Nga Kor Ming S Hari Cuci Malaysia Is A Brilliant Idea But

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I THINK Nga Kor Ming’s Hari Cuci Malaysia initiative is a stroke of genius.
For context, Hari Cuci Malaysia or Malaysia Cleanup Day is an initiative to make the last Saturday of September every year, a day where the entire nation—from ministries, departments, federal agencies, state governments, local councils, educational institutions, private entities and other organisations—to be involved in cleaning up the entire country.
The initiative will be spearheaded by the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT), headed by Nga.
The reason I think that Hari Cuci Malaysia is a great idea is because I think it is by doing things like promoting cleanliness that we will eventually create a Bangsa Malaysia.
People will only identify with things that they find to be worthwhile and of value.
If you ask a Malaysian on the street today what they think about Malaysia today, chances are, most of us are going to say “Malaysia boleh!” in a sarcastic manner to indicate that we believe that Malaysia today is an amoral place where anything can be achieved as long as we are willing to cheat, sell our integrity, bribe or lie.
If this is what we believe being Malaysian is all about, you can talk about being united until the cows come home or spend all the money in the world to promote such taglines as Keluarga Malaysia or Satu Malaysia or a Malaysia Madani but none of it will incline any of us to see one another as one of our own.
To see a fellow Malaysian as one of our own, we have to first see each other as people who have such virtues as being clean, punctual, conscientious, moral and dignified.
People will only see themselves in you if they see you as the sort that cleans the stadium after the game is over.
They will take pride in being one of you only if they think that you are a punctual person who always does things on time.
(Image: Majlis Daerah Hulu Terengganu)It is when our public bathrooms are clean that all of us will take pride in calling ourselves Malaysians.
Hari Cuci Malaysia is a great idea because it is this sort of initiative that will create the condition to persuade Malaysians to be proud to be Malaysians.
However, regardless of the brilliance of his idea, I have doubts as to whether the idea will be able to unite all Malaysians and be a stepping stone to build a Malaysian identity that we can all identity with, if Nga is the one that is seen to be behind it.
Regardless of whether he accepts it or not, Nga is a partisan figure, which means that even if he says that the grass is green and the skies are blue, a large number of people are going to find fault with it simply because they take offense to him as a person.
I am not saying that it is wrong for Nga to be who he is—in a country where you have a Datuk Muhamad Akmal Saleh, you will also need someone like Nga or RSN Rayer, in order to keep things in balance, but once a politicians makes their choice, they are also going to have to accept the limits of their choices.
As the saying goes, a jack of all trade is a master of none. You can’t have your pie and eat it too.
When you have a strong partisan image, you can’t expect to be seen as the brains behind an idea that will only work if everybody in Malaysia, regardless of race, religion or political affiliation, adopts it.
I don’t say this only with regards to Nga. I believe that this sort of initiative will not gain the traction it needs to become a part of the Malaysian culture even if it is promoted by the politicians like Akmal or Rayer, whom I see as being in the same category as Nga, although they belong in a different camp.
Although I very much suspect whether the Hari Cuci Malaysia will make its mark in Malaysia, I hope that some other person of standing in society will keep the initiative in mind and try to rebrand it and bring it back to life at some future date. 
Nehru Sathiamoorthy is a roving tutor who loves politics, philosophy and psychology.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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