Well, well, it looks like Barack Obama won the US presidential election by a landslide victory. Many have expressed delight over America's now president-elect, and many are hoping for the birth of a ‘New America’ come his stepping into the White House this January.
At the same time, some in Malaysia see his victory as heralding a new era where a nation's leader should not be chosen based on race or skin colour. Even our prime minister is quoted as saying: ‘It is possible for anyone from a minority group to be a nation's leader’.
Happy news for non-Malays in Malaysia! Imagine, a Chinese Malaysian prime minister! (Well, technically the Chinese, who own a large slice of our economy, do not deserve the term 'minority', but if our dear friends insist on feeling insecure and marginalised, we can't tell them not to. People are entitled to feel what they feel, right?)
Back to our story. What's wrong with entertaining a conjecture? We are more than positive that there are many non-Malay intellectuals out there, and certainly we have been made aware of their capability to govern a country.
However, our dear friends might want to remember that intellect alone does not guarantee political supremacy. (If we venture to browse through our politicians' records, I'm sure many will concede that intelligence is not a prerequisite to become an MP). A nation's leader must also embody the national identity.
If I may highlight the examples of Obama to our friends. Look at his life, his personality, and character. Though he is black, he is by no means ‘un-white’. In fact, when we come right down to it, he is an American through and through. Even though he celebrates his Kenyan ancestry, among others, he and his family did not bring Kenya to America.
Upon coming to America, he led a life that many Americans lead. He is Christian, went to a national school (well, according to American standards that is) and speaks American English at home (not his ancestors' dialect).
If you care to find out about his likes and dislikes, you will read somewhere that he likes certain Hollywood movies and American actors (he doesn't watch African movies exclusively), and reads a lot of English titles (not imported books in Afrikaans, for example).
He also reads the local newspapers in the national language (which is American English, not some African dialect) and when he speaks you hear no trace of an African accent. In fact, his eloquence and mastery of the (American) English language are exemplary.
To quote, if we were to characterise a Malaysian Obama, he would be the son of a Chinese/ Indian father and a Malay lady, and he would have attended a national school and would speak Malay at home (and be very much at ease with the language too!).
He would practice Islam, appreciates or at least respects the Malay culture in every sense and does not differentiate himself from the Malaysian majority, plus or minus a point or two.
In America many non-whites have assimilated themselves and have become Americans in spirit and in practice. They embraced the American ideals, of coming to the land of opportunity an thus becoming one of the... err, opportunists? I digress.
Anyway, about Malaysia; do we have a Malaysian Obama?
I trust my dear friends are more than capable of evaluating for themselves. To our non-Malay friends who are losing sleep over the suspicion that they will never be embraced as true Malaysians and subsequently never be able to run for the PM-ship, I suggest you start with accepting Malaysia with your heart and soul.
You can start with speaking our national language more often and with pride. There's a bloody sound reason why Tanah Melayu is named such!
