KELAB UMNO LUAR NEGARA US EAST COAST

Mission•

To promote a Malaysian student culture open to diverse political ideals, constant in questioning the norm and proud in voicing personal beliefs.

Vision

• To give Malaysian students the voice they so rightly deserve as top academic achievers to affect Malaysian political culture. •

To foresee UMNO NY-NJ as a platform whereby students can openly express their personal as well as societal concerns and beliefs. •

To build a realm upon which Malaysian students can enhance, debate or criticize decisions made in Malaysian politics.

Strength: • Without a doubt, UMNO NY-NJ has sufficiently distinguished its pursuit of emphasizing a unified as well as a friendly academic environment. Through forums, debates and lectures, this group stands adamant in promoting a stage where students can actively learn about the policies and issues affecting their country today. These traditions and the close-knit community that is resultant should be a theme well prioritized for any incoming student leader.

Improvements: • Take it as a grain of constructive criticism when I say that we must recognize where we live. We inhabit the United States of America, center of world corporatism, state of the world’s biggest super power. One of my biggest problems with the Malaysian culture today is its unlimited adoration of the US culture. Many in Malaysia today see the US as an ideal and stable country…it is not. As students studying in the US, we need to embrace the issues that surround us, from gun control to the conglomerate controlled news media. UMNO NY-NJ is the perfect stage where we can expose and learn from the mistakes of domestic US issues.

Manifesto: I believe that there is no one on this Earth born a true Malaysian. A Malaysian is someone who cares more for others than they do of themselves. A Malaysian is someone who cares for the satisfaction of his peers more so than the weight of his own wallet. Big luxury jobs, fame, glory, golf clubs, all that is minuscule for a true Malaysian. In our country, you can be born a Malay, a Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Dayak, or like me, a mix. Whatever you may be, whoever you are, we all have the same purpose, we are all striving to be Malaysian. That is the only significant label worth pursuing. For these reasons, I state my following aims:

1) Promote a Malaysian student culture diverse in thinking and continuous in questioning established rules and laws. Let’s face the fact. Many Malaysians today see UMNO as a party compiled of “yes-men.” If UMNO NY-NJ embodies the belief in independent thinking, we have the grand opportunity to showcase UMNO as an organization symbolic of the numerous voices within Malaysia today. The next time Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim visits the US, we should be the first to demand a debate.

2) Fight the belief that money means all. So prevalent in today’s capitalist thinking is the desire to value financial security over social justice; to chase the high paying job and be blind to poverty. This is a Western ideological disease that Malaysians should be insistent in opposing. 3) Seize the opportunity to voice our disagreements to US foreign and domestic policies. Make prevalent the opinions of Malaysians in terms of the US-Israeli alliance. Protest US support for the entrapment of Palestinians. Protest the unjust US support of Syrian Al-Qaeda linked rebels. Protest US mainstream media portrayal of counter-interest factions.

I thank you all for considering my beliefs and aims. Aku Darah Anak Malaysia

-Shamil Norshidi