Relative to other developing nations, I believe Malaysia is relatively stable, both politically and economically. In a lot of ways, though, I feel we are being held back, to some extent, by several key factors. One of these, a divide between the different communities in Malaysia, I’ve been aware of at very least since middle school. We were always taught about how the component races of Malaysia are different, how we live together under a social contract, and how we shouldn’t question our differences. There is an undercurrent of mistrust between different communities, and it is often far too easy to pit ourselves against each other.
It is however the lack of freedom Malaysians have, relative to more developed societies, which I now think is more of a problem. I have reached this conclusion recently, helped by having lived in the United Kingdom for the last 6 years, observing here not just the parent of the Westminster political system Malaysia applies, but also the media, the free flow of opinions and ultimately how much more engaged ordinary people in the UK feel with their role in the future of their country.
There are laws in place that allow the Malaysian government to freely detain without trial anyone they believe is a threat to this established social norm, many key opposition leaders and activists have been detained under these, including once my aunt Meena Raman for her role as a lawyer defending social activists. I understand, however, the issues I believe are currently facing Malaysia cannot simply be fixed by liberalizing the law but must also come from evolution in society. To start to get a better understanding of this, I thought it would be useful to travel to rural Malaysia, which is something I have experienced little off, growing up near the capital of
Kuala Lumpur.
In January of this year, about 4 months before a key election, I