The Malaysia that could be — Kalimullah Hassan August 21, 2010

A wonderful speech which should be read and practised by all Malaysians. May the Lord bless and guide Malaysia and its multi-racial citizens.






The Malaysia that could be — Kalimullah Hassan August 21, 2010


AUG 21 — It is a great honor for me to be here today and I want to start by congratulating you and your families on your success.


Although I did not attend university — for a variety of reasons, chief being that we were not rich and that I was not smart enough to be given a scholarship — I have, every moment in my life, acknowledged the value of a college or university education. There’s always that tinge of regret in me when I hear my friends speak of the fun they had in campus, the pranks they played, the girlfriends they met, the midnight oil they burnt during exams and the pride with which they took to the stage to receive their scrolls and enter the new phase in their lives.


Today, it is your turn to feel the pride of receiving your scrolls after having worked so hard. Today is a great day for you. You are young; you are raring to go; you want to make your name; you have dreams; you have hopes; you have your whole life ahead of you.


Many of us here on stage are in our twilight years. We have lived our lives as best as we could and made our mistakes along the way. Some learn from their mistakes; some don’t. It is those who learn from their mistakes who make it in life. For those of us in this twilight stage of life, time is a luxury we don’t have. But you, graduating students of UTAR today, you are on the fringes of a new beginning with all the time ahead of you.


The only thing that remains is for you to set your goals; work hard; believe in yourself; persevere; and God willing, one day, in the future, you will be able to say — I am proud of what I have achieved and I am proud of what I am.


Graduating students, respected audience, and friends:


As you prepare to go out into the world, I would like you to share one thought with you. In my life, the one thing I have always been proud of is my belief that this is a great country which could be greater; and that I am proud to be a Malaysian — first and last.


Today, the theme of my message to you is that only you can decide how you are going to live and that it is you who will decide what your Malaysia, your future generations, and your world will be long after we are gone. At a time when Malaysia is seeing daily debates on race and religion, you have a heavy burden to bear; you, the young generation, will decide which direction Malaysia takes and I hope today, I can share a little of what our generation went through so you can learn from our mistakes and build on the right things we did.


While we learn from our own mistakes, we should also learn from history. Unfortunately, human beings are prone to forgetting history. Allow me to talk about one personality who has shaped many lives and changed the course of at least his country, the United States of America. I want to talk about the American civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr, a great man, who like us, had a dream. I want to talk about him because his thoughts have bearing on us as well.


Dr King died for his dreams but the whole world can continue to learn from him; especially us, a country that is multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious; a country our founding fathers had hoped would symbolize the dream that they had; that was no different a dream from the dream Martin Luther King Jr had. I quote Dr King in one of his most famous speeches, where he spoke about his American dream. He said:


“I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions.


“This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled;


“A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few;


“A dream of a land where men will not argue that the colour of a man’s skin determines the content of his character;


“A dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity;


“The dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality.”


Today, more than 40 years after that speech, a black man is the President of the United States of America; a black man, it is proudly said, lives in the White House. Today, to a large extent, Martin Luther King’s dreams have come true in his country. Remember, even in the 1960s, after Malaysia had become independent, after the United States had been independent for almost 200 years, blacks and colored people were not allowed to eat at restaurants which were reserved only for white people; they could not drink from the same tap as the white man; they could not ride on the same bus as the white man; and in many parts of rural America, the Ku Klux Klan regularly lynched and killed blacks for sport. Therefore, America took major strides in civil liberties in the last four decades that countries throughout the world can learn from.


As I say this, today, I stand here and ask you — have the dreams of our founding fathers been fulfilled?


Some people say that it took the United States more than 200 years before the true American dream could be realized. They say we are a young nation, only 53 years old, and we should be proud of what we have achieved. Yes, we have achieved a lot. Yes, we never had the kind of discrimination and civil rights abuse as the United States had for more than 100 years. But that doesn’t mean we too should wait 200 years to realize the dream our founding fathers or we have.


I believe that if our founding fathers were looking over us right now, they would be proud to see the physical achievements of our country; but their hearts would break to see the path we have taken in addressing each other as fellow Malaysians. If they looked at the news; at what right-wing charlatans and extremist groups are doing and saying; at the daily racial baiting and taunting, they would weep.


