Singapore Malays, Non-Kow Towing Malays and National Unity in Malaysia

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This is probably the last in the series about Malays – “liberal Malays”, “unliberal Malays”, conservative Malays and now the Singapore Malays and the non-kow towing Malays. Hopefully they provide more insight into the Malay mentality and position on issues that affect national unity in the country.

The first article below puts out the agreeable views of a Malay often with disagreeable views. He whacks the views of Singapore Malays living under the “Little Emperor” in the “Little Middle Kigndom” down south. They have been giving out rather condescending views about Malaysian Malays in the last few weeks probably in order to protect existing or promote the prospects of whatever posts or positions they may have in the People’s Action Party, Government or related organizations. They are still living under the “ex-prime minister-cum-senior minister-cum-minister mental”, said the writer. The poor Malays in Singapore.

But the article is not free from cynicism of the Malay-led authorities in Malaysia.

The next article is one that was published in the Sin Chew newspaper and it criticizes the Malay-led Government of Malaysia for not recognizing the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) issued by the Chinese independent schools which use Mandarin as the medium of instruction and which are clearly in contravention of Article 152 of the Constitution on Bahasa Malaysia as the National Language of the country. It also talks about the Chinese – that gambling is not Chinese culture. That is disputed by a reader who gave his views on the matter, given below that article.

The last article is written by a Malay apologist who is “not going to offer apologies” for speaking about NEM and market-driven forces, open competition, no New Economic Policy (NEP} in the New Economic Model (NEM). “Insisting on eminence premised on inherent rights and inherent privileges for example is a clear position that is against market forces. It will fail”, he said emphatically. He probably thinks of himself as a liberal Malay and an economist-politician. He is a one-term State Assemblyman who spoke for incorruptible leadership but idolized and promoted the UMNO Youth Head, Khairy Jamaluddin, a well known culprit of corruption. “This is no liberal or illiberal Malay talk. It’s just Malay talking”, he pleads.

Let’s talk about the above in the usual manner. All coments are welcome, guaranteed of being published so long as not against the civil and other laws.

Well, readers, do read the comments and the replies to them as well in order to see both sides of the coin.

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Kami tak kow tow, kau tau?

by Art Harun who “describes himself as a non-governmental organism, intent on infecting the conscience”.

June 29, 2010

To all Singapore Malays, I am writing this to tell you how lucky we all are in Malaysia. You think you all are so great, you sure have not seen how greater we, Malaysian Malays, are.

What you think? You think Johor Baru is a place full of thieves, kidnappers and gangsters, don’t you? Well, I wouldn’t blame you. Because that is what your ex-prime minister-cum-your senior minister-cum-your minister mental said.

He did not like Malaysia because he was jealous of our success, peace and tranquility. And so he said that in an affidavit in a court proceeding. As Singapore Malays, you of course have to kow tow to your Supreme Leader and so you agreed with him, in’it? In’it?

am sure you don’t really agree with him but you cannot say so, in’it? Because you can’t really say anything in Singapore, especially when what you wanted to say would go against what your Supremely Total leader said, in’it? Can you?
Well, you know something? We Malaysian Malays can say anything we like. Of course, we cannot insult Islam lah… kalau insult Islam we kena lah. But a bit only lah, not like you all in Singapore.

We would only be detained without trial under the Internal Security Act. Then most probably we would have to leave Malaysia and live elsewhere. But you see, we don’t have to kow tow like you all. That’s the point, get it?

Hmm… do you know that Kia has launched a new car? Yes. It’s called Kia Soo. LOL!!!

Allow me now to continue to write in proper Queen’s English. Because my Singlish attempt in the foregoing paragraphs is really pathetic, as you can see.

That is because we Malaysian Malays are taught maths and science in proper English. Because of that, we Malaysian Malays are so proficient in English although we are not as good as you are in maths and science.

The purpose of my writing this letter to you is to tell you that we, the Malaysian Malays, do not have to kow tow to anybody. We are the best Malays in the whole world. The luckiest Malays in the whole world. And the most successful Malays in the whole wide world, including the cyber world.

Any other Malays, from any other country, or part of the world (including the cyber world) are just not as good or successful as us, the Malaysian Malays. They are simply at the 10th place out of 10. We, the Malaysian Malays, for your information, occupy the first nine places. That is how good we are.

I tell you what. We have a Malay astronaut. Here he is known as AngkasaOne. We even have a reserve astronaut. He is also Malay. He is known as AngkasaTwo. Don’t ask me why we mix a Malay word for “space” with an English word for the first two numbers to call them two astronauts.

Perhaps that is because we want to impress that we are taught maths in English. Yes, that must be it. Now, you all in Singapore do not have any AngkasaOne do you? See? We are better than you. And we do not have to kow tow to anybody.

We also swam across the English Channel, fully protected from jelly fish in a cage. And we have a Datukship for that. You all Singapore Malays got like that one ah? Mana ada?

Of course, later they was a Chinese boy who swam without the protective cage and even much faster than us the Malaysian Malays, but he did not get Datukship, you see. So we are better. And we did that without having to kow tow to anybody. You all. You kow tow also cannot do like that one, for sure (my Singlish is getting better, eh?)

Then we also have many big Malay businessmen in Malaysia. Our national carrier, MAS (not Malay Airline System, it’s Malaysia Airline System, mind you), was owned by a Malay. He made MAS the best. And one of the biggest.

So much so that when he left, MAS was in such a solvent state that it could spend RM1.55 million to buy some paints in various colours splashed over some white canvas and put them in the chairman’s office. And we did it without having to kow tow to anybody, kau tau?

We also have Malay businessmen who built highways from the north way up to the south. Now, had your government agreed, we would have extended that highway to your small ciku state via a second Causeway.

But true to your kiasu attitude, being jealous of our success and achievements (especially because we have several excellent national cars and the fact that we now have not one, but two, submarines — which mind you, can now dive in tropical waters — and also the fact that we run the “hottest race on Earth” — which is to be renamed “the monsoon-est race on Earth” — once a year), your government don’t agree to that proposal.

But we always have a way. We will build a crooked and very scenic bridge on OUR side. Padan muka you all! We cannot build a straight bridge, we would build a crooked one.

More on the hottest race on Earth. We know you all are envious of our F1 circuit, which is the best in the world (in 1999 that is). You all are so envious with this circuit. That we know. You all don’t have enough land and therefore you can’t build one.

You also cannot have a F1 circuit race unless you want the F1 race to be held underwater. So you have a street F1 race. Street race! Hah! In Malaysia, we Malaysian Malays do that every night. We call ourselves Rempits.

Congratulations! You have turned the F1 drivers into Rempits! And to be different, and to kow tow to Europeans fans, you have to hold the race at night. In Malaysia, we do not kow tow, okay. Unlike you. Racing at night and on the streets. Cheh!

Back to the highways. Yes. That was done by us, the Malaysian Malays. Look at how successful the highways, as a business, are. I know. In other countries, like yours, highways are built for logistical purposes but here, let me remind you, highways are primarily for business and investment purposes.

As you can see, we, the Malaysian Malays are inventors of new businesses. And to top it all, even when the highways are raking it in, in terms of toll collections, our government would compensate the highway company in the hundreds of millions. And we do that, my little Singapore friends, without kow tow-ing to anybody. Nope. No kow tow, kau tau?

We, the Malaysian Malays are the masters. We excel in every fields of business. In construction industry, we obtained contracts recently for the construction of the new palace.

Not only that, we even managed to negotiate with the government, whose allocation was initially RM400 million, to increase the cost to about RM800 million. Now tell me. Can you, Singaporean Malays, do that? No way, towkay.

And at international level, we managed to be an agent who put up the deal for the Malaysian government to buy submarines. And we earned, I am told, about RM500 million for that. You think it is easy to buy submarines? No, it is not I am telling you.

There must be an agent to put up the deal. The government cannot just take up the phone and tell the submarine manufacturer that it wanted two or three submarines. Or ask four or five manufacturers to come for presentations and choose one of them to supply the darn submarines.

No. The government needed us, the Malaysian Malays to be agent. And, of course, we do that without kow tow. We do not have to kow tow, get it?

You all Singapore Malays, you can do like that ah? Sure kenot. You all are losers. I am sure you all supported England that night, didn’t you? 4-1. Bumbling kow-tow-ing idiots! Golden generation konon. If that was golden, than I wonder how brass looks like!

You all have Perkasa or Gertak or not? Ha… got or not? You see, we Malaysian Malays are so lucky. We have Perkasa and Gertak to look after our rights and entitlements.

That is why we do not have to kow tow to anybody like you all. We know our rights man. Our Constutilation. Yes. Our rights and entitlements are all mentioned in the Federal Constitulations.

Our supremely brave and intellectually inclined leaders or Perkasa and Gertak have read them. And we believe what they say too. That is why, we do not have to kow tow to anybody. Kau tau?

So please. Don’t you make noise here and there about us Malaysian Malays. I know and the whole world know that despite you saying Johor Baru is so full of thieves and whatever (by the way, haven’t you all heard, crime rate has gone down by 20 per cent since KPIs were imposed, please update yourself before talking nonsense), you all just love to come to JB to buy your household items, eat in our restaurants and drive so fast on our highways (because you all do not have enough length on your roads to speed up to 130kph in your pathetic Kia Soo whatever). So, beat it, okay. Frankly, I am in love with Singapore as much as I am in love with frozen butter during my free hotel breakfast.

We, Malaysian Malays, do not kow tow. Kau tau?

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/kami-tak-kow-tow-kau-tau/

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Chinese are not gambling addicts!

2010-06-25 13:32

By LIM MUN FAH
Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE

For a few decades, the Chinese community in Malaysia has asked the federal government to accept and recognize the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) awarded by the Chinese independent schools, but nothing comes out of the request.
Each time a plea is made, the federal government would dismiss the UEC as being not in line with the national education policy, and the UEC issue would become dormant for a while, until it is brought up again. This never-ending cycle of ask-reject-ask-reject goes on ad infinitum, without any positive resolution.

On the other hand, gambling which the Chinese community considers undesirable is being promoted as a part of Chinese culture and way of life, and attempts to legalize the demonic habit is propagated as respect for the Chinese culture!
Neither the Chinese community at large or any of the Chinese associations had so far requested that gambling be legalized, yet the political leaders are literally going all out to ensure the legalization of sport-gambling is effected to “respect the wishes of the Chinese”!

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has also said that if he were still the prime minister, he would definitely issue the sport-betting licence. Fortunately, he is not the prime minister now!.

Mahathir acted as if he is a defender of the on-Muslim rights, by saying that the government should not forbid the non-Muslims like the Chinese from gambling.

“The Chinese always gamble, it is not haram for them. Why stop them? We cannot stop them from eating pork because for them it is not haram,” he said.

Mahathir’s reasoning lacks sense and is illogical..

First of all, just because some Chinese gamble, it cannot be concluded that all Chinese like gambling. Many of my Malay friends have more than one wife, but that does not mean that all Malay men practice multiple marriages.
Secondly, if the logic of comparing sport-betting with eating pork is acceptable, does it mean that we should legalize prostitution as some men are womanizers? Perhaps, we should also allow drug-taking as drug addicts tend to belong to a particular racial group and thus, drug abuse should be considered as one of the characteristics of that racial group?
Sport-betting activities can now be found everywhere because of the FIFA World Cup fever. Don’t you see that Chinese, Malay and Indian fans are watching the matches every night and those who bet, regardless of races, are still betting everyday?

During the days when lucky draws are made, many people will be queuing outside betting stations and in addition to the three major races of the country, we can also find Indonesian, Vietnamese and Bangladesh workers among the long queue.
Thus, you may have many sophistries for the legalization of sport-betting but please, do not consider gambling as a part of Chinese culture.

Gambling is not a Chinese culture and Chinese are not gambling addicts. Please do not demonize the Chinese if you really respect them!
Sin Chew Daily

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http://www.mysinchew.com/node/40886
libai• 3 days ago

Gambling is regarded as one of the social ills and sins in Chinese Culture, the other being womanising, drinking alcohol and smoking opium. Gambling has created a lot of social problems and ruined many lives and families. Legalising gambling by the govt will give it a veneer of legitimacy and encourage more to gamble. The govt should attempt to reduce and eliminate gambling, and not encourage it by legalising it. The companies holding gaming licences are among the biggest companies listed in Bursa Malaysia and the people behind them are the richest in the country. It is great irony that this is so in a country where the majority of its people are not even allowed to gamble. Those UMNO leaders who support for legalising more gambling in order to respect the Chinese right to gamble is just a bunch of hypocrite.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/chinese-are-not-gambling-addicts-lim-mun-fah/

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Re-assessing Malay economics.

I am not going to offer apologies for speaking about Malay economics. This is the biggest headache. If our PM doesn’t solve this problem, everything else will be on a grid-lock.

His NEM is going to fail if he doesn’t have the political will and iron-fisted determination. It will also fail if he doesn’t put in place a first class government machinery. 1.2 million- strong civil service isn’t good if it doesn’t have the quality to implement.

First and basic of all, if he exhibits ambivalence, a dithering posture, his NEM will fail. If he has this tweedle dee tweedle dum behavior, one day this, next day that style, his NEM will fail.

His NEM is premised on market driving forces. At least, in theory he has got this part of his thinking right. The fundamental rule is- never go against market forces. The essential element of market forces is competition. A position attained is but temporary because, competition drives competitors to dislodge you. Unless of course, that eminent position was attained by non competitive means, by fiat, decree or plain legislation. In that way, prominence and eminence will depend on continued non competitive policies and maybe even coercive power instruments.

Insisting on eminence premised on inherent rights and inherent privileges for example is a clear position that is against market forces. It will fail. Insisting that NEP policies must remain, is just against market forces. Because that way, you institutionalize privilege and ascriptive norms. You institutionalize corner-cuttings, free loadings etc. most importantly, you institutionalize a non competitive culture.

You simply can’t develop a country based on these elements- cutting corners, short cut to everything attitude, shyness to hard work. You can’t develop a country believing it will because of who you are. I mean, the country doesn’t develop only because you are Tun Razak’s son, or Hussein Onn’s son or Mahathir’s son. It’s got to be based on the bricks and mortar principle- hard work and usage of the material between your ears.

Once you institutionalize the bad habits they become culture.

Our PM must realize quickly that culture is our country’s DNA. How do you re-constitute it? Not by pussy footing. It requires laser and invasive surgery. Cultures that evolve and adapt to external stimuli thrive, those that don’t, fall behind. Or those that deliberately resist will fall behind. Something along the line Ibrahim Alis of this world proposed.

That is the reason , the principal reason indeed why I think the resolutions arrived by Perkasa will not be included in the NEM because they are incompatible with the NEM. Its too premature to say, the PM accepts the resolutions of the Malay Economic Congress. Not because PM Najib doesn’t want to, but mainly because he knows incorporating non competitive elements will derail his NEM. But he doesn’t have that courage to say no.

Which is troubling. Because it reflects his lack of that iron fisted determination and drive to see the NEM goes through. And if he abandons his NEM after spending so many man hours and money and PR-ring his masterpiece, he will certainly be categorized in the same class with the Sultan of Slumber- the accidental PM.

And so yes, culture is the issue. I have written that UMNO leaders and leaders of this country need to think about culture if they haven’t done so or read about it if they haven’t done so. If you put in a culture that doesn’t place much value in learning and scholarship, doesn’t reward a person for his intelligence and education and industriousness, you are going to slow down progress. Why should anyone try harder if he knows the next mamat who has less education, fooled around during college and at universities is going to be rewarded more? At the very least, such a person develops lifelong cynicism and disdain.

A culture that doesn’t place much value at all on achievement norms( by which we measure a man based on what he is capable of doing vs. ascriptive norms by which a man is measured based on who he , his father and family is.) is bound to put in a system that is going to slow down progress.

http://sakmongkol.blogspot.com/

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Non-Malays’ Malay Agenda

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Here are two articles written by non-Malays touching on the Malay Agenda. They provide an insight into what these non-Malays perceive as the Malay Agenda.

The first one appears as a sincere attempt to find solutions to the problems in this country. The second one appears disagreeable with the Malays’ 30% corporate equity and uses the term “racist” Malay Agenda.

The third article, written by an “unliberal Malay”, asks the Malays if they have forgotten their Agenda.

However, the last one, also by a non-Malay, is part of a long story showing that the Malays have no agenda – perhaps merely wanting a proper share of the riches of the country – and a Malay even regards two Chinese boys as his own sons, together with his several children.

As usual, let’s talk about them. Say anything you like, within the confines of decency and the law.

The meat is in the pie. But it’s also in the comments and the replies. Do read them as well. Doing so will give you the full picture and perhaps make you feel swell.

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Building genuine Malay greatness
by Nathaniel Tan who “believes this world is full of people, he was born to love them all”. He blogs at http://www.jelas.info and tweets @NatAsasi

June 25, 2010

What would a universally acceptable Malay Agenda for Pakatan look like?

As a follow up to my previous article on this subject, I wanted to begin by responding to views that pursuing such an agenda would run counter to the spirit of Pakatan and result in playing to Barisan Nasional’s race-based tune.

One of the main reasons I decided to throw in my lot with PKR many years ago was the fact that for all their (sometimes seemingly innumerable) faults, they were (and remain) the only party with a truly multi-racial composition.

It seemed to me that such a party was the only way out of the race-based political paradigm infecting our nation. I felt that as long as there were racially-divided parties, there would be endemic racial division in society.

A betrayal of principles?

My view on this has not changed in the least. How then, am I advocating a Malay Agenda?

I posit two reasons.

The first, as I have written before, is that perhaps a “Malay Agenda” is not essentially any different from a “Fisherman’s Agenda”, a “Perakian Agenda”, a “Feminist Agenda” or, for that matter, a “Malaysian Agenda.”

