COMMENT In the 1950s, there was no Google or Yahoo. There were no DVDs. There were not even video tapes. In Malaysia, TV had not arrived. People flocked to the cinemas to watch movies. Comic books like Beano and Dandy were read as books and not on digital devices. They had to fell trees to make the paper on which those comics were printed.
The global scene was also different.
The US economy was on the upswing. And the Cold War was at its frostiest.
Anti-communism dominated the US Congress’ political agenda. Africa began to become decolonised. The Korean War was raging and the Vietnam War was beginning. In the Middle East, the Suez Crisis War was being fought in Egyptian territory.
The technology we take for granted today would have blown the mind of the typical 50s guy. Yes, Dick Tracy did have a mobile phone in his wristwatch. But then, he was not real; he was a cartoon. But even he did not have a laptop computer.
The world was indeed a different place in the 50s. And so was Malaysia —or Malaya, British North Borneo and Sarawak.
The Malayan Emergency lasted from June 1948 to July 1960. Many innocent people, including women and children, died at the hands of communist guerrillas. On Feb 23, 1950, communists attacked and burnt down a police station at Kampung Kepong in a siege that lasted three hours.
Anti-communist military operations, shooting practices, roadblocks and curfews were the order of daily life in the 50s.
It was the “hearts and minds” campaign of the early Malayan government which won the war against the communists. With Malaya’s independence in 1957, the communists were completely isolated and became increasingly irrelevant. In due course, the Malayan Communist Party finally collapsed.
A 176-word proclamation repealing the 12-year-old Emergency Regulations Ordinance signed by Tunku Abdul Rahman and a 10-minute ceremony witnessed by the entire Cabinet, Police and the Press in the Cabinet Room of the Parliament House formally signalled the defeat of the Communists.
On Aug 31, 1957, the Federation of Malaya ceased to be a British protectorate and Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra became the nation’s first prime minister.
It has been 53 years since that night when the Tunku proclaimed “Merdeka” three times and the Union Jack was lowered and the Jalur Gemilang raised, signalling the birth of a new independent and sovereign nation, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu.
Malaysians hailed the Tunku as the “father of independence” as the new nation shed its colonial past. “Wave upon wave of cheers dinned about him,” reported the Straits Times in 1957.
Same questions asked
That initial euphoria is gone now. Today, Malaysians are still asking the same questions they have been asking for the last few decades: “Has Malaysia progressed politically, socially and spiritually?”
Have the words the Tunku spoke during the independence proclamation guided our leaders in governance? Have they showed them the way towards progress?
“In the course of human history, no nation, in order to salvage itself, will ever remain static for a long time,” he said.
“It will be compelled to decide on one of two directions, to go forward or backward.
“This depends on the ability and adaptability of that nation in facing changes and developments.”
The Tunku also warned the nation, saying, “But since human history is the history of changes and developments of making things better and more perfect, this type of self-satisfied nation will be left further and further behind and eventually disappear and remain only to be revealed by future historians.”
Today, the nation is still divided by race-based ideologies and communal differences exploited by extremists and rightists, and between the rich and the poor, the governed and the governing, the demands of a more liberal society and the totalitarianism of draconian laws.
Has the Malaysian political culture become a culture of threats and the promotion of fear against civil society?
Are Malaysians facing more challenges against inefficiency, more corruption and more authoritarianism?
Are we prepared to dismantle decades-old anti-democratic and unfair laws that are becoming obsolete while the mindsets of societies keep evolving rapidly--socially, culturally, spiritually?
Meaningless celebration
Race supremacy, overbearing and abuse of executive powers over the legislative and judiciary arms of government, infringement of human rights and liberties are some examples of bad governance going against the grain of the democratic substance in a modern and progressive society.
Political maturity, considerable discipline and a prevailing civic-mindedness are prerequisites of a progressive nation and this has been evidently proven in many modern societies.
In Malaysia, however, there are signs showing a dire need for a Malaysian transformation. But do we have the political will to bring about that transformation?
The celebration of Merdeka is meaningless unless we love this country by showing the fortitude and courage to change the government with a better one, all for a better tomorrow.
“When the people are in a state of complete complacency with their present status they tend to fear anything that may produce changes,” the Tunku said 53 years ago.
“They will suspect any move or anybody who comes out with new ideas or inventions.”
It is time we heeded his call.
Stanley Koh is the former head of research at MCA.
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