Malaysia is a country so well-endowed by God Almighty. We are blessed with abundant natural resources and most important of all, a land that is free from natural calamities like earthquakes and typhoons which even the mighty US and Japan are not free from.

Add to this our multi- racial and multi- religious heritage, which in today’s globalised world should give us the single distinct advantage against the monolithic likes of China, Korea and Japan.

Sadly, we have today become a society that is seriously polarised along the lines of race and religion and risk being driven to the abyss of social chaos and economic stagnation with our continued preoccupation with fighting for entitlement rights instead of growing our economic and social prosperity.

Thankfully, Malaysians have been by and large rational and have managed to contain emotions and have not ended up tearing apart each other like what’s happening in many other countries.

Our politicians, of course, deny the near cancerous level of our racial and religious polarisation. To them, Malaysians thronging Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavalli and Christmas open houses is proof of our harmony. Not to forget they also cite the number of tourists visiting Malaysia to experience our so-called culture and have no qualms about crassly commercialising our diversity through hollow ‘Malaysia, Truly Asia’ campaigns.

Ordinary Malaysians, of course, know that beneath this veneer of harmony, we are a society that is increasingly uncomfortable and uneasy, if not intolerant of our diversity.

How do we move ahead? The starting point requires us to accept that we have a serious racism and religious bigotry problem in our society. These are labels which would unfortunately offend many Malaysians as nobody would like to think that they are racists and religious bigots.

Pause to ponder and once we accept the fact that racism in Malaysia is at least a problem - if not a disease as I have put it - we recognise the fact that Malaysians need to start behaving differently if we are to be serious about the future of our beloved nation.

So who amongst us are the racists and religious bigots? The reality is that all racial and religious groups in Malaysia are guilty of this in different ways with the difference being a question of degree. We ordinary Malaysians have allowed ourselves unwittingly to be manipulated by politicians who have used racial and religious divisions as their political capital to profit and advance themselves with little regard to the havoc wrecked upon our society.

What are some of the things that we can do to arrest our decline? For a start, we need to stop the culture of retribution. Two wrongs do not make one right and racism is a zero sum game. The end result would be social chaos and economic ruin. Just look at the examples of the many nations where their politicians played this game and have taken their countries to the ruinous states that they are currently in.

What are the examples of the culture of retribution in Malaysia society that we need to end? Just two examples follow.

Malays cannot defend their racist practices in national schools, universities, government corporations and the civil service by justifying its practice as a ‘balance’ for the absence of opportunities in the private sector controlled by the non-Malays.

By doing so, Malays have turned national institutions into organisations that are detached, inward-looking and incapable of supporting the development of Malaysia in a hostile global economic and political environment.

At a personal level, Malays have denied themselves the benefits that one gains from working and interacting in a multi-cultural environment and profiting from being competitive in a global environment. Malays have to accept that Malaysia is a small country. Our future prosperity lies with increased integration with the global economy and not isolation.

Malays have to be prepared to allow the full range of opportunities to Chinese and Indians in all levels of government institutions. The Chinese and Indians are not going to be motivated to join these institutions if they do not have the full range of opportunities as the Malays and the loser of this talent would ultimately be Malaysia as a nation.

The Chinese and Indians, meanwhile, have to stop their racist habits of labeling Malays as lazy, incompetent and corrupt and justify their private-sector employment and business practices as a balance against the dominance of Malays in the government sector. The Malays are just as competent and incorruptible as any other Chinese and Indian.

Malays are no longer contented with being appointed in secondary roles as non-executive chairpersons, head of security, supervisors, technicians, clerks, receptionists, etc in Chinese and Indian-owned organisations.

Recognise the fact that Malays and Muslims make up 60% of the population and are growing faster than the others. Any Chinese and Indian business that does not recognise this fact and accord the Malay an equitable treatment - both as an employee and a customer - does so at its own peril.

So does being racially and religiously inclusive sound the death knell for affirmative action policies? The answer is a definite ‘no’. We are a young nation with significant groups of people that need to be given a ‘leg up’ so that they can get out of their economically-challenged positions.

In fact, even countries such as the US, despite all their economic progress, continue to have affirmative action policies that are targeted at pockets of society on the fringe.

All reasonable Malaysians - whether Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban, Kadazaan etc - accept this fact. All they ask is that affirmative policies be driven by economic status and not race as a determinant.

Malays should be comforted to know that since they form 60% of the population and continue to have large pockets of disadvantaged they will not be unduly denied of support from the government. In fact, many a Malay would be proud to say that he owes his success to his own efforts and initiative and not to an unfair advantage accorded by a flawed government policy.

Let the dawn of new politics provide the momentum that drives the changes we Malaysians long for and deserve. The 50th anniversary of Merdeka was a clich é and anticlimax but the 51st anniversary appears to have cleared the dark clouds and brings glimmers of hope.

Selamat menyambut Hari Merdeka. Merdeka!Merdeka! Merdeka!