Society is naturally divided into any number of segments. The folly is to believe that any one segment — such as race — is more important or fundamental than any other.

I think it is acceptable to pursue agendas for each of these different segments as long as we always remember that such segmentation is but one of many, and that we should pursue development and betterment not only for different segments, but for all types of segments.

Secondly, I feel the acceptability of a Malay Agenda pivots on the content of said agenda.

I have previously described Umno’s version of the Malay agenda as supremacist and crutch-centric; even then, it may not be as bad if it weren’t for the fact that it in fact hides Umno’s true Malay agenda — to keep the Malays poor and as ignorant as possible in order to maintain some semblance of political relevance.

(After all, if the Malays really did progress to greater economic standing, would anyone need Umno and their “the Chinese are stealing everything” rhetoric any more?)

Kemajuan melalui keadilan: Agama, akhlak, adat

Thus, in this article, I hope to articulate some possibilities for what a morally upstanding Malay Agenda might roughly look like (I am far from qualified to really map out a fully detailed agenda that speaks to the Malay heart and soul).

I feel the right context for such an agenda is how to build on the many strengths of the Malay community towards overcoming the obstacles that have prevented significant economic progress and actualisation of an immense amount of potential.

Perhaps something along the lines of “Kemajuan Melalui Keadilan: Agama, Akhlak, Adat” (Progress through Justice: Religion, Integrity of Character, Customs/Culture) might serve as a starting point.

This return to some core values within the community signals a return to what makes Malays great — an enduring Islamic faith, a belief in the sanctity of just values, and an abiding respect for culture, customs and tradition.

What has held a large portion of Malays back over so many decades is the endemic and truly cancerous corruption that has pervaded Umno for so many years.

How can the masses progress when “leaders” are stealing so much of what rightfully belongs to them, in order both to enrich themselves and to keep development levels low?

Agama, Akhlak and Adat in the Malay context all point towards a strong and lasting commitment to integrity — the true cornerstone of genuine greatness. These can serve as a rallying call to wage an untiring jihad against the evils of corruption.

Umno’s blatant disregard for the tenets of religion, the importance of honesty and accountability, as well as a true respect for Malay customs have made a mockery of Malay values.

Level playing field for all

A return to Agama, Akhlak and Adat could be the first step in inculcating the fundamental commitment towards fairness, equality and justice, that is required to create a level playing field for all Malays.

That level playing field, free from the blemish of rent seeking, feudalism, nepotism and cronyism is all Malaysia needs to see the Malay community flourish in every social and economic field.

On one hand, this equality requires a commitment from non-Malays to provide equal opportunities, especially in private sector jobs that are dominated by non-Malays; on the other, the commitment to justice in a Malay agenda must include fair treatment of all races within a Malay-led paradigm.

I do truly believe that given the opportunity, a clean slate, and leaders of impeccable character, there is absolutely nothing to prevent both Malays and Malaysians from limitless accomplishments and standing shoulder to shoulder with any nation in the world.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/building-genuine-malay-greatness/

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New Economic Model or Never Ending Policy?
by James Chin who is “a Malaysian academic. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the views of institutions he is associated with”.

June 24, 2010

It is almost certain that Najib Razak will call for a general election this year. He is in trouble politically — many Umno members do not like his New Economic Model (NEM) and used the Perkasa platform to force him to accept the sacred “30 per cent” mandatory Bumiputera shareholding rule.

The only way out for Najib is to win big in the next general elections so that his critics in Umno cannot move against him. This is consistent with past practices — Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not really do anything until he won the 1982 general elections.

Pak Lah squandered his huge political capital after the 2004 general elections; instead of using the political capital to push for new policies he decided to sleep on the job!

Najib has every incentive to call for a general election; the economy is growing (thanks to the RM70 billion stimulus package last year) and his 1 Malaysia brand is doing well. The longer he holds off, the bigger the danger that Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa will destroy the 1 Malaysia brand, especially among the non-Malay community.

The question is why is Perkasa so fixated on the “30 per cent”?

Almost all credible academic studies and even the government’s own study by NEAC showed clearly that the mandatory 30 per cent policy has failed miserably.

Najib himself gave the figure of RM54 billion worth of “bumi” shares sold almost immediately after the IPO. It was, at the most basic level, a simple way to reward political supporters and create instant Malay millionaires and in some cases, Malay billionaires.

Perhaps the answer can be found if you dig a bit deeper into the workings of the NEP. For example, there are approximately 1.2 million civil servants in Malaysia. If you add on the employees of GLCs , there are probably up to three million people whose employment are tied directly to the present government.

Needless to say, we can assume that more than 80 per cent of this group are Malays and Bumiputera. When you count the dependents, the figure will probably go up to about five or six million.

The overwhelming majority of this group think that their present job is linked to the NEP and “special rights.” You can’t blame them for thinking along these lines — after all, BTN has been preaching this for the past 20 years.

Hence, the NEP is directly feeding close to 20 per cent of Malaysia’s population.

This group will never accept the argument that you need an element of meritocracy to bring Malaysia to the next economic level. For them the issue is “race” — I get this because I am of this race. Period.

There is this irrational fear that if they give up any element of the NEP, they will lose political power and be dominated by the Chinese. It does not help that a former PM is also telling the Malays the same thing. Perkasa is using this fear as its main cement.

After four decades of racist policies reinforced by racist politicians, I suspect there is no political force in Malaysia that can overcome racism and racist ideologies in this country.

The irony, of course, is that after 40 years of the NEP, the non-Malays are also becoming more racist. Their sense of being second or third-class citizens are so strong now that some are using direct action and more racism to fight racism.

The sudden rise of Hindraf is a perfect example. The Americans call this “blowback” — there are consequences to every policy.

What we need now is visionary leadership to take us out of this vicious cycle of racism and more racism. Many people thought that the previous PM was such a person but since retirement, he has shown himself to be just another petty politician who rides on racism to retain political influence.

At the rate we are going, we are heading towards the Pakistan and Egyptian model where racism and religious bigotry are the order of the day.

The only real hope for this country is the middle-class. If the middle-class can look beyond petty politics, they can be a force for good. The other group we can count on are young people. There are clear signs that they are sick and tired of all the racism and religious bigotry. What they lack is an organisation to represent them.

Najib has all the pedigree to bring about a profound change for the better. The question is — will Umno allow this to happen?

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/new-economic-model-or-never-ending-policy/

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ARKIB : 21/06/2010

Wahai bangsa Melayu, sudah lupakah kamu?

HASSAN MOHD NOOR

HARI ini 21 Jun 2010. Apakah istimewanya tarikh 21 Jun ini? Bagi sesetengah ahli UMNO atau orang Melayu mungkin akan ingat tetapi kebanyakannya sudah tentu lupa. Maklumlah selepas sembilan tahun, ramai yang mudah lupa. Sebenarnya hari ini genap sembilan tahun, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad yang ketika itu sebagai Presiden UMNO menyampaikan ucapan menarik yang ditujukan khusus kepada orang Melayu. Ucapan dasarnya pada Perhimpunan Agung UMNO 2001 itu bertajuk ‘Melayu Mudah Lupa’. Malahan Selak minggu ini juga meminjam ungkapan terakhir dalam ucapan dasar Dr. Mahathir itu sebagai tajuk tulisan minggu ini.

Pada hari ketiga Perhimpunan Agung UMNO itu, semasa ucapan penangguhan atau penggulungan, Dr. Mahathir pada akhir ucapannya juga membaca sajak bertajuk ‘Melayu Mudah Lupa’. Jika ada yang terlupa atau buat-buat lupa eloklah diteliti semula sajak tersebut. Dalam ucapan dasarnya pada 21 Jun 2001, Dr. Mahathir antara lain menyentuh isu-isu berkaitan pencapaian Melayu masih rendah, Melayu di zaman penjajah, kelemahan Melayu, Melayu sudah lupa perjuangan dan ubah sikap untuk selamat! Dan minggu lalu, Dr. Mahathir juga menulis mengenai Melayu melalui blognya, kali ini bertajuk ‘Melayu Ke Mana’. Perkataan Melayu mudah lupa tetap ada di situ. Banyak reaksi diberi terhadap tulisan beliau. Isu yang dibangkitkan dalam ‘Melayu Ke Mana’ adalah mengenai Melayu majoriti yang sudah menjadi minoriti kerana perpecahan.

Melayu berpecah kepada pelbagai puak dan parti politik. Seperti yang diperingatkan oleh Dr. Mahathir dalam ucapannya sembilan tahun lalu, Melayu memang mudah lupa padahal ‘orang dulu-dulu’ sudah mencipta pelbagai peribahasa, simpulan bahasa, perumpamaan untuk sentiasa mengingatkan orang Melayu supaya mereka lebih bersedia menghadapi pelbagai cabaran. Boleh dikatakan semua ungkapan yang dicipta oleh orang Melayu pada masa dulu sudah berlaku ketika ini. Malangnya semua ingatan itu sekadar catatan dalam buku-buku berkaitan untuk tatapan pelajar-pelajar. Begitu juga dengan pelbagai kiasan dan kisah untuk renungan seperti Pak Pandir, Pak Kadok, Lebai Malang dan Mat Jenin. Tidak lupa juga tentang Kitol dan Raja Mendaliar. Semuanya ini juga bertujuan memberi pengajaran kepada orang Melayu. Tetapi malangnya Melayu sudah lupa semua cerita dan kiasan tersebut.

Orang Melayu lupa tentang bersatu teguh bercerai roboh. Ketika ini Melayu berpecah kepada pelbagai puak termasuk dalam politik. Akhirnya mereka menjadi ‘minoriti’. Mereka lupa pesan orang dulu-dulu sebatang lidi mudah dipatahkan, seikat lidi sukar dipatahkan. Ada yang mengaku mereka mahu bersikap liberal yang mahu hak sama rata dan sama rasa di kalangan pelbagai kaum. Mereka mendakwa orang Melayu pada masa kini sudah mampu menari di tanah rata dan tidak lagi memerlukan ‘tongkat’ untuk berniaga dan belajar sedangkan hakikatnya ketika orang lain sudah mampu menari dengan baik tetapi ‘tarian’ orang Melayu sebenarnya masih sumbang dan keupayaan untuk berjaya dalam ekonomi dan pendidikan juga terbatas. Ada pula Melayu yang mempersoalkan Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB), mendabik dada dengan kejayaan yang sudah dinikmati. Padahal mereka yang berjaya hari ini juga kebanyakannya disebabkan oleh ‘tongkat’ DEB. Tanpa ‘tongkat’ itu mereka tidak mungkin menikmati apa yang dimiliki sekarang. Malangnya apabila sudah berjaya, mereka bagaikan kacang lupakan kulit.

Dalam politik hari ini, orang Melayu sanggup melakukan apa sahaja asalkan mereka mendapat sokongan yang diharap-harapkan. Bak kata orang marahkan pijat, kelambu dibakar, tidur terdedah.

Jika dulu bermusuh, kini bersahabat. Begitu jugalah yang berlaku sebaliknya. Jika dulu tidak boleh rapat sekarang sudah boleh berpeluk di atas pentas politik. Baguslah begitu… mengeratkan silaturahim. Tetapi akhirnya mereka gagal untuk mengenali musuh dalam selimut, gunting dalam lipatan dan musang berbulu ayam. Mereka lebih selesa mendengar guruh di langit, air di tempayan dicurahkan. Maka ramailah juga di kalangan orang Melayu yang menjadi seperti Pak Pandir, Pak Kadok, Lebai Malang dan Mat Jenin. Apa yang dikejar tidak dapat yang dikendong berciciran. Lebih malang, Yang dijolok tiada jatuh, penjolok tinggal di atas. Habis madu sepah dibuang. Ketika ini juga untuk berjaya, Melayu sanggup pijak kepala kawan dan tikam belakang.

Sedar atau tidak, orang Melayu ketika ini diasak dari pelbagai sudut disebabkan perpecahan dan kelemahan mereka sendiri disebabkan kepentingan politik masing-masing. Ketika orang lain bersatu untuk kepentingan kumpulan mereka, ada pula Melayu yang sanggup membuka pekung di dada dan meludah ke langit.

Amat mendukacitakan sudah tidak ada perasaan cubit paha kiri, paha kanan pun sakit juga. Cubalah cubit paha sendiri dahulu, baru mencubit paha orang lain. Kita mengharapkan orang Melayu tidaklah menjadi seperti Pak Kadok, menang sorak kampung tergadai.

Ketika orang lain dalam politik bersikap diam-diam ubi berisi menjelang pilihan raya umum akan datang tetapi orang Melayu pula seronok bertelagah sesama sendiri. Ada pula yang bersikap bertelur sebiji riuh sekampung. Melayu tanpa kuasa ekonomi nampaknya masih selesa sekalipun akan hilang kuasa politik.

Sebenarnya banyak lagi ingatan yang sudah ditinggalkan oleh orang Melayu pada masa lalu untuk diambil ingatan. Tetapi Melayu tetap leka dan lupa.

Apakah orang Melayu masih berpegang kepada Melayu takkan hilang di dunia seperti diungkapkan oleh Hang Tuah? Memang Melayu tidak akan hilang di dunia tetapi Melayu mampu hilang dunia. Maka ketika itu, nyanyilah puas-puas lagu Warisan yang antara liriknya menyebut bumi dipijak milik orang. Dan jika Melayu sudah hilang dunia maka sekali lagi Selak meminjam tajuk tulisan Dr. Mahathir iaitu ‘Melayu Ke Mana’.

http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2010&dt=0621&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Rencana&pg=re_10.htm&arc=hive

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Two ‘budak Cina’ in a Malay household

IN this poignant tale that grew out of a eulogy for his late elder brother Say Teik, MARTIN LIM recounts their extraordinary teenage years – two “budak Cina” growing up in a Malay household in Kampung Teluk Wan Jah, Alor Star, and the lessons he learnt that have shaped his life. The story, invested with delightful details, transports us to a gentler era around the time of the declaration of Independence.

THE year was 1955. Alor Star was your typical small town in pre-independent Malaya. Seemingly quiet on the commercial facade, but buzzing with life behind its private residential walls.

…..

An hour or two later, I was back in the house. My brother, Say Teik, had come by my classroom, and in between sobs, announced that our father had passed away.

Even though my father had only recently been baptised a Catholic, his subsequent funeral and burial, three days later, was in traditional Buddhist, all to the tight-lipped insistence of Lim Eng Hoe, our strict grandfather.

Our paternal great-great-grandfather, Lim Hua Chiam, was a past president of one of the more prestigious Chinese kongsis in Penang at the beginning of the last century.

He was the “pendatang” in our family lineage, the first to emigrate out of Fujian, China, to Malaya.

We only learnt, quite recently, that he might have been instrumental in leading the Hokkiens to fight the Cantonese in a well-documented local communal uprising, sometime during the start of the 20th Century in Penang.

How we ended up living in a Malay household

We were staunch, traditional Chinese, although Peranakan by choice. Babas on our father’s end, Nyonyas on our mother’s. We grew up learning never to stray from our established roots. Inter-racial marriage was a constant no-no reminder.

Skin colour was a segregational determinant in our dating. “Chinese we are and Chinese you will stay!” almost became the family cry.

Therefore, it was a heart-wrenching commotion when our mother, Ooi Ah Ean, divorced our father, converted to Islam and renamed Fatimah binti Abdullah to marry Abdul Rahman bin Shamsuddin, a Malay. As a consequence, she was disowned and ex-communicated in our Chinese family.

Naturally, my brother and I felt threatened. It was an unimaginably difficult situation to place two unfortunate young boys in. However, we somehow survived the ordeal. And, now, three years or so after that traumatic change in our household, my brother and I found ourselves, once again, in a new predicament, the death of a much revered father. How could anybody replace him, let alone a Malay and a Muslim?

It was not easy, to say the least, in view of the racial, cultural, religious, and colour barriers we had grown up with.

Luckily for us, we had spent time with this “pak-tiri” before, on a number of occasions, on school holidays, in Langkawi. He had been posted over there. We had also met and shared many happy days with our step-siblings, Meh and Kak Nab, scaring them with made-up stories of “orang minyak” (oily man).

Some of the preconceived notions we had constructed began to be demolished, unconsciously remoulded and altered because of these earlier contacts. We were both treated with unusual kindness, patience, thoughtful attention, inclusion, trust and non-threatening approaches to our learning and gradual adaptation to a Malay family.

But still, the thought of having to move in with the Malay “Pak-cik”, the new term for us to address our step-father, his Malay children, our “jib-huan” (in Hokkien, a convert) mother, in Teluk Wan Jah, a very Malay kampung, left both of us close to tears, uncertain of our own future.

Moreover, we did not want to risk hurting the vital linkage to our Chinese family either.

Fortunately, when the moment came to move in, Pak-cik was receptively warm and welcoming. He was aware of our teenage plight, confusion, and vulnerability. He quietly made us feel wanted, took time to assure us and more importantly, gave us a lot of personal space to learn, observe, and grow in the new Malay family.

Above all else, he never forced us into Islam. Clearly, here was a man who fervently placed religious choice on a personal level. The Holy Quran, as I remember, was always placed prominently in the glass cabinet in the living room. Respectfully, this was probably our step-father’s way of inviting all of us to inspect its contents. He always made himself easily accessible if we had enquiries.

Learning ‘adat’

Our introduction to Malay customs started with placing our footwear outside the door. Our mother explained that shoes and slippers tended to carry all kinds of unwelcomed dirt, and wearing them into the house would have dirtied the living space.

Moving barefoot in the house also meant we had to keep our feet washed and clean. We found out only too quickly how merciless the household rats could be, sleeping on the floor with unwashed feet. Those nocturnal creatures would nibble our toes until they bled. We would wake up in agony.

