Hypocritical.

The term hypocrisy is defined as the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform to. Thats exactly what the Malaysian government is to me right now. Hypocritical of its own policies.

The government has been flaunting the 1Malaysia concept all over the place with endless ads in print, radio and television. In fact, long before 1Malaysia, it has always preached unity among the ethnicities that include Malays, Chinese, Indians, as well as the other less well known ethnicities in the country. Many policies have been started with 1Malaysia in its name, like the 1Malaysia Grocery Store, 1Malaysia clinics, and even, assigning every citizen a 1Malaysia email.

They're all fantastic initiatives on the part of the government, trying to relieve burden on Malaysians in terms of healthcare and spending.

But the real issue I have, is that its called 1Malaysia. The name suggests that the programme is to focus on uniting Malaysia as a whole. Right now, its anything but united.

Im not saying that the initiatives that have been started are not useful. But they do go under a separate name, shouldn't they? I doubt grocery stores and clinics are tools in bringing a sense of unity to this country.

So, back to the issue of hipocrisy. The reason I've associated the government with this term is because, while they are preaching unity, there are still political parties that allocate membership based on ethnicity. Umno for the Malays, MCA for the Chinese, and MIC for the Indians. Yes, they might operate under the mast of Barisan Nasional, but the fact is that, there is inter-party separation.

Why aren't the Chinese allowed to join Umno? Why aren't the Indians allowed to join MCA? As a political party, shouldn't they be invested in the importance of the people regardless of ethnicity? If so, then what is the point of having three separate bodies in a party if they share the same ideology?

If I remember history correctly, and its a BIG "if", Umno party members were reluctant to allow other ethnicities to enter Umno. That was a long time ago. We're now in the 21st century. We have phones that can understand what we say, not just recognize it. If the human mind can produce such technological marvels, surely it should be able to comprehend the fact that any form of separation will drive a wedge between these ethnicities. As much as they try to convince themselves that being a coalition will work, it won't.

So I hope that something will be done, preferably in my generation. I have made many great friends across the ethnic board, and I don't see any restrictions as to why we cannot all come together as one nation, instead of being a nation with many cliques.