Sabah State Government should offer RM1 million for the best History of Sabah to be written  by a Sabahan which should be one of the history books for Sabah students when there is Sabah autonomy for education

Earlier today, I had suggested that Sabah and Sarawak should appoint State Ministers of Education not only in anticipation of grant of education autonomy to the states by Putrajaya, but to discuss with Federal Government and the state  stakeholders on the definition and scope of state autonomy on education.

I disagreed with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that state autonomy on education for Sabah and Sarawak should be confined to administrative matters, like his announcement on Malaysia Day that  90% of teaching posts in both states will be filled by Sabahans and Sarawakians within three years, which means the increase of the number of Sarawakian teachers from 32,168 now to 38,082 in the state, with a similar increase in Sabah.

The grant of autonomy in education from Putrajaya to Sabah and Sarawak cannot solely be  in terms of increasing the number of teaching posts in the two states to be filled by Sabahans and Sarawakians respectively, but  must also involve devolution  in the functions, powers and the jurisdiction to  the two states in the area of education.

The areas of responsibility by the Sabah and Sarawak Governments with the grant of education autonomy to the two states should, among others, include:

1. Raising the standard of educational attainments of primary and secondary school students in Sabah and Sarawak, comparable to their peers not only with other states in  Malaysia but also internationally, whether in global educational assessments  like  TIMSS (Trends in Maths and Science Survey) or PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment).

2. Improving the quality of education in both primary and secondary schools so as to reduce the need for students to be so  dependent on private tuition, which has become a major financial burden of parents of school-going age.

3. Development of mother-tongue literacy and education, including Kadazan and Iban languages.

4. Institutionalisation of annual government grants and financial support to all primary schools so that this is not dependent on political or individual whims and fancies.

5. Adequate provision of higher education opportunities for local students in the two states. At present, Sarawak has three reputable private higher education institutions, namely private universities of Curtin, Swinburne and UCSI but there is not a single one  in Sabah.

Tonight, I want to discuss two areas which Sabah can focus on when education autonomy is given back  to the state by Putrajaya.

Firstly, the standard of English in Sabah, which has dropped considerably in the past 52 years since the formation of Malaysia  and despite it being one of the 20-Points forming the basis of Sabah’s participation in the establishment of Malaysia in 1963.

When Sabah is given education autonomy, one priority area could be the objective of raising the standards of English in the schools to make Sabah one of the top states in the country where students excel in terms of English proficiency and attainment.

This is important because of the importance of English as an international language.

Secondly, the history of Sabah –  as Sabah students grow up after receiving primary and secondary education but with little knowledge  or understanding about the history of Sabah.

The history of Sabah should be an important focus for Sabah students, both primary and secondary, so that they understand the roots and history of Sabah.

May be the Sabah state government can offer RM1 million for the best history of Sabah to be written by a Sabahan which should be one of the history books in Sabah schools when Sabah gets education autonomy from Putrajaya.

In this way, future generations of Sabahans will know about Sabah history such as the 20-Points, Batu Sumpah in Keningau, the “666” Tragedy, the landmark Likas election petition; the RCIII (Royal Commission of Inquiry into Illegal immigrants and how the issue had affected the politics, economics and demography of Sabah) and the Sulu intrusions in  Kampong Tandao, Lahad Datuk  and East Coast of Sabah.

[Speech (2) at the launching of the DAP “cerita-cerita kedai kopi” series at Donggongon, Sabah on Thursday, 17th Sept 2015 at 9 pm]

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 September 2015, 9:34 am and is filed under
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There is no such thing as Islamic racism

Zan Azlee

The Malaysian Insider

18 September 2015

What version of Islam is Tan Sri Annuar Musa referring to when he said that racism is based on Islam? I want to know because if Islam really calls for racism, then I’ve been a bad Muslim!

The Umno Supreme Council member said this in his speech when he attended the ‘red shirt’ rally (aka Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu) on Malaysia Day.

In his speech, he also said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi were very touched by the show of support by the rally goers.

It is atrocious to see our leaders reacting positively towards a racist rally that was to show the supremacy of a particular race (they previously said that they were not endorsing the rally).

But back to this racism based on Islam issue. As far as I know, the Al-Quran says in Surah Al-Hujurat:

“O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you people in tribes and nations so that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.”

And even Prophet Muhammad had said, in his last sermon:

“There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor for a non-Arab over an Arab. Neither is the white superior over the black, nor is the black superior over the white – except by piety.”

And even when it comes to people of different faiths, the Quran has already said in Surah Al-Kafirun:

“O disbeliever, I do not worship what you worship. Nor are you worshippers of what I worship. Nor will I be a worshipper of what you worship. Nor will you be worshippers of what I worship. For you is your religion and for me is my religion.”

Islam itself is a religion that has been stated to be for all of humankind regardless of race and can be adapted and practiced by anyone from anywhere.

So I wonder where Annuar is getting it when he says that he is racist according to Islam. Is there anywhere in between the lines that say the Malay race is superior over every other race?

Does it say anywhere in between the lines that Malays have more right to Malaysia than other races? Does it say anywhere in between the lines that Malays “granted” other races citizenship?

Here is a reminder to those who manipulate religion and politics for their own self interest. It may be easy to fool some people. But you definitely can’t fool all people.

If anything, this ‘red shirt’ rally that took place on Malaysia Day has done a disservice to the Malaysians and really ruined the image and reputation of the country.

It would seem that the country is continuing to move backwards. But I have faith that these people who have marched in Kuala Lumpur today lack something.

What they lack is the conviction and faith that we other Malaysians who really believe in unity and multiculturalism have. We won’t give up. – September 18, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 September 2015, 6:13 pm and is filed under
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To the PM and the red-T Malays

by Azly Rahman

Malaysiakini

17 Sep 2015

In conjunction with Malaysia Day, I have these brief messages of peace to both leader and the people led.

Mr Malaysian Prime Minister,

Help all Malaysians not just Malays if you and your coalition ruling party are going to redesign strategies for peace, equality, and social justice.

We are all bumiputras now and that the generation of today’s Malaysians be they from Chinese, Indian, or Malays have been here long enough to call this land no longer Tanah Melayu but Bumi Bangsa Malaysia. We’ve toiled for the soil.

And you must remind yourself that you are prime minister for all.

Poverty now cuts across racial lines, with an increasing number of those in the middle class now falling below the poverty line.

There is no strong rationale any more, after more than 50 years of independence and being a country called Malaysia, to continue policies based along racial lines. Continuing this will guarantee another 50 years of race and class antagonism.

In the field of education especially, scholarships need to be give based on merit, talent, and needs, not because one is a bumiputra or a Malay or because of the birthright of one’s race.

Many of those in the elite and privileged boarding/residential schools such as in Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) are not from families that are poor or who could not afford good and quality education. Many are from wealthy families.

There are deserving children from all races must be given all the opportunities to excel, just like how the Malays from even the abject poor were given the chance back in the early 1970s when the MRSM system first started its first three schools.

Mr Prime Minister, you must be fair to people of all races.