Washing is a very essential Malay practice. We familiarised ourselves with the term “najis” (excrement). We washed our hands before a meal. We washed ourselves after using the toilet. We ceased using toilet rolls.

Sarongs now replaced our customary shorts and pajamas when home. We learnt to position the correct designed part of the kain in the back, overlap the front fold and to neatly roll the top down uniformly with measured tightness. Then there was the cultured way of sitting as opposed to, as my mother would put it, the uncivilised way.

“Jangan-lah ‘dok kankang … Lipat-lah kaki hang ‘tu … ‘dok-lah sila,” our mother would drum into us. (“Don’t sit with your legs wide apart. Cross your legs”.)

She would converse in Malay with us; but would use Hokkien frequently too. She was quite adamant about our Malay. “Cakap pun macham ‘apek’. Cuba cakap macam orang Melayu,” she would tease us, even though her own pronunciation, often times, needed our giggling corrections.

(“You both speak like a Chinese ‘uncle’. Try speaking Malay like a Malay.”)

She was right. Respect and amazement usually attend the one who speaks a language foreign to him commandingly.

Speak English like an English or don’t speak at all,” one past colonial headmaster at the SAHC used to boom at us.

Our mother was no religious slouch either. She did her share of daily observances, went for her pilgrimage and, faithfully continued her Muslim practices until her passing in 1997.

She continued to educate us in Malay manners during our teen years. “Kaki-tu yang bisa sekali,” she used to emphasise. “Kepala pantang sunggoh! ”

She said to the Malays, the leg or foot is the most insulting (part of our body), while the head the most esteemed.

Never point your toes at a Malay, or for that matter, at anyone. This is totally unacceptable. I once smacked the outstretched foot of one of my impudent college students, here in the USA, off the front table, much to his consternation, and my resentment.

That was not my normal behaviour. I had felt instinctively insulted. Of course, he was customarily ignorant of his action. I did explain to him, quite elaborately (including a geographical map), the cultural significance of his foot-placement, in Malaysia, a country I had come from.

I would like to think that he learnt a rewarding lesson that day. And, never, never touch nor slap the head, even in jest. As a matter of fact, I recall someone telling me, following a question from me, some 50-odd years ago, as to why Malay men wear the songkok. He told me, in earnest, that it was more of a religious reminder that Allah was that high above the head, notwithstanding that there’s where our brain is also located. I took him at his word, and never thought about authenticating his explanation.

It was my step-father who pointed out to me that the threshold of the front door to a Malay house is quite sacred.

I was sitting in our silent, tidy living room, one hot, humid, stifling afternoon, when a stranger walked up to our front door. He asked, somewhat rudely, to see Abdul Rahman. I went to the back to fetch my step-father. When we entered the front-room, he suddenly let out a fierce yell: “Celaka! Orang ta’ dak adat! Kurang ajar! Keluar dari sini! ” (Person without custom. Poorly brought up. Get out of here.)

With that, he shoved the shocked “guest” out of the door, and slammed the door shut.

When he had calmed down, he explained: “The visitor had it coming. He crossed over the threshold of our front-door. He had done this once before, uninvited. I had warned him, then. It is customary that if you are a guest to a Malay home, you wait outside the threshold to the host’s house, until invited to enter. You never cross it. Failing to do this, you insult the host.”

This is true of many other cultures. He also told me “to wait at the main door until the guests have all departed before shutting it. Do not insult them by closing the door before they have left.”

Even to these days, I still wait at the main entrance to our home, much to the amusement of some of my American guests, waving, until all have completely driven away.

We were also instructed, as a gesture of respect and politeness, to bow with one hand stretched down by the side, in front of people older than us whenever we walk pass close to them. Our mother used to kick our butt playfully, as a reminder, anytime she caught us not doing this. “Tunduk! ” she would order.

When I first arrived in the USA, I remember passing by my daughters’ late maternal grandfather, Fred Voigt, one evening in their home, outside Brownsville, Oregon, when he tugged on my side, and asked why I did that each time I passed by his wife or him.

I explained. He was impressed, but lamented its absence in their American culture.

Our mother continued to be the cultural teacher. She was always reminding us of the Malay proverb, “Biar mati anak, jangan mati adat! ” (The importance of customs and manners in the Malay culture outweigh even the value of one’s child, in a manner of speaking).

She would advise us on how to address various relatives and friends in the kampung – mak-lang, pak-lang, chu-Darus, pak-Mat, mak-Tam, mak-Embon, together with their acceptable protocols in greeting and salutation.

There were days in Kampung Telok Wan Jah, when someone in the neighbourhood would bring a dish of special food to share. Mak-Mah, our mother as she was known by the children, would place some sugar in the clean plate after it was washed and dried. When asked about the sugar, she said it was customary among the Malays to thank the giver by either returning the container with food, or if none was available, a lump of sugar. One never handed back a gift-plate empty.

Our diet at home also changed, in due course. The food we were eating “mutated” and became spicier and spicier. It gradually obliterated the blander food we were accustomed to. The sambal-belacan for our daily ulam intake took on a new mixture of cabai-melaka mixture. Each dish grew “hotter”. So did the curry. It was not good enough unless we slapped our thighs in blistering pain, with every gulp. Only the daun-kadok santan remained cooling to our flaming tongues. The enjoyment by the entire household over our mother’s cooking was close to being festive.

Thankfully, she passed this skill on to our adopted sister, Zaini.

We helped raise and mould her. At the age of three, Anak-ku Sazali, became her signature song. We taught her to sing that. She is now in her early 50’s, happily married to Putra for the past 29 years. They have five children.

When Say Teik, her “bang-Hor”, was dying in the hospital of lung cancer complications, in June, she sat faithfully in vigil, never leaving his side except for prayer, the powder-room, or home for the night. But she would be right back early the following morning, sitting by our brother, shedding her share of tears. That’s dedication and love.

Memories of ‘berkhatan’ ceremony

The Hari Raya celebrations and the performing of the puberty rites, known as the sunat or berkhatan (circumcision) are probably the two most anticipated occasions in a Malay boy’s life. Lighting the oil-lamps to mark a path to the house and spreading them on wooden posts around the house was as exciting and memorable as the sumptuous, colourful array of kueh-mueh (dessert) on all the clothed tables.

The puberty rites of my two step-brothers Fuad and Feisol remain etched in my mind. There’s the long yellowish looking banana-tree trunk lying in the living-room, close to the kitchen entrance. The Tok-Mudin from the local madrasah and his assistant sat on opposite sides of the trunk. In between them were what looked like two bamboo skewers, the size of regular chop-sticks.

These stayed implanted, menacingly, in the shape of an ‘X’, into the trunk. There were only a few of us privileged witnesses present. The prayers began. Twelve-year-old Fuad, one year younger than his brother, Feisol, was led, gingerly, from the kitchen by the Tok-Mudin’s helper to the appointed spot.

Fuad, covered only in a fresh white sheet of light-weight cotton cloth around his waist, knelt nervously on the man’s instruction, close to where the two sticks stood waiting, stuck on the trunk. The pious man continued reciting Quranic verses, as he subtly reached out for the young man’s prepuce, pulling it through the opening made by the straddling bamboo. The skewers were, then, pushed down quickly, over the foreskin, until they held it tightly in place.

Anticipation was written all over Fuad’s face. More, quicker verses followed, and, at hardly the blink of an eye, the Tok-Mudin, tugging on the extended epidermis with his left fingers and thumb, lopped it off with the small, sharp scalpel he had been holding in his right hand out of sight all this time. It was over. The boy became a man. He did not cry. He merely winced in momentary pain. Feisol’s turn came the year after.

Our choice

Say Teik and I lived with our Malay family until the end of 1959. By then, the Malay neighbours had grown accustomed to the two “budak Cina” in their midst. You could say they eventually, adopted us, and finally, made us one of their own, jokingly but fondly, nicknaming my brother, Yusof, and me, Halim.

Meanwhile, we kept our visits to our Chinese family, as often as permissible. That was important to us. It would be disingenuous of me if I failed to indicate here, that while we were growing up in the Malay house, the Chinese relatives of ours in Penang never interfered but never ceased to monitor our daily well-being either.

It is important to point out also, that it never occurred to us that we had to accept the living situation then, because the alternative was worse. We had an uncle, our father’s older brother, in Penang, and cousins to boot, who would have willingly taken us in. We had a choice.

I left for Brinsford-Lodge, England, in December 1959. My elder brother departed for training in the Health Ministry. I returned after two years and began teaching at SAHC, my alma mater. My brother completed his training, and was appointed a full-fledged health-inspector. He and Wong Foong Moi, a Seremban girl, also a health nurse, tied the knot in 1964. I was his best man.

I stayed on for two more years in the Telok Wan Jah home after returning from England, before moving into the SAHC hostel as one of the hostel-masters. I married a Peace Corps volunteer, Joan L. Voigt, in 1966, and migrated to the US at the end of that year.

The bigger picture

Two Chinese, living as Malays, with Malays, among Malays. Is there a bigger picture to be seen in all this? Possibly.

Other than the usual sibling rivalry, and suspicion among step-children, one begins to accept the idea, very quickly, that the real trick in getting along with people different from yourself, is not so much in your differences, but in your similarities, such as sharing common needs and working together to achieve those needs. Living with identical problems, and solving those problems, together.

Solutions must be based on the merits of total honesty, integrity, fairness and equity.

If it’s within a family, then the unity, security and success of that whole family become its overall consideration, not just the individuals in it.

Our own experience in co-living taught us to be cautious when making judgmental calls. All may not be what it seems.

Initially, my brother and I had to consciously suppress our innate and cultivated fear. Fear that we will be forced to convert our religious belief was foremost on our mind. Many well-meaning friends and relatives would shake their fingers at us as in warning as they voiced their suspicions to us. Time went by. What we feared did not materialise. Our uneasiness was allayed. We were encouraged. Our step-father became our trusted mentor. Mistrust, as we are well aware of, can be so insidious.

Pak-cik’s no-nonsense honesty, together with his ever-positive outlook, gave us ample reasons to emulate him in many ways, so that all those misgivings and warnings we had been hearing, quietly dissipated.

In the absence of those two formidable walls – fear and mistrust – we were able to verify the real condition ourselves. We grew more adventurous. We found ourselves more open to learning and instructing. The kampung folk reciprocated, in turn. With new confidence, we started to visit the different neighbours in their homes more frequently, putting to use what we had learnt at home, the greeting, the bowing, the proper sitting position, the polite invitation before drinking or eating, until the final leaving.

We played with the boisterous children in the village, and, before too long, our spoken Malay improved. We began to speak Malay more like Malays. This was particularly important to me. Its fluency allowed me to blend into the family and community, provoking a sense of belonging. In exchange, we shared our Chinese background and practices, when asked by the curious, translating a host of everyday Malay usage into Hokkien.

As we settled in and grew more comfortable with ourselves, we realised that much of what we had been told in our previous “pre-Malay” period, were hearsays, innuendos, rumours, generalisations, passed down.

It would however be utterly naïve of me to pontificate that even though our personal observations dismissed a good amount of the negative assumptions we had heard in the past, that life in our kampung home was all peachy.

On the contrary, we had our fill of family “pecking” orders, including your everyday dissent and dissatisfaction. Every community comes with its share of builders and demolishers. People who either help garner the general good of the group or cause its demise. The Malays are no exception.

But it would be wrong to suggest that they are generally lazy, inefficient, unintelligent, manipulative, corrupt, non-ambitious, “earth-diggers”. Their own achievements through the years are testimonies to their prowess.

Within the scale of the kampung children I grew up with, there’s Din-garu, who went to work without shirking; Umak-siam, who, feeling obligated one day, enlisted in the army, and left our kampung, to fight in the Congo; Kassim, Mak-Tam’s younger son, ended up a general in the army. My step-sister, Kak Nab retired a teacher, was herself Kirkby-trained. My step-brother, Feisol, academically successful in SAHC, was awarded a scholarship, went to Dublin, graduated from one of its fine universities, returned home, and has been doing very well ever since.

Our cousin-sister, Jumaah, is a lawyer by profession. Loyal to both her Malay and Chinese relatives, she is one highly motivated Datin. These are all very genuine, ordinary folk out of one small, insignificant kampung, taking on what some might consider quite extraordinary feats. They reached their positions and goals, despite their race, not because of it.

Our dear old childhood friends, Syed Salem Albukhary, whose nomadic ancestors walked “the vast region comprising lands of Jazira al-Arab right through the sky-piercing ranges of Central and South-Asia”, and Wan Ahmad Sobri Wan Tajuddin of humble Acheh-mix, come immediately to mind, as other figures whom this incredible category of high-achievers with very modest beginning, fit.

Fully aware of the ramifications, the people I am familiar with had to work even harder to prove their mental and professional worth. I had to do the same here in the US. I had to slog to maintain a high GPA (grade point average, academic achievement grade) throughout my university study, to convince the local folk (with their own racial bias, very pronounced at that time), that one’s skin colour, looks, or race does not ultimately determine the measure of his intellect or personal character.

Generally, speaking, I see no glaring difference, growing up as a Chinese in a Chinese home, as opposed to a Malay one. Apart from their respective moral bearing, cultural cloak and religious conviction, both could be as ambitious, disciplined, capable, inventive, purposeful, patriotic, and fiercely competitive, given the appropriate equity, fairness, incentives, hope, aspirations and opportunities.

Within the confines of the family-building, there is no special treatment accorded to one member, and not the other; no extra share of the fortune or loss; no more chances than another; no more burden to one, and not the other; no one-sided reward; no lopsided punishment.

Since all have equal stakes in its success, all should have equal or equitable opportunities and responsibilities. The family head must lead inclusively, not exclusively.

The true culprits lie in oneself, our arrogance, our unwillingness, our close-mindedness, our envy, our jealousy, our selfishness, our convoluted bias, and our fears.

Race has very little to do with it.

Martin Lim Say Leong resides in the United States where he teaches. He still “balik kampung” whenever he finds the time.

http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=37488

Perkasa “Communists”? The views of “The Others”

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The defunct Malayan Communist Party, headed by the terrorist Chin Peng, was mostly Chinese. The few Malays there were placed in the Committee as stooges to make the appearance of mass appeal as Malays formed the majority of the population. Yet the fellow who wrote the article below implies Perkasa are communists. Saying it jokingly, he says. And presumably “The Others” in Malaysian Insider, which publishes the article, also say so.

These are the kind of “The Others” that are “crazy, ultra kiasu and fanatics of the extreme kind”, to borrow a few of his words. They know the difference between trying to protect our rights (Perkasa) and and trying to encroach upon our rights and keep raising issues (some of “The Others”) pertaining to the Special Position of the Malays which is enshrined in the Constitution. Yet they dong and bong on with their accusations, snide remarks and innuendos. Ha, they’ll even try to make fun of the word “enshrined”. Well, two can play the game.

The Constitution doesn’t even mention the word “Chinese”, not even a single time. They are just referred to as “The Others”. They were given citizenship in consideration for the Malay Special Position being placed in the Constitution. But they always keep asking for more, more and more, without offering anything in return. And grudge at the Malays, try to make fun of the Special Position, the Malays using what they call “Tongkat” (crutches), etc. We will not allow that. We have been pointing out that they have also been using crutches under the British and even earlier, and even now. We will continue to point that out and at the same time justify the affirmative action taken for the Malays.

Here we try to strip them naked (of their narrow, selfish and chauvinist views). Whether successful or not is up to the readers to judge. But like hell we’ll try. We cannot allow them to say whatever they like, as and when they like, and anywhere they like, without being challenged. We, however, are merely trying to get others see the other side of the coin. In the hope of getting a better understanding of the situation among Malaysians and hopefully contribute towards national unity.

1-2 other articles below show the thinking of these chauvinistic, greedy and extremely selfish fellows. And we also print 1-2 articles giving the other side of the story. Let us discuss them as usual.

Readers should read the comments and the replies to them to know the other side of the coin.

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Are you communists in disguise?
April 05, 2010

Expert undercover journalism by The Malaysian Insider has uncovered (undercovered?) the shocking and disturbing truth behind what has up to now been seen as a deluded bunch of crazy extremist Malay rights fanatics.

Parkosa, with their silly-looking weapons, skirts and chef hats have for so long been thought of as being so mental that they constitute a genuine threat to the delicate fabric of Malaysia’s soft and silky multicultural society.

But an embedded The Malaysian Insider reporter got so deep inside Parkosa that s/he had to take a two-week crash course with Biro Tata Negara, Malaysia’s best brainwashers, to recover (reundercover?).

This reporter has discovered (disundercovered?) that Parkosa is actually short for Parti Komunis Asia, and are in fact, the continuing legacy of the fiendish Chin Peng and his band of guerrillas who wanted to unite all of Asia under one red flag of equality and fraternity.

“At first, it was all Melayu this and Melayu that. But very soon, I started to discover, I mean, disundercover, that they had strange ideas about who deserved what,” our daring detective detailed during ‘d’ daunting debriefing.

“For example, sometimes you get things like the women’s caucus and Hindraf asking for a larger quota for positions than people who actually want those positions. Now, that makes sense. If you want to be some kind of activist, you need to start from a high bargaining point and negotiate to the level which you actually want,” the courageous covert communicator claimed.

“But Parkosa only want exactly 67 per cent of the pie! Exactly the ratio of Bumiputera in Malaysia!” our fearless fact-finder put forward.

As the debrief went on, it became clear that if Parkosa’s logic held the public imagination, it would not be long before the Chinese would counter-argue that they deserved their ratio too and demand a quota for themselves, thinking it a clever political strategy. So too would the Indians and the “lain-lains”.

