tin miners or estate workers but are still are considered as ‘ pendatang ’ while an Indonesia immigrant who has been in the country for less than a decade and is now a naturalised Malaysian can have his or her children considered ‘bumiputera’.

I wish that there was a Malay politician who would tell his Malay constituents of how Indian estate workers are barely eking out a subsistence wage while they see Felda farmers becoming millionaires.

At the same time, I wish that there was a Chinese or Indian politician who would tell his non- Malay constituents about the deep insecurities felt by many in the Malay community, about how they feel that they might be overrun in their ‘own’ country, as it were, if the NEP were to be lifted, much like how the non-White community in South Africa were marginalised under apartheid.

I wish that there was a Chinese or Indian politician who would tell his non-Malay constituents about the genuine fear that many Malays feel when they perceive that Islam is being ‘attacked’ by organisations such as Article 11 or the Interfaith Commission, about how this is related to the perception that Islam is being ‘attacked’ on a global scale in the war on terrorism.

I wish that there was a Chinese or Indian politician who would tell his non-Malay constituents that many Malays still feel as if many non-Malays are reluctant to embrace a Malaysian identity and would rather retain one which seemed to place more emphasis on ancestral ties and that many non-Malays are still reluctant to embrace BM as the national language of the nation.

I wish that a Peninsular Malaysia politician would tell his constituents that many East Malaysians feel totally left out of the development process despite contributing revenue derived from their natural resources to the federal government.

But I wish that these ‘hypothetical’ politicians would not just stop at asking us to put ourselves in the shoes of the ‘other’. I wish that they could go further by giving us an alternative vision of what our country could be like.

I wish they would tell us that a majority of Malays no longer want to see nearly all Malay professors teaching their kids in public universities but would prefer more qualified professors regardless of race.

I wish they would tell us about Malay professionals who no longer want to be associated with the tag of affirmative action because they know that they can compete at the same level as non-Malays.

I wish that they would tell us that many Malays do not want the state to play an active role in their religious lives and that they would prefer a state which focused more on issues to do with education and the economy rather than with religion.

I wish that they would tell us that many non-Malays realise that pro-poor policies, if properly carried out, will be disproportionately targeted at the Malays in Peninsular Malaysia and the bumiputeras in East Malaysia because they form the bulk of those under the poverty line.

I wish that they would tell us that many non-Malays no longer think of themselves as being part of the larger Chinese or Indian Diaspora but think of themselves as Malaysian citizens, first and foremost and would gladly subscribe to a Malaysian identity that is more encompassing than the one which currently exists.

I wish that they would tell us that there are some non-Malays who are comfortable with the position of Islam as the official religion in this country and are more than willing to go out of their way to accommodate the dietary needs of their Malay friends when it comes to dining and social functions.

I am not well-positioned to speak on the side of the ‘other’, even within my own community. After all, I am a Chinese who has not been denied any educational opportunities as a result of the NEP and hence cannot put myself in a position of a marginalised non-Malay in that regard.

Neither am I in the position to be able to judge accurately the feelings of insecurity that might be faced by the Malay community in regards to the issues of religion and native rights.

But I am hoping that there are others out there who can, others who are in the political arena who might stand up and be counted as our own Barack Obama, but one who goes even further in changing the discussion on and giving us a glimpse into the future of race relations in our country.