An excerpt from Malaysiakini which I found interesting..

I am reminded by my grandparents and parents that after the last of
the midnight chimes had heralded the arrival of Aug 31, 1957,
everyone was ecstatic. It was a stirring moment.
Malays grasped the hands of Chinese, Indians embraced Malays. With
'Merdeka', Malaysians felt energised.
Fast forward to present-day Malaysia and the scene is stupefying.
Malays eye the non-Malays with contempt and derision, whilst the
non-Malays are consumed with frustration and resentment. A neverending
nightmare.
The ties that cemented us 52 years ago have eroded. Instead of acting
as one, our differences have been emphasised; our similarities have all
but diminished.
The new slogan, 1Malaysia, is a vain attempt to patch-up our
differences. There is little point in using this sticking plaster to mend a
wound that is deep and suppurating.
If we are instructed to be 'one', then something is wrong. If we are
drilled to behave in a particular way, to be seen to be united, then this
is a veiled and tacit acknowledgment that all is not well.
Somewhere after independence, we lost our focus. We took our eye off
the ball.
We allowed ourselves to be massaged and manipulated into
submissiveness by those who purported to lead us, but who have done
us much damage - physically, spiritually, morally, financially,
emotionally.
We are now a bunch of apathetic people who have to be led by the
nose, who grumble only in private but hide any dissent in public. We
are cowed into inactivity, resigned to our fate.
Why do we allow racism, corruption or inequality, practices which are
unacceptable in the wider world, to prosper here? Why do we accept
that when something goes wrong, no one is made accountable? Why is
there a poor system of checks and balances? What happened to
leadership by example?
***
Mariam Mokhtar is a non-conformist traditionalist from
Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In 'realspeak',
this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values
change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also
an environmental pollution-control scientist.