“What Parkosa would do obviously, is suddenly accept that it all made sense, and every ethnic group would have its own quota. Then each ethnic group would find its community saying that it would logically follow that each individual deserved an equal share. Hence… communism!” our masquerading mole made manifest.

This shining source of sensation worked his/her way through hundreds of dangdut parties, dikir barat performances, songkok fittings and kain sampin shopping trips to finally eyeball what was in Parkosa Youth chief Armand Karl Zizek’s songkok that kept it so stiff and upstanding all the time!

“It was a copy of Das Kapital!”

An autographed copy of the Red Book, signed “Dear Ibrahim, Always be your Main Mao!” was also spotted in a wardrobe located in the nondescript changing room located at the Parkosa headquarters.

“It was this that really led me to the truth. How can the leader of an apparently feudalistic organisation share his shower with the grassroots membership?” intoned the intrepid investigator.

S/he also added that this was why Parkosa continuously attacked DAP for its social democratic stance.

“What Parkosa believe is that DAP is in fact, a socialist party. So they need to knock DAP off its perch and be the only communist champions in the country. On top of that, all this high-handed nationalism and stupid alliteration with regards to Malaysia, you know, Malaysian Malaysia-la, Middle Malaysia-la, Parkosa hates it because they are for a Pan-Asiatic community,” concluded our charismatic cuckolder.

It is expected that such news would not shock Parkosa patron saint, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed who himself, is a great Asian communalist. It may even be that he was the mastermind behind such a move.

In the same way that Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is being accused of being a Chinese agent, Mahathir himself was bending over backwards for the Japanese when he proposed the East Asia Economic Caucus back in the 1990s. Most recently, he has continued to flirt with the Japanese, asking them to dump the sloppy, McDonald’s-chomping Americans for the svelte and exotic Asians.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

If you don’t find our self-proclaimed resident humourist funny, we are happy to get your feedback so we can pay Jerome Martin less. If you prefer to give Jerome a tongue lashing, then write to jerometmartin@gmail.com.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/Are-you-communists-in-disguise/

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Where is the NEM in the 10th Plan? — Dr Lim Teck Ghee
June 19, 2010

The 10th Malaysia Plan was heavily advertised as the plan that would usher in a new economic era for all Malaysians built on a New Economic Model. The key features of the NEM were:

• Merit and excellence criteria for all implementation decisions and processes,

• Transparency, accountability and integrity as part of normal business practice,

• Dismantling of quotas, preferences, APs, closed tenders and other non-competitive processes.

Now that it is out, I searched in vain for all these criteria and for signs of the major policy reforms that were supposed to be in the pipeline.

Some of the rhetoric remains in the document. There has been a tweaking of strategy here and there. But at the heart of the 10th Plan is still the same model of state-dominated development, and ethnic and crony preference that has driven all the other Malaysia plans.

The New Economic Model had promised that there would be a focus on raising income levels of all disadvantaged and marginalised groups, irrespective of race. The policy would be “market friendly”, “merit-based”, “transparent” and “needs-based”, and would emphasise the bottom 40 per cent of Malaysia’s income strata, whether individually or regionally, according to the prime minister when he first publicly unveiled the NEM.

Clearly, the prime minister has beaten a hasty retreat from the paradigm shift that was promised. What we have with the latest Malaysia Plan is not NEM but the same old economic model.

30 per cent unmoving target

Consider, for example, the 30 per cent Bumiputera corporate equity ownership target which has been the centrepiece of eight previous plans and which resulted in the wrong emphasis on allocation of scarce resources to a privileged and wealthy Malay class and non-Malay cronies. Not only does this target remain but it is being reinforced beyond corporate equity to other properties and business assets.

The mind boggles at the new wealth opportunities created for the Malays — now extended to other Bumiputera and non-Malay elite. Under the earlier NEP-dominated model, much of public monies and resources have ended up in the hands of various distributional coalitions tied up with trusteeship of the NEP and related programmes; namely, political, bureaucratic, military and aristocratic.

These coalitions, although dominated by Umno, the No.1 in the ruling coalition, is to some extent multi-racial, has overlapping membership and is built on an intricate network of convergent interests arising from kinship, business and professional relationships (extending even to multi-racial marriages!)

Trusteeship and control of decision-making has resulted in a very rapid process of wealth accumulation under the control of the Malay elite trustees and managers. These consequences follow from biased decision-making in which private and public brokers and facilitators collude behind the scenes.

Taking advantage of their positions and freed from the rigorous checks and balances necessary to ensure that genuine Bumiputeras and the public interests are fully safeguarded, these groups have been given licence to engage in self-enrichment through rent-seeking behaviour, exaction of high transaction costs and other forms of non-competitive bargains. These coalitions have emerged as the fatal deadweight burden on the Malaysian economy, augmenting its non-competitive aspects.

Tightlipped warning

No evidence has been presented in the 10th Plan that it will not be business as usual for the distributional coalitions. Instead, the highly lucrative divestment, outsourcing and public-private projects that comprise a key component of the plan promise a new bonanza.

It is significant that the normally taciturn Yong Poh Kon, the co-chair of the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business, has seen it fit to warn that “open tenders [are] necessary to get the best deals for the nation or Malaysia would be saddled with high tariffs and fares for many years to come, making it burdensome to users and affecting the competitiveness of the economy

Enter Ibrahim Ali …

The scope for abuse by the distributional coalitions led by Umno and the bureaucracy is compounded by the continuation of the overall ethnic approach to development.

The proponents of the NEM had advocated for the cessation of ethnically-driven policies. They failed to take into consideration the political clout of the Malay hardliners. Led by Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa and his patron Dr Mahathir Mohamad, these extremists have reduced the non-ethnic approach largely to platitudes.

When Ibrahim told reporters in Parliament after the unveiling of the 10th Plan that “it was really worth our effort [put into the Bumiputera Economic Congress that voiced their public objection to NEM] and it shows that Prime Minister Najib Razak paid heed to the needs of the Bumiputeras”, he was not boasting. He was merely stating the truth.

Except that Ibrahim missed out mentioning the needs of the Bumiputeras he was allegedly safeguarding were in fact the elite interests.

In an earlier setting when he first floated the NEM, our chameleon prime minister had said: “We risk losing our competitive edge altogether if we do not act quickly to address structural barriers to growth that stand in the way of an effective response to the changing economic environment.”

I guess we will have to wait for the 11th Plan to see if this dismantling of structural barriers will finally take place. By then it may be too late to recover from the tailspin in our economic development. — cpiasia.net

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or the publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/where-is-the-nem-in-the-10th-plan-dr-lim-teck-ghee/

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Let’s make Malaysia Boleh a reality — Lim Mun Fah
June 17, 2010

I was away from the country when the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) was unveiled. On my return, I took some time to study the document.

At the first look, the 10MP seems like an excellently packaged master plan with an ambitious magnificent vision for the nation.

An in-depth study of the documents, however, uncovered some fundamental flaws, the most glaring, perhaps, is the conspicuous retention and reiteration of certain racially exclusive policies and programmes.

Another unfortunate weakness is surely the lack of a determined and expeditious practical attempt to liberalise and promote a more open education environment, particularly for Chinese education.

The proposed move to gradually end the overseas scholarship scheme is a regrettable myopic policy, lacking foresight and pragmatic insight.

The failure to accept and accord formal recognition to the Chinese school system’s Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) is certainly unfortunate and regrettable. And, graduates of Chinese independent high schools who wish to join the Chinese teachers training will only be considered if they hold the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).

It has been reported that Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had promised to “consider” allowing UEC holders to apply for the Chinese teachers training programme if they have a pass in the SPM Bahasa Malaysia paper.

As a father of three UEC holders, I am extremely disappointed with the government’s lack of firm commitment on the matter. It could only pledge to “consider”, not give an absolute validity, meaning that any application for the Chinese teacher training scheme is dependent on the whim, bias or prejudice of whoever process it.

The federal government has publicly declared that having a multiple-lingual society is an asset in the increasingly competitive and borderless world, but it has not matched such an acknowledgement with affirmative concrete measures.

For decades, Chinese independent school-leavers have been marginalised and left on the periphery of the nation-building process, the conspicuous lack of Chinese in the civil service being a very glaring example.

However, the majority of these Chinese independent school leavers have been unfazed by the adverse situation and are able to overcome the unfavourable circumstance that hinders their progress and advancement, becoming shining examples of skilful, productive citizens in their various professional fields. All on their own efforts, too.

The UEC is recognised and accepted as an admission qualification by the top universities in China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, and many leading universities of the world, including those ranked among the top 100 and even top 10 in Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Yet, the sad irony is that our own motherland, Malaysia, does not grant recognition to the UEC whose standard is comparable to or even better than most high school qualifications in most of the top schools in the world.

The Chinese community is deeply disappointed and disheartened with such an unreasonable and unjust national education policy, which alienates those who study at the Chinese independent schools.

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese independent school-leavers are asking the same lamentable sorrowful question: “I love my motherland, but does my motherland love me?”

It is certainly unpleasant for the federal government to hear this, but as long as the status of Chinese independent schools and the UEC are not accepted and recognised, as long as matters like the development, teachers and relocation of Chinese schools are not resolved, the issue of Chinese education will forever be the grindstone hanging from the neck of the Barisan Nasional (BN).

If the 10MP is an opportunity for Malaysia to take its first step towards the reform and regeneration of the nation, then all discriminatory and unjust policies must be removed, with the disambiguation of the government agenda undertaken to define and make clear the meaning, purpose and actions of the government.

The fundamental objective must be the elimination of racial exclusivity from the administration and operation of the governing process, with the recognition, acceptance, and promotion of the pluralistic lifestyle and the democratic ideals in our multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-lingual nation being made the norm.

Let us think and strive with a broad, open heart to make Malaysia a great nation where everyone, irrespective of colour, creed, culture or class, will find a comfortable personal niche and enjoy to the fullest the resources and benefits of the motherland.

Malaysia Boleh? — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or the publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/lets-make-malaysia-boleh-a-reality-lim-mun-fah/

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Kedudukan Melayu berterusan dipersoal — Rejal Arbee
June 17, 2010

Dalam tempoh sebulan dua ini akhbar berbahasa Cina, iaitu Sin Chew Jit Poh, China Press dan Nanyang Siang Pau senada mempersoalkan kedudukan Melayu yang dikatakan mendapat segala keistimewaan hingga menjejas kedudukan bukan Melayu khususnya Cina.

Boleh dikatakan setiap hari ada saja makalah atau surat yang berterusan menimbulkan isu bagaimana Cina, terutama dianak tirikan walaupun kerajaan berterusan melaungkan slogan 1 Malaysia.

Jadi pada mereka ini, apakah 1 Malaysia itu bermakna Melayu harus ketepikan kedudukan mereka, walaupun ia termaktub dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan? Sesiapa saja yang cuba mempertahankan kedudukan yang dijamin Perlembagaan itu adalah pelampau?

Maka itulah, apabila Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak menyebut matlamat memperjuangkan Melayu dapat menguasai 30 peratus daripada ekonomi negara pun, akhbar Cina ini mempersoalkannya.

Dipersoalkan juga kenapa mahu berterusan dengan dasar diskriminasi begini? Tetapi apakah matlamat supaya orang Melayu menguasai 30 peratus ekonomi negara ini pun mahu dipertikaikan? Yang salahnya kerajaan terlalu konservatif menetapkan hanya 30 peratus, walaupun jumlah Melayu dalam negara ini sudah mencecah 60 peratus.

Akhbar itu juga mempersoalkan hasrat kerajaan hendak menambahkan hartanah kepunyaan Bumiputera, meningkatkan teknologi usahawan Bumiputera, mengembangkan jumlah usahawan Bumiputera serta mengambil profesional Bumiputera secara keseluruhan kononnya sebagai tidak senada dengan semangat Model Baru Ekonomi.

Kononnya ini bercanggah dengan hasrat awal hendak mengutamakan keberkesanan kemajuan ekonomi tanpa menghiraukan bangsa. Inilah sikap mereka yang tidak senang dengan usaha untuk mengurangkan jurang perbezaan pendapatan antara kaum.

Dilihat pendapatan isi rumah Melayu dengan pendapatan isi rumah kaum India pun, orang Melayu masih ketinggalan, jangan kata hendak dibandingkan dengan pendapatan isi rumah orang Cina. Anehnya kebanyakan tulisan yang dimuatkan itu disebut sebagai tidak semestinya mencerminkan pandangan akhbar terbabit. Sungguh mudah untuk berselindung.

Maka tidak menghairankan kenapa timbul suara dalam akhbar Melayu apa lagi yang orang Cina mahu? Ini juga sudah pun dijawab beberapa orang Cina tertentu dan juga akhbar Cina. Mereka mahu kuota di institut pengajian tinggi awam (IPTA) dihapuskan, biasiswa diberi mengikut kelayakan dan merit, tempat lebih banyak dalam perkhidmatan kerajaan, kenapa syarikat Cina saja dikehendaki juga dipegang 30 peratus Melayu, kontrak kerajaan jangan diberikan kepada Melayu saja.

Dengan itu Melayu sendiri sudah berasa amat gelisah dan tidak sedap hati dan berfikir apakah selama ini Cina dipinggirkan? Sebenarnya semua sepatutnya melihat persoalan ini secara rasional dan tidak harus digembar-gemburkan seolah-olah orang Melayu begitu ekstrem sekali hingga menyekat kedudukan masyarakat Cina.

Apa sebenarnya kedudukan mereka sekarang? Apa sebab Melayu masih mempertikaikan apa yang disuarakan orang Cina ini dan kenapa kini ada di kalangan Melayu memberi reaksi dengan menubuhkan Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa).

Tetapi dalam pada itu, penubuhan Perkasa juga tidak disenangi orang Cina kononnya mereka ini memperjuangkan keadaan yang mana bukan Melayu akan berterusan dipinggirkan hingga ada yang mengandaikannya sebagai satu perjuangan Quixotic, yang sia-sia seperti Mat Jenin, dengan mengambil cerita klasik Sepanyol, Don Quixote yang banyak berangan-angan tidak munasabah.

Sebenarnya, Melayu sendiri tidak pula mempertikaikan penubuhan pelbagai pertubuhan Cina, iaitu pelbagai Dong yang begitu lantang memperjuangkan kedudukan sekolah Cina dan lain-lainnya. Dalam pada itu, pertubuhan itu memberi gambaran orang Cina sepatutnya memasuki sekolah Cina saja.

Mereka ini seolah-olah tidak mahu wujudnya pergaulan antara kaum di sekolah. Sememangnya sekarang ini sudah tidak wujud lagi pergaulan sihat antara anak Melayu dan anak Cina khususnya apabila dilihat kedudukan jumlah murid di sekolah kebangsaan mengikut kaum. Jika ini berterusan apa akan jadi kepada negara ini?

Terakhir timbul pula soal kerajaan mahu semua peruncit yang menjual tiga barangan kawalan, gula, tepung dan minyak masak, dilesenkan yang dianggap sebagai sengaja mahu menyusahkan peruncit yang kebanyakannya terdiri daripada Cina. Mereka ini mempertikaikan keputusan Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri, Koperasi dan Kepenggunaan.

Ini disambut persatuan peruncit yang mengarahkan semua ahlinya memboikot jualan gula, tepung dan minyak masak. Ini pun sudah dijadikan suatu hal perkauman.

Dalam pada itu, wujud pula ancaman daripada mereka ini bahawa Cina tidak lagi akan mengundi BN pada pilihan raya akan datang sekiranya kerajaan berterusan hendak mensyaratkan mereka mempunyai lesen jualan barangan itu.

Mereka berkata, ini akan hanya menyusahkan peruncit dan pegawai penguat kuasa kementerian berkaitan akan mengganggu mereka serta memberikan satu lagi jalan untuk rasuah. Sebenarnya ini tidak akan berlaku sekiranya peruncit benar-benar patuh dengan soal tidak menyorok barang atau melakukan yang bertentangan peraturan.

Apa pun sasaran mereka ialah mempersoalkan kehendak Melayu juga diberi peluang untuk menguasai 30 peratus daripada ekonomi negara ini, tidak tepat. Apa yang sepatutnya mereka persoal dan perjuangkan ialah menghapuskan sistem patronage dan kroni di mana syarikat yang tidak layak diberi kontrak atau di mana yang mendapat kontrak mengagihkannya (beri kontrak (sub) projek itu kepada kontraktor lain) dengan mengambil komisyen saja.

Ini tentunya akan menyebabkan kerja yang dilaksanakan tidak menepati mutu dikehendaki. Misalnya apabila sesuatu kontrak bernilai RM100 juta diberikan kepada kontraktor yang tidak layak menerimanya, dia akan subkontrakkan kerja itu kepada kontraktor lain dengan harga yang lebih murah, iaitu harga setelah ditolak komisyennya mungkin sehingga 20 peratus.

Maka projek yang sepatutnya bernilai RM100 juta kini dilaksanakan sebagai sebuah projek bernilai RM80 juta saja. Jadi bagaimana hendak menjamin projek yang berkualiti? Maka itulah timbul pelbagai kejadian di mana projek apabila siap ada saja masalahnya.

Sistem patronage inilah yang sepatutnya dihapuskan dan yang orang Cina juga patut perjuangkan. Sistem ini sepatutnya sudah dihapuskan dan kontrak sedemikian dilaksanakan secara terbuka dan telus. Demikian juga pemberian kontrak sepatutnya diberikan kepada yang layak dan yang boleh melaksanakan sesuatu projek itu dengan baik dan dengan mutu seperti mana diharapkan. — Berita Harian

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Memperkasa Melayu hadapi tuntutan, asakan — Ruslan Kasim
June 10, 2010

Pada zaman Sultan Mahmud mangkat dijulang, permasalahan orang Melayu tidak begitu kompleks. Kehidupan mereka seadanya. Sembang-sembang politik tidaklah mendalam dan mendasar. Kehidupan harian sangat sederhana dan berligar di sekitar empat penjuru tiang halaman rumah masing-masing.

