'It is not about nation building. It is a slogan aimed at truncating the clamour for equality and change. It is a political strategy to give false hope.'

1M'sia not a BN political tool, says Najib

Pemerhati: The aim of the 1Malaysia slogan is to fool the Malaysians and the rest of the world into thinking and believing that all Malaysians have equal citizenship.

But the stark reality is that the Umno-led government practices blatant discrimination in almost all areas against more than a third of its citizens and espouses and promotes ‘ketuanan Melayu' (racial superiority of the Malays) which makes this BN regime similar to the despicable and abhorrent regimes of Nazi Germany and South Africa (during the apartheid era).

Myop101: You call it nation building; others call it political propaganda. Anyway, actions speak louder than words and your policies, dear PM, have been found wanting. You are neither fair to the Malays nor the non-Malays. You attempted to please everyone but ended up pleasing no one with your flip-flop policies. You should be consistent; not a chameleon.

A true statesman would ensure the all institutions that uphold the spirit of the constitution and laws be well maintained, not shaped to the whims of the executive branch of the government.

More importantly, you don't take the nation's resources amounting to RM111 million and place it in the hands of a woman for a pet project that has no accountability to the Parliament.

I can go on but it is all the same: 1Malaysia rings hollow when the real things that matters are ignored.

Swipenter: If 1Malaysia is truly and sincerely a unifying tool for nation building and national unity then start dismantling all the rules, regulations, policies and even laws that segregate Malaysians by race and creed. A good starting point is to deal swiftly and firmly with the racists and religious zealots and bigots.

Loyal Malaysian: Mr PM, action shall speak louder than all your preachy pronouncements. Please tell us the concrete actions taken by your administration to implement your 1Malaysia. Please don't take the rakyat as fools - we want concrete actions, don't recount all the cosmetic steps taken. For starters, end the categorisation by race and its many manifestations in the rakyat's life.

Geronimo: I agree with you, Najib, that the ‘1Malaysia' slogan is for nation building. But what sort of nation building approach are you referring to? The one that says that all Malaysians irrespective of race, religion, colour or creed have a place under the Malaysian sun or the one that means a single Malay nation.

Right now, even your own colleagues in the party cannot agree with you as to the meaning of 1Malaysia. So clean up your own backyard first before you start to pontificate to the rakyat. Since the slogan comes from Umno, it can only mean one thing, 1Malaysia = 1Malay nation. This is similar to Israel's One Israel = 1Jewish nation.

Patriot: 1Malaysia slogan is nice propaganda tool to make every non-Malay feel ‘shiok sendiri' (good). The reality sets in once Ah Kow and Muthu cannot get the job they wanted, the scholarship they studied hard for, the 7 percent discount on houses, petrol station licence, etc.

1Malaysia is all about form but where is the substance? We spend millions of ringgit to pay Apco to hoodwink all of us. We have had enough. We want a change and vote for equality with affirmative actions based on need and not on ethnicity. Never again we will support the creation of Umnoputras and BNputras.

Rakyat Malaysia: Mr PM, if 1Malaysia is indeed for nation building and you are sincere, then you must do two things:

1. Fully explain what is 1Malaysia to all Malaysians at the same time - not one version to the Malays and another version to non-Malays.

2. Form a royal commission or parliamentary committee that cuts across the political divide which include members from the oppostiion/civil society/NGOs to push this 1Malaysia thrust forward.

You may not realise it, Mr PM, but after 53 years, Umno and BN has lost their credibility and whatever comes out from your mouth will never be taken seriously by the rakyat and this is thus seen as a political gimmick.

Singa Pura Pura: Dear Mr PM, what is the point of you pushing 1Malaysia down our throats when you can't even get your very own deputy to sit at the same table with us and partake of the 1Malaysian meal?

When your own deputy feeds strictly upon a Malay-first diet, your home and information ministers represent regressive relics of the Mahathirian era, and your ruling party does an ‘assassination tango' of sorts with Perkasa - 1Malaysia is not only a political tool but a Malaysian lie.

Gigento: Information, Communication and Culture Minister Dr Rais Yatim said that 84 percent of Malaysians understand the 1Malaysia concept.

The part that we don't understand is why BN still allowing Perkasa to exist. We also don't understand why the DPM still says he is ‘Malay first and Malaysian second'. I suppose he is part of the other 16 percent.

Neders: I attended a party last night and conducted a survey to see how many of the people present understood what this 1Malaysia is all about. I received close to 12 different versions (or perceptions if you prefer), meaning the majority did not understand what the concept is truly all about.

About 82.3 percent though were convergent upon the opinion it was crap. Sorry minister Rais, our figures don't tally. Was the survey you conducted carried out during the recent Umno convention?

Rolls-Royce: Let me try to tell you what 1Malaysia is all about. It is not about nation building. It is a slogan aimed at truncating the clamour for equality and change. It is a political strategy to give false hope.

What 1Malaysia? When coming to getting our votes, yes, we are one nation and one people. When come to paying taxes, yes, we are all equal. When come to paying tolls, APs (approved permits) and cross subsidies, we are in fact "more than equal".

What else is 1Malaysia, Mr PM? Certainly not when it comes to getting government contracts, when we want to get admitted to public universities, when we want to buy houses using our hard-earned cash, when getting scholarship, when applying for civil service jobs, when seeking employment with GLCs or when wanting to build our places of worship.

So much for 1Malaysia not being a political tool. I have given my definition. Now I want the loud-mouth Rais to give his. He said 84 percent of the people understand; may I know what exactly they understood.

Anonymous: On one hand, the PM says, "We are the defender of ketuanan Melayu." On the other hand, he says, "We want to unite all Malaysians." Mr PM, stop lying. It's either NEP or 1Malaysia. You can't have both.

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