For example, open up the privileged schools such as MRSM to more children of all races. Open all mono-cultural educational institutions such as Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) to Malaysians of all races. It will be better for the nation.

Look at the plight other Malaysians. Promising a billion or so ringgit in educational, entrepreneurial, and economic aid to only one race defined by one-dimensional construct is a wrong political act done with ill intentions.

Be wise, in the remaining political time you and your party is given.

Reverse the trend of apartheid-isation of education – for the sake of the future of our children. As you know, during your tenure as education minister. Education is one best means of social reproduction to ensure the evolution of a just and progressive nation.

The New Economic Policy has been replaced with the New Economic Agenda which promises fairness for all, not just the Malays and bumiputras. Honour that.

In concluding my short plea, I’d say this: For our country, There is enough to go around for everybody’s needs and not just to feed the greed of the few.

Better focus on raising your children

To the red T-shirt Malays who do not represent the Malays, here is my message:

I can understand what has happened and how this is an unhealthy development that goes against the hopes and aspiration of a nation wishing to move forward. But here is my advice, especially to those who have children:

It better focus on raising your children well in adjusting to a changing, globalising, and very diversifying Malaysian and global society.

Teach them to focus on ways to understand others, improving their English language skills, perfecting their moral compass, encouraging them to think well and good about children of other races and religion, to encourage them to make friends with people of other races, to be grateful that schools offer the great opportunity to love and respect teachers of different races.

Teach them to learn about the dangers of generalising, stereotyping, and projecting hate that would lead to mass deception, to encourage each child to learn about other cultures and religion, and to teach them that all of us in Malaysia are now Malaysians and not this or that group of immigrants.

We all are migrants in time and space and in history and that all of us are human beings with emotions, struggles, challenges, history of joy and despair, memory of pain and pleasure of living, and that all of us are merely of differing skin colour tone and born to speak different languages and to believe in different things about salvation and that we are all travelers in this life.

We are all these and will not need moments of history where we cultivate hate for the bigger picture of oppression we do not understand. We may all be pawns in this great political game of big-time plunderers and multi-ethnic robber-barons skilled at mass deception and distractions.

We should be grateful that we are still alive and breathe daily and that we must think happily and joyfully like Malaysians in order for each and every one of us to prosper in peace.

Come back to our senses. Our strength as Malaysians will still come from diversity and the respect and cultivation of talent. On Malaysia Day, we should have rejoiced and celebrate the achievements of this nation for that beautiful concept of unity in diversity; not a rally that spew hatred and invoke the horrors of the May 13, 1969 tragedy.

Let us design a safer journey towards a progressive and harmonious Malaysia, beyond this red T-shirt red-river of blood march of some mangled manufactured propaganda of Malay dignity.

DR AZLY RAHMAN grew up in Johor Baru, Malaysia and holds a Columbia University (New York City) doctorate in International Education Development and Masters degrees in the fields of Education, International Affairs, Peace Studies and Communication. He will be pursuing his fifth Masters in Fine Arts, specialising in Fiction and Poetry Writing. He has taught more than 50 courses in six different departments and has written more than 350 analyses/essays on Malaysia. His 25 years of teaching experience in Malaysia and the United States spans over a wide range of subjects, from elementary to graduate education. He has edited and authored six books; Multiethnic Malaysia: Past, Present, Future (2009), Thesis on Cyberjaya: Hegemony and Utopianism in a Southeast Asian State (2012), The Allah Controversy and Other Essays on Malaysian Hypermodernity (2013), Dark Spring: Essays on the Ideological Roots of Malaysia’s General Elections-13 (2013), a first Malay publication Kalimah Allah Milik Siapa?: Renungan dan Nukilan Tentang Malaysia di Era Pancaroba (2014), and Controlled Chaos: Essays on Mahathirism, Multimedia Super Corridor and Malaysia’s ‘New Politics’ (2014). He currently resides in the United States where he teaches courses in Education, Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Political Science, and American Studies. His forthcoming book, One Malaysia, under God, Bipolar, a joint project between Gerakbudaya and World Wise Books of New Jersey, USA, is his seventh compilation of essays on Malaysian Cultural, Creative, and Critical Studies. He is currently working on his eighth book, on Gifted and Talented Education in Malaysia, honouring a prominent educator. Twitter, blog.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 September 2015, 6:33 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia’s prime minister is a questionable ally

By Editorial Board

Washington Post

September 18, 2015

THE OBAMA administration has made a heavy bet on the Malaysian government of Najib Razak, whose majority Muslim nation collaborates on several key U.S. national security initiatives: counterterrorism, counterproliferation and balancing against China’s regional ambitions. In December, President Obama invited Mr. Najib to a round of golf during his Hawaiian vacation, a rare show of friendship for a foreign leader.

Since then, however, Mr. Najib has been evolving into an increasingly unseemly pal. In February, the country’s opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, was imprisoned on blatantly trumped-up charges, just under a year after the coalition Mr. Anwar led won the popular vote in national elections. That was the tip of a broader campaign to suppress the opposition; key leaders were indicted under a sedition law that Mr. Najib once promised to repeal, and a leading cartoonist was prosecuted for tweets. Mr. Anwar’s daughter, parliament member Nurul Izzah Anwar, was recently told she was being investigated under an anti-terrorism law.

Then came the news that close to $700 million had been transferred to personal bank accounts of Mr. Najib before the 2013 election. The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Malaysian investigators believed the money came from companies linked to a troubled state investment fund headed by the prime minister. Mr. Najib responded with a brazen crackdown on those investigating the fund, firing a deputy prime minister and the attorney general and gutting a parliamentary investigative committee. Two newspapers that had been pursuing the scandal were shut down. When the opposition organized a massive protest demonstration last month, authorities banned the movement’s signature yellow color.

Mr. Najib once positioned himself as a reformer who would lead a quasi-authoritarian state to genuine democracy. Now he is trying to consolidate his position by appealing to the worst currents in Malaysian politics: ethnic chauvinism and Islamic fundamentalism. In answer to the opposition, the ruling party, which relies on support from the majority Malay population, staged its own rally in which senior officials crudely attacked the Chinese and Indian minorities. Mr. Najib is meanwhile toying with the idea of allowing Islamic sharia law to be imposed in one province, a key goal of Malaysia’s fundamentalists.

In a visit to Kuala Lumpur last month, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said he had “raised concerns” with Mr. Najib about freedom of expression and Mr. Anwar’s imprisonment. But mostly the Obama administration is sticking with the sullied prime minister. In July, the State Department delivered a questionable promotion to Malaysia in its human trafficking ratings; Mr. Obama is still scheduled to visit Malaysia for an Asian summit in November. The administration appears to be counting on Mr. Najib to deliver Malaysia’s support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an Asian free trade deal that Mr. Obama hopes to make part of his legacy.

