Fix the man in the mirror. I know this is falling on deaf ears with your superior attitude and knowledge want to pretend they are welcome all over. Look the UMNOBARISAN treats them worse than the do in the FORMER SOUTH AFRICA , just look at things like Fire and Police depts, we see stories on the news all the time about discrimination in promotional opportunities, down South we get the reverse of that.I agree that many (all?) races discriminate. But also, when one does it is useless and carries no weight and it's the opposite when the other does it.Power is where it's at. Minorities are just paying back when they do it.there will always be people who are unable or unwilling to accept the humanity of their fellow human beings because of the color of their skin...white black brown yellow or any combination of colors except their own. god bless the color blind.
Don’t believe what the racist politicians tell you because the world does not conform to the warped view depicted in their propaganda.
You do not have to fear your fellow Malaysians. The fear is just a construct of the politicians who wish to divide and conquer. In the real world, the three races; Chinese, Indian and Malay can live in peaceful harmony.
What those racist politicians neglected to tell you is that Malaysians share a rich history based on respect, dignity and mutual understanding.
When Tengku Abdul Rahman liberated us, he did not seek to destroy the other races. His dream was not to conquer the non-Malays or to claim supremacy. He did not think it would take a couple of years to get us on our feet but he was prepared to go for the long haul. He would have succeeded but for a few politicians who were impatient. Eventually, they won.
Being a man of honour, he resigned after the May 13 riots of 1969. The racial harmony that he had devoted much of his political life to strengthen had collapsed.
Very few people know what the Tunku struggled to achieve. The youngsters of today only understand the bile that is being spread by those who champion Ketuanan Melayu – Malay Supremacy.
While May 13 remains a dark phase in our nation’s history, Malaysians – old and young – will never be allowed to forget May 13. It has been used countless times by politicians to scare people away from public discussions and debate on the subjects of citizenship, education, culture and religion.
We have been so conditioned by these errant politicians that we do not dare to discuss “sensitive issues” or do things that may be construed, by them, as “undermining racial harmony and national unity”.
Former Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein was part of the second generation of Malay politicians and he launched the Malaysian New Economic Policy (MNEP), in 1971, to tackle the economic and social disparities which fuelled racial antagonism. The twin goals of the MNEP were to reduce and eventually eradicate poverty, and to reduce and eventually eradicate identification of economic function with race.
When Mahathir Mohamad took over as Prime minister, he started to unravel our social fabric so much so that we now treat other races with mistrust. It was also a time when the MNEP was hijacked to benefit a handful of Umno cronies.
The young Malays of today have been brought up in a culture of privilege. Their parents also have been rewarded by a system that rewards one race but penalises the others.
For instance, we see public universities becoming more and more politicised. They are paid for by the taxpayers of all races but benefit predominantly one race. The vice-chancellors are elected from a pool of experts from just one race.
There are many other areas of everyday living that benefit the Malay at the expense of the other races.
The younger Malay is not only fearful of losing his benefits and privileges, he is also fearful of losing his identity.
He is told that he is the only one that matters in Malaysia and yet the computer literate Malay sees a whole new world in cyber space.
Those who have money and have been overseas can see, feel and taste the difference. Students who have been abroad and the Malay expatriates, experience another world, which is not dominated by Chinese and Indians.
That Malay sees that other Malays can co-exist with others and stamp their own mark on the world. He knows he is just as good as anyone.
When he returns to Malaysia or when he experiences the real Malaysia, he is torn between what the politicians tell him and what he knows to be the truth. That is his personal demon.
Being abroad, or just surfing the web has deepened his outlook on life.
For instance, he knows apartheid is not acceptable. He is aware that Valentine’s day is not about sex. He can see that the Tunisians and the Egyptians fought against repressive regimes.
So will he be betraying Malaysia if he does what his heart tells him is right?
Relax bro! You do not need those crutches that those who preach Ketuanan Melayu tell you are necessary. You can do it on your own. Many Malays have.
It may be a political stunt but it looks Prime Minister Najib Razak is now moving into the lion’s den – he is taking on Islam and against PAS, the Islamist arch rival of his nationalist Umno party.
Buoyed by what he and Umno believes are successes due to their race championing tactics and elevating the Malay community above the other ethnic groups, Najib is now trying to outdo PAS in religion and religious fervour.