And, no, we cannot wait for 200 years like the United States of America to expect change because today, the world moves at too fast a pace and we are already lagging. If we don’t change, then we will forever be known as the “the Malaysia that could have been.”


Once sleeping giants like China and India can transform themselves from two extreme ends of ideology — one the world’s largest communist country, the other, the world’s largest democracy — to seize the opportunities, and from slumbering giants, catapult themselves into the forefront of the world economy; countries once deemed backward like Indonesia and Vietnam are charging ahead; all around us we see that those who dare to take the brave step forward, move forward. So, no, we cannot afford to wait 200 years to realize our dreams of the “Malaysia that should be.”


Graduating Students


As you go out into the world today, your Malaysia is different from the Malaysia I grew up in. My Malaysia was the Promised Land; it was a Malaysia where our differences mattered so much less than our similarities and our shared dreams; it was a Malaysia where we ate at each other’s homes, where we played games together, where we grew up together and where we have remained friends even in the winter years of our life.


Your Malaysia is a different Malaysia. It is a Malaysia which, unfortunately, is today again struggling to find an identity, more than half a century after independence. It is a Malaysia where every day we find our differences accentuated. It is a Malaysia where it seems the spirit of family, of togetherness, of oneness is a spirit which only the twilight generation reminisces about.


My Malaysia was a Malaysia where we dreamed of venturing out, seeking opportunities and building our homes and prospering our country. Today, my Malaysia is a small part of a global village where opportunities abound in the world around us. In your new world, you are an international citizen, shackled only by the limits you set yourself.


In the year 2007 and 2008, almost half a million Malaysians left this country to work abroad. That, respected audience, is almost 2 per cent of our population — and probably accounts for more than five per cent of working professional and skilled Malaysians — a disturbingly large number for a developing country like ours.


A study by the Institute of Gerontology, University of Kuala Lumpur, showed that we are an aging country. The number of older non-working persons in Malaysia doubled from 1980 to the year 2000 from 700,000 people to almost 1.4 million; in 2020, it will be 3.4 million people. Against this backdrop, half a million skilled Malaysians of working age leaving the country is
unsettling. Will we end up being a country of old people?


We can see the phenomena in many small towns and villages in rural Malaysia where the young have left for opportunities in the cities and abroad and their kampongs and home towns become dwellings of old folk. They build a new life and return perhaps for the annual festive holiday or balik kampong, and don’t look back again. Magnify that at the level of our country — if our young and skilled continue to leave for opportunities abroad, is it possible that we, too, could one day become a country for old men?


There must be reasons why Malaysians want to leave such a wonderful country. Could it just be diminishing opportunities here and better opportunities elsewhere? Unhappiness? Politics? Marriage? Discrimination? Or what?


It cannot be an easy decision to leave your country because we are, I am sure, all familiar with the saying: Hujan batu di negeri sendiri lebih baik daripada hujan emas di negeri orang.


How many times that I have been abroad on work or leisure for extended periods and I remember how lonely it feels after just a few weeks. That feeling of emptiness is real. And there have been times when I have been to certain countries ravaged by poverty or infighting and war; then, the only thing I want to do is literally kiss the ground the moment I land at KLIA. Why then are people leaving?


There was a time when people from other countries wanted to come to Malaysia because it was seen as a land of opportunity and a land of promise; a land of honey and sunshine; a land where dreams could come true. That, ladies and gentlemen, was my Malaysia, the Malaysia I grew up in.


It is still a great country, and we owe that to our founding fathers but it is a different Malaysia today; a sad Malaysia. In that respect, how could anyone fault you if you say our generation is to be blamed for giving you the Malaysia you inherit?


But please do not mistake what I am saying. I believe that Malaysia has very good people and God’s given treasures; we can still be a great country - but only if we work towards making it great.


Let me now talk about my Malaysia. I wonder how many of you are fans of Lat, the cartoonist?


Many of my generation grew up on Lat’s cartoons. He is an extraordinary human being who epitomizes the true Malaysian spirit which, I believe, our forefathers envisaged. In Lat’s cartoons we would always see the portrayal of Malaysian life where all Malaysians worked together, played together and lived together in harmony. But there was one cartoon by Lat two years ago which showed all his multi-racial characters huddled under an umbrella made out of the Malaysian flag; they were taking shelter from politicians, right-wing activists and chauvinists who spewed racial invective.

