Yesterday was Malaysia Day. So how was it? Was it just as ordinary as any other day or did you celebrate by flying your Jalur Gemilang proudly? Well, you have your answer. As for me, it’s just another public holiday to be frank, free from university imposed compulsory programmes (well I was ‘diwajibkan’ to join a programme I didn’t want to be a part of, not the first time though).

The question we have to ask ourselves is where we have gone after 52 years of nationhood. Our current state definitely does not reflect what should have been achieved after 52 years of nationhood, well at least not to me. Our government is not faring well either. We now have a government which controls the media, which is willing to twist and turn to save itself. A government which uses laws to protect itself.

In an ordinary situation, that is acceptable however now we see a government which bans the words ‘Bersih 4' by crying out “Sedition! Threat to democracy! Jews!” among others and yet ‘indirectly’ supports (just refer to the letters surfacing on the Internet requesting party members to participate promising allowance and et cetera) the red shirt rally.

The rally, intended as a Malay rights rally to teach the non-Malays a lesson by showing ‘Malay Power’, is nothing but a rally driven by utter bigotry and ignorance participated by misled and delusional Malay ultras. What kind of government do we have? This is just the tip of the iceberg, the list goes on.

Another question for us to ponder is whether we live in the tolerant and peaceful multicultural society we pride ourselves with? My view is that there are two sides of the coin. We are generally tolerant and peaceful. However, Malaysians still apply racial stereotypes across the various races in our society. I’d say, this is our most stubborn bad habit.

Rowdy Indians, chauvinist Chinese and lazy Malays are the top picks. 52 years of nationhood is nothing if we keep labelling and stereotyping each other. This has to stop and replaced with judgements based on attitude or behaviour instead of an individual’s race. This equally applies to religion, but I won’t go into that now, otherwise I will be labelled ‘munafik’ at where I study now. But you get the idea.

I’m sure many are furious and with the current state of our country. But if you are looking for someone to blame, you only need to look in the mirror. We get the leaders we deserve.

We escape paying tax (some even assist others to do so), complain about Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) distribution and yet being creative to gain as much as possible from it, changed our information when filling up certain forms for personal gains (I’m sure many have done this), bribe officers in order to cut the red tape, make use of our position/cable to assist family members to get a job/benefits and the list goes on. When our leaders do it, everyone loses their sanity.

Spare my sentiments, I am writing for you to think. Accept or reject, that is your free will. It all begins with us. Spread and teach positivism and it will pass on. Remove racism and racial stereotypes from our minds. Teach our children all the goodness in life. Practice what we preach. Read, read and read. It will enlighten our minds and soul. Then, you will see.

OMAR KUTTY is deputy president, Law Students Society, Universiti Utara Malaysia.