In line with expectations of a snap general election this year, Najib is moving into the last mile but much more aggressively than anticipated. It is bound to spark concerns of racial violence and talk of a crackdown codenamed Ops 3 against political foes is already making the rounds at coffee shops around Malaysia.
Speculation is rife that Malaysia's Special Branch has already obtained clearance for the plan from Najib's cousin, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, but the PM himself is still undecided.
But unlike the previous Ops Lalang, which were relatively straightforward purges against dissidents, and even the May 13, 1969 racial riots where Malaysian Chinese were victimized to rally Malay support for Umno's crackdown against the opposition, the latest fight for Malay affections will be waged in Malay territory by two competing and giant Malay groups.
Going all out to out-Malay and out-Islam PAS
PAS or Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party was founded on April 4, 1956. It aims to establish Malaysia as a country based on Islamic legal theory derived from the primary sources of Islam, the Quran, Sunnah as well as Hadiths, as opposed to Umno’s Islam Hadhari, which PAS sees as being based on a watered-down understanding of Islam.
Umno was formed on May 11, 1946. It emphasizes protecting Malay culture, what it terms as “moderate” Islamic values and also pro-business policies.
Since their births, PAS has only managed to beat Umno in Kelantan and briefly in Terengganu. Therefore, historically, Umno has always led PAS as far as the Malay vote is concerned. The main reason for this is the perception of PAS as an extremist, rural and backward party, steeped only in Islamic knowledge, views and values.
But in recent years, PAS has successfully transformed. More young Malay professionals are now opting to join it than Umno. Its image amongst the non-Muslims has also improved tremendously with the help of its Pakatan Rakyat coalition partners DAP and PKR.
And this has necessitated a switch in Umno’s strategy against its old foe. The complaint about Umno has mainly been that it is too corrupt and that it abuses Islam for the sake of retaining political power, not for the sake of propagating the faith or spreading its values in a way that the world could respect.
So it is not surprising that Najib has chosen to not only out-Malay PAS, but also to out-Islam PAS.
On Saturday, as PAS threw held a public brainstorming session to assure Malays that they were not forgotten, Najib tried to take the wind out its sails by making a rare stand on Islam. He said that other religions in the country could not expect to be given equal treatment or be placed on the same footing as the Muslims.
For Najib, who has been toying with the idea of governing Malaysia along the same multiracial lines proposed by Pakatan Rakyat, where all the races are equal, this is a significant shift to the right.
Already, it is being taken as a clarion call for Umno minions to stake their own claims on Islam and to churn up the religious bigotry to scare away non-Muslims and deepen the illusion that Umno is the defender of the Islamic faith.
Some groups are now even warning non-Malays not to use the word "Islam" as they insist it is exclusive to the Muslims. In Malaysia, Malays are compelled to be Muslims from birth, they cannot chose their own faith or convert to another religion.
1Malaysia is already history
Najib's 1Malaysia slogan is all but history. It no longer carries any credibility as he has already been found out playing a double game, where initially he would make only statements to show that he cared equally for all Malaysians regardless of color or religion.
His more extreme colleagues such as Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, former premier Mahathir Mohamad and Ibrahim Ali, the president of ultra-Malay rights group Perkasa, helped him pull the other way with their shouts for Malay supremacy and threats of violence if it was denied.
“Why is Najib indulging in the irresponsible and dangerous game of advocating an inclusive 1Malaysia on the one hand while allowing Umno leaders and mouthpieces to poison the wellsprings of 1Malaysia nation-building with incessant extremist, exclusivist, intolerant and incendiary race and religious baiting?” asked DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang in a statement issued last week.
“Is Najib the mastermind of such devious, hypocritical and hydra-headed 1Malaysia campaign or is he captive and helpless to check such irresponsible politics of race and religion from Umno ranks?”
But now in the very last lap of a crucial fight for federal power, the answers are obvious.
Some political scientists like Farish Noor believe the worse will happen and violence a given.
“I’ve spent more than 10 years studying dysfunctional countries and I believe we are going down the path of countries like Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh. I have seen enough race and religious riots to see that Malaysia is close to going down that path,” said Farish, a Senior Fellow at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
Others like long-time Malaysia watcher Tom Malott thinks Najib won’t dare to do it when the crunch finally comes.