To me, it was a sad cartoon. It was a tragedy of the new Malaysia that we live in today. Two years after that cartoon, not much has changed. In fact, if anything, it has become worse.


Yes, it is true that it was not all glorious sunshine and camaraderie in our country since 1957; and yes, it’s true that we did live through the madness of May 13, 1969. But save for that stint of insanity in our history, we have largely had good years.


I want to remember the good things we had, the good friends we had and my story is not different from the story of most of us who grew up before and immediately after Independence. The childhood I had in my hometown Kroh (Pengkalan Hulu now) on the border with Thailand, and later in Penang, was similar to that of Lat in Perak.


Today, most of our childhood friends still keep in touch and though we do not meet regularly, we are still friends. You see that in Lat’s cartoons over the last three decades as he rolls out his own life story.


Where did we take that wrong turn in nationhood that we ended seeking refuge under the flag? When did racial baiting and taunting become an almost everyday affair?


My Dear and Respected Audience


I don’t think anyone of us can say when we started taking the wrong fork in the road to come to where we are today. Perhaps, the undue obsession with politics over the last decade, perhaps greater awareness of a generation unscarred by the hardships of a post-independence era, perhaps greater and more open access to information, and perhaps more awareness of civil rights and liberties has contributed to accentuating differences. The question is - can we do anything about it? I believe we can.


As in everything, character is normally shaped in our formative years — at home, in our neighborhoods and in schools.


In the book Character-Building Thought Power the question is asked whether we have the power to determine at all times what types of habits shall take form in our lives. In other words, is habit-forming, character-building, amatter of mere chance, or do we have it within our own control? The answer is yes, we have, entirely and absolutely. Look at the case of the United States and Martin Luther King Junior. Would anyone in America have thought in 1960 that one day, a black man would be President of that great country and those minorities — blacks, Indians, Hispanics, Chinese and Jews — would occupy senior positions in Government? If there were any, it would have been the most optimistic of `human beings who would have envisioned that.


The book states that there is a simple, natural, and thoroughly scientific method to build character - a method whereby old, undesirable, earth-binding habits can be broken, and new, desirable, heaven-lifting habits can be acquired — a method whereby life can be changed, in part or in its totality, provided one has sufficiently will.


The key to it is thought. Everything you do, every conscious act, is preceded by a thought. Your dominating thoughts determine your dominating actions. Repeated actions crystallize into habit; and the aggregate of your habits is your character. In simpler language, practice makes perfect. If you practice negative acts, for example lying, stealing, cheating, it becomes natural to lie, cheat and steal. But if in your mind, you believe that lying, cheating and stealing are bad, are wrong, and you tend to do the opposite as much as you can, you will become a truthful, honest, do-good person.


It is a simple psychological law that any type of thought, if entertained for a sufficient length of time, will, by and by, reach the motor tracks of the brain, and finally burst forth into action. Murder can be and many times is committed in this way, the same as all undesirable things are done. On the other hand, the greatest powers are grown, the most God-like characteristics are engendered, and the most heroic acts are performed in the same way.


The thing clearly to understand is this: That the thought is always parent to the act. In other words, you are what you think.


Here let us refer to that law of the mind which says that whenever one does a certain thing in a certain way it is easier to do the same thing in thesame way the next time, and still easier the next, and the next, and the next, until in time it comes to pass that no effort is required, or no effort worth speaking of; but on the contrary, to do the opposite would require the effort. It’s like playing tennis or badminton or football. If you learn to smash correctly, to lob properly, and do it again and again,you will never lose that skill. But if you don’t set your mind to it, and don’t practice, you will never get it right and always leave it to chance, or to a fluke shot.


Thus a simple effort to control one’s thoughts, even if at first failure is the result, and even if for a time failure seems to be about the only result, will in time, sooner or later, bring one to the point of easy, full, and complete control.


From the individual to the society; every earnest effort adds an increment of power that will eventually accomplish society’s objective.


Now, allow me to go back to that path we took in our road to nationhood that has led us to where we are today.


If we subscribe to the belief that thought leads to character building, then how we live with each other in a multi-racial, multi-religious society begins with us, at home, with our children, in the neighborhood we live and in the schools our children go to.