Nevertheless Ms. Nurul, who visited Washington this week, had a good question for the administration officials she met: “For all that you are investing in Malaysia, are you getting your money’s worth?” Mr. Najib may cooperate with U.S. intelligence agencies and the trade representative, but his repression and pandering to racists and Muslim extremists risks destroying the foundations of the alliance. The next time Mr. Obama meets his golfing buddy, he ought to make that clear.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 September 2015, 8:35 pm and is filed under
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Najib’s “well done” for the darkest hour  in Malaysia in  46 years after the May 13 1969 racial riots highlights the widening gulf between ordinary Malaysians and the UMNO/BN leadership

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s praise of “well done” for the darkest hour  in Malaysia in 46 years after the May 13, 1969 racial riots – the Red Shirts Sept. 16 Rally – highlights the widening gulf between ordinary Malaysians regardless of whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans  and the small coterie of  UMNO/BN leadership.

Apart from the 45,000 “Red Shirts” who were bused into Kuala Lumpur from all over Peninsular Malaysia in some 2,000 buses, Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, age, gender or politics are ashamed of the Red Shirts “Kebangkitan Maruah Melayu” rally in Kuala Lumpur on Sept. 16,  which desecrated the 52nd Malaysia Day when the day  should be an occasion for  all Malaysians to strengthen national integration and counter the divisive and centrifugal forces seeking the division and disintegration of the nation.

Sept. 16 should be a day of solidarity for the reaffirmation of the unity, integrity and sovereignty of Malaysia at two levels –  firstly, of the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures which have come together to make Malaysia their home and an  “Instant Asia” and secondly, the union of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak into a new nation in South-east Asia in 1963 by smoothing out the knots and kinks of  nationhood in the past five decades – in particular the legitimate grievances felt by Sarawakians and  Sabahans about their neglect and underdevelopment in the past half century.

Instead, Sabah and Sabah were  virtually forgotten on Sept. 16 as national and international attention riveted on the Red Shirt “Kebangkitan Maruah Melayu” in Kuala Lumpur, and the thoughts of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Cabinet were on the Red Shirts rally although they were physically in Kota Kinabalu that day – when they should be focusing  on  the issues and challenges of devolution and decentralization of powers from Putrajaya to Sabah and Sarawak with more autonomy in various jurisdictions for the two states.

Since becoming the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia in April 2009, Najib had spent hundreds of millions of ringgit on an army of foreign publicists and “image makers” to create a super persona for himself, both locally and in the international society.

But these super-paid PR experts failed to convey to  the Prime Minister to most simple rule of “public relations” – not to defend the indefensible.

This is the fatal mistake which Najib committed, not once but twice, yesterday.

Earlier yesterday, in an audio clip uploaded on his blog, Najib sought to justify the green light his government gave to the “red shirt” rally on Wednesday, after the international media highlighted it as an “anti-Chinese demonstration”.

Najib said unlike the Bersih 4 rally, which he had earlier denounced as “shallow-minded” and “demo-crazy”, the September 16 Red-Shirts Rally had no intention of toppling the government.

He said despite being declared illegal, the authorities did not stop Bersih 4 from taking place on August 29 and 30.

Najib should not take Malaysians or the international community for fools or  simpletons as to believe that Bersih 4 was a people’s uprising ala Tahrir Square in Cairo in the  Arab Spring for the toppling of Najib as Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The Bersih 4 rally had five objectives, viz:

*Free and Fair Elections.

*A Transparent Government.

*The Right to Demonstrate.

*Strengthening the Parliamentary Democracy System.

*Saving the Economy of Malaysia.

Although the Bersih 4 organisers called for Najib’s resignation for his failure to come clean on the twin mega-scandals of RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “foreign donation” in his personal banking accounts, there was absolutely no plan, thought or intention to “topple” Najib as Prime Minister by any undemocratic, unconstitutional or violent means except by way of  a “no confidence” motion against Najib.

In the pre-Internet era, it was  possible for the powers-that-be to turn black into white and white into black because of their monopoly of the information process and absolute control of the printed media.

But this is no more possible in the Internet era where information travels at the speed of light on the social media.

Apart from the Luddites and the unthinking hard-core UMNO/BN members and supporters, it is no more possible for the powers-that-be to dictate the contents and meaning of public debate, such as insisting on the myth of Bersih 4 out to “topple” Najib by undemocratic, unconstitutional or violent means; that Bersih 4 was master-minded by DAP or that the Bersih 4 overnight rally was an entirely Chinese affair!

Former Malacca Chief Minster and one-time Prime Minister-aspirant Tan Sri Ali Mohd Rustam who finally took responsibility for the Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally in his capacity as head of the Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia (Pesaka) justified the rally on the ground that the past four Bersih rallies had dishonoured the Malay leadership.

It has been estimated there were 80% Malays and 15% Chinese in  Bersih 1 on Nov. 10, 2007,  70% Malays and 25% Chinese in Bersih 2 on July 9, 2011 and 60% Malays and 35% Chinese in Bersih 3 on April 28, 2012.

On 29th August 2015, the first day of Bersih 4, Chinese predominated but on the second day on 30th August 2015, Malay participants increased to easily some 40% of the  crowd with   the Chinese representing some  55%.

With Malays clearly predominating in Bersih 1, 2 and 3, how did these three Bersih rallies from 2007 to 2012 challenged Malay rights and dignity? Can Ali Rustam explain?

It is precisely  because of the advent of Internet and the information era that holds out hope and promise that the UMNO leadership cannot continue to indoctrinate and brainwash Malaysians, particularly  Malays in the rural areas, into accepting UMNO myths and lies as truths and facts.

The Red Shirts “Kebangkitan Maruah Melayu” on Sept. 11 was a failure as compared to the Bersih 4 overnight rally of August 29/30.

Unlike the Red Shirts rally, hundreds of thousands of Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region, gender, age or politics took part in the  Bersih 4 overnight rally in a carnival of democracy and human rights, coming together transcending race, religion and region, in a common national cause for good governance, accountability and integrity.

In contrast, the Red Shirts Rally, though in the name of the Malay race, really represented  only a minority of the Malays, who are  the diminishing UMNO and pro-UMNO elements who have a vested interest to defend Najib as Prime Minister – who stand for  a losing cause as the Red Shirts Rally dispersed after less than five hours although it was bruited as a 10-hour event, in contrast to the 34-hour Bersih 4 overnight rally which lasted to the very last second on the midnight of August 30;

The second mistake Najib made last night was when he spoke to the National Silat Merdeka Gathering at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur and  returned to the Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally, praising the red shirts for having “done very well to gather peacefully and without any provocation”, claiming that there were no banners which  promoted hatred to other races although such  slogans of hate and lies  had been captured, reported and immortalized  on the online news portals.

The Red Shirts Sept. 16 Malay Rally represents the past of race politics which could only end up with Malaysia as a failed state and a basket-case in international society.

More and more Malaysians at all levels are speaking up for the future and salvation of Malaysia where Malaysians transcend race, religion, region, gender age or even politics for a common national objective – a united, self-confident, harmonious, democratic, just, progressive and prosperous Malaysian nation to be a model for the rest of the world.

This is why the Johor prince Tunku Idris Sultan Ibrahim’s Instagram  expressing revulsion for ethnic bigotry is so well received not only by the people of Johor but also in Malaysia.

