Time and again we hear Umno leaders shouting about their struggles. We see it on television and we hear it on radio everyday. Those in the party harp about it. Those who are out of the party too, like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, keep ranting on the subject. It would seem like Umno has forever been inundated with struggles throughout its 62 years of history.

Animals struggle for survival because they are vulnerable to predators in the wild. The people of some African countries struggle against hunger and famine brought about by climate change and civil war. Millions in Myanmar and China are struggling to cope with the massive destruction caused by recent natural disasters.

But here in Malaysia, the paradise of all paradises, Malaysians live peacefully and subscribe to the tenets of democracy and civilian rule. We are blessed with bountiful harvest and a relatively vibrant economy. And most of all, we have always been free from the threat of natural disasters, famine and extreme poverty.

So what are these struggles that Umno has been drilling into the minds of their members and the general public, day in day out?

The word ‘struggle’ connotes a constant action perpetuated to counter a specific threat and to achieve a certain goal. In this context, Umno’s purported struggle to safeguard the interest of the Malays should be considered null and void.

This is because since independence, we have been living under a constitution that guarantees and safeguard the rights of the Malays and also that of all Malaysians. It is not written anywhere that this task is solely under the purview of Umno. The onus is on every citizen of Malaysia to protect these rights, and all of us, regardless of race or religion, have been doing so ever since.

There was never any threat from the Chinese and Indian communities, except the threat fantasised by the people in Umno. There was never any real fear of the Malays, except the fear created by the other racially based parties in coalition with Umno.

Ordinary Malaysians are practical and sensible, and we have been living together under the courteous rule of give and take. It is the blind politicians who try to blind us with their sentiments and rhetorical statements in order to divide and rule us.

Are Umno and the rest of the component parties of Barisan Nasional ‘struggling’ to protect the interest of all Malaysians? Or are they struggling to hang on to power?

After their big loss in the recent General Elections, Barisan Nasional leaders have been reminding members to be loyal to the party amidst the mud slinging and back biting. But what about the people who elected them in the first place? Aren’t elected representatives supposed to serve the people?

So, in actual fact, do Malaysians really have any cause to struggle for? The answer is a resounding ‘YES’.

We should struggle to excel in the field of education. We should struggle to keep our economy afloat in turbulent times. We should struggle to eliminate poverty and create a level playing field for all. We should struggle to end corruption and wastage of the people’s wealth and resources.

These are what Malaysians should be struggling for. And these we should do with total insight into the needs of everyone but with total blindness towards race or religion.

Umno has only two directions to proceed from here. It can either upgrade itself to become a multiracial party with open membership to everyone regardless of race or religion; or it can downgrade from being a political party to become a community based service provider.

If it chooses to evolve into a multiracial national party, it will earn the respect of all Malaysians for being brave and in tune with the sentiments of the people. If it chooses to disband and become a community-based service organisation, it will still be applauded for being brave and innovative.

But if Umno, and the rest of the component parties of Barisan Nasional decide to continue their ‘struggle’ based on racial composition, then they will surely meet their own demise in the near future.

While waiting for them to decide, we should start working hard and struggle for our common ideals immediately. Malaysians have started to move a step forward into the right direction after the March 8 general elections. It is time these errant politicians follow suit.