Slogans, slogans and more pointless slogans!

We have had some truly wondrous catchphrases in our country, haven’t we?

The earliest I remember is that old nugget from way back when I was just 11 years old – “Bersih, Cekap, Amanah” – “Clean, Efficient, Trustworthy”.

It was part of our fourth prime minister’s seminal leadership campaign, ubiquitously called “Kepimpinan Melalui Teladan” or Leadership Through Example. This was circa 1982-1983.

Truth be told, when if we say Bersih nowadays, most young people will probably only relate to “The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections” or in short, “Bersih”.

This coalition was formed in 2006, some 25 years after the 1982 slogan was first introduced and immortalised. Tomes of scholarly columns, op-eds, and analysis were done about the impact of that slogan.

But obviously, there was no real lasting effect on the fabric of Malaysian society, administration, and politics. So much so, that the Bersih coalition had to be formed.

Go figure!

Successive prime ministers try to rally the nation by coming up with beguiling mottos and taglines.

Arguably, the most famous Malaysian slogan was “Wawasan 2020” or Vision 2020 which was conjured up in 1991. It borrows from the optometric term, 20/20 vision, which describes the clarity of sight.

Again, it was the fourth prime minister, outlining nine challenges encompassing all aspects of life, from economic prosperity, social well-being, world-class education, political stability, as well as psychological balance, who launched Wawasan 2020.

Too much fanfare and the obligatory specially composed song, this vision or rather the slogan calls for Malaysia to become a self-sufficient industrialised nation by the year 2020.

It’s now 2021, and I leave it to you to decide if we have realised the things that were envisioned then.

1Malaysia – pronounced One Malaysia in English and Satu Malaysia in Bahasa Malaysia, was introduced by the sixth prime minister in 2009, with the goal of promoting ethnic harmony, national unity, and efficient governance.

Ironically, it was an extension of that 1Malaysia idea – the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal – which led to his unceremonious booting from power.

Even in the short 22 months that Pakatan Harapan formed the federal government, they introduced a slogan called “Malaysia Baru” or “New Malaysia”.

Clearly, the need to sloganise doesn’t escape anyone. It’s like a mandatory requirement when you come into leadership power.

The role of a good slogan is to point towards the benefits of a product, or in this case, a leader. Naturally, slogans are supposed to highlight your brand image, and are crafted to be memorable.

Slogans that use rhymes and rhythms, can be very successful. They are particularly effective when they can be sung in jingles. Like, “To Know Malaysia is To Love Malaysia” and that ultra-famous jolly-ditty “Malaysia Truly Asia”.

Today, our new PM is floating another slogan – “Keluarga Malaysia” or the “Malaysian Family”.

Replete with song, trending hashtags, and the accompanying editorial columns from friendly publications, the latest in a long list of Malaysian-made slogans, has even reached the sanctum sanctorum of the UN General Assembly.

After 40 over years of generally failed slogans, are Malaysians expected to lap-up one more trademark rallying catchphrase, fall in line, and just be contented with another mindless platitude?

Let’s look at the word, “keluarga” or “family”. Dictionaries define family as a group of people united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, and that constitute a single household.

In some ways, at a cursory glance, Malaysia is indeed a family.

Although we may not be the best of families. We get irritated with each other. Some family members tend to throw tantrums. But we still tolerate them for the harmony of the family.

At the end though, we stick together. Because, with the exception of a select few family members, the rest of us have literally nowhere else to go to.

This makes our family quite a dysfunctional one, at times.

Doesn’t family mean that we accept each other unconditionally in spite of our differences? And isn’t a real family supportive of each other even when it’s not easy to do so?

In Malaysia, we may not have the blatant ethnic discrimination that was once seen in apartheid-driven South Africa or the segregated deep south in the US. But we all know that self-imposed, or politically motivated discrimination, in the guise of national unity, exists till today here.

The current hot-topic of discontent in our country is the policy of preferential redistribution of wealth for the majority race in the country, even after 50 years of our New Economic Policy (NEP).

While there are nations that legislate for affirmative action, like New Zealand, Taiwan and Denmark, it is usually done for a minority or displaced community. Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world that still offers state-sponsored affirmative action for the majority community.

We may not have explicit racism with catcalls and abusive language being thrown about, or people being beaten up on the streets of Kuala Lumpur or Penang because they are of a different colour or creed.

But we certainly have subtle and institutional racism with quotas, preferential rates, exclusive rights and the like. Every politician who wants to ascend to power, cannot help but stoke communal insecurities and religious fires, because they need the majority to vote for them.

In our “Malaysian family”, everyone is born equal, but some are just “more equal” than others.

So, how can we feel like we belong to a proper family?

Equality is about ensuring that every individual has the same opportunities to make the most of their lives and talents. People cannot have poorer life chances because of where their ancestors come from, what they believe in, their gender, or whether they have a disability.

Until we address the issue of equality as a nation, “Keluarga Malaysia” is just another slogan in a long line of platitudes and banalities. Leaders offer them merely to assuage and mask the real dilemma.

For many of us in the “family”, this slogan simply rings hollow and sounds cynical.

So really, enough with these empty clichés, and give us real solutions.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.