The Johor prince is right when he declared that “racism and its hateful language have no place” in the country and that “Racism is a refuge for the ignorant. It seeks to divide and destroy”.

Malays and Islam are not under threat in Malaysia, but desperate and bankrupt politicians want to prevent the new politics of the nation from being born by continuing to frame the politics of Malaysia in 2015 in the mould of the politics of race of the past, which patriotic and progressive Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region want to put behind us.

The following  comment from a reader of one of the news portals  gave a most apposite rebuttal to those who want to panic Malays and Muslims into believing that their race and faith are under siege:

“To an outsider watching the rally, they would have thought the government, military, sultans, bureaucracy are all in the hand of the Chinese and thus the red shirt protest.

“It is so strange, for the Malays control almost everything and yet they are shouting they are ‘victims’.”

I had yesterday suggested the revival of a National Goodwill Committee (such a body was formed after the May 13, 1969 riots) headed by former Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz to heal the wounds to racial harmony and social peace and repair the damage to our international image as a safe and steady haven for foreign investment caused by the Red Shirt Malay rally of Sept. 16.

Will the Cabinet next Wednesday dare to take up this proposal of a revival of a National Goodwill Committee, where other eminent Malaysians like spokesperson of G25 Eminent Malays, Datuk Noor Faridah Ariffin, Sabah representative Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, Sarawak representative Datuk Seri Daniel Tajem and jurists like Datuk Ambiga Sreenivan and Yeoh Yan Poh can make contributions to prevent Malaysia from  hurtling towards a rogue and failed state because of a disunited and divided citizenry?

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 September 2015, 10:04 am and is filed under
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Pak Samad: Malay-centric Putrajaya may put Malaysia into state of emergency before GE14

by Kamles Kumar

Malay Mail Online

September 19, 2015

PETALING JAYA, Sept 19 — Malaysia is headed towards a state of emergency being declared possibly within the next five years if the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) does not fix its overtly pro-Malay attitude in governance, national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said predicted today.

The respected poet and Malay writer popularly known as Pak Samad said the current administration’s tendency to favour the dominant Malay community over that of ethnic minorities will deepen the rift among Malaysians, with a state of emergency possibly declared before even polls can be held.

“At the rate things are going, with the way race issues are played up and we see people being caught for show, it is not impossible that things will peak into a state of an emergency if the  government does not keep peace.

“The government is being Malay-centric now, all their speeches are targeted towards the Malays,” he said after launching a book titled “Young & Malay” at Gerakbudaya here.

He said a declaration of emergency may also happen after polls, if the BN coalition fails to form a strong Cabinet that fairly represents all races.

Samad, who became a DAP member earlier this year, urged the federal government to stop its partisan approach, especially in implementing policies that have largely rewarded the Malays.

“The current leadership only sides the Malays. Not to say that is not good, but this is not just a Malay county but a Malaysian country.

“Government should be the voice of all Malaysians,” he said.

Samad also dispelled rumours that he may run for public office in the next general elections.

“I am already 83 years old. I am too old to run for elections. I am in DAP so that it becomes a party that is accepted as a party for all races,” he explained.

Thousands of red shirted people were bussed into the federal capital on September 16, a day that marked the anniversary of the country’s founding, in a rally seen as retaliation to last month’s two-day Bersih 4 rally, which several Malay leaders have claimed were dominated by the ethnic Chinese.

The protest was also marred by sporadic outbreaks of racism, with one participant recorded calling a reporter “Crazy Chinese pig”, among other insults, though several Umno leaders have attempted to whitewash the street demonstration as non-racist and non-seditious.

Datuk Jamal Md Yunos, an Umno leader and spokesman for the #Merah169 rally, downplayed the insult on Thursday, saying the Chinese should feel no slight in the remark since they consume pork.

The rally, said to be in support of Najib’s leadership, was to counter last month’s mammoth two-day Bersih 4 gathering calling for the prime minister’s resignation.

The ruling Malay party has insisted that it does not endorse the event, which has also been alternately called “Himpunan Maruah Melayu”, but did not prohibit its members from participating in the demonstration organised by martial arts group Pesaka.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 September 2015, 7:21 pm and is filed under
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The mysterious red shirt rally continues to mystify

Aidila Razak

Malaysiakini

17 Sep 2015

COMMENT
 And so ends a rally which sent many into a tail spin of frenzy, stocking their pantries and whispering warnings of “stay indoors” for fear of a racial riot.

While the biggest mystery of its conception was eventually solved – it is an anti-(DAP) Chinese rally to defend Malay pride after all, and yes, Umno was a huge backer – it ends again in a shroud of mystery.

What on earth is Jamal Md Yunos on about?

According to the Gabungan NGO-NGO Malaysia president, he will call a press conference tomorrow to urge the government to take action against Petaling Street traders.

And if they don’t take action within seven days, Jamal himself will lead a group of red shirts into Petaling Street – or protesters themselves can “spit in (his) face”.

Hang on a second.

Why should action be taken against Petaling Street traders? What would be Jamal’s complaint? That they are Chinese?

Payback for ‘Chinese’ Bersih?

The rally was called because Malays purported were offended by the allegedly mostly-Chinese participants at Bersih 4, whom they claimed had insulted Malay leaders.

The protesters wanted to enter Petaling Street – a traditionally Chinese area – as a show of force and to cause similar losses they claimed Malay traders suffered due to the Bersih 4 rally.

So what exactly is the Domestic, Consumerism and Cooperatives Ministry supposed to censure Petaling Street traders for?

Also, wasn’t the rally about showing that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had the support of the people?

How would slapping a fine on Petaling Street traders for some thus far imaginary fault show Najib still has the people’s backing to remain as PM?

To be honest, 45,000 people on the streets (bused in and fed, too, mind you) is hardly an indicator of the people’s ardent love for the premier. But okay, maybe the rally isn’t about Najib at all.

Maybe it was just really about a Malay show of force.

As a Malay, I can see how some members of the community could take the Bersih 4 rally as a provocative insult by a sinister group.

In our daily affairs, most Malays are not straight talkers, we prefer to ‘cakap berlapik’.

Rich culture of proverbs

The rich culture of proverbs in the Malay language may point to this. Even today, when an entourage goes to woman’s home to seek her hand in marriage, for example we say we want to “pluck a flower from the garden”.

And if one is to criticise, the same approach is taken, especially if the person criticised is considered an elder.

Even those in positions of authority may more likely take the ‘marah anak, sindir menantu’ method.

Literally meaning to scold one’s son or daughter to send a message to his or her spouse, it shows the Malay penchant taking a roundabout way to criticise, without causing offence.

I personally feel the language of protest and dissent need not be polite. I don’t think one needs to say please or thank you during a rally, or shy away from burning effigies and dumping manure to prove a point.

Yet, I can see how some less attuned to such displays would find such direct and harsh criticism of Najib a terrible affront. So terrifically ‘kurang ajar’ (insolent).

Mix this distaste for direct criticism, with a very regard for pride and honour, some misplaced belief of superiority and being indigenous, and you see the other version – the offended Malay, out to reclaim his pride.