"I don't think Najib really believes what he says. He's doing it because he thinks it will get votes, just as I said in myWSJ article,” said Malott.
Malott’s recent article The Price of Malaysia’s Racism had stirred a storm of protest because he had accused the Najib administration of deliberately stoking racial tensions. Malott also warned the Malaysian economy was sinking because of investors’ fears of the growing racism in the country.
However, how the chips eventually fall depends a lot on PAS and how it reacts to Najib's and Umno’s latest foray into its sacred enclave – Islam.
Will it get into a race with Umno and try to out-Islam back Najib? What are the consequences if it does so? Another obvious question is, by moving further to the right, can PAS really gain more Malay votes?
Also, will PAS be able to explain well enough to its non-Muslim supporters so that they will not abandon the party should it really decide to return religious fundamentalism?
These are the hot questions for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's Pakatan Rakyat, as it tries find ways to trump Umno in the final stretch to Putrajaya. PAS leaders are not panicking yet either. But they all say, they will definitely be monitoring the situation carefully.
All eyes are also on how Umno's non-Muslim partners in the BN coalition - such as MCA, Gerakan and MIC - react to Najib's latest shift in strategy. Will they continue to close an eye and risk being annihilated in the coming general election for not standing up for their communities? Perhaps, of all the parties involved, these have the most to lose.
Despite two of the three parties making up Pakatan Rakyat (PR) being multiracial, Lim Kit Siang has admitted that the coalition needs to break an “unhealthy” habit of assigning roles according to race.
The DAP parliamentary leader had agreed that it was not just the Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition that was guilty of drawing racial lines.
Lim conceded that the practice of putting DAP in charge of ensuring Chinese support and likewise PAS with Malays during election campaigns had to be done away.
“It is unhealthy. We need to break from that,” said the Ipoh Timur MP who turns 70 today.
Top coalition leaders, family and friends crowded the Equatorial Hotel ballroom in Bukit Jambul, Penang, to pay tribute and celebrate Kit Siang’s birthday.
Among those there were PKR de facto chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PAS’s Mohamed Sabu. Guests watched a 43-minute video chronicling Kit Siang’s life and distributed a book on him titled The Right To Differ by Dr Ooi Kee Beng.
Lim said that as a party that operated mainly in urban areas, their support was mainly non-Malay and was not helped by “propaganda pumped by Umno.”
“We see it until today but it was even worse in earlier days, Umno would tell Malays that if they join DAP they would be traitors and even now they continue with that poison,” he said.
Despite what the former DAP chairman called “the structure of Malaysian politics” where race and religion dominated over class issues, he said the party had a responsibility to reach out and demonstrate that “we are not a Chinese party or one based on race but working for the national interest of all races.”
He said that as the party now led the Penang state government, it was an opportunity to change the perception of Malays towards the party “over a period of time to see a lessening of such worries (of being a traitor) and give room for more Malays to join DAP.”
However, he stopped short of stating that DAP will field candidates in Malay majority areas as “we are in a coalition arrangement so it is not easy to put our own Malay candidates to contest in Malay areas.”
Most of DAP’s members and elected representatives are Chinese while PAS, as an Islamic party, is only open to Muslims, the vast majority of whom are Malays.
PAS is currently attempting to reverse a slide in Malay support by organising two large-scale events today where it hopes to convince tens of thousands of Malay attendees that it can offer them a better deal than Umno.
PKR, while a majority Malay party, also caters to Indians and Chinese but usually assigns leaders from the same ethnicity to handle issues of the respective communities.
It also considers the Bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak its political constituents as DAP is already well-supported by the Chinese community there.
Lim added that although its main political challenges came from MCA and Gerakan, it was unfair to label DAP a Chinese party as it had a Malay assemblyman elected the first time it contested a general election in 1969 which also saw the party having four Indian MPs, more than MIC.
He said that the attacks on DAP was a “reflection of the phobia in Umno that they may be losing Malay ground and if PR can pierce through, then Umno’s days are numbered.”
“It is a politics of desperation,” Lim said.However, he said that PR’s greatest asset was that it was trying to bring different races and religions together.
“In fact, if you’re talking about 1 Malaysia, it is PR that is trying to show what it means, even though it is their (BN) slogan, they are the ones that are breaking it,” he said referring to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s slogan of promoting unity and inclusivity.
No comments:
Post a Comment