This is actually a follow up from the earlier chain of life. We were given a matrix and supposed to fill in according to different generations with respective columns indicating different values

In our grandparents’ era, they experienced the unfortunate event of living through the colonization era by foreign authorities. In terms of social conduct, their lifestyles were constantly under scrutiny by the military forces and they survived by means of subsistence economy. Thus, technical changes can be seen in that the emphasis was more on vocational skills compared to knowledge gain by reading materials. In terms of value changes, the people back then grew to hate oppression and fought for independence. Inevitably, we achieved independence on the 31^st of August, 1957. In regards towards social and economic changes that can be seen, our forefathers took up leadership responsibilities to govern our country and the exploitation of our abundant natural resources for trading businesses that blooms our economic growth. As for technical and value changes, the establishment of University of Malaya clearly portray the importance of knowledge and the high productivity of intellectuals that were churned out year after year. A setback occurred on 13^th May, 1969 where racial tensions amongst the Chinese and Malay ethnics reached its climax due to differences in opinions. Social and economic changes and value changes were apparent in the unwillingness of both races to collaborate and bloodbaths took place shortly after with the hostility level at a fever pitch.

In our parents’ era, we see the election of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as the fourth Prime Minister as a hallmark of the culmination of Malaysia as a paradigm of progress in the eyes of the world. In his reign, we see the establishment of KLIA, KLCC, Sepang F1 circuit, the teaching of Science and Maths in English, the introduction of Multimedia Super Coridor (MSC), the production of local vehicles in the likes of Proton and Perodua, and so forth. In terms of social and economic changes, the irresistible attraction of Malaysia as an international hub see the rise in numbers of tourists and foreign investors and sponsorships. The strength of our economy back then is sturdy in that we overcame the 1998 world economic crisis without the help of the World Bank Group. We have shifted in our policy from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. In regards to value changes and technical skills, we observe the boom in IT literates amongst graduates that make up one-fifth (1/5) of the skilled and semi-skilled workforce.

In this current era, we encountered an unprecedented twist of events in the likes of the political tsunami that sent shockwaves reverberating throughout the region with the opposition denying the government two-third (2/3) for the first time since its inception. This clearly displays that the ‘rakyat’ are aware of the political situation of the country and that sweet talks and empty promises are ways of the past. We too were confronted with controversial issues such as the usage of the word ‘Allah’ by the Catholic advocates despite the court ruling in favour of its implementation. We see the strong confrontations and riots by egoistic Muslims who are blinded by supremity and not, sheer intellects. This was made worst by the act of arson on several churches that served as an eye-opener to other Muslims who condemned this heinous act. Another controversial issue being the conversion from English to Bahasa Melayu for teaching of Science and Maths. In regards to social and economic changes, obviously, political importance took precedence over unity and reasoning. History is repeating itself and if we are not careful, bloodbaths and racial tensions will once again crop up and devour us wholly. It is because of these setbacks that we are still struggling to improve in our economics with the harsh maxim of “First class facilities, third class mentality.”

As for our children and grandchildren’s future, I would love to see the implementation of superb S&T policies with evaluation and monitoring given the highest of priority. Besides, I would love to see a Malaysia that can make away with quotas and the idea of Islamization of Malaysia. I believe that with the substractions of this unnecessary race ideology in our equation, we can strive for a better Malaysia. To quote from Prof. Thiru’s lecture, “We should not pick winners, but nurture an environment where winners will flourish.” Only on an equal platform can there not be anymore grievances of injustice being done and create a healthy, competitive environment that would definitely involved all three races. This would erase the egos and supremity of one race over the other. In terms of technical and value changes, I would love to see a decrease in brain drain and an increase in brain gain. We do have the necessary skills to flourish and compete with our supreme neighbours such as Singapore, Taiwan, China, Japan and Korea, it is just a matter of solving our internal problems first before conquering the externals. I too would like to see a more educated form of politics in the country with rational and sage spearheading our country to the very pinnacle of success.

Bibliography:

http://www.geographia.com/malaysia/timeline.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1304598.stm

http://timelines.ws/countries/MALAYSIA.HTML

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Malaysian_history

http://www.malaysia-trulyasia.com/mta/history_malaysia.htm

http://www.raafschoolpenang.com/links/timeline.htm