My wife and I grew up at a time when most parents strived to send their children to English medium schools. Although I come from a small rural town my late parents sent my two elder brothers to an English medium school in Baling, Kedah, more than 10 miles away. Today, that distance does not seem very much. But think back 1960 in communist infested jungles around Kroh, narrow winding roads, irregular bus service, not enough trained teachers and you will see what sacrifices our parents made to ensure we received a good and balanced education.


The character of schools was then different. The students were from all races and denominations; and let’s face it; children are the most innocent and least prejudiced beings in the world. They grow up accepting each other, no matter what their color, no matter what their religion. Those formative years formed our thoughts and our character and thankfully, most of us carried that on into our adulthood.


Our elders, too, were not as prejudiced, living with each other in mixed neighborhoods, accepting each other’s differences, each other’s cultures and each other’s different beliefs. Sure, it was not all hunky dory but they were, although poorer, a happier society.


But despite that, May 13 happened and it shattered the myth of one happy country and we tried to rebuild ourselves. We had campaigns in earnest such as the “muhibbah” campaign in schools; we had the Rukun Negara; we had Rukun Tetangga; our leaders strived to salvage our shattered dreams and we did recover, largely because it was a societal effort. But there was terrible cost to pay and many people migrated during that period, most, never to come back again.


Today, again, we seem to be taking the wrong path again – churches being burned, mosques and temples desecrated; right wing groups touting race over nationality, threatening those who don’t think like them, discriminating and differentiating…..


Today, as a parent of four grown-up and growing children, I want to state that despite trying to put all our prejudices aside, my wife and I found that there were occasions when we were shocked at the things that our children picked up in school. They would utter things in innocence which displayed prejudices we did not impart upon them. It was after a lot of soul searching that we concluded that in our schools today, children were separated because Chinese parents preferred to send their children to Chinese schools, where they felt the education system was better, and, generally, Malay and Indian kids went to national-type schools. That has resulted in unintended consequences where bumiputras are the vast majority in national type schools and the Chinese, the majority in Chinese-type schools. In each environment, those outnumbered felt more comfortable within their own race group, their own silos, and some, across the spectrum, displayed the prejudices that their own parents had. There is something seriously lacking in our education system today; but unfortunately, change has not come despite all the negative fallouts where from young, our children are deprived of growing up in a true Malaysian environment.


Since my wife and I knew that we could not change the system, we asked what could we do?


I can tell you that it was not easy. We exposed the children to our friends, so much so that many of our old friends and their children, of different racial and religious backgrounds, are also today their friends. We encouraged them to learn about other cultures and other religions as much as we encouraged them to learn about their own religion. We have visited temples and churches in places we have gone to and we did not discourage them from sleeping over at the houses of their friends and vice-versa, no matter what religion, culture or race.


At times, we felt we were fighting a losing battle because growing up in the impersonal city is so different from the kampong or small towns where camaraderie is easier, where prejudices are less. But today, that the kids are adults or near adulthood, we are grateful that we persevered because they have grown up shedding prejudices and accepting people as people, rather than as Eurasians, Chinese, Malays or Indians.


It has also helped that there are many inter-racial marriages within our immediate and extended families and weddings and family get-togethers bring together our Chinese, Kadazan, Indian, Pathan, Iban and Malay relatives. But it has certainly not been a smooth ride because societal pressures have often threatened to derail our own dream of a one Malaysia.


When the kids were overseas — the two elder ones are back after graduating — my wife and I used to take them and their friends out for dinner. We enjoyed taking them out as well as listening to them talk, and marveled at their innocence, at their inability to grasp why people should look at each other and evaluate each other by race, religion or colour. They are idealistic but I wish that more of us shared this idealism.


Listening to the children and their friends, I often felt a great sadness because I knew that one day soon enough, they would finish their education, come home to Malaysia, and if things did not change, they, too, would eventually get a little influenced, become a little prejudiced and lose a little of their innocence.


They would find it a little disconcerting to be referred to by their race because overseas, they just find comfort in hanging out together; because in their mind, they are just Malaysians in a foreign land. They are not black. They are not white, yellow or brown. They are just Malaysians.


Maybe I have become too cynical but I often wonder what people would say if I were to ask them “what race are you?”


