AUGUST 31 — This year for my birthday I am going to ask for some extra special presents. I don’t want stuff, as I have more than I need, but presents that embody the deepest ideals of my heart, and presents that I can share with the nation, since we share the same birthday.
This year for my birthday, the nation’s birthday, I want our prime minister to do the right thing and step down. Because even if the deposits are donations, as he claims, the political platform that he stands on has been so sullied that he no longer has the moral authority to lead the country. He has disgraced and disrespected the nation, and by God don’t we deserve better than this?
This year for my birthday, the nation’s birthday, I want members of parliament to support a vote of no-confidence against the prime minister, for it is time that lawmakers in this country put party politics aside and do the right thing for this country.
This year for my birthday, the nation’s birthday, I want our country to make the strongest stand against corruption that we have ever made, such that the very idea of corruption in this country becomes so abhorrent and appalling that we veer away from it. I don’t want a system of undercounter money and sweeteners. All of us need to take a stand against any kind of bribe, but most of all our leaders and the law. Only then can we hope to have a government that is truly bersih.
This year for my birthday, the nation’s birthday, I don’t want race to be made part of my identity. Only I decide who I am, what I value and how I live my life. I may or may not always reflect the typical culture and heritage of my “race,” which incidentally, is not even correct in your official records. You, the State, know nothing about me, so why do you even pretend you do? The entire exercise of race is political, for why else would it matter so much? In reality, many of us are far more complex than the categories we’ve been rubber-stamped with.
This year for my birthday, the nation’s birthday, I don’t want to be a second-class citizen any more. I want a government that aims to truly serve and protect my being and welfare, as well as all of its other citizens. Each and every one of us matters, not because of who we are by birth, who we can be, or what we can give, but simply because we are all human beings.
This year for my birthday, the nation’s birthday, I don’t want a nation of have and have-nots. A bunch of elites holds much of the wealth of this country, (and how some of them acquired this wealth — political connections, corruption or inheritance — is questionable). The total wealth of the richest 40 Malaysians constituted more than one-fifth of the national GDP in 2012, according to the Malaysia Human Development Report 2013. One former chief minister owns a family fortune in excess of US$1 billion (RM4.19 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Meanwhile, the difference between the wealth of the urban rich and rural poor has not changed much since independence. Such income disparities ae outrageous. They lead to much wasted potential and higher crime rates.
This year for my birthday, the nation’s birthday, I want us to give women more dignity and respect than the likes of “even on the back of a camel,” women must submit to a husband’s desire for sex. Marital rape is disregarded, while rape of underage girls goes unpunished. Come on, our daughters and sisters need better respect than this.
This year for my birthday, the nation’s birthday, I want the people of this country to wake up and care about what is happening around them. Oh wait a minute, I just realised that I got an early birthday present. Last weekend, the heightened political consciousness of the people in this nation was evident in the yellow-laden streets of our capital. Thank You for that early birthday present. It was just what I wanted.
* Mangai Balasegaram reads Malay Mail Online and celebrates her birthday on Merdeka Day
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
