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Wednesday, 05 May 2010 12:02

 

manggar

 

 

 

 First published in The Nut Graph

 

By Jacqueline Ann Surin

 

ON the Sunday morning of 25 April 2010, when Hulu Selangor voters were going to the polls, I was sitting in a Sikh gurdwara in Kuala Lumpur. It was the fifth death anniversary of a dear friend, Datuk Krishen Jit. His spouse, Datin Marion D'Cruz, had organised for prayers to be said for him and had invited family and friends to be part of the ceremony.

 

I'm not Sikh but neither is D'Cruz or the dozen or so other friends who turned up that morning. In fact, among the friends who were seated in the gurdwara that morning were definitely Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, atheists and the non-religious. So, there we were, fellow Malaysians, united in our love for a friend who had gone before us, seated in a house of worship that was not of our respective faiths. We were not only respectful of the ceremony, we also stayed back together to eat a vegetarian lunch that had been cooked by the gurdwara. It was a 1Malaysia moment for me, if ever there was such a thing.

 

Which got me thinking: we already have 1Malaysia. In fact, we had it long before the administration of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched 1Malaysia. So, what really is the 1Malaysia campaign all about? And what does it mean that our government has to pay millions of precious tax money in order to ensure 1Malaysia is a reality?

 

Before 1Malaysia

Before there was Najib and slick communications and public relations from Apco Worldwide, there was, for me, Bunga Manggar Bunga Raya (BMBR). BMBR was a dance theatre production directed by D'Cruz in 2007 to commemorate our 50th year of independence

 

It celebrated Malaysians and Malaysian stories with equal amounts of dignity and respect for each other. Hence, it should not have been surprising at all that the promotional posters for BMBR were so organically multiracial. Twenty two Malaysian performers of different ages, colours, sizes, and sexual and racial identities all grouped under a solid wooden table that was our country. All proud that we were Malaysians performing Malaysian stories.

 

It is a poster to kill and die for if I were part of 1Malaysia's slick public relations campaign. And guess what, instead of millions, Five Arts Centre only spent RM35,000 for the entire production. As performers, we didn't get paid but money wasn't the point for any one of us. I doubt the same can be said of the people working on the official 1Malaysia campaign.

 

 

Read the rest of the article at The Nut Graph

 

 

 

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