But how does slapping a fine on Petaling Street traders (now probably more multinational than ethnic Chinese with the area a favourite for migrant labour) redeem this loss of face?

How does yelling ‘Cina babi’ (Chinese pigs) and harassing ethnic Chinese reporters on the ground do the same for that matter?

How does anything that happened yesterday mean a thing to Malays, our sense of self-worth and belief in our own abilities?

Just like in the lead up to the rally, I remain confused. The rally remains shrouded in a whole lot of unanswered question, a whole lot of mystery.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 September 2015, 6:03 am and is filed under
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Three things we learned from: #Merah169

by Zurairi AR

Malay Mail Online

September 17, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 ― Thousands of Malays painted the city red yesterday, purportedly to show solidarity with Malay government leaders who are allegedly under siege from the ethnic Chinese community.

The event was originally planned as at least three separate rallies held by different organisers: martial arts group Pesaka who hosted the official gathering, a coalition of 250 Malay groups, and Felda settlers.

As the day went on, however, it was clear that there was only one event in town, the pro-Malay rally informally dubbed #Merah169, held as a reaction towards the electoral reform rally Bersih 4 that was attended by tens of thousands last month and deemed to be Chinese-driven.

Here are three things we learned about the event:

1. Umno not officially behind #Merah169, but Umno leaders were

Umno officially disassociated itself from the rally after its Supreme Council meeting last week, but stopped short of restricting its members from joining it.

The tacit nod has also been construed as endorsement for the event, especially with rare police approval for the street rally when none was available for Bersih 4.

Further links were drawn when the major players behind the rally — former Malacca chief minister Tan Sri Ali Rustam as well as former ministers Datuk Noh Omar and Tan Sri Annuar Musa — all hail from Umno.

As did unofficial frontman Datuk Jamal Md Yunos, whose Coalition of Malay NGOs was behind the “Red Shirt” aspect and which triggered concerns of possible racial unrest over rally; he is the Sungai Besar Umno division chief.

It was also obvious that there was major funding for the event, with thousands of supporters bussed in from the across the country, plus the banners and placards as well as food and drinks supplied to the rally-goers.

Annuar also claimed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his deputy, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, were delighted by the turnout, although Najib later criticised a run-in between rally-goers and riot police.

No other political party was mentioned glowingly in the rally save for Umno, while organisers profusely thanked Umno divisions along the day.

While it may not be officially the organisers, Umno is inextricably linked to the rally and, more importantly, any bouquets and brickbats that will follow.

2. Racism by any other name…

Pesaka, the official rally organisers, sought to disavow the “Himpunan Maruah Melayu (Malay Dignity Rally)” name that Jamal’s group gave to the event, insisting that it was a show of Malaysian unity.

What transpired before and during #Merah169, however, left little doubt that it was catered specifically to Malays.

The rally was filled with racially-charged placards calling for Malays and Islam to be respected, for vernacular schools to be closed, and warnings to federal opposition party DAP not to tempt a repeat of the bloody racial riots of May 13, 1969.

Annuar outright admitted to racism both personally and at the rally, but said this was permitted so long as other races were not harmed.

When pressed to identify the specific insult perpetrated by the Chinese community, however, none appeared able to provide a clear answer.

Why, then, did the Malays feel so insulted by the Chinese that they felt compelled to rally in defence of their honour?

Two ethnic Chinese journalists were removed by the police after protesters reacted angrily to them repeatedly asking the very question, but they were right to be curious.

Asked the same question by Malay reporters and attendees gave a different answer: They are not mad with the Chinese per se, only the so-called “DAP Chinese” and Bersih 4.

The question was asked many times by Malay Mail Online, but the sole argument for many was one incident where two Chinese protesters stomped on a picture with Najib and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang during Bersih 4.

How two protesters became the surrogate for the entire Chinese community and two rival politicians represented all the Malays, none could say.

And while many were vague about the reason for their anger, the object of their ire was demonstrably less so.

Protesters repeatedly sought to force their way into Bukit Bintang and the Chinatown in Petaling Street, due to the perceived Chinese links in both areas, leading to riot police firing water cannons when they persisted with trying to enter the latter zone.

Why? Maybe it was to send a message, even if only to say that there is no stopping the Malays in their own land.

3. One step forward, two steps back for demonstrations

Despite all the concerns that surrounded the #Merah169 rally, one positive message was the reinforcement of the view that Malaysians were mature enough to demonstrate publicly without violence.

After Bersih 4 went off without any clashes — unlike its three predecessors — Malaysians took it as evidence that public protests could take place peacefully as long as authorities do not crack down hard on them.

But while Bersih 4 displayed what was possible when police and protesters choose to co-operate, yesterday’s events showed inklings of the dangers when one or the other does not.

During Bersih 4, organisers and attendees stayed vigilant to ensure that nobody would breach zones such as Dataran Merdeka that were made off limits by authorities, but it was a different matter yesterday.

Protesters repeatedly pushed past police lines meant to prevent them from entering Jalan Bukit Bintang, in an attempt to reach parts of the Golden Triangle that both authorities and rally organisers agreed were prohibited.

The same transpired at Petaling Street, forcing organisers to plead repeatedly with protesters to stop trying to force their way into the tourist spot, to no avail as it would later turn out when police were forced to turn their water cannons on the crowd.

While Bersih 4 protesters picked up their trash afterwards ― and still got billed by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall ― Padang Merbok yesterday was left with trash strewn all over the park and Jalan Parlimen beside it.

The police, in particular, showed remarkable restraint in the face of the over-exuberance of some #Merah169 protesters.

Had either the authorities or protesters been less accommodating, #Merah169 could easily have become another example for Putrajaya to use when saying that Malaysians just are not ready for demonstrations.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 September 2015, 9:49 pm and is filed under
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Time for the subject of “no confidence motion” against Najib as PM to be put on the table as  a national agenda for discussion by MPs from both the government coalition and the Opposition as well as the  Malaysian public before Parliament meets on Oct. 19

I congratulate DAP Kedah activist Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Shaffee, who is heading the Impian Kedah/Perlis project, as well as Dr. Tan Poh Teng and Nurul Shifa Abdul Manan in the Impian Kedah/Perlis project committee, for their hard work and success in the inaugural three-day Impian Kedah/Perlis medical camp.

This is the second day of the three-day Impian Kedah/Perlis medical camp, which will be in Perlis tomorrow.

The Impian Kedah/Perlis project was announced three months ago and we are now seeing the fruits of this new initiative to promote an inclusive vision to rally all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or class to unite on a common agenda of Malaysian unity, justice and prosperity.

Impian Kedah/Perlis is part of the Impian Malaysia vision and like other Impian Malaysia  projects of Impian Sabah, Impian Sarawak, Impian Kelantan and the newly-announced Impian Johor, it is born out of two convictions: firstly, Malaysia cannot be progressive and prosperous if any state continue to be poor and backward in infrastructure development; and secondly, the people and the states of Kedah and Perlis are entitled to the right to development compared to other states and not to be relegated as Malaysia’s poorest states.

