Malay

That is the observation and prognosis despite America having suffered much battering at its image. This despite America suffering economic problems such as subprime debacles, increasing unemployment, gargantuan deficits as Barack Obama thinks about all kinds of stimulus spending, its growing indebtedness to China, etc. This is despite America being led by not always competent presidents.

Now why is that? Because its basic values and motivations are still shared by the majority of nations on this earth. America stands for freedom, rule of law, good governance, democracy and such things valued by free men all over. It stands for modernity and practical solution to life’s problems. Despite many shortcomings, America remains as the primus inter pares.

Iranians and Iraqis and many of those who hate America want to send their students to study in America. The most strident of voices arguing for a return to puritanical Islam originate also in America. That’s because the American setting, or to use a more fancy word, the American ecosystem allows that kind of outpouring of zany ideas however incredulous and outrageous they seem.

Why, because America represents the dream of the majority. People subscribe easily to egalitarian ideals. People want to demolish all vestiges of privileges. If we are moving towards these ideals, Umno cannot extend its relevance if it hinders these trends. It must adapt.

What Umno must do is to go back to its fundamentals. The old Umno was a tolerant Umno cognisant of the interests and rights of others. It knew the way forward is to give sufficient space for other stakeholders. In return, it secured the understanding of the other stakeholders of the dominant presence of Malays in this country. Perhaps the mutual understanding was interpreted as the social contract although no such agreement formally exists. Mutual respect and the realisation of sharing the same destiny bind people together. This lost idealism must be recovered.

Over...