Barack Obama wins! That's the newpapers headline all over the world.Obama, a 47-year-old first-term senator from Illinois, son of a black Kenyan father and a white American woman has shattered more than 200 years of history on 4 November 2008 by winning the election as the first African-American President of the United States.
Here is the excerpts of what he said when he addressed the American people for the first time as their President-elect. “If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,”. “Young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled, Americans have sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of red states and blue states,” he said. “We have been and always will be the United States of America.
His opponent, John McCain who ran against him and lost has this to say, “We both recognize that though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still have the power to wound. Let there be no reason for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth,” said McCain, who pledged his support and help for the new President.
Is the United States of America the greatest nation on Earth? I do not think so. But then, very few can come near to it and many are far away from it. Believe in the spirit of humanity, believe in the equity of democracy.
First, I would like to thank you, Lawrence, for linking to my blog. It's not mine alone now, and you should know, I'm sure. I hope we'll have many hours on cyber space to discuss current issues that we will bring up. I'm sure I have much to learn from you.
ReplyDeleteI was really touched by articles commenting about Barrack Obama's victory as a victory for all mankind in the dailies and the cyber space yesterday. The one by Raslan Kassim in the "Star" was especially good, I think.(hope you have read that one)
Anyway, many inevitably asked the question of whether other multi-racial countries, especially ours, will be able to follow suit.
From the many articles written by many Malays nowadays, whether they are columnists or just someone expressing their opinion, we find that many of the new Malays have changed their mindset and actually do not mind if the prime minister of Malaysia is a Chinese or an Indian or from any other ethnic group as long as he is a capable leader working for the common good of the rakyat. It is only the current ruling class that are strongly defending the idea of "Ketuanan Melayu" and brainwashing the minds of the simple-minded that we are still left behind in this department of a common identity, that is, we are all Malaysian, regardless of race and creed. Do you agree?
Yes. I do agree with your view my friend. I think our nation still 'young' politically. Looking at it positively, and based on the results of the last general election, I think Malaysians have become more open and matured. Because we can now openly discuss many so called sensitive issues
ReplyDelete