Praba Ganesan
3:02pm Thu Jan 30th, 2003

Hady Hud of Sekretariat Melayu Muda, who wrote in to support Umno Youth's action against malaysiakini, has a trait called self-righteousness which is common in many right-wingers.

They assume moderation, certainty in their concepts and are astute in condemning anything that seems remotely opposite to their views. The sort of, "I know you are wrong, and I know I am right, so it is okay for me to repress you, because you are wrong, and it is ok for me to be belligerent because I am right!" In the vortex he lives in, that may be true, but in the civil society we aspire for and intend to create, he is blatantly and most audaciously mistaken.

Umno Youth has no right to end debates by citizens, done fairly about their perception of rights and justice. The o­nus is o­n those that accuse vilification, to develop a logical rationale to their accusation, and not say, "When we speak about race, it is okay, but when you speak of race, it is sedition".

The writers o­n this forum are as much Malaysians as the members of Umno Youth who expect some reciprocity and decency to be accorded them, not to be trampled o­n just because the party has the means and force. In the long run, it is the party that will lose.

The very existence of SMM as the political voice of young Malay professionals in itself proves that the political bond Hady alleged exists among races in Malaysia is imaginary at best.

Do Malay and non-Malay professionals hold so differing views o­n nation building, or are there language and cultural issues that divide them? I’d think that 50 years of nation building and consistent national language and cultural policies would have streamlined the wavelengths of all Malaysians, but the organisation clearly opposes that grain of truth.

In a modern world of technology and globalisation, how long is Umno Youth going to be the flag-bearer of trying hard to keep things the same in Malaysia as they always have been? They can o­nly win through moral persuasion, not through inciting fear through every pore of every person residing in this country. They can’t stop us from thinking and they can’t stop us from speaking, and don’t give this 'the whole country is going to collapse' if you let citizens speak freely.

The ball is in Umno Youth's court. Malaysia is a vibrant nation, populated with a largely young and educated people, immersed in trade and commerce with the world and reinventing the country continuously to be a world power.

It has thinkers, revolutionaries, idealists and moralists, all playing their role to keep this country great. Silencing them is silencing the potential of this country and the reverberation will be felt for decades to come in the lost opportunities. Maybe it is time for Umno Youth to reinvent itself.