As we celebrate the country’s 59th anniversary of independence, I am reminded of an important question raised around the time when we got our independence in 1957 — is our independence genuine? This question was brought up by those on the political left, including Ahmad Boestamam, Dr Burhanuddin al-Helmy and Ishak Haji Muhammad.

According to public intellectual and former senator Dr Syed Husin Ali, he was among the thousands who gathered at Merdeka Stadium on the historic day of Aug 31, 1957. At the time, he was a student at the University of Malaya and secretary-general of the Peninsular Malay Students Federation. When Tunku Abdul Rahman shouted “Merdeka”, he could not stop his tears from flowing down his cheeks — tears of joy — because the country had become independent and the people were liberated.

Nevertheless, there were still a few things that Syed Husin was dissatisfied with — the independence was “half-baked”. It was given to us on a silver platter, not through a real struggle. Independence is not just about politics or political independence. A genuine independence should be comprehensive and should cover, for instance, education, the economy and judiciary. And what about the many anti-colonials and nationalists whose struggle for full and genuine independence was of the highest order? Are their contributions accorded due recognition? Or will they be known only as the unsung heroes?

The present government talks about “fulfilling the independence”. The focus is economic growth. It is about the “politics of development”. But some of us are still asking questions, though not necessarily on genuine independence. For example, why are we still using the colonials’ parliamentary and legal systems? Why are we a member of the Commonwealth?

When former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched the Look East Policy, some of us considered it a milestone in making our independence genuine, because we were no longer looking up to our former colonial masters.

When Vision 2020 was announced, it was well received because it was seen as a serious effort in moulding the identity of a genuinely independent nation.

Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s Islam Hadhari too was seen as a spiritual complement to the moulding. And Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Transformation Programme was seen as a natural progression to becoming a genuinely independent nation.

But today, with the country seemingly heading down a blind alley, to some people, “fulfilling the independence” is actually “replenishing freedom”, and “politics of development” is actually “politics of staying in power”. Hence, the state of the independence becomes more questionable.

According to Institute of Southeast Asian Studies deputy director Ooi Kee Beng, getting out of the blind alley requires dramatic and innovative changes to the political structure and thinking as well as in how Malaysians understand their past and present. Merdeka is not about control over a territory; it is about something much more important. It is about merdeka for the mind — for the regimented public mind to be liberated in order to contribute to the continuing process of independence.

Here, we are also talking about quality citizenry. According to Institut Darul Ehsan chairman Prof Datuk Dr Siddiq Fadzil, it is of utmost importance that we Malaysians ensure that we are all citizens with quality: having towering characteristics and whose presence can bring about meaning and impact, and able to weather the tribulations of history — Malaysians with a merdeka soul.

The merdeka soul is sensitive (but not with a siege mentality) about the nation’s dignity and will defend and strengthen it. It is rich with ambition (but not with greed) and resilience, knows what the target is and proactively works to reach it. Only independent and strong citizenry would be capable of creating something that is major and meaningful.

The slave mentality is also found in a certain group of people. They are people who have lost their status and rights as free citizens, and are being controlled to the extent that they lost their freedom (thought, expression, academic, media and decision-making). They follow orders blindly. If not, they will be punished, not by a just law but at the whim of their masters. They are punished not because they are wrong, but because they dissented.

Since the last decade, the Malaysian conversation, which includes discussions on the state of the nation’s independence, has moved to more concrete proposals for the future of the country. The aim is to have a better tomorrow — a great nation that all Malaysians deserve; a reality that is based on happiness, achieved through fundamental thrusts, premised on shared values and principles, and brought about by better policies, institutional reforms and good governance.

Today, the question of genuine independence, as reminded by Syed Husin, has become more relevant. Siddiq has proposed that we empower the people. Ooi suggested that we go back to the first Merdeka — when the status quo was no longer viable and a new structure was needed, and when the relevant forces came together and moved in the same direction, things happened — merdeka.

So, since the current regime, systems and institutions are no longer trusted by many Malaysians, let’s work together to achieve a second merdeka — one with a full and genuine independence.

Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah is chief secretary of Pakatan Harapan and former deputy minister of higher education. He is active on twitter: @saifuddinabd.

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