A very sad 54th Merdeka Day

As we all Malaysians mark the 54th anniversary of nation's independence, the usual pomp-pomp fun parties and nationwide pageantry comes at a time of a very increasingly tense ethnic and religious ties.

What is it to celebrate of when our nation is in the midst of division, both racial and religiously, as the result of the Umno-led BN government, their funded extremist groups and the continuous social injustice towards our people, our family, our children and friends.

As usual threat to burn down, to harm, showing off their dagger and violent acts, to do bloodshed, warning our people this and that, creating unrest on the roads, streets, chanting hate slogans are the norms of these Umno, Perkasa and the rest of the extremist groups in this country nowadays.

They didn't have to worry of any action by the authorities because they themselves are currently above the law. The authorities are indeed afraid of them.

So, with all these extremism and racism on the rise with no checks or control at all in our nation, do you think we are able to celebrate this 54th Merdeka Day happily? Are we all really happy with the present circumstances? Are we at ease with the current inter-ethnic and religious diversity and relationship? Do you still trust the present government's stand and their showcase called 1Malaysia? Are we all comfortable with the current multiracial integration in our nation?

We do not see any serious efforts by the government at all in getting all these so-called racist and extremist groups stamped out but instead letting them to spread nationwide, while they spoke of 1Malaysia and national unity on the other side. So what is the use?

There is no point of organizing mass parades and cultural shows to demonstrate our multiracial and "national unity" in our nation when they are actually not. It shows that the BN government is not at all sincere in making certain of a real kind of 1Malaysia concept for this country. As you can see, BN is still unable to rid off their race-based identities in the coalition, where Umno (for the Malays), MCA (for the Chinese), MIC (for the Indians) still exist and dominant over the rest of the junior coalition partners. Umno is the most dominant and supreme in the coalition and no other BN component parties in the coalition be able to stand up against such dominance.

There is no real national unity at all in our nation. What the BN leaders had claimed all the while were all mere propaganda purpose in order to demonstrate to the world that our nation is a united entity consisting of many races.

Even the former MCA president Ong Tee Keat admitted to some US diplomats previously that his party couldn't do much to get rid of discriminating policies in the BN government just because of Umno's supreme dominance in the coalition. As the result MCA is being forced to accept the continuing marginalization of the Chinese community in this country in reality of Umno's ultra right and supremacist dominance in our nation. The MCA leaders also wanted to secure their positions in the government, the powers that they have been enjoying for decades and so on.

When the inspector-general of police announced to the media that they had "mencapai sasaran KPI" in crime prevention and reduction, these criminals like the snatch thieves, robbers, "mat rempits", drug dealers and pushers, murderers and violence are still hanging around our neighbourhood, our housing estates, our offices, our streets and lanes where we think they are all safe enough for ourselves, our children and families but actually they are not.

More and more housing estates, residents associations and the people's committee are coming forward to raise their own patrolling and dog units to patrol the streets and their neighbourhood during night, thus sacrificing their family lives and sleeps. Those who are wealthier even went to an extend of gating their entire community or housing estate and employ private security firms to guard them off from all these crimes.

According to the police, they already got enough men in the force to ensure the peace, safety and security of our nation but what actually they have been doing? Mobilizing them to curb the rising influence of the opposition politics, human rights groups and other NGOs who are fighting against the social injustice in our country. Yes, the manpower in the Special Branch has been increased drastically in order to control and spy on the oppositions and dissidents, to curb our freedom, to control our speech and to arrest those who spoke against power abuses, police brutality and corruptions. So, is this call "mencapai sasaran KPI" anyway?

As such, talking about national unity, peace, safety and security in this country, we are still doubtful. What a very sad 54th Merdeka Day indeed.

Nothing worth to celebrate.