The people of Pendang had been promised a general hospital by the then Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Badawi but for the past decade, this Prime Ministerial promise had not been fulfilled.

I will raise this issue of a new Pendang general hospital in Parliament when MPs reconvene for the budget session beginning on Oct. 19.

With Parliament scheduled to meet in exactly a month’s time, the time has come for DAP to discuss with MPs both from the government coalition and other Opposition parties the issue of a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, as there seems to be no end to the crisis of confidence plaguing the country.

The Malaysian ringgit and the Malaysian stock exchange have dropped to unprecedented lows, foreign reserves are running at perilously low levels defending ringgit, while the flight of foreign capital had not been arrested with scandals on the political front raging on unchecked, whether the  crisis of confidence over the premiership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s, his two mega-scandals of the RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” in his personal banking accounts, and most lately, the double whammy of revival of the mystery of the Altantuta Shaariibuu murder in the Al Jazeera 101 East current affairs programme on “Murder in Malaysia” and the racially-charged, divisive and provocative  Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay rally on Malaysia Day.

Never before in the nation’s history has a Prime Minister been dogged, hounded and haunted by so many political,  economic and seemingly unending scandals, which is why for the first time in Malaysian history, the question of whether there should be a “no confidence motion” against the Prime Minister in Parliament have to be seriously considered by MPs, whether in government or opposition.

It is premature at the moment to say whether a “no-confidence motion” would be tabled in the coming meeting of Parliament, as so many other issues have to be considered, including the Speaker’s attitude, the Parliamentary practices and procedure, and the likelihood of securing a simple majority in any vote in Parliament for the passage of such a “no confidence” motion.

The time has come however for the “no confidence motion” against the Prime Minister to be a national agedna for discussion from various angles by the 222 MPs from both the government coalition and the opposition, as well as  the larger Malaysian society,  as Parliament is to meet on Oct. 19 in exactly a month’s time.

(Media Conference Statement after visiting the DAP Impian Kedah/Perlis Medical Camp at Kampung Kedah Guar Kepayang, Pendang on Saturday, 19th September 2015 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 September 2015, 4:32 pm and is filed under
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Bersih: A racist rally?

– Nur Adilah

The Malaysian Insider

20 September 2015

At the mention of “bersih”, the thing that comes to mind is all that is good. And that is according to how it is literally understood.

Putting “bersih” in the Malaysian context, however, will get us to a different meaning with various connotations.

On one hand, Bersih is held in high regard, while at the other spectrum, Bersih is shown in a bad light.

I say that Bersih is not just about wearing yellow; it carries a strong message to the government in power – to change or to be changed.

The reason the Bersih 4 rally was made illegal was, perhaps, because of the call for our prime minister to leave office. The call was said to be unconstitutional, thus the banning of what appeared to be a peaceful demonstration.

The demand to remove the prime minister from the Cabinet probably stood out from the rest; if all the manifestos are compiled in a book, the said demand would be highlighted in neon yellow.

Truthfully, what Malaysians seek for is honesty. We want to have an honest government.

Conflict is part and parcel of life, thus Malaysia, too, cannot escape conflicts. We know for a fact that, right now, we are in a huge conflict, thus as concerned citizens, we want to know everything there is to know about the conflict that the world is talking about.

However, much to our dismay, we are deprived of such information – available sources from which we can gain insight about the conflict are barred as they are seen as weapons that can wound up our nation. That, is the same reason used to delegitimise Bersih.

But we know all too well that such is not the case. Peacefully demonstrating for the right cause will not jeopardise our country – if anything, the demonstration might jeopardise the existing government.

‘Honesty is the best policy’

That, is actually the only plea from the demonstrators – to see honesty reflected in every policy taken by the government. The demands to have free and fair election, transparent government, the right to demonstrate, a truly parliamentary democracy system, improved economic status – all of them rely on honesty as the precursor of change.

The government has been mum on a few subjects, and that is a portrayal of dishonesty. We demand to have a closure for each and every national issue for it involves us, our forefathers and our future generations. Instead of receiving solid answers, we are expected to buy mere denials.

“No, the allegation is not true. We are free from the blatant accusation.”

If “no” is accepted as an answer for every dispute, verily, any criminal can bail out themselves by a mere denial, which is apparently a legitimate method to clear up their name, and misconduct.

But conscious-minded Malaysians do not take “no” as an answer. If the accused are innocent, then facts and figures that can prove their innocence must be presented.

In the case of our national crises, we can see more denials than justifications. Denial does not help in making our image any better – if anything, it tarnishes our face even more.

The national scandals that we are witnessing can only be resolved through honesty. The grave effects we are experiencing might be beyond repair, but at the very least, proper justification must be made.

It seems that the moment of truth has started to unveil itself, and Bersih is seen as one of the driving factors that can press the government to come up with the real answer.

If God wills, soon, we shall seize the real culprits. But in a world full of mysteries, anything can happen. It is very possible that an innocent man under threat may have to be made a scapegoat.

But returning to the point of Bersih, I personally feel that there’s nothing wrong in the demonstration, as I have no knowledge of the covert agenda, if there’s any. And I don’t think the mass demonstration was race-centric, though it was joined by a large majority of Chinese, surpassing the Malay.

The ethnic disproportion shouldn’t be used to racialise the rally because as far as I am concerned, the rally was colour-blind, meaning, anyone of any race could join the rally.

Although I didn’t participate in the rally, I could see Malaysians who did not define themselves based on their races. Instead, they defined themselves as Malaysians.

But there was a group who might be hiding behind the crowd of protesters who was feared by the large group of Chinese. They feared that the rise of the Chinese would be the death of their privileges, which should not be questioned. And that introversion led to a rally dominated by a majority belonging to the same race. Let us not get into that.

The way I see it, Bersih attempted to fight for every citizen’s right, and that race was a non-issue stirred by those who feel that Malaysians are not all the same. Race becomes an indicator whether we are eligible to become a Malaysian in its truest sense, so to speak.

What Bersih did was to try to break the wall among races by inviting all Malaysians to strive for their rights. But the issue about race, which is not new, has always been brought up over practically every issue; racism has been living with us since time immemorial. And that is why we tend to describe people based on the label of their race. I suppose we have forgotten that we all came from the same root, thus we are inherently the same.

So, it is up to us whether we still want to play with the racial card. And it is up to us if we insist on racialising Bersih. But no matter to what race we belong, remember that we are all humans, and that we should be united to fight for the betterment of the human race as a whole. – September 20, 2015.

* Nur Adilah Ramli reads The Malaysian Insider.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 September 2015, 9:07 pm and is filed under
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Call on Najib to explain whether he had been guilty of abuse of power when he stymied Hishamudin’s promotion from Court of Appeal to  Federal Court in 2013

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should explain whether he had been guilty of abuse of power when he stymied the promotion of Court of Appeal judge,  Justice Hishamudin Yunus to the Federal Court in 2013.

Hishamudin’s promotion to the Federal Court was recommended by Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) in 2013 but his elevation was blocked by the Prime Minister.

