Liberty should be our foundation

ALL around the world we have seen how different narratives address the various crises of political instability, economic uncertainty, rising inequality and low wages. As we have seen in Malaysia in recent elections, political parties employ a mix of ideological arguments, populist slogans and dominant personalities to get their message across – and of course we have seen how the “3Rs” of race, religion and royalty have been weaponised in both directions.

The government’s current slogan which we have seen in abundance, especially in the ongoing period between Merdeka and Malaysia Day, is Malaysia Madani, superseding the various taglines of previous administrations: Keluarga Malaysia, Malaysia Prihatin, Malaysia Baharu, 1Malaysia, Islam Hadhari and Wawasan 2020 (I am sure some of these are more memorable than others).