Just a passing thought

I was reading the first few lines in this article and a thought crossed my mind. I don't mean to be anti-government and all (in fact, I specifically selected this news for our news broadcast to promote the good side of Malaysia) but is our newspaper reports some sort of propaganda channel? (oh wait, I just found out it was written by Bernama... so that explains a lot!)

Anyway, I shall elaborate on my initial thoughts as mentioned above. The article starts off with how our Prime Minister has "woo-ed" the Chinese community by attending (a.k.a 'showing face at') various Chinese celebrations and functions throughout his first year tenure as leader of Malaysia. While his presence at these events show that he is making an effort to include the Chinese community into his undoubtedly busy schedule and thus convey the subtle message of his equal concern for all races in Malaysia, it should not be used wholly as a sign that the status of the Chinese community has actually been improved because of him. Results and actions, rather than cosmetic or superficial diplomacy acts, should be used as a yardstick of how far he has leveled the equality between the races.

What was written seem to imply that the Chinese community is very happy and obliged because he chose to grace their events. That all the past injustice was cured by his simple acts of thoughtfulness. Does the writer really think that the Chinese are that simple minded?

It is mentioned later on (quoting political analysts) that the current new generation of Malaysian Chinese are more concerned with issues, rather than making money (unlike the older generation who were mainly first or second generation Malaysian Chinese). Issues that would affect our future generation's education and opportunities. Issues that concern our rights as Malaysians. Issues that would bring advancement and the general well-being to the country. This is a sign that the Chinese community is evolving into one that is boldly taking ownership of what it truly means to be a Malaysian. To be part of the rakyat, and not just another race group in the demography of Malaysia.

One of the political analyst also said

This explains why some Chinese voters even voted for a party which had been promoting its aspiration of an Islamic state in the last general election as well as several by-elections after that as they had adopted a different political thinking from that of their parents.

Isn't it a wonder why the Chinese voters polled for any other party under the sun besides BN in the last general election? A message is being sent by the rakyat to the party leaders: that we will no longer swallow all the 'kowtow'-ing of the MCA leaders. It is time for a change.

What we need is more action than talk or branding campaigns or publicity stunts or full-page coloured newspaper ads. A little less of politicising and a little more of implementation. Our Prime Minister's four initiatives - 1Malaysia, Government Transformation Programme (GTP), 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) and New Economic Model (NEM) - promises good things, but how far will the implementation effectiveness be is still a question mark. Perhaps it is still too early to draw any conclusion about these plans that he has for Malaysia. All hope is on his earnestness to carry out these initiatives to completion and achieving each of their objectives by leaps and bounds above what was set.