If not for the economic contributions of the Chinese and Indians, Hindraf leader P Waythamoorthy says, the newly-born nation would have gone bankrupt.
“We should be grateful to Indians and Chinese who sacrificed their rights to save the newly-born Malaya from economic ruin,” he said when revealing findings of his research into thousands of documents pertaining to Malaya’s pre-independence talks.
He said the then auditor-general HM Watson’s report on the accounts of Federation of Malaya as of Dec 31, 1957 revealed that rubber and tin export constituted the top two contributors of export duty for the country.
Rubber contributions made up 68% of tax revenue at $124.4 million in 1957 and $143.9 in 1956. Tin contributions came in second at 28%, generating tax revenue of $54.2 million in 1957 and $60.2 million in 1956.
The workers in the rubber industry were predominantly Indians while the Chinese dominated tin mining.
“If the British deported the Indians and Chinese out of the Federation following independence, obviously Malaya would be bankrupt instantly,” he said.
His studies also revealed that Malaya would not have survived if the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca stayed out of an independent Malaya and remained British crown states.
He said Penangites and Malaccans were British subjects then entitled to United Kingdom citizenships and the Malay rulers had no powers over these two states.
“But the non-Malays sacrificed their rights to make Malaya their home,” he disclosed.
He said ethnic Indians and Chinese were dominant communities in the Straits Settlements then, numbering some 1.3 million. The difference in population and property ownership between the two communities was razor thin.
The total population of both Malays and non-Malays in the other states was about four million then.
‘Special position only for 15 years’
During constitutional talks and submissions to the Reid commission, Waythamoorthy said document revealed that the Tunku Abdul Rahman-led Umno delegation wanted the Straits Settlements to be part of the federation in return for citizenship and equality for non-Malays.
At the same time, Waythamoorthy said Tunku and Abdul Razak Hussein requested and assured the Reid Commission that the Malay special position would be implemented “only for 15 years, between 1957 and 1972, and after that all citizens shall be treated with equal status.”
He claimed that Umno later manipulated and colluded with the British to make the provisions in Article 153, which governs the Malay special position, a permanent feature against their submissions and undertakings to the Reid Commission.
Based on his findings, Waythamoorthy said the notion that Indians and Chinese were immigrants and should be thankful for the opportunity given to prosper here “should stop once and for all.”
“The country would have been impoverished should the Indians and Chinese decided to stay out of the Federation while Penang and Malacca remained as British colonies.
“Should the two states have remained under the British, the ethnic Indian and Chinese populations would be entitled to equality under the British laws. They would have prospered.
“It would have encouraged Indians and Chinese in other states to migrate to the Crown Straits Settlements and they would not be subjected to a racist system and be treated as second-class citizens like today,” argued the London-based Hindraf chairman.
Waythamoorthy is scrutinising the pre-independence documents to prepare for his US$4 trillion class action suit against the former colonial master, the British government.
He originally filed the class action suit in London on Aug 31, 2007, the 50th anniversary of Malaysia’s independence, to demand compensation for Indian Malaysians, whose ancestors were brought in by the colonial government as indentured labour.
However, the suit was stalled following the Malaysian government’s clampdown on Hindraf and arrest of several lawyers under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
The suit claimed that, after granting independence to Malaya, the British had left the Indians without representation and at the mercy of the Umno government.
Hindraf’s London-based lawyers would be in Malaysia for several days from Thursday onwards to meet potential ethnic Indian clients to become co-claimants in the suit.
‘Built on their sweat, blood and tears’
Waythamoorthy said his findings proved that the newly-born Malaya was “over-dependent” on the economic contributions of the Indian and Chinese communities.
He said the rubber and tin industries generated other parallel revenues and development for the country such as infrastructure, transport and taxes.
He believes that the socio-economic factor compelled the British to keep the Indians and Chinese in Malaya.
He said the British wanted to protect the interests of their business and that of Malay rulers, who were direct beneficiaries of the contributions of the so-called “pendatangs”.
“Non-Malays adopted Malaya as their new home as they were encouraged and welcomed by the British and Malay Rulers then. Truth is, this country was built on the blood, sweat and tears of ethnic Indians and Chinese,” he said.
1 comment:
I went to the Post Office to register to vote; and upon checking my identity card, the Post officer asked which religion I belonged to. Why? I do not know. Therefore, we must reform the Department of Religion. Right now, only Islam is recognised as the religion in the Department of Religion. Therefore we need reforms. We need to divide the Department of Religion into two branches: one branch to deal with Muslim Affairs, and another branch to deal with non-Muslim Affairs.
Another alternative is to persuade the Malays to separate Penang Island from Peninsular Malaysia. It may be that non-Muslims are the majority in Penang. More and more non-Muslims from Peninsular Malaysia should be encouraged to relocate to Penang. Once Penang becomes a non-Muslim majority state, then the Penangites can ask for greater autonomy from KL. Penang should be allowed to make its own laws for itself. I think the Malays should be happy if more non-Malays relocate to Penang. An increase in non-Malays in Penang will result in a decrease in non-Malays in Peninsular Malaysia; and therefore Malays should be happy. Malays should encourage non-Muslims to relocate to Penang. Since Singapore is a non-Muslim majority nation, Penang should also become a non-Muslim majority state. The non-Muslim citizens need a hub and space of their own; and the hub and space would be Penang. Those non-Muslim citizens who are unwilling to accept a second class citizen status inside Peninsular Malaysia should relocate to Penang Island.
If you are non-Muslim Malaysian and do feel socially, politically, or economically shortchanged, then stop complaining and fretting. Do something. Instead of fretting and complaining, please make arrangements to relocate to Penang. If you have non-Muslim friends who fret and complain, then immediately persuade them to relocate to Penang.
If you are non-Muslim Malaysian and do feel socially, politically, or economically shortchanged, then stop complaining and fretting. If non-Muslim taxpayers feel shortchanged, then stop the sweating, brooding, complaining, and having nightmares. There is a solution to the nightmares and depression. Do something. Please relocate to Penang.
If non-Muslims feel that Muslim Malaysians, as taxpayers, are having a parasitical relations with non-Muslim Malaysians, then the non-Muslims must do something. What should non-Muslims do to thwart the parasitical relations with Muslim Malaysians? If you are non-Muslim, please relocate to Penang Island. The solution is relocate to Penang Island; and the Muslim Malaysians also should encourage non-Muslim Malaysians to relocate to Penang.
If the non-Muslims are opposed to the "ketuanan Melayu" ideology, then they should relocate to Penang.
Firstly, I have utmost respect for the many Malays who are so kind. However, there are some Malays who feel that the Malay forefathers made a big mistake about 100 to 150 years ago by allowing Chinese and Indian immigrants into Malaya in large numbers. What happened about 100 to 150 years ago is irreversible. That's the Malay perpective. Well, there are Malaysian citizens of Chinese and Indian ancestry who feel that their forefathers also made a big mistake relocating to Malaya. What happened about 100 to 150 years ago is irreversible. Now, just as the Malays have to tolerate non-Malays, the non-Malays have to tolerate the Malays too. There is a solution. The non-Muslims in Peninsular Malaysia should relocate to Penang. The Malays should encourage non-Muslims to relocate to Penang. It's a win-win.
Please make sure you go to the nearest Post Office to register to vote. Please exercise your right to vote.
If you do agree with me, please copy and remail it to whom it may concern. Those who receive it must in turn copy and remail it to whom it may concern. Let’s get the word around to as many people as possible. Let’s see what happens.
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