Take my nephew, Johan, for example. My brother’s wife is Chinese. Johan looks every bit a Chinese. What race is he? My wife is of Malay, Gujarati and Sinhalese descent. What race are our children? You will be amazed to know that because of this inability to determine what race we are, my children are deemed to come from different races, as stated on their MyKad. My eldest is listed as a Pakistani; my second and youngest as Malays; and my third child as Indian. I refused to argue with the National Registration Department because as far as I am concerned, my kids are all Malaysians —
first, second, third or last.


I can give you other examples. My friend Mervin is a Malayalee who grew up in Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan. He married a Kadazan from Tamparuli in Sabah. They are Catholics and they now live in Hong Kong, hoping to come back in a few years when he retires.


Their daughter, Natasha, married Reza, a Shia Muslim, originally from Iran, born in Pakistan and who moved to London. Both are working in Singapore now. What race is Natasha and what race would their children be?


I could talk about Ayub, my Indian Muslim buddy, and Alya Chew, his Chinese wife, or about my friend Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad and his Australian wife; about my cousin Shakeel and his Canadian wife; or his brothers Atique and the late Shamin and their Chinese wives; or my long-time friend Maniam @ Wong Joon San s/o Alagan, a Bahai from Muar, who married his Chinese sweetheart Jenny Tan, and who are staying in Hong Kong now.


What race are they? What colour are they? Who is the Malaysian? THEY ALL ARE.


One Malaysia, Bangsa Malaysia, Middle Malaysia – all these are slogans, designed, I believe, with ostensibly noble intentions. But as long as these slogans and intentions remain on billboards lining the highway from KLIA to Shah Alam; as long as they appear only in advertisements on television and in the newspapers; as long as they remain merely on our lips, we will not achieve anything.


Who among us does not want these dreams achieved? But if we want these dreams to come true, one Malaysia must be in our hearts, not only on our lips.


Graduating Students, respected audience


Barack Obama said people have a choice — they can either remain as bystanders and go on with their lives and let others talk about the world they want build or they can work towards building that world.


I have been inspired by many of Obama’s speeches. He said, of people who want change, that:


Throughout your life, you will face many challenges in seeking change; and there will be many periods when you will be at the crossroads, wondering whether it is worth your while; whether you should not just narrow your interests and get on with your own life than trying to be a crusader for the larger good.


“But I hope you’ll remember, during those times of doubt and frustration, that there is nothing naïve about your impulse to change the world. Because all it takes is one act of service - one blow against injustice - to send forth what Robert Kennedy called that ‘tiny ripple of hope’. That’s what changes the world.”


So never give up. Never allow disappointment to stop you in your tracks. You have to pick yourself up and go on. And if you do that, you will do well by yourself and by your country.


Graduating students of UTAR


My generation is fading into the twilight of our sunset years. It is now up to your generation, to transcend this challenge. And you will be doing so in a world that is as different from ours as night is from day.


The globalised, interdependent, interconnected era we live in today means that when you leave this hall and set forth on your journey of life, you will do so not as Malays, Chinese, Indians, Punjabis, Ibans or Kadazans. Perhaps not even as Malaysians. You will undertake the journey as GLOBAL citizens, competing and collaborating across communities and across borders. The IT revolution has placed in your hands the tools and the opportunities to fashion this world in line with your own ideals and hopes.
The future is in your hands.


And now, having imparted those words of “wisdom”, allow me to relate an old Indian tale.


One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said: “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside
us all.


“One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.


“The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”


The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”


The old Cherokee replied: “The one you feed.”


As you leave this evening, and go on to a new life and new future, just ask yourself one question – which wolf will you feed?


Before I end my speech, let me come back to Martin Luther King’s dream. Something else that Dr King said perhaps bears context to our Malaysia today. He spoke about the lack of the spirit of human generosity in today’s world and I quote:


“When we look at modern man, we have to face the fact that modern man suffers from a kind of poverty of the spirit, which stands in glaring contrast with a scientific and technological abundance.


“We’ve learned to fly the air as birds, we’ve learned to swim the seas as fish, yet we haven’t learned to walk the Earth as brothers and sisters.”


So go out today and make the Malaysia that should be. It is in your hands how you want to shape our country.


God bless and thank you.



* Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan is a veteran journalist who delivered this speech at the UTAR Convocation