Nation Building.... by an architect.

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER

I have taken the liberty to send you this feature Absolutely floored, ARCHITECHTURE INSIDE OUT,By MOHAMAD TAJUDDIN MOHAMAD RASDI by Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin, in part because I know you will not have to time to seriously browse through the papers, given the mess that those MACC guys got you into, but also because I was surprised and very impressed to have read such views from an unexpected source, a feature on buildings and architecture. Nonetheless, I think we would agree with what he has said, {if we really WANT to believe in 1Malaysia} and I take the chance to extract some of his views for us to ponder. :

Extract.... " How can there be racial unity and tolerance if one ethnic group is sidelined right where they live?............But because town and city administrators are predominantly from one racial group, the sentiment seems to be “why should I help these immigrant groups”, or “my religion forbids me to help these people spread their religion”. Again, as a Muslim, I have to say that I feel such attitudes are far away from the true teachings of the Prophet Muhammad that I have come to understand..........Do you see why I wonder whether we’re serious about achieving racial unity? How can we say we are when we cannot even provide a proper neighbourhood gathering place?....."

Herein lies our problem. The attitudes of those in the administration are almost all against what your notion of 1Malaysia is about, and unless there is a revamp of thinking and attitudes at all those levels, Dato, you are bound to fail.I am no politician, only a humble old man, but I know you need more than just political backbone to change Malaysia, and I am reminded of a story about Gandhi.. In the midst of violent racial riots in India, a Hindu came to him and told him his son was murdered by Muslim mobs, and he wanted vengeance. And I understood that Gandhi instead took him aside, and told him to adopt a Muslim child whose parents have suffered a similar fate! In fostering multiracial unity in Malaysia, can we "adopt a child" of a different religion in our midst, say, can we see temples in the midst of a Malay kampong, and mosques in the midst of 'Chinatowns'? Can we have multiracial worhsipping places in schools, wherein no one religion has seemng superiority over the others? Of course it's not easy, and I never said it is. But if all those in the Administration do not want to "listen" to Gandhi, then I guess we can say goodbye to 1Malaysia, and Vision 2020, whatever that is...