LETTER | At a recent press conference, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing expressed concerns that politicising and racialising issues, particularly regarding Chinese tourists, could hinder the government’s efforts to boost economic growth through tourism.

As such actions are detrimental to our country, why are some of our citizens bent on doing this? The answer is hidden in plain sight. These people place self-interest above the interests of our beloved nation and disguise themselves as ultra-nationalists, ultra-racists, or fundamentalists.

They are quick to condemn moderation and lump it alongside liberalism. They thrive on hatred and unrest as these present opportunities for them to defend their nation, race, and religion against imaginary enemies, creating bogeymen for their blind followers to target and hate.

Such actions have proven to be the easiest and surest way to win votes, support, influence, power, and wealth, even by those bankrupt of ideas needed to bring our country forward. Not only that, they cause disharmony among the rakyat and also the international community.

Unfortunately, few people can differentiate between nationalism and patriotism. The former is nothing more than feeling proud of our nation and may engage in rituals and symbolisms, while the latter goes beyond and contributes positively to the stability and progress of our country.

Flying our national flag or singing our national anthem are exercises that make citizens proud and ought to be encouraged. Whenever our athletes win a major competition, we may feel on top of the world. This is nationalism, and should not be confused with patriotism.

Such feelings are also experienced by supporters after their favourite football teams have won a major game, and these could be Malaysians following the match in England more than 10,000km away. They are loyal or even fanatical supporters but cannot be described as patriotic.

Likewise, raising our Jalur Gemilang and belting out Negaraku with gusto does not make politicians, government officers, and uniformed personnel patriotic if they indulge in corrupt practices or shirk their duties.

Real patriots

On the other hand, the silent majority who study and work hard, are productive, pay taxes, or contribute to society are patriotic, more so for those engaged in voluntary work or charity. A helping hand is better than praying lips.

Similarly, those who keep themselves healthy by consuming a variety of foods in moderation, exercising regularly, and practising safety are more patriotic than those binging on food, live a sedentary lifestyle, and couldn’t care less, as they will take up most of the free medical care.

However, the worst groups are unpatriotic politicians and government officials. Not only many of them are corrupt, but some even try to throw a spanner in the works, such as inbound tourism.

It has been recognised that the business that requires the minimum amount of investments but gives the maximum returns in the least amount of time is tourism. Likewise, bad publicity can cause tourist arrivals to plunge overnight, as many people are connected by social media.

But our selfish politicians carry on their antics regardless and promote their actions via social media which can easily go viral locally and internationally. The local Chinese may be subservient, but not those in other countries that will not take kindly to hostilities.

More than half of all tourists to Malaysia have Chinese roots and they come from all over the world as far as the United States, Canada, and Australia, apart from the Southeast Asian region. There are more people with Chinese roots in Indonesia and Thailand than those in Malaysia.

Thailand’s prime minister, who is on a two-day official visit to Malaysia, is multilingual, including Mandarin. She has Chinese roots, and so is her father and aunt, who were also former prime ministers. We tend to forget that Indonesians and Thais of Chinese ancestry have adopted local names.

Ripple effects

In Malaysia, selfish politicians chose to highlight and play up religious, racial and cultural differences instead of embracing diversity and common values. Much of our attention and energy had been spent on unproductive activities instead of uplifting our societies and economy.

Mercifully, enforcement officers in Selangor had not been overzealous in tearing down or closing 6,690 unlicensed factories in the state. If they had chosen to shut them down overnight, billions of ringgit would have gone down the drain and along with them a few hundred thousand jobs.

Likewise, there was no need for Kuala Lumpur City Hall enforcement officers to tear down signboards not conforming to regulations in such a great hurry, as they do not pose any danger such as being fire hazards or in danger of falling off and causing injury or damage.

Being overzealous after the signboards had been put up for some time, smirks of highhandedness have left a bad taste in the mouths of business operators and observers. The effects of brazen actions could easily ripple across international tourism and investment.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.