Tetapi, orang Melayu tahu menilai maruah dan harga diri. Tidak ada yang lebih dipelihara melainkan soal maruah, harga diri dan air muka. Maruah adalah segala-galanya bagi bangsa Melayu.

Banyak peristiwa “amuk Melayu” berlaku sejak tahun 1944 yang dipimpin oleh Kiyai Salleh sehinggalah kes Natrah pada awal tahun 1950-an di Singapura dan tragedi berdarah 13 Mei 1969 membuktikan pemilikan bangsa Melayu pantang diusik atau diganggu gugat oleh sesiapapun, apatah lagi daripada anasir-anasir luar lingkungan bangsa Melayu sendiri.

Soal agama dengan segala bidang dan institusinya, bahasa, hak-hak yang terkanun dan tidak terkanun, institusi Raja yang berdaulat, norma-norma sosial bangsa Melayu yang begitu halus mengakar pada adat dan budayanya serta perkara-perkara lain yang dianggap sinonim dengan persoalan maruah bangsa tidak boleh dilanggar dan dipalit oleh sesiapapun.

Kesemua perkara ini juga termaktub kemas di dalam Watikah Wasiat Raja-Raja Melayu yang dimeterai pada 31 Ogos 1957.

Pada peringkat awal kemasukan kaum- kaum pendatang ke Tanah Melayu dahulu, tidak banyak berlaku pergeseran kaum dan pencerobohan hak-hak orang Melayu kerana mereka tahu menjaga batas dan menghormati orang-orang Melayu.

Ia wujud mungkin kerana pada waktu itu mereka terpaksa menumpukan perhatian kepada soal-soal asasi seperti mendapatkan tempat tinggal, mengembangkan perniagaan dan terbukanya peluang dominasi ekonomi di wilayah baru (tentunya dengan perancangan dan bantuan pihak Inggeris), masalah kewarganegaraan, akomodasi dalam arus politik perdana Tanah Melayu, ketakutan mereka untuk pulang ke China akibat suasana politik di sana yang lebih menekan dan tidak menentu membuatkan mereka melihat Tanah Melayu lubuk yang lebih selesa bagi mengaut untung.

Namun, senario itu berubah setelah mereka memperoleh hak kerakyatan, pegangan ekuiti dan pemilikan sumber ekonomi yang semakin mencengkam, perkara-perkara tersurat dalam Perlembagaan yang boleh diberikan tafsiran semula dan dieksploitasi untuk lebih menghimpit orang Melayu serta beberapa perkara lain membuka ruang untuk mereka menangguk di air yang keruh.

Agenda menggoncang sendi-sendi bangsa Melayu dapat dilihat pada gelagat Lee Kuan Yew dan disemarakkan lagi dengan kenyataan Dr Tan Chee Koon (pada waktu itu beliau memimpin Parti Buruh) yang mengkritik kerajaan tentang rancangan pendidikan dan sikap berat sebelah yang kononnya memberi kelebihan kepada anak-anak Melayu, tentang Maktab Mara dan sebagainya.

Pendekatan yang agak komunal dengan mengemukakan statistik yang tidak tepat (perbandingan di antara pelajar Melayu dengan bukan Melayu dalam kursus-kursus profesional di IPTA ) bukan saja boleh menimbulkan dan membakar semangat kebencian antara kaum, bahkan ia boleh juga disifatkan sebagai jenayah politik yang sangat merbahaya pada waktu itu.

Khir Johari yang pada masa itu menerajui Kementerian Pelajaran menjawab tuduhan dan tohmahan tersebut dengan kata-kata beliau, “Sebahagian besar daripada mahasiswa Universiti Malaya dan Maktab Teknik adalah keturunan Cina dan tiap-tiap orang mendapat subsidi daripada kerajaan. Begitulah juga dengan Sekolah Tinggi Chung Ling Pulau Pinang yang mempunyai 3,500 orang murid dan 100 peratus terdiri daripada murid-murid Cina yang mendapat bantuan penuh dari kerajaan. Sekolah-sekolah lain seperti Victoria Institution, St John, MBS di Kuala Lumpur, St Michael dan ACS di Ipoh dan Penang Free School, kebanyakan muridnya terdiri daripada murid-murid Cina”.

Sementara itu, Tunku Abdul Rahman yang sangat kecewa dengan sikap kaum imigran yang menyerlahkan tindak-tanduk seperti “kacang lupakan kulit” pula memberikan kenyataan berikut: “Membina universiti Cina bererti menegakkan sesuatu yang sentiasa mengingatkan orang-orang Cina akan sifat Cina mereka dan bukan sebagai orang-orang Malaysia.” Namun seperti biasa, jawapan dan kenyataan itu bagi mereka tidak cukup kuat untuk tidak mengizinkan kaum mereka menentukan dasar pelajaran sendiri.

Selepas terkeluarnya Singapura dari Tanah Melayu, pergolakan politik semakin kritikal khususnya setelah pihak pembangkang yang diterajui oleh beberapa parti politik bukan Melayu mendapat kejayaan di luar dugaan semasa Pilihan Raya Umum 1969 hingga akhirnya membawa kepada berlakunya tragedi berdarah 13 Mei, 1969 akibat reaksi keterlaluan dan di luar batas kesopanan yang ditunjukkan oleh para pengikut mereka.

Setelah PAP menutup bukunya di Malaysia, DAP mengambil alih tugas sacred mission PAP dalam meneruskan perjuangan meleburkan benteng dan meranapkan kewibawaan bangsa Melayu dengan melontarkan gagasan Malaysian Malaysianya untuk mewujudkan padang yang “sama rata”.

Persoalannya apakah perubahan sikap dan pendirian kaum imigran terhadap orang Melayu itu menjadi bertambah baik dan usaha pemupukan perpaduan kaum meningkat? Apa yang nyata ialah asakan dan tuntutan mereka semakin menjadi-jadi serta menampakkan kegilaan yang sukar dibendung, apatah lagi warna perkauman DAP terutamanya, yang amat pekat itu kini dicairkan oleh penglibatan dan sokongan sebilangan orang Melayu yang lupa di mana bumi dipijak dan tempat langit dijunjung. — Utusan Malaysia

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“Unliberal Malays”, “Loyal Malays” and “The Others”

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Yeah, there are a lot of inverted commas up there.

Words placed in inverted commas denote emphasis (needing attention) or caution (need not be taken literally) or cynicism, or merely stating legally constituted facts. In the few articles given below, let’s see which is which. This is not an attempt at labeling; merely pointing out the kinds of Malaysians we have in this beloved country of ours in the hope of helping to create a better understanding among ourselves and thereby promoting unity.

Responding to a suggestion to make Mandarin and Tamil compulsory subjects in schools, the Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister of Education said he would study it. The Berita Harian writer said it should be supported, though he pointed out the importance of Bahasa Malaysia. No mention of its inconsistency with, even contravention of, the Constitution Article 152 on the role of Bahasa Malaysia as the National Language. Or the fact that Mandarin and Tamil can be studied as elective subjects in national schools. He spinned it by saying the language is spoken by 1.3 billion people in China. No mention of its international usage compared to English.

The Berita Harian write-up was republished by Malaysian Insider. Perhaps to emphasize the fact that the DPM/ MOE said it or to spread the message they want others to believe in. We print it here to show what has been going on. We may be perceived as the “Unliberal Malays”. But we wish to promote national unity through the National Language and single-stream schooling, in line with Article 152 of the Constitution. A few readers have commented in the previous post that they don’t mind whatever label as long as there will be single stream schooling for the sake of long-term unity in this country.

The DPM/ MOE was merely responding to a suggestion and it was politic for him to answer, on the spot, that he would study the suggestion. Hopefully he would not decide agreeing to it. If he does, then it may be a case of being a “Loyal Malay”, being loyal to a boss who has been bent on getting PRU12 run-away non-Malay votes, particularly the Chinese. We urge him not to do that. Loyalty may be shown in other ways.

The Berita Harian spinner and the Malaysian Insider publisher of the write-up may be “The Others”. Quite a number of them are clinging to Mandarin and Tamil as the medium of instruction in schools. thestar.com publisher of the last article below may also be “the others”. The writer appears to be a “Loyal Malay”, loyal to his employers, an organization owned by “the others” some of whom are suspicious of the intentions of Perkasa and the Melayu Bangkit Rally organizers and want to downplay the significance and the support for their activities. He talks in terms of only “hundreds” of attendees at the Rally in Kuala Trengganu. Yet one person who attended it fully from start to finish, and did a “serious estimate” based on the number of rows of seats occupied and the average per row, said the number was 2,500 – 3,000 (out of 5,000 targeted), despite it being held on a working day and distracted by late night World Cup Football watching.

A lot has been said about the “Liberal Malays” in the previous post and comments. We can continue discussing them as well as the “Unliberal Malays”, “Loyal Malays” and “The Others” in here. Also on “The Average Malay” about which not much has been talked about so far.

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Mandarin and Tamil teachers may be made compulsory

KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry will study a proposal to ensure
Mandarin and Tamil language teachers are compulsory in national
schools.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said there was already
such a policy in place, but that it had not been implemented.

He said he wanted to ensure that such teachers were available so that
People’s Own Language classes could be carried out properly in all
national schools.

In his opening speech at the Federal Territory PPP convention at the
Putra World Trade Centre here, he said it would be good for all races
to know more than two languages. It fostered racial unity and expanded
knowledge, he said.

“The people, regardless of where they are of Indian or Chinese
ancestry or other ethnic groups, can learn more than two languages.

“The national language and English are important but other languages
such as Mandarin and Tamil should also be learnt.”

Muhyiddin said by understanding the languages, Malaysians could better
appreciate the way of life, values and cultures of the country’s
various races.

Earlier, PPP president Datuk M. Kayveas had proposed to Muhyiddin to
make Mandarin and Tamil compulsory subjects in schools.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/14/nation/6464043&sec=nation

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Kemampuan kuasai lebih satu bahasa beri banyak kelebihan — Berita Harian
June 15, 2010

Penguasaan lebih satu bahasa memberi banyak kelebihan dalam kehidupan dan dunia kerjaya. Kemampuan menguasai lebih satu bahasa selain bahasa ibunda juga mampu meningkatkan keterampilan pada peringkat antarabangsa. Dalam konteks masyarakat majmuk seperti Malaysia, penguasaan bahasa kaum lain seperti Mandarin dan Tamil adalah bertepatan dengan tuntutan semasa. Melalui bahasa yang difahami bersama akan dapat mengeratkan lagi perpaduan serta lebih memahami budaya kaum lain selaras konsep 1 Malaysia.

Kenyataan Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin merangkap Menteri Pelajaran bahawa kerajaan sedia mengkaji cadangan mewajibkan subjek Bahasa Mandarin dan Tamil di Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) bagi membolehkan murid pelbagai kaum di negara ini menguasai lebih daripada dua bahasa, termasuk bahasa Melayu dan bahasa Inggeris wajar disambut baik.

Jika murid di Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) dan Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT) mempelajari bahasa Melayu dan Inggeris, tidak ada sebab murid di SK tidak boleh mempelajari bahasa Mandarin dan Tamil serta menguasainya dengan baik. Kita sedia maklum, bahasa Mandarin adalah bahasa paling ramai ditutur di dunia, berdasarkan jumlah penduduk negara China berjumlah 1.3 bilion, manakala India adalah penduduk kedua teramai di dunia, kira-kira 1 bilion yang turut menggunakan bahasa Tamil. Jika ia dilaksanakan murid yang mahu menguasai bahasa Mandarin atau Tamil, tidak saja boleh ke SJKC atau SJKT, mereka juga boleh memperolehnya di SK. Pada masa sama, murid di semua sekolah terbabit dapat berinteraksi dengan lebih berkesan, walaupun mempunyai aliran berbeza, tanpa polarisasi kaum.

Pada masa depan, barangkali kita tidak lagi berasa wujud diskriminasi ketika membaca iklan pekerjaan keperluan menguasai bahasa tertentu oleh majikan sebagai antara syarat utama permohonan. Apapun langkah ini tidak wajar hanya tinggal cadangan atau hanya pada peringkat kajian. Semua aspek berhubung pelaksanaan perlu diberi perhatian serius seperti menyediakan tenaga pengajar mencukupi, memperhalusi kurikulum yang akan diguna pakai, mahupun menentukan mata pelajaran ini dijadikan subjek teras atau wajib lulus.

Bagaimanapun, ketika melaksanakan matlamat ini, semua pihak terutama Kementerian Pelajaran sendiri tidak wajar mengabaikan penggunaan bahasa Melayu kerana bahasa itu adalah bahasa kebangsaan yang patut dipelajari semua warga negara ini. Perlembagaan Malaysia, Perkara 152, Akta Bahasa Kebangsaan, dengan jelas menyatakan bahawa bahasa Melayu adalah bahasa kebangsaan bagi negara ini dan ia patut dikuasai semua kaum tanpa mengira asal usul mereka. Semua pihak perlu melihat langkah ini sebagai satu kewajaran dalam perspektif lebih terbuka tanpa prejudis, bukan sebagai retorik politik atau perkauman. Menguasai bahasa bermakna menguasai cabang ilmu dalam bahasa sumber dan ia tidak akan merugikan sesiapa, hatta bahasa Arab, Perancis, Greece dan Parsi yang suatu ketika dulu pernah membina tamadun dunia.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or the publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/kemampuan-kuasai-lebih-satu-bahasa-beri-banyak-kelebihan-berita-harian/

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Published: Monday June 14, 2010 MYT 5:48:00 PM

Low turnout at Melayu Bangkit rally
By SAZALI M. NOOR

Dr Mahathir, in keynote speech, blames PAS and PKR for Malay disunity

KUALA TERENGGANU: The anticipated 5,000 people failed to turn up at
the Melayu Bangkit rally here Monday, and the organisers blamed the
FIFA World Cup for the low turnout.

“Probably, they (locals) were all tired after watching the World Cup
telecasts, while many of those employed could not get leave,” rally
organising chairman Razali Idris of Gerakan Kebangkitan Rakyat
(People’s Consciousness Movement) told The Star.

However, Razali expressed his delight over the initiatives of 58 Malay
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to ensure their representatives
were present at the rally.

The hundreds who turned up heard former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir
Mohamad deliver his keynote speech, in which he warned that the Malays
risked becoming marginalised like “Singapore Malays”, if they
continued to be mired in political diversion and were unable to tackle
any crisis effectively.

He said Malays could end up as a minority in their own country if the
community was disunited due to the agendas of political parties. He
insinuated that Opposition leaders were responsible for Malays’
predicament.

Dr Mahathir observed that the Malay electorate’s support was now split
into three Malay-based political parties, including Umno.

“Although Malays consists of 60% of the population, our votes are
divided, eventually triggering feuds among the community. They (PAS
and PKR) are only interested in power and not race or religion.

“They are willing to go to any extent to become prime minister,” he added.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/14/nation/20100614175116&sec=nation

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Constitutional Malays, “Liberal” Malays and Conservative Malays

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According to the Constitution, those who habitually speak the Malay language, practice Islam and adopt the Malay culture or way of life are Malays.

There are those who claim they are “liberal” Malays. Therefore there are now “Constitutional Malays, ‘Liberal’ Malays and Conservative Malays” in this country. Perhaps they may be identified based on the extent and depth of “Malay values” they hold.

But what are Malay values? Let’s discuss them here.

There appears to be the same categories among Chinese and Indians. With varying perception of Chinese and Indian values, too.

Understanding all these will hopefully help foster a spirit of give and take, goodwill and understanding, at least tolerance among one another. Yet, should we just live and let live when we should make a conscious effort to unite and be a happy, prosperous and vibrant nation?

We should be having Malaysian values. But what are they? Let’s also discuss them here. Do feel free to speak your minds, whether in a few words or more.

To kick off the discussion, given below are a few articles found in the public domain.

As far as the Malays are concerned, let’s see which category is the majority, which category has to be taken into account, which views to be considered in the efforts to achieve a developed status, lasting peace and uninterrupted progress in the country.

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Perkasa Malay versus liberal Malay
June 07, 2010

(Written by Datuk Jema Khan, a former Sabah Umno Youth leader, now a businessman, said to be pushing the Agenda Liberal Melayu).

The essence of Perkasa’s ideology, if one can even call it that, is to make the Malays feel like the master race in the country. As the master race, all that belongs to the country belongs to them. They, of course, have yet to get their just desserts.

Even if they had already got it before, they still want it now because they presumably were not able to make much of the benefits they once enjoyed. Their demands, though, are cloaked under the guise of the poverty and disabilities of the Malays in Malaysia.

The liberal Malays, on the other hand, are well exposed to other races and nationalities. We are confident of ourselves in relation to other people. We have long left behind the village mindset and are disdainful of being the village champion as we know there is a great big world out there, with many who are indeed smart and capable human beings. Yet we welcome an environment that is based on meritocracy.

We look at the Malays in Singapore and ask, how are they able to have a GDP per capita which is a few times higher than the Malays here? They didn’t have the New Economic Policy (NEP). What they did have was a good education, a clean government and meritocracy.

The Perkasa mindset plays on the Malays’ fears that without rent seeking, corruption, subsidies and abuse of power, the Malays are doomed. Yes, the Malays are generally poor but the so-called affirmative action as proposed by Perkasa will not make the majority of them better off.

It will only enrich the few Malays at the top who can take advantage of it. At the same time the mindset of most of the Malays will still be focussed on their poverty, ignorance and an inability to compete in today’s economic environment.