This is a clear case of Executive interference with the independence, impartiality, integrity and professionalism of the judiciary which the Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2009 was  enacted by Parliament to overcome so as to  ensure unbiased selection and elevation judges.

Hishamudin, who retired this month after 42 years in the judicial and legal service, was one of  the longest-serving judges at the High Court, where he was appointed as a judicial commissioner in 1992 and then confirmed in October 1994, before his elevation to the Court of Appeal in April 2009.

It can be said without fear of contradiction that Justice Hishamudin is one of the very few judges in recent times whom Malaysians  can be proud of, which is a sad commentary on the state of the judiciary and  justice in Malaysia when judges of the calibre, integrity, independence and respect for the law and Constitution like Justice Hishamudin  should be the rule instead of being a rare exception in the country.

How many judges are there who are in the league of Justice Hishamudin?

Since the first assault on the independence of the judiciary in 1998 with the sacking of the then Lord President, Tun Salleh Abas and two Supreme Court judges, Tan Sri Wan Sulaiman Pawanteh and Datuk George Seah by the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian judiciary has never recovered its high repute and standing for its quality, independence,  integrity  and professionalism whether in national or international circles.

The Judicial Appointments  Commission Act should be amended in the forthcoming Parliament to ensure that the form of Prime Ministerial interference with the independence, integrity and professionalism of the judiciary like Najib’s blocking of Justice Hishamudin’s elevation to the Federal Court in 2013 could not recur.

Will this be on the agenda of the de facto Law Minister Nancy Shukri in the coming Parliament?

(Media Conference Statement at Jalan SP Chelliah, Penang on Sunday, 20th September 2015 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 September 2015, 2:59 pm and is filed under
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Dignity is all about looking at ourselves

TK Chua

Malaysiakini

19 Sep 2015

Dignity is now a big word in Malaysia. But what is it?

It is self-respect, pride, self-esteem and self-worth. It is the quality of being worthy of honour or respect.

Dignity is not what others bestowed on us. It is how we carry ourselves. It is how we portray ourselves worthy of admiration and respect by others. Only we can insult our own dignity, not others.

I agree stomping on the pictures of Najib Abdul Razak and Hadi Awang was not the right thing to do. But it is how we react to that stomping that defines our dignity.

In any political event, it is always important to look at the intent. The intent of the Bersih 4 rally was not to insult a particular race or religion. It was to demand for good governance, strong institutions and clean government. These are universal objectives, certainly not with parochial, seditious or incendiary intention.

Bersih can’t be held responsible for the idiosyncrasies of all individuals participating in the rally. Inevitably some will be more overzealous than others. However, did those who stomp on the picture did so because Najib and Hadi are Malays and Muslims? How about they stomped on the picture because Najib and Hadi have failed them as their leaders?

I think there are subtle differences which we must take cognisance. I would prefer to think that it is not about race or religion; it is about frustration, unmet expectation and anger. In Ukraine, the people there even physically threw one of their leaders into a trash dump.

That is why dignity is all about looking at ourselves. When others dislike us as their leaders, have we looked at ourselves? Have we asked whether we have provided reasons and justifications for others to doubt our performance, behaviour and integrity as leaders? Why must there be spontaneous reaction that others hate us because of our race, culture and religion?

Now, let’s look at the red shirt rally. Is there anything universal that they are fighting for? Why keep agitating that the dignity of the Malays was injured. I don’t think Chinese Malaysians are foolish enough to insult the Malays deliberately. But is there anything wrong if they have only desired to see the nation more competently governed?

Put it this way, if Chinese politicians were to cause the malaise inflicting the country today, I think the protest from them would be even more vehement.

Of course we can all accuse each other for being biased and parochial due to our racial and religious differences. But ultimately accusations must be verifiable and justifiable; otherwise they will only further erode our own dignity.

To me there is no justification at all for the red shirts to react the way they did to the Bersih 4 rally. It was not the fault of the Chinese if fewer Malays chose to show up. Bersih 4 was not concerned with race or religion. I just can’t understand why there was a need to retaliate when Chinese Malaysians have done no wrong to the Malays and Muslims in general.

Why keep insulting the Chinese community knowing that it has neither the means nor the power to defend itself? This is not dignified or upholding dignity; this is cowardice and bullying. The world is watching.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 September 2015, 8:21 am and is filed under
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Do Umno Malays know the meaning of dignity?

Mariam Mokhtar | September 20, 2015

Free Malaysia Today

They need to exorcise the demons inside them and to wean themselves from the entitlement culture.

COMMENT

It looks like the red shirted Umno-Baru Malays are condemning themselves to a life sentence of self-denial. They assume that everyone else in Malaysia owes them a living. It is time they came to terms with the real world. They need to exorcise their inner demons, and they need to wean themselves from the entitlement culture, which they expect will nurse them from cradle to grave.

Malays throughout Malaysia were ashamed to be associated with these bigots, who claim that they held the Red Shirts Rally to uphold Malay dignity. Their protest had nothing to do with Malay dignity. The rally was held primarily to distract us from the 1MDB scandal.

What kind of dignity can we associate with insolence and the hurling of insults at other communities? What dignity is there in transporting the elderly from the villages to boost attendance at the Kuala Lumpur rally? Taxpayers’ money was probably used to facilitate the transportation and to provide meals and pocket money.

A friend who once worked with a bank of which the chairman was a senior Umno-Baru politician alleges that he had to sign blank cheques to pay for the mobilisation of participants in many Umno-Baru events. How many other secrets do workers in similar organisations hold?

What dignity does the Sungai Besar Umno chief, Jamal Md Yunos, think he upholds? He claimed that Malay NGOs were compelled to rise because the “DAP had brainwashed the Chinese in the Bersih 4 rally” and had insulted Malay leaders.

Jamal is just another leader who enjoys a Datuk title and other perks thrown at him by the Umno-Baru leadership. His role is to mobilise the thugs under him and threaten the peace. He cannot see the damaging effects of corruption, injustice and abuse of power. His values are warped. He cannot distinguish between right and wrong. The DAP must be doing a good job of enhancing community relations and rebuilding the community if bigots like Jamal feel threatened.

In what way does Jamal think that Malays are threatened? The majority of jobs in the public sector and the armed forces are reserved for Malays, as are public housing allocations and many other handouts.

What dignity was Ali Rustam thinking of? He stands accused of involvement in money politics, and during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Malacca, it was alleged that he used the machinery of the state to facilitate his son’s grand wedding. When challenged he claimed that he had received sponsorship from various companies. His critics asked, “What was given in exchange for this sponsorship?”

What dignity were Ahmad Maslan and Ismail Sabri Yaacob thinking of? In many people’s minds, Ahmad isn’t even qualified for his job. People ridicule him for an apparent inability to talk economic sense, or any kind of sense for that matter. And Ismail’s only claim to fame is his blaming of the Chinese community for the Malays’ inability to grasp the basics of business.

