"Let us focus on our patriotic spirit, our commitment and our responsibility towards building a truly Malaysian race. If all Malaysians truly understand and appreciate the meaning of independence, Malaysia will always be peaceful and progressive," he added.

Indeed, all Malaysians must together build a Malaysian race. We should always remember that tolerance is important.

As we celebrate the 45th National Day, we must review the good and the bad in the country. After 21 years as Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir knows the state of the nation well. For example, the Multimedia Super Corridor is a good thing. We hope he can assist us in making it work, gradually extending to the whole country. We are responsible for narrowing the digital gap.

NO FIRM GROUND

When Dr Mahathir was Education Minister in 1974, the country was in the throes of the eradication of English. In fact, in the early eighties last century, he voiced publicly the importance of English. Now, the Government decides to enforce the use of English to teach Mathematics and Science from primary one. There is no evidence that doing this will raise the proficiency of English and the level of knowledge. How about getting better teachers and syllabus for English as a subject?

We hope that Dr Mahathir help us to lay down a foundation to correct major ills such as the dislocation in education, the lack of culture for merits and needs, racial polarization, money politics, corruption and nepotism. We need to focus on these.