If Perkasa succeeds then the age old adage of “who you know is more important that what you know” will perpetuate. The poor Malays can then hang on and around the Perkasa leadership in hopes of getting their improbable payoffs somewhere in the future.

The liberal Malays know that the Perkasa way will be both unfair and unsustainable not only to other Malaysians but to the Malays themselves. We want to make the Malays better off, too.

The difference is that we want to make the vast majority of them better off, not just a select few. Foremost to this is for the Malays to live in a free society where individual human rights are respected above all else. The Malays should not have to make a trade off between their individual human rights just to support an affirmative action policy that has long passed its sell-by date.

Malay women who represent half of the Malay population should also not be subject to the gender bias so prevalent in our society today. Single Malay mothers should not have to bear the burden for their children while the men who impregnated them are scot free.

The illegitimate Malay children should be helped and not stigmatised. Focussing on punishing and subjugating the Malays will not improve their lot, especially when blame is not properly assigned. Lowering the bar in education just to get more Malays to pass will not make them more employable.

The liberal Malays know that solving the above Malay problems will enrich the Malay race far more than any affirmative action as proposed by Perkasa. Hypocrisy has to be thrown out the window. We must look at the world as it is today and solve today’s problems.

Meritocracy will save the Malays from the power structures that only wish to perpetuate their own rule. The young Malays should not be fettered with the ideologies of the past. The institutions that actually helped the Malays in the past have grown too big and have now become a power unto themselves. They no longer serve the interest of the vast majority of the Malays.

Yes, the Malays will have to study and work harder. Success in the political, religious or government sectors cannot continue to be the key to the wealth of the Malays. Focus must be put on increasing the commercial value of the Malays in the private sector. Liberalisation in the educational, commercial and social aspects of society will free the Malay minds to pursue their own destiny.

The politics of Perkasa has no place if we are to have a new dawn of honesty, openness, intellectual vibrancy and meritocracy. This will be the true empowerment of the Malays as envisaged by the liberal agenda.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/perkasa-malay-versus-liberal-malay/

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A right Najib wrongs Malaysia — The Malaysian Insider
May 30, 2010

MAY 30 — You have to hand it to Datuk Seri Najib Razak. He was spot-on in his first day of being prime minister when he said, “The days of government knows best is over.”

Datuk Ibrahim Ali told Najib that much last night when he said the Malays, or rather his followers, had rejected the New Economic Model (NEM).

They want to stick to the New Economic Policy (NEP), drawn up by Najib’s father Tun Abdul Razak Hussein in the aftermath of the May 13 riots.

Ironically, Ibrahim’s Malay Consultative Council (MPM) had recently said the NEP had failed the Malays. The contradiction however, escaped the Pasir Mas MP who wanted to press home the point that Malays want to continue to enjoy all the privileges dished out under the NEP.

But not all Malays enjoy the privileges nor do non-Malays who make up some 40 per cent of the population.

For them, the government definitely does not know best if it waffles on key recommendations of appointed experts to institute steps and open the Malaysian economy.

After all, Malaysia’s sixth prime minister is betting on the NEM to provide a fillip to the slowly recovering economy for him to seek his own mandate in the next general elections.

Najib is right that shouts of “Hidup Melayu” will not bring food to the table for the community. But he has to stand firm and ensure measures that will benefit all Malaysians remain in place when he tables the NEM in the 10th Malaysia Plan this June 10.

Being the cautious consensus-builder, the prime minister should also get the views of other Malaysians on the future direction of the national economy. He has less than two weeks to do so if the NEM proposals are really “trial balloons” and not the real thing for the country’s future.

And he has to show leadership that his father did in rebuilding a country that had saddened “the world’s happiest prime minister” Tunku Abdul Rahman. Leadership to move the country to a new age, one not mired in the hang-ups of the past but of necessity.

For Tun Razak, it was to balance the country’s economic inequalities and eradicate poverty during his time in office. For his eldest son, it is to repair the damage of that policy which only focused on Bumiputeras but was abused by rent-seekers who now use the lacklustre achievement of just 19.3 per cent stake in the national economy to justify keeping the NEP.

While the government doesn’t know best, the least Najib can do is take the best of the NEM and implement it notwithstanding the carping from the likes of Ibrahim.

Najib has to make it happen and not allow it to flounder like proposals for the GST, petrol price hike or stopping the sale of 14-stick cigarette packs. After all, the only thing new about the NEM would be if it is implemented at all.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/a-right-najib-wrongs-malaysia-the-malaysian-insider/

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Monday, May 3rd, 2010 | Kiriman oleh Zanuddin Salleh

Perkasa demands ‘blue ocean strategy’ for Malays

KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — Perkasa is putting pressure on the Najib administration to include affirmative action in the New Economic Model (NEM), in the form of a “blue ocean strategy” for Malays, to even out the economic disparity between them and other races.

The Malay rights group’s economic bureau chief, Dr Zubir Harun noted the Malays would still require help from the government under the NEM to ensure their success. Perkasa intends to send a list of proposed amendments and considerations for the NEM to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the end of this month.

“The problem is Malays are entering existing markets with little or no support from the government. Existing markets which are dominated by the Chinese are part of a red ocean strategy,” told Zubir.

Perkasa was founded by independent Pasir Mas, MP Datuk Ibrahim Ali, to ensure that Malay rights are not sidelined in an NEM which promotes meritocracy and free markets. The NGO claims to have attracted thousands of members, though largely from Umno.
Zubir said it would be difficult and “unwise” for Malays to try and tap into a “domineering” market because they would not be able to command control, and that it would also disturb the balance of the country’s market system.

He did not provide an elaboration on how exactly would the country’s system be “disturbed.”

“If we compete using a red ocean strategy, Malays would not be able to defeat [the] dominance of other races. The system we have right now, where the Chinese control businesses, if we try and change this it might drastically disturb the economical system of Malaysia,” claimed Zubir.
He said Perkasa wanted the NEM to focus on “new markets”, untapped by Chinese so that Malays could claim and assert dominance in these new fields.

“We should venture into a business where there is no existing red ocean, a new market where Malays can assert their own dominance, and be masters of that particular field,” Zubir said.

Fields under the “blue ocean strategy” that Perkasa is looking into include the aerospace industry, ICT (information and communications technology) as well as medical-related industries.

“We (Malays) would, of course, require assistance from the government,” he said, alluding to the list of demands being sent to Najib.
When asked of the consequences should the government not consider Perkasa’s list of suggestions, Zubir said that there would be “political implications.”

“There will be political implications. We (Perkasa) reflect 70 per cent of the Malay population. We will go on a roadshow if the government does not assist us.

“They (Barisan Nasional) should not forget that the general elections are coming soon, and if they do not offer assistance to the Malays, they will not get [our] votes,” said Zubir.

He claimed Perkasa’s numbers were “growing everyday” and that its membership will reach a million by the end of the year.

“Have you read the Merdeka Center survey? About 70 per cent of Malays support us. We represent them, their concerns. We are the voice of the Malays that live in rural areas, and who are not so lucky,” Zubir said emphatically.

http://www.pribumiperkasa.com/perkasa/?p=1893

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Perkasa tidak memihak parti

KOTA BHARU 12 Jun – Presiden Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa), Datuk Ibrahim Ali menyelar beberapa pihak yang mendakwa pertubuhan tersebut lebih berpihak kepada satu parti.

Tegas beliau, Perkasa ditubuhkan sebagai alternatif untuk mengisi ‘kekosongan’ dalam memperjuangkan kepentingan rakyat selepas beberapa sayap parti politik seperti Dewan Pemuda Pas (DPP) dan Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO tidak menonjol.

Beliau memberi contoh bagaimana DPP gagal memainkan peranan mereka dalam menyatakan pendirian dalam beberapa isu seperti hak bumiputera, kalimah Allah dan Kohilal.

“Perkara yang sama timbul dalam Pemuda UMNO apabila mereka tidak lantang bersuara walaupun sayap-sayap ini sepatutnya menjadi golongan pendesak kepada pimpinan utama parti masing-masing.

“Sebab itulah Perkasa mendapat perhatian dan penyertaan ramai kerana kita mengisi kekosongan yang ditinggalkan oleh Pemuda UMNO dan DPP,” katanya kepada Mingguan Malaysia di sini, hari ini.

Perkasa yang didaftarkan secara rasmi dengan pendaftar pertubuhan pada 12 September 2008 kini mempunyai kira-kira 20,000 ahli rasmi dan kira-kira 150,000 permohonan sedang diproses.

Sehingga kini, cawangan Perkasa telah pun dibuka di 37 daerah di seluruh Semenanjung manakala 66 daerah lagi akan dibuka sehingga penghujung tahun ini.

Pertubuhan tersebut juga merancang akan membuka beberapa cawangannya di Sabah dan Sarawak bermula Disember ini sehingga Januari tahun depan.

http://www.pribumiperkasa.com/perkasa/?p=2239

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Malay Reservation and National Unity

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Has Malay Reservation land anything to do with national unity? It has, judging from the controversy over the development of 307 acres known as Kampung Bahru, which is literally next to the Golden Triangle, the posh business centre of Kuala Lumpur.

Objections range from those who speak about preserving the “Malay village” in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city as a national heritage to the giving away of 40% of reserved Malay land to non-Malays. Perhaps the only contiguous tract of land in the city owned by the Malays, the rest, as suggested by Tun Dr Mahathir, has largely been Chinese-owned for so long.

Arguments hinge upon the value of the land with stipulated conditions of ownership transfer, the ability to develop the land and sell the units based on the existing conditions.

Developing Kampung Bahru has been mooted out years ago. This time the idea came out after the Primer Minister did a “walkabout” to the area. Now the Minister of the Federal Territories is talking about Acts of Parliament to establish the Federal Territories Land Working Committee and Kampung Bahru Development Corporation. Some smell rats in the proposal and the power to be acquired from the Acts of Parliament.

Some of the Kampong Bahru residents have spoken out, individually and through the Kampong Bahru Residents Association.

Let’s check this out from the following articles and discuss them in the usual manner.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 03, 2010

NO to non-Malays in KL’s Kg Baru

“We are going to fight for our land. We will never accept the proposal to open 40 percent to non-Malays in Kampung Baru. Any native of Kampung Baru will not agree to the proposed lifting of restricted ownership.This land belongs to the Malays, hence the name Malay Agricultural Land. It was given by the then Sultan Selangor to the Malays.” – Baki Husin, 72, a Kg Baru land owner

The above are excerpts from The Malay Mail’s report No to non-Malays in Kg Baru. It’s the Most Viewed article this week. To be fair to the government, it has said that the proposed 60:40 idea is just an idea and that it’s out to gather feedback. Well, based on the feedback so far, the FT and Urban Well-being Minister Raja Nong Chik must realize now that it’s not going to be a walk in the park at all. Previous administrations have tried. I think it would be wise to accept that he only way to develop Kg Baru is to ensure that Malay ownership remains intact. It ain’t broke, why fix it?

http://rockybru.com.my/

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May 29, 2010 20:03 PM
Interests Of Malays Will Not Be Affected In Kampung Baru Development- Raja Nong Chik

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 (Bernama) — The interests of the Malays in Kampung Baru here will not be jeopardised even if non-Malays are given a 40 per cent quota to own property in the area when the Kampung Baru Development Project is implemented later, said Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.

He said this was because the Federal Territories Land Working Committee and Kampung Baru Development Corporation which will be established under acts of Parliament would serve as mechanisms to protect Malay ownership of property in the area.

“This will allow maximisation of the development potential of Kampung Baru…and when we say non-Malays, it is not limited to non-Malay Malaysians but also interested foreign investors.

“If we continue to restrict development of the area to only Malays, I don’t think we will be able to get value of RM4,000 or RM1,000 (per square feet) as is desired by the landowners and beneficiaries,” he told reporters after holding a meeting on developing Kampung Baru with landowners and beneficiaries of the Malay settlement in the city, at the Putra World Trade Centre here Saturday.

Based on the proposed lifting of restrictions to develop the prime land, non-Malays will be eligible to own business and housing properties which will be built, on a ratio of 60:40.

Raja Nong Chik said, the Cabinet at its meeting earlier this month, had agreed in principle to the proposal.

Presently, there are restrictions preventing non-Malays from owning land or properties in the settlement, which has caused a dilemma in maximising the development potential of Kampung Baru.

Asked if the RM4,000 per square feet value was realistic, Raja Nong Chik said it was rather high but not impossible to be met in the long term.

Raja Nong Chik also said that the government had agreed to appoint Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) as the master developer for Kampung Baru and that two other government-linked companies (GLCs), Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) and Pemodalan Hartanah Berhad (PHB), had also been asked to come on board.

He said the government would not be the developer but play a supervisory role as it did not have the capacity and that the three companies were considered because they would be able to protect the interests of the Malays.

However, other GLCs would be encouraged to take up ownership of properties to be built, he added.

The size of Kampung Baru is 307.344 acres and based on the valuation done on 136 acres in March 2007, land there was valued at between RM270.00 and RM300.00 per square feet for housing and from RM500.00 to RM600.00 per square feet for commercial lots.

– BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=502054

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Monday May 31, 2010

Most Kg Baru residents want development
By BAVANI M
bavanim@thestar.com.my

THE meeting between Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin with landowners and residents of Kampung Baru on Saturday, to discuss the redevelopment plans, was a cordial affair with most owners agreeing that the 100-year-old village must be developed.

Several landowners and residents, however, were sceptical over the Government’s proposal that Kampung Baru be opened to non-Malays and questioned the rationale for this.

Many feared their interests would be affected if the government were to lift the restriction on non-Malays to own properties and conduct business in Kampung Baru by introducing a ratio of 60:40.

Raja Nong Chik said the only way for Kampung Baru to develop in tandem with its surrounding areas was to open its doors to the non-Malays.

He, however, stressed that the interests of the Malays would not be affected in any way as the Federal Territories and Land Working Committee and Kampung Baru Development Corporation, which would be formed once a Bill is tabled in parliament, would protect the interests of the stakeholders.

“The landowners want a value-for-money deal that is on par with the surrounding areas like KLCC but the value of their land must also be on par with the value of the surrounding areas. This would not be possible if Kampung Baru remains as it is.

“We are aware of the sensitivity of the issue and I was expecting fireworks at the meeting on the 40% quota but if we continue to restrict development to only Malays, it would be difficult to get the value that the residents want,” he said.

Nong Chik added that for Kampung Baru to develop fully, it must do way with archaic rules such as land titles could only be owned and rented by Malays. The proposal is also in line with the Government’s 1Malaysia concept.

When asked if the landowners request that the land value be set at RM4,000 per sq ft was realistic, Raja Nong Chik said: “If we are talking about term plans maybe but if they are seeking immediate gains then it is not. It also depends on the government-linked companies (GLCs) which want to develop the land. If the land price is too high then no one will want to do it as the GLCs are also accountable to their shareholders,’’ he said.

Nong Chik added that the government could not be expected to pump in money just to compensate 4,000 landowners as it had to take care of the entire country.

Meanwhile, Persatuan Pembangunan Kampung Baru Kuala Lumpur (PPKB) vice-president Dr Mohd Yusof Ismail said the association did not think Kampung Baru should be open to non-Malays.

“We agree that properties can be leased or rented out to non-Malays but there should not be any transfer of titles or ownrship. Kampung Baru represents a symbolic presence of the Malays in the capital city. Therefore, it belongs to all Malays in the country and that interest should be safeguraded at all cost,’’ he said.

About 1,000 residents attended the meeting and those who were unable to attend can write in their feedback and suggestions to the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry.

The Cabinet approved the redevelopment plans submitted by the ministry recently.

There were three components to the redevelopment plans — one of it is that the Cabinet had agreed that Kampung Baru would be developed comprehensively and secondly that a Kg Baru Development Corporation will be formed and a bill tabled in Parliament to allow for the setting up of the corporation by the end of the year.

Thirdly, only a GLC will be involved in the project.

It was revealed during the meeting that Permodalan Nasional Bhd has been selected to be the lead developer for Kampung Baru.

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/5/31/central/6368059&sec=central

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May 31, 2010 16:46 PM
Proposal To Develop Kampung Baru On A 60:40 Ratio Not Final

KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 (Bernama) — The proposed Kampung Baru redevelopment based on a 60:40 ratio of Malay and non-Malay participation, cannot be finalised without acceptance from land owners said Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.

The government would hear feedback and views of land owners before making any decision said Raja Nong Chik.

“Kampung Baru land owners need not worry. What we had put forward to them on Saturday is just the beginning and we want to listen to feedback from land owners themselves,” he said in a statement Monday.

On Saturday, a meeting was held between the government, landowners and beneficiaries of Kampung Baru at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), with regard to a proposed development in the area.

Raja Nong Chik said the interests of the Malays in Kampung Baru here will not be jeopardized even if non-Malays are given a 40 per cent quota to own property in the area when the Kampung Baru Development Project was implemented later.

“This is to allow maximization of the development potential of Kampung Baru…and when we say non-Malays, it is not limited to non-Malay Malaysians but also interested foreign investors.

“This will maximize returns to land owners who can also invest in the development,” he said.

– BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=502322

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June 04, 2010 20:14 PM
Kg Baru Land Will Not Be Sold To Non-Malays – Raja Nong Chik

KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 (Bernama) — Not a single square inch of land in the redevelopment of the Kampung Baru Malay settlement in the city will be sold to non-Malays, said Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.

“As I had explained, the 60:40 ratio for property ownership in the area was only a proposal by the government and did not mean the existing land there would be sold to non-Malays or foreign investors based on that ratio,” he said in a statement here Friday.

He said this ratio would only be used if the area was redeveloped with skyscrapers conditional upon the consent of landowners in Kampung Baru.