It is doubtful that these Umno-Baru politicians understand the meaning of dignity. To them, dignity means the ability to shout the loudest and make the crudest insults.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 September 2015, 8:51 am and is filed under
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In loving memory of Kevin Morais

Jessica Sidhu

Malaysiakini

19 Sep 2015

Kevin Morais was a pure professional, highly ethical, very hardworking and humble. He possessed no ego of any form.

In his work he was very thorough, often asking as many questions as it required to understand every permutation completely.

He took his work as a prosecutor very seriously, often missing meals, and constantly suffered from red watery eyes from reading law through the night.

He gave his all to the cases he took on and sometimes when witnesses turned hostile or the case went awry for reasons beyond Kevin’s control, it affected him deeply. It hurt him to talk about those cases.

You see, Kevin was married to his work. He had no social life. He took on cases others left behind as if they were too complicated. His dedication to serve justice was uppermost in his mind. He endeavoured to make sense, get a thorough grasp so he could fight for justice.

He had an excellent command of English and loved trading witty puns with the equally competent.

Every time there was a meeting, staff of all rank and file would line up to shake his hand. Not because they had to, but because they wanted to greet and shake the hands of Tuan Kevin Morais.

From the gentle bow of their bodies to the deferential nod of their heads and they way they extended their hands like an offering, you could see the tremendous respect they held for him.

At some point Kevin must have dispensed legal advice to them or their colleagues or bosses or perhaps just provided sheer kindness to them.

Despite being extremely busy, Kevin always had time for those who sought him. He was humble and approachable.

He took the time to explain things slowly and made sure they understood perfectly, trying as it may be to those without legal training.

Kevin was the kind of person who cared to take the time to explain.

I often told him, “Kevin, these men hold a tremendous measure of respect for you. This is far more valuable than any Datuk or Tan Sri title.”

In his usual deprecating manner he would just laugh it off and say, “Oh Jess, you so flatter me.”

Kevin was a peaceful soul. He always believed in the goodness of people. It never ceased to amaze me how devastated he would be of he found out how bad or guilty they were. In his trademark, hand over the mouth, he would just keep saying, “No, no, please… Not him, too!”

It amazes me that he was so innocent even after years of practicing his profession, choosing to believe good over evil. Gentle as a dove was his blessed heart.

I hold him very dear in my heart and not a day has gone by, since his disappearance that I’ve not broken down. My constant question to God is, “Why Kevin, God? Why?”

My only answer is that the Angels in Heaven wanted him back where he belonged.

JESSICA SIDHU used to be attached to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 September 2015, 8:32 am and is filed under
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Is it worthwhile  for Najib to abandon 1Malaysia Policy and Global Movement of Moderates initiative for the placebo Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay rally?

Is it worth it for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to abandon his signature 1Malaysia Policy and the Global Movement of Moderates initiative for the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay rally?

These are the  two major policy initiatives Najib  would want to be remembered as his legacy as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia – one his local contribution to Malaysian nation-building and the other his contribution to global politics beset by the trials and tribulations caused by intolerance, bigotry, extremism and terrorism.

But in one fell stroke, he had destroyed both – and all for the placebo effect of the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay Rally in Kuala Lumpur!

One sycophant had described the “red show of force” at the Sept. 16 rally as “a signal that Malays have the numbers to defend their hold on political power and fill the streets with raw energy”, but the Malay hold on political power was never an issue, as at stake is only the question of the hold to political power of Najib and the  UMNO incumbents.

The Bersih 4 overnight rally for 34 hours on August 29 and 30 was never an anti-Malay rally or a Chinese “show of force” to challenge Malay political power, which was why the participants came from Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, age, gender or politics and why there was never any fear of any racial conflict or clashes, as the “ammunition” some of  the hundreds of thousands who took part in the Bersih 4 rally were armed with were just “smelling salts” and “goggles” as their only worry about the  disruption to peace and social harmony were  the police tear gas and water cannons.

It is true that Malay participation on the first day of the Bersih 4 rally was quite low, but this was more than made up on the second day of Bersih 4 with Malay participation reaching  some 40% – as well  as made up by the predominant Malay participation in previous Bersih rallies – 80% Malays in  Bersih 1 in 2007, 70% Malays in Bersih 2 in 2011  and 60% Malays in Bersih 3 in 2012.

The Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay Rally was a different creature altogether right from the start of its announcement immediately after Bersih 4, thick with racial charges and incitement, even with the imagery of a “racial bloodbath” with screaming slogans like “Kebangkitan Maruah Melayu”.

But the last things on the mind of the organisers of the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay rally were  “Maruah Melayu” or “Maruah Malaysia”, as there had  no interest whatowever  for the issues which gravely undermined the honour and dignity of Malaysians and Malays, like the  twin mega scandals of RM50 billion 1MDB  and RM2.6 billion “donation” in the Prime Minister’s personal banking accounts, and the dangers of Malaysia faced in ending up as  a rogue state with the collapse of the rule of law and a failed state with rampant corruption, socio-economic injustices and breakdown of good governance in the country.

The mystery as to who was behind the Sept. 11 Red Shirt Malay rally was solved with  the Prime Minister’s trio of activities connected with it, viz:

1.	Admission that the Red Shirts Rally was basically to show support to Najib when Kelantan UMNO leader, Tan Sri Annuar Musa announced the end of the Sept. 16 rally at Padang Merbok (lasting four hours instead of the scheduled 10 hours) that the Prime Minister called and conveyed from Kota Kinabalu his appreciation for the support shown to his leadership.

2.	Najib’s praise and justification for the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay rally in an audio clip uploaded on his blog two days ago.

3.	Najib defence of the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay rally as “a manifestation of the rise of Malays to defend their dignity and the country’s leadership from being condemned and humiliated” when addressing the Pesaka Assembly at Datarian Merdeka on Friday night.

In his speech, Najib said even though several illegal rallies had been held before this to challenge the dignity of the Malays, they were patient. But the Bersih 4 rally was the turning point when several participants went beyond the limit by stomping on the picture of national leaders and insulting the country’s leadership.

He said: “Slapped once, we did not do anything. The second time…nothing…the third time…nothing…but the fourth time had crossed the limit. Malays also have rights.

“The Malays will stand up when their pride is scarred, when their leader is insulted, condemned and humiliated. It’s enough, do not repeat such vengeful acts.”

Nobody had challenged the fact that the  three previous Bersih rallies were dominated by Malays, who comprised some 80% in Bersih 1, 70% in Bersih 2 and 60% in Bersih 3.

Are we going to have a new myth and fable that Malay rights, honour and dignity were “slapped” once, twice and thrice in the three previous Bersih rallies?

The couple of youngsters who had foolishly stomped on the pictures of  Najib and Hadi Awang must have gravely regretted that their folly and stupid acts had been used to unleash a storm of racism in the country.

Both DAP and Bersih 2 leaders had taken the first opportunity to deplore the stomping on the pictures of Najib and Hadi, and I agree with T.K.Chua a Malaysiakini reader who said in his letter that while the stomping on the pictures was not the right thing to do, “it is how we react to that stomping that defines our dignity”.

What Chua wrote deserