Utopia

The Sunday Star at page N4 had this news piece - "Working towards National Unity". It is reported :- "The Prime Minister said national unity could not be attained if the approach was not based on reality but on an Utopian ideal which did not take into account contemporary sensitivities and realities".

What is the reality facing the nation now? Perhaps the PM is still talking about the reality of racial politics and the need for it to exist so that a few "Umnoputras" can get richer and become billionaires or millionaires? Or so that only a minority rich can continue to enjoy Utopia in this land at the expense of the majority? Are we still talking about policies to make more malay millionaires or billionaires so that the Malays always enjoy 'Ketuanan Melayu"? Do we still want policies that make the Chinese, Indians and the lain-lain feel like they are second class citizens in their own country? The reality in my mind is that national unity can only be achieved when the government has a policy that brings the greatest possible happiness to ALL peoples of the nation irrespective of race, creed, sex or colour.

Perhaps when he says 'contemporary sensitivities and realities' he means the sensitivities and realities of the Umnoputras must be taken into consideration. Or that only an Utopia that takes into account Umnoputras' sensitivities and realities can bring about national unity? Either way i say he is ignorant of the realities facing the country today. The people are fed up of racial politics as is evident from the last elections and last few by elections. They want justice and equal distribution of wealth to all. They want transparency, good governance and fairness in the administration of the country.

In my mind ALL people are most sensitive to happiness and will happily want to realize it in their lives. And to realize this goal, racial politics in all its forms must be abolished. Racial politics cause distrust, injustice and division and as the great Nazarene taught :- "a house divided against itself cannot stand". Racial politics has been manipulated by unscupulous leaders to stay in power and create Utopia for only a few- those connected to those in power while creating Dystopia - a totalitarian and repressive society for the rest of the people.

The Government should endeavor to work towards the ideal of an Utopia for ALL- 'Utopia' (a term coined by Saint Thomas More) means an ideal community or society. A policy of utilitarianism could just work when implemented rightly and wisely. Utilitarianism would require that all moral, social and political actions shall direct towards achieving for the greatest good for the greatest number of people. What brings more unity than ensuring happiness reaches to all, making sure all are treated with respect and fairly, ensuring that all the resources and wealth of the nation be accessible and distributed fairly and equally to ALL and not only to a few billionaires and millionaires. Abolish greed and selfishness. That should be the new economic policy. Follow the Islamic policy of a just and fair society- to my mind this is Utopia. Let us have religious tolerance and work towards the happiness and goodness of all. If the Islamic policy came from God, surely it is meant to bring about the greatest happiness and goodness to all - it must have elements of utilitarianism.

In the golden rule of the great Nazarene we read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility. To do as one would be done by, and to love one's neighbor as oneself constitutes the ideal perfection of utilitarian morality. Utility would enjoin that laws and social arrangements be placed to promote the happiness or the interest of the whole. It would enjoin that education and opinion, which have a vast power over human character, be used to establish in the mind of every individual an indissoluble association between his own happiness and the good of the whole. It would implement a policy to implant the impulse to promote the general good in every individual. It would do away with nepotism, cronysim and racial politics. Utopia should be the PM's ideal. Policies of Utilitarianism the way to achieve it. He should not lay limitations to the ideal. Let us bring about an economic utopia, a political utopia, a religious utopia, a scientifical and technological utopia etc. After all, we coined the phrase "Malaysia Boleh" didn't we? Let us create a Utopian society in this beloved land of ours.

1Malaysia?

The 1Malaysia policy is being trumpeted all over the media these days. What is 1Malaysia? How can we have 1Malaysia policy when selfishness reigns in society, when the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing by the day, when certain ethnic groups are neglected, when we are not ONE about religion, about language, about education, about sports, about justice, about democratic freedoms etc. How can be ONE when policies that divide still exist? How can we feel ONE when we do not feel ONE. What is there to feel ONE about? Is this all an illusion? Or is it just a play of words to gain political mileage? We can say ONE body when we talk about our bodies because every part seeks the happiness or pleasures of the rest and avoid unpleasantness or pain for the rest. If our tooth aches, we make sure we do something about it to stop the pain. If we are hungry, we eat, if our heart is clogged, we make sure we go and get an angioplasty or a by pass to give us peace of mind. We act in harmony in the interest of ALL parts so it makes sense to talk about ONE body. But not ONE Malaysia, no yet so in my mind.

So do we have a philosophy to make 1Malaysia a reality. Utilitarianism perhaps? We all want to be happy don't we? We all want to avoid suffering and pain don't we? So if we have ONE common goal to ENSURE that all be happy, then in a sense we can become ONE.

The English philosopher, John Stuart Mill wrote that Utility or the greatest happiness principle means that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong if they tend to produce unhappiness. And he meant not just bringing about the greatest happiness to the individual only but the greatest amount of happiness to ALL, ALTOGETHER. This was Mill's standard of morality. Utility includes not solely the pursuit of happiness but the prevention or mitigation of unhappiness or PAIN in society.

How is this to be attained? According to Mills, it can be attained by the general cultivation of nobleness of character of all individuals in society. Thus in England we have the noble English gentleman. For when we are noble we will act in a manner that will bring happiness to all around us- not only human beings but all beings. We will be ashamed to be selfish for we know the consequences of our selfishness to society. Looking around us today, we see how man's greed and selfishness is destroying our country and the planet day by day. To bring about the greatest happiness to all would surely include certain amount of sacrifices, selflessness or nobleness on everyone's part to bring about the right balance of goodness and happiness in society

Mills further held that next to selfishness, the principal cause which makes life unsatisfactory is want of mental cultivation. A cultivated mind according to Mills was one which the fountains of knowledge have been opened and which has been taught to exercise its faculties to think rightly, greatly to bring happiness to all. Thus we require an education system or a policy that brings about the greatest mental cultivation to our citizens which would mean an education or policy based on the goodness and happiness of self sacrifice, renunciation, 'a give and take' policy for the good of ALL concerned for in the long run, this will bring only happiness to ALL. It would mean a policy rooted in the best traditions of democracy, justice and fair play. It would mean a policy training minds to be one for the happiness of all and all for the happiness of one so that the greatest happiness can be distributed to all.

The great Nazarene did after all teach:- "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. A man's life does not consists in the abundance of his possessions". There has to be a balance between materialism and spiritualism (or moralism).

According to Mills, wretched education and wretched social arrangements are the only real hindrance to Utilitarianism's goal of bringing happiness to all. Lack of mental cultivation and nobleness in members of society lead to gross impudence, ill regulated desires and bad or imperfect social institutions - the enemies of Utilitarianism. And i believe that as long as there is no happiness to all, as long as inequality, selfishness, greed and social pains reign in society, there can be no 1Malaysia. Perhaps if our Prime Minister is really serious in bringing about 1Malaysia, he should consider Mill's Utilitarianism as a guideline.