He added that not a single landowner there would be sidelined in the redevelopment of Kampung Baru and that when they gained ownership of the new properties, they would have the liberty to sell or enter into equity ownership of their properties.

“We have also not taken a decision whether the new properties will be sold, rented or leased out to non-Malays or foreign companies.

“The ratio proposal was actually aimed at ensuring that the redevelopment of Kampung Baru could be participated by foreign giants, specifically for hotels, hypermarkets, banks and the like,” he said.

He said, if the landowners did not agree with the proposed ratio, the government was willing to discuss the matter further so that a win-win situation could be reached for all parties.

– BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=503645

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Cabaran kekal hak Melayu Kampung Baru — Zulhasnan Rafique
June 07, 2010

Usaha membangunkan Kampung Baru, di ibu negara sudah sekian lama digiatkan kerajaan. Sejak Pilihan Raya 2004, usaha pembangunan dan pengurusan kampung itu dilaksanakan menerusi Kementerian Wilayah Persekutuan dan agensi di bawahnya, Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL).

Pelbagai pendekatan, idea, strategi dan kaedah pelaksanaan cadangan pembangunan Kampung Baru sudah disiap, diutarakan kepada pemilik dan penduduknya untuk menjayakan usaha itu. Ia bertujuan untuk memberi peluang mereka turut serta dalam proses pembangunan Kampung Baru, kawasan strategik milik Melayu di tengah Bandar Raya Kuala Lumpur.

Pada 2005, kerajaan memulakan projek pembangunan di situ dengan membuka Pejabat Unit Khas Pembangunan Kampung Baru di Jalan Hamzah. Ia dianggotai pegawai Pejabat Tanah dan Galian Wilayah Persekutuan, DBKL dan Kementerian Wilayah Persekutuan. Unit itu bertindak sebagai pejabat pengurusan tanah Kampung Baru bagi membantu menyelesaikan isu pemberi milikan tanah.

Pada 2006, kerajaan menerusi Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan (RMK-9) memperuntukkan RM100 juta khusus bagi tempoh lima tahun untuk mempertingkatkan prasarana sedia ada di Kampung Baru dan pembangunan di tanah milik DBKL.

Kerajaan juga menerusi Kementerian Wilayah menubuhkan Jawatankuasa Perundingan Pembangunan Kampung Baru yang dipengerusikan Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan; dan Jawatankuasa Kerja Pembangunan Kampung Baru yang dipengerusikan Ketua Setiausaha kementerian.

Pada 2007, kerajaan memulakan beberapa mesyuarat bagi memantapkan cadangan penubuhan Perbadanan Pembangunan Kampung Baru (PPKB). Pada masa sama, kementerian menerusi DBKL melakar draf pelan khusus untuk pembangunan dinamakan Draf Pelan Tempatan Kampung Baru yang terkandung dalam Draf Pelan Tempatan Kuala Lumpur 2020; yang diuar-uarkan kepada rakyat pada 2008.

Sehingga hari ini, pembangunan Kampung Baru masih menjadi isu sensitif. Ia bukan saja membabitkan rakyat tempatan, malah juga kerajaan, badan bukan kerajaan, parti politik dan akhirnya pandangan mata seluruh negara. Pembangunan kawasan itu perlu dilihat daripada aspek kepentingan strategik dan kritikal orang Melayu di Kuala Lumpur.

Justeru, semua pihak wajar bersabar, bertenang dan melihat apakah isu utama yang seharusnya diselesaikan sebelum Kampung Baru boleh dibangunkan dengan berkesan, mempertingkatkan nilai hartanah orang Melayu dan memberi pulangan berterusan serta berkekalan kepada orang Melayu yang menjadi pemilik tanah di kampung itu.

Ia juga satu usaha yang akan membawa Kampung Baru ke persada pembangunan abad ke-21 dan kemajuan kepada pemilik tanah selain memastikan warga kampung itu tidak ketinggalan mengecapi nikmat arus pembangunan negara.

Ada beberapa isu asas perlu diselesaikan sebagai titik permulaan pembangunan Kampung Baru. Pertama, isu status tanahnya. Ramai berpendapat atau menyangka Kampung Baru ialah tanah rizab Melayu. Ia tidak tepat. Sebenarnya ia tanah bebas milik bersyarat iaitu tidak boleh dipindah milik dan hanya boleh diduduki orang Melayu.

Jadi untuk membangunkan Kampung Baru, perkara pertama harus dilakukan ialah menyelesaikan isu status tanah ini. Bagaimana ia dapat dilakukan? Ada beberapa pilihan kepada pemilik. Antaranya, melalui proses pengambilalihan tanah oleh kerajaan pada kadar harga dipersetujui pemilik atau berdasarkan nilaian semasa harga tanah. Hanya kerajaan menerusi Pejabat Tanah dan Galian Wilayah Persekutuan dan Kabinet, berupaya menukar status tanah itu.

Persoalan yang timbul apakah jaminan kepada pemilik bahawa penjualan atau pengambilalihan tanah oleh kerajaan tidak akan menghilangkan terus hak mereka ke atas tanah itu? Bagaimana kerajaan menentukan kepentingan orang Melayu Kampung Baru terbela jika tanah itu terus diambil kerajaan? Selepas pemilik menjualkan tanah, mereka masih berhasrat menetap di Kampung Baru selepas kawasan ini dibangunkan.

Ada pemilik mungkin berhasrat membangunkan tanah mereka secara sendirian atau menerusi usaha sama pihak ketiga. Jawapannya adalah kepada kesungguhan politik kerajaan dalam menjamin masa depan orang Melayu Kampung Baru.

Sebagai kawasan yang ditadbir terus Kerajaan Pusat menerusi Kementerian Wilayah, isu ini dapat diselesaikan terus pada peringkat pusat atau Kabinet. Perdana Menteri dan jemaah menteri boleh menetapkan syarat mengenai kaedah pengambilalihan tanah Kampung Baru selepas dipersetujui semua pihak terbabit, bagi melindungi kepentingan pemilik tanahnya, pada mesyuarat Kabinet.

Yang penting adalah menjaga kepentingan pemilik tanah dan menjamin tanah keramat ini kekal di tangan orang Melayu, walaupun selepas dibangunkan. Pilihan seterusnya jika perlu, kerajaan boleh membuat keputusan menukar status tanah Kampung Baru kepada pajakan selama 25, 30, 60 atau 99 tahun, mengikut keperluan pembangunan dan persetujuan pengeluar dana kepada pembangunan iaitu institusi kewangan.

Beberapa syarat boleh dikenakan untuk mengelak syak wasangka kepada pemilik. Antaranya, mensyaratkan tanah boleh dipajak hanya kepada pihak yang akan membangunkan Kampung Baru.

Dengan ini, isu pemilikan tanah tidak akan timbul kerana selepas tamat pajakan, tanah kembali kepada pemilik asal. Penyelesaian isu pemilikan tanah adalah permulaan kepada kejayaan usaha membangunkan Kampung Baru.

Isu seterusnya ialah Pelan Pembangunan Kampung Baru. DBKL sudah mencadangkan Pelan Pembangunan Kampung Baru dalam Pelan Tempatan Kuala Lumpur pada 2008. Ia dibincang dan dibahaskan semua pihak. Pelan itu merangkumi segala aspek pembangunan, termasuk lot komersial, perumahan dan tapak rizab bagi kemudahan awam.

Ia peta pembangunan yang memberi gambaran menyeluruh kepada rakyat terutama pemilik tanah Kampung Baru, mengenai cadangan ke atas tanah milik. Justeru, ia memberi gambaran nilai sebenar tanah pemilik mengikut pelan yang dicadangkan. Semua pihak harus memberi masa supaya pelan itu dapat dipersetujui dan diwartakan terlebih dulu. Jika tidak, usaha pembangunan Kampung Baru tidak dapat dilaksanakan sebab harga tanah tidak dapat ditentukan secara khusus dan tepat.

Pewartaan pelan ini juga satu tanda keprihatinan dan kesungguhan kerajaan menerusi Kementerian Wilayah Persekutuan dan DBKL dalam membangunkan Kampung Baru secara teratur dan menyeluruh. Cadangan menubuhkan PPKB adalah bernas dan perlu diperhalusi untuk memastikan pihak yang menguruskan pembangunan Kampung Baru mampu melaksanakannya dengan berkesan.

PPKB wajar diperbadankan menerusi satu Akta Parlimen bagi menentukan ketelusan serta tanggungjawab, peranan dan fungsinya. Antara pihak yang wajar menjadi pemegang saham PPKB adalah Kerajaan Pusat menerusi Menteri Kewangan Diperbadankan, serta syarikat berkaitan kerajaan (GLC berkepentingan Melayu)yang mempunyai dana dan kepakaran, contohnya PNB dan Tabung Haji.

Dana pinjaman pembangunan pula boleh didapati daripada kerajaan, KWSP dan institusi kewangan korporat. Pemegang saham yang dicadangkan ini akan menjaga kepentingan pemilik tanah Kampung Baru, di samping memberi pulangan kepada caruman dan pelaburan rakyat yang dibuat menerusi ASB, ASN, Tabung Haji dan jika perlu, saham tertentu contohnya “Kampung Baru Property Reit”.

PPKB diberi tanggungjawab membeli semua tanah daripada pemilik yang bersetuju menjual tanah dan menjadi pemegang amanah kepada tanah itu. Menerusi pembabitan PPKB yang diperbadankan, pembangunan Kampung Baru dapat dilaksanakan dengan melantik golongan profesional untuk merancang dan melaksanakan pembangunannya sambil memberi gambaran serta jaminan kepada pemilik bahawa kerajaan mengambilalih tanah itu untuk meningkatkan nilai hartanah, memberi pulangan kepada pemilik dalam jangka waktu panjang serta memberi pilihan lebih tepat untuk menjaga kepentingan semua pihak.

Ia akan menjamin tanah Kampung Baru tetap menjadi 100 peratus milik orang Melayu dan pembangunannya diurus tadbir kerajaan dan pemilik sendiri. Penyelesaian isu itu akan menjadi wadah kepada titik permulaan pembangunan Kampung Baru berwawasan, sejajar aspirasi semua pihak.

Untuk menjadi kenyataan, rakyat Kampung Baru harus bekerjasama dengan kerajaan dalam satu gagasan supaya hasrat pembangunan Kampung Baru tercapai sebagai satu legasi pusat tamadun Melayu dinamik dan berjaya. Sudah tentu misi pembangunan Kampung Baru menjadi pemangkin ke arah memperkasakan Melayu Bandar. Insya-Allah! — Berita Harian

* Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique, Ahli Parlimen Setiawangsa dan bekas Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/cabaran-kekal-hak-melayu-kampung-baru-zulhasnan-rafique/

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Sin Chew, Utusan, Malaysian Insider re National Unity

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Here are articles from Sin Chew and Utusan Malaysia, etc, that were published by Malaysian Insider. They provide a glimpse of the thinking of the Malays and the non-Malays of one another. One article also provides the views of one Malay on other Malays. Let us see whether they represent mainstream, minority or isolated opinion.

Let us look at them from the point of view of national unity in the country. We believe that national unity must be based on the Constitution, respect for and living by it fully. The Constitution is the highest set of laws in the country, all other laws emanating from it. It is the foundation stone and the backbone of the country. Indeed, the Constitution is the basis of loyalty to the country, of harmony, lasting peace and progress.

Let us discuss them, either in Bahasa Malaysia or in English for maximum readership coverage.

Readers are encouraged to also read the comments and the replies to the comments as well. The meat is not only in the articles but also in the comments and the replies.

Hope you enjoy reading them. You are welcome to comment as well. However short or long the comment may be, you are welcome to participate in these discussions.

However disagreeable your views may be, your comments are guaranteed of being published, subject only to the normal rules of decency, sedition and libel.

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Time to get rid of the handout mentality — Lim Mun Fah
June 02, 2010

JUNE 2 — It is simply amazing that there are still people who believe in and are continuing to advocate the so-called doctrine of equal distribution of resources and wealth today.

It is certainly surprising that the Bumiputra economic congress is still insisting on having the quota system.

Equal distribution does not necessary mean equality. These are two different concepts that should be clearly defined to avoid misunderstanding.

Equality refers to an equitable chance for every person in society to compete and share the fruits of efforts.

Equal distribution, meanwhile, is concerned with the equal sharing of resources, including wealth, without considering whether each person has or has not contributed to create or accumulate the resources.

Equality does not blindly allow everyone to enjoy an equal income.

On the contrary, equal distribution requires an exactly the same result for everyone without taking into considerations factors like productivity, efficiency and efforts.

There is no such thing called “no pain, no gain” in the doctrine of equal distribution. Instead, it advocates “sharing the fruits without equal sharing of effort”.

However, different people have different thoughts on living in reality. Their degrees of job involvement are also different.

Some people gain more because they have put in more efforts, and some people are accorded greater respect because they have contributed more to the society.

It is just simple logic that if a person works hard, he would earn more, and if he is lazy and works less, he would earn less, and if he does not work at all, he should not be paid anything. Even there may be differing end results, it does not violate such a principle of fairness.

However, we cannot deny that it is really not easy to create a society with fair competition as there are differences among the people in terms of gender, physical strength, education, intelligence, culture and lifestyle.

Because of such social handicaps among the poor, the underprivileged and vulnerable groups, policies must be made to ensure they are provided with adequate share in the distribution of the nation’s resources and wealth.

Currently, there seems to be an impression and perception that our society is saturated with the “free lunch” mentality, which is even being propagated as a right and privilege which should not be questioned and challenged by anyone.

A really fair policy will ensure that those who are truly in need are the ones who will be given the help and opportunities for education, jobs, and economic advancement.

Instead of just teaching them knowledge, it is better to teach them how to source for and gain knowledge, like teaching to fish, instead of just giving them a fish. They should be provided the resources and opportunity to develop and care for themselves instead of just depending on handouts.

A good government does not promote and practise the Santa Claus culture of just giving, giving, giving. A wise government will guide and lead the people to be responsible for their own well-being by striving to work for their share of the economic pie.

It is simply no use for the government to declare that the country will face bankruptcy one day if it continues with the subsidies and handouts. It must do something positive and viable to reform the mindset of the people, including providing them with the resources and opportunity to take care of themselves. — mysinchew.com

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/time-to-get-rid-of-the-handout-mentality-lim-mun-fah/

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Ibrahim Ali is bigger than Umno — Sakmongkol AK47
June 02, 2010

JUNE 2 — When Datuk Ibrahim Ali convened the meeting of 125 Malay NGOs at PWTC, it’s not them that got me worried. The party whose future is worrying is Umno’s. Umno’s voice has been taken. Its thunder is stolen. It offers no rain, now even its thunder is lost.

That reflects the ambivalent leadership of Umno as a whole. Its credibility isn’t helped by the flip-flopping Umno president who has since turned the much despised flip-flopping behaviour most associated with a former Umno president, into an art form.

Like Ibrahim Ali said — very sorry YAB President.

The Umno president is showing us a new kind of leadership. He is following instead of leading public opinion; a wet-finger-in-the-air type of leader. It’s been a long time since I heard this idiom mentioned until M. Bakri Musa’s most recent essay. Apparently the “wet finger in the air” is an idiom that has a convoluted reason behind it. When someone wets their finger and holds it up, he/she is trying to gauge the direction of the wind flow at that moment. Once they have this piece of knowledge, they could align their decision along with the rest of the majority.

Perhaps the Umno president isn’t aware of this. His unthinking-thinking circle does not update him on public opinion that originates in the street. The street is saying, it’s easy to discern the management style of the PM — he invites people to say their piece on some issue on his Facebook page. He sees which types of comments are in the majority, he decides on that basis. Then he says, he listens to the people. Who’s zooming who baby! (I love Aretha Franklin!)

This blardy finger! The finger one holds out is the index finger. Maybe it’s the 1 Malaysia finger, no? I have wanted to mock this one finger thing for a long time. One finger is not much help if we want to carry out many of our daily life’s tasks. And one finger sure isn’t enough for some other pleasurable and sensuous activity.

Can Umno convene a meeting of the same number of Malay NGO’s? It possibly cannot because Umno has lost so much credibility that its name presently is a byword of hypocrisy. It possibly can’t repeat the feat in 1946 when the original founders of Umno convened a meeting of Malay clubs at Kelab Sultan Sulaiman in Kampung Baru. If Ibrahim Ali had organised his recent convention at the Kelab Sultan Sultan Suleiman, that would be an irony of sorts.

Kelab Sultan Sulaiman is in Selangor (well WP) which is effectively controlled by PKR. That’s already sufficient symbolism about the position of Umno. Its historical link has been captured. But Ibrahim Ali held his Perkasa convention in PWTC, the bastion and inner sanctum of Umno. That Perkasa, which is non Umno, and which now claims to be the preferred voice of the average Malay can hold its convention on a premise owned by Umno, is yet another blow to Umno’s credibility and its fast eroding standing.

I have ridiculed and lampooned Ibrahim Ali for a long time. I am not about to ignore the deliciously wicked pun Mat Sabu has been claiming for a long time — that Mat Sabu is a wee bit handsomer than Ibrahim Ali or that Ibrahim Ali’s poster face would be more at home in the padi fields in Kelantan scaring away the pests and the birds.

But he has this uncanny ability to mobilise raw public opinion and his unsurpassed ability to attract disparate groupings to his cause — whichever fancies him at any one time. For that I have to say — salute! I cannot see any of the Umno leaders rivalling Ibrahim Ali in this department. The Umno Ketua Penerangan who is so forgettable is a babe in the woods compared to Ibrahim Ali.

So go past Ibrahim Ali. Look at the cross section of people who attended the recent Perkasa outing. You see people with skullcaps at the front row, ordinary Malays resplendent in Baju Melayu regalia, etc. You can’t ignore these. Well, you can actually, at your peril!

So significant that it unnerved the Umno president enough to induce him to throw away his prepared speech and he went off the cuff. In the end he has no other defence other than resorting to his incontestable claim that he is after all the son of Tun Razak.

The crowd was hostile to say the least and that serves as barometer to the feelings of the average Malay. If the PM goes ahead trivialising the raw signals from the average Malay, Umno’s future is certainly forfeited.

The only thing remaining now is for Perkasa to remain steadfast and consistent. The weakest link paradoxically is with Ibrahim Ali himself.

Therefore, it’s certainly comforting to hear that the various NGOs came out with their own individual resolution — that if Ibrahim Ali deviated from this struggle, they would harpoon him and have him politically impaled like Vlad the Impaler did to his enemies.

And I hope Ibrahim Ali doesn’t see the PM on the side and whisper — Boss, don’t worry, that is only a show or worse, he sees the PM individually and apologised for his forthrightness during the Perkasa event. Ibrahim Ali is capable of that. — sakmongkol.blogspot.com

* Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de plume of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Hj Abdul Aziz. He was Pulau Manis assemblyman(2004-2008).

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/ibrahim-ali-is-bigger-than-umno-sakmongkol-ak47/

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Two different types of Malays — Tay Tian Yan
June 01, 2010

JUNE 1 — Datuk Ibrahim Ali is a type of Malay who places very high emphasis on himself. He dismissed Amirsham Abdul Aziz as a traitor to the Malays because the New Economic Model (NEM) he proposed had betrayed the Malay race.

Ibrahim said genuine Malays would never turn their back against the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Based on his reasoning, if the government were to go ahead with the New Economic Model, the relevant leaders would no longer qualify as Malays.

In the end, there is only one Malay in this world.

Ibrahim Ali.

Oh yes, plus a handful of other people like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Malays in these people’s eyes are living in a unique space insulated from the outside world, where there are no tests for survival nor challenges.

So long as they confine themselves to this solitary capsule, they are most definitely safe and blessed.

These people believe that their wealth had been pre-destined, not created, and they therefore are entitled to 67 per cent of the national wealth based on the percentage of Bumiputeras in this country.

Such allocation theory once existed in the communist world, but then how much could be proportioned when a communist state goes bust?

If this country became cash-strapped some day, how much could these people get even if they could claim the entire economic cake?

Ibrahim did not think about this, or he simply rejected the thinking of this issue.

Amirsham is the NEAC chairman. I was there when he was briefing the media about the NEM.

He, too, is a Malay, a whole lot more good-looking and gentleman-like compared to that Ibrahim.

He admitted that the decades-long implementation of the NEP had drastically eroded the country’s competitiveness.

He told everyone Malaysia had no other options but to transform itself.

The NEM does not define a Bumiputera quota, for it is an outdated notion. The Bumi quota has failed to help the Malays grow, making them feel complacent and dejected instead, besides exhausting the nation’s vast resources.

Only by pursuing meritocracy and improving the country’s competitiveness can we get to become a high-income country. And when the majority of Malays can share the fruit of our economic success, even a goreng pisang vendor can look forward to much improved income.

Amirsham is not a politician by training. He is a banking professional who pursues nothing but the truth.

He does not speak in a fanciful and inciting manner, but has provided all the necessary evidence to prove his point.

You can say he has done this for the sake of Malaysia, and the Malays.

He belongs to that type of Malay whom I hold in very high regard.

When he proposed the NEM to the prime minister, he said admittingly that this was the furthest his authority could stretch.

In other words, whether the government will accept and implement his proposals will have to be decided by the government itself.

And Ibrahim said in front of Najib that the NEP was drawn up by his late father Tun Abdul Razak, and he was in no position to compromise or give up.

Najib responded that the NEM was only an economist’s proposal, not the government’s ultimate stand, and that the government was still consulting the Malays’ views.

Indeed, Najib should lend his ears to the Malays… but to people like Ibrahim Ali or Amirsham?

While no one should overlook the views of the Malays, the views of all Malaysians should be more paramount. — mysinchew.com

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/two-different-types-of-malays-tay-tian-yan/

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MPM tidak rasis — Ibrahim Ali
May 31, 2010

31 MEI — Pada 30 Mac 2010, Perdana Menteri memperkenalkan Model Ekonomi Baru (MEB) yang memfokuskan keutamaannya kepada perjuangan “menangani masalah jurang pendapatan dan membasmi kemiskinan tanpa mengira kaum” di Malaysia.

Ini sesuatu yang baik kerana MEB yang dicipta demi negara dan rakyat jelata juga mencerminkan keprihatinan serta kecanggihan inisiatif dasar dan strategi kepimpinan negara hari ini terhadap ekonomi, perdagangan dan perindustrian dalam era globalisasi.

Tetapi, MEB yang digubal oleh Majlis Penasihat Ekonomi Negara (MPEN) itu gagal mewujudkan polisi yang jelas untuk menjadikan pembangunan ekonomi Bumiputera sebagai agenda nasional walaupun Bumiputera merupakan penduduk terbesar dan terkebelakang di Malaysia.

Oleh sebab itulah, Majlis Perundingan Melayu (MPM) menganjurkan Kongres Ekonomi Bumiputera (Kongres) pada 29 Mei 2010 untuk mengkaji MEB dan memastikan bahawa soal Melayu dan Bumiputera tetap dipelihara dan terus diperjuangkan menerusi MEB selaras dengan Fasal 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Dalam konteks ini, Kongres berpendapat, agenda Bumiputera di dalam MEB mestilah tegas dan jelas supaya para pelaksananya lebih fokus dan terarah bagi memastikan Bumiputera maju seiring dengan kaum-kaum lain. Ini akan menjamin keadilan sosial dan keharmonian kaum di Malaysia.

MEB juga perlu membuka jalan baru dan peluang kedua yang dinamik untuk membolehkan Bumiputera mengejar kemajuan yang terlepas akibat kelemahan cara pelaksanaan dasar-dasar dahulu.

Seterusnya, MEB perlu memajukan ekonomi Bumiputera menerusi dasar, strategi dan program yang telus supaya ia difahami oleh rakyat Malaysia berbilang keturunan dan supaya Bumiputera tidak terpinggir dalam era globalisasi.

Kongres prihatin terhadap aspek ini kerana globalisasi mewujudkan pelbagai impak dan implikasi besar kepada masyarakat, politik, dan ekonomi di sesebuah negara.

Ini kerana globalisasi adalah antara kuasa global yang baru menjelma dan boleh mengancam survival sesebuah negara dan rakyat, jika tidak ditangani secara komprehensif dan bijaksana. Oleh sebab itulah, dinamika globalisasi perlu dianalisis daripada perspektif politik, ekonomi dan keselamatan. Ia juga wajar dikupas menerusi pelbagai paradigma.

Contohnya, pendukung paradigma realisme membahaskan globalisasi dari sudut penghakisan primasi dan kedaulatan sesebuah negara.

Para pendukung teori kritikal pula mengajak kita berfikir, sama ada globalisasi mencipta ketidakseimbangan ekonomi, dan melebarkan lagi jurang perbezaan ekonomi antara rakyat jelata di sesebuah negara

Lantaran itulah Kongres berharap Perdana Menteri sentiasa prihatin akan impak globalisasi dan MEB kepada orang Melayu dan Bumiputera di Malaysia.

Kongres memfokus kepada aspek ini kerana hasil perincian terhadap MEB mendapati bahawa di dalam usahanya mempromosikan pasaran bebas dan supaya selaras dengan tuntutan globalisasi, MEB telah menafikan wujudnya fenomena kegagalan pasaran dalam bentuk eksploitasi dan monopoli kaum Cina di Malaysia.

Fenomena eksploitasi ini dianalisis oleh Amy Chua dari Yale Law School, sebagai market-dominant minority.

Dalam bukunya, World On Fire, Amy Chua mendapati bahawa market-dominant minority dalam kalangan orang Cina di Asia Tenggara telah mengakibatkan peristiwa ngeri, rusuhan kaum dan menyebabkan ketidakstabilan di beberapa buah negara.

Antaranya, Amy Chua menegaskan, market- dominant minority boleh menyebabkan backlashatau kesan libasan kepada tiga sektor utama iaitu libasan kepada pasaran, kepada demokrasi dan terhadap market-dominant minority itu sendiri.

Kongres tidak mahu senario negatif seperti itu berlaku di Malaysia pada hari mendatang.

Oleh itu, cadangan MEB meliberalisasikan sepenuhnya semua sektor perniagaan, perdagangan, perindustrian dan kewangan di Malaysia, tanpa mengambil kira kepentingan Bumiputera dan negara, perlu ditolak dan dibatalkan. Ini kerana Amerika Syarikat (AS) sebagai sebuah negara yang cukup percaya dengan pasaran bebas pun kini sedang mengkaji semula dasar liberalisasi dan pasaran bebas.

AS berbuat demikian kerana dasar bebas itu menyebabkan AS mengalami kemelesetan ekonomi.

Pada waktu yang sama, Kongres juga mendapati bahawa para penggubal MEB mencadangkan agar Suruhanjaya Kesaksamaan Peluang atau Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) ditubuhkan bagi memastikan tidak wujud diskriminasi dan ketidakadilan di Malaysia.

Penubuhan EOC ini membayangkan seolah-olah semua rakyat di Malaysia mempunyai peluang yang sama. Hakikat ini bertentangan dengan Fasal 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Oleh itu, Kongres berharap penubuhan EOC ini dikaji semula. Ini kerana Kongres bimbang kewujudan EOC ini akan digunakan oleh bukan Bumiputera semaksimum yang mungkin untuk menuntut pelbagai kesamarataan hak dan keadilan termasuk yang termaktub dalam Fasal 153.

Kongres memberikan pandangan ini dengan tujuan membuka mata dan minda seluruh rakyat Malaysia baik bangsa Melayu, Bumiputera dan lain-lainnya, bahawa dasar-dasar ekonomi seperti Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB), Dasar Pembangunan Nasional (DPN), dan kini MEB, bukannya dasar perkauman.

Dasar seperti ini dilaksanakan di Republik Rakyat China, India, Scandinavia dan di negara-negara Kesatuan Eropah. Bezanya, cuma dasar-dasar di negara berkenaan tidak dikenali sebagai DEB, DPN atau MEB.

Pakar-pakar ekonomi dan sains sosial kontemporari menggelarkan dasar-dasar ala-DEB di negara asing itu sebagai dasar Growth with Equity, Inclusive Growth, Broad Based Growth dan Equitable Growth.

Oleh itu, usaha Kongres membincangkan MEB dengan fokus kepada Bumiputera juga bukannya inisiatif rasis atau perkauman. Kongres mengambil inisiatif ini berlandaskan matlamat mewujudkan perpaduan menerusi kepelbagaian dan berasaskan kepada perjuangan pejuang-pejuang kemerdekaan tanah air menerusi Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Kongres juga bertindak berasaskan Perkara 153, Rukun Negara, prinsip dan amalan demokrasi, keluhuran undang-undang dan selaras dengan Piagam Hak-Hak Asasi Manusia Sejagat 1948.

Pendek kata, Kongres menitikberatkan isu Bumiputera di dalam MEB ini kerana ia selaras dengan aspirasi Allahyarham Tun Razak yang menyatakan seperti berikut:

“Kerajaan sedar bahawa perpaduan negara tidak akan wujud sekiranya kedudukan ekonomi yang tidak seimbang di kalangan rakyat pelbagai kaum tidak diatasi dan kemajuan serta kemakmuran negara tidak dinikmati dengan lebih adil dan saksama”.

Kenyataan Allahyarham Tun Razak ini mempunyai maksud yang dalam. Beliau menitikberatkan aspek keselamatan serta survival bangsa Melayu, pribumi, keturunan Cina, keturunan India dan lain-lainnya di tanah air yang merdeka ini.

Namun begitu, masih ada sesetengah pemimpin politik yang sengaja mengeksploitasikan isu-isu seperti DEB, DPN dan lain-lainnya, kononnya sebagai isu perkauman.

Dalam konteks itu, Kongres jelaskan dengan tegasnya bahawa dasar-dasar kerajaan yang mesra kepada pelabur dan komuniti ekonomi swasta di Malaysia selama ini, adalah dasar-dasar yang sebenarnya menguntungkan sektor swasta bukan Bumiputera.

Terdapat dua faktor utama membuktikan hakikat ini. Pertama, dasar-dasar pelaburan dan perdagangan kerajaan telah memudahkan modal swasta tempatan yang dikuasai oleh keturunan Cina mengambil alih ekuiti yang sebelum ini dikuasai oleh pemodal asing.

Kedua, sektor swasta Malaysia menerima subsidi yang besar daripada kerajaan pada anggaran AS$80 bilion setahun.

Jumlah subsidi tahunan ini mengatasi jumlah wang yang dibelanjakan oleh kerajaan untuk melaksanakan pelbagai tindakan afirmatif untuk orang Melayu dan Bumiputera.

Hakikat ini sekali lagi membuktikan bahawa dasar-dasar ekonomi dan perdagangan kerajaan Malaysia bukannya rasis atau perkauman. Malangnya, subsidi yang besar ini tidak menerima maklum balas yang positif daripada sektor swasta tersebut sama ada kepada kerajaan, orang Melayu dan Bumiputera.

Sebaliknya, subsidi besar ini dibalas dengan diskriminasi sektor swasta bukan Melayu terhadap tenaga kerja bangsa Melayu dan Bumiputera.

Anehnya, tidak ada ahli politik bukan Melayu yang bersuara mengenai hal ini. Mereka membisu terhadap perkara ini. Tetapi, mereka juga terus mengkritik kerajaan secara selektif demi kepentingan perkauman mereka yang sempit.

Pastinya tindakan seperti ini negatif dan tidak menyumbang kepada pembinaan bangsa dan perpaduan kaum.

Oleh itu, Kongres memohon jasa baik Perdana Menteri supaya membetulkan diskriminasi seperti ini menerusi MEB.

Dalam konteks ini, Kongres mencadangkan supaya Pelan Induk Perindustrian Ketiga membetulkan paksi penciptaan peluang-peluang pekerjaan di Malaysia supaya tidak menindas orang Melayu dan Bumiputera.

Kedua-dua golongan ini perlu diberikan peluang di semua tahap pekerjaan di sektor swasta daripada tahap eksekutif sehingga ke tahap buruh kolar biru.

Inilah antara jalan pintas untuk mengurangkan kadar kemiskinan dan meningkatkan permintaan secara efektif. Inilah jalan pintasnya kerana tanpa pekerjaan, bermakna pengangguran dan kemiskinan akan terus wujud. — Utusan Malaysa

* Datuk Ibrahim Ali ialah Ahli Parlimen Pasir Mas

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/mpm-tidak-rasis-ibrahim-ali/

Rakyat Malaysia dan Bahasa Kebangsaan

“BAHASA JIWA BANGSA”

Kedua-dua imej di atas diperolehi dari laman  OH! TIDAK

Apa yang boleh dipuji daripada imej pertama di atas adalah penggunaan bahasa Kebangsaan nampaknya diutamakan. Bahasa Kebangsaan, diikuti dengan bahasa Inggeris.

Dalam imej kedua pula, bahasa cina diutamakan dari bahasa Kebangsaan. Walaupun bahasa Kebangsaannya tunggang langgang, ianya masih diberi tempat di dalam iklan tersebut.

Kedua-dua imej ini memberikan pelbagai persoalan:-

• Adakah agensi kerajaan yang bertanggungjawab ke atas pengiklanan umum mengambil mudah tanpa peduli ataupun menutup mata terhadap pencemaran bahasa Kebangsaan yang bukannya sedikit jumlahnya berlaku di seluruh negara?

• Adakah kedaulatan bahasa Kebangsaan merupakan suatu perkara yang remeh?

• Apakah sistem pendidikan negara tidak mampu menangani masalah ‘kefasihan’ bahasa Kebangsaan? Apakah ini gejala-gejala yang terhasil dari pendidikan sekolah vernakular? Tiadakah usaha berterusan dilakukan untuk mengatasi masalah ‘kefasihan’ ini?

• Mengapakah sehingga kini, isu warga negara Malaysia yang masih tidak dapat menguasai bahasa Kebangsaan, nampaknya seperti dibiarkan begitu sahaja tanpa usaha bersungguh-sungguh untuk mengatasinya? Bukankan menjadi syarat yang dimaktubkan di dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan bahawa setiap warga negara wajib fasih bahasa Kebangsaan?

• Orang memperlekehkan bahasa Kebangsaan sehingga menjadi suatu bahan jenaka. Tidakkah kita, warga negara, merasa sesuatu yang tidak kena ataupun merasa malu apabila bahasa Kebangsaan kita dijadikan bahan ketawa?

Kami serahkan kepada para pengunjung untuk merenung sejenak tentang kedudukan bahasa Kebangsaan kita pada hari ini. Kongsikan segala persoalan-persoalan yang ada untuk kita sama-sama mengambil iktibar. Harapan kita supaya kerajaan yang ada pada hari ini mengambil berat ke atas kedaulatan bahasa Kebangsaan negara ini.

Akhir sekali, ingin kami memetik suatu petikan dari ...L I S T E D !!! yang agak marah bunyinya:-

SPRM Ni Dah Berbangsa Apa? Bangsat? Thanks To Bapak Vernakular!

“…Kenapa pegawai-pegawai SPRM dikehendaki menulis dan bercakap di dalam Bahasa Mandarin? Adakah laporan di dalam Bahasa Mandarin? Apakah pegawai-pegawai atasan SPRM tidak boleh berbahasa Malaysia atau Bahasa Inggeris?…”