MERE CATCHWORDS ARE JUST NOT ENOUGH

According to Marina Mahathir ( The Star Online, June 23) With 1 Malaysia the catchword these days, everyone is falling over themselves trying to insert the numeral '1" into their slogan or motto, as if they'd never seen it before.

But we are after all a nation of small imaginations, so new catchy slogans are immediately catching.

(However, can someone shoot whoever invented that nonsensical greeting "Salam Satu Malaysia"? That, like the hand-on-the-heart bow of hotel doormen, should be relegated to the wastebin of artificial culture.)

But we all know that for all the banners, ads and promos in the world, a slogan remains just that if it is not translated into action. I won't repeat the many different ways in the intention of 1Malaysia is undermined.

Suffice to say, that as long as there are people running things who at heart don't believe in the concept, unity is not going to happen.

( From the Editor: Well said Marina. This is a wake up call for all in the tourism industry. Let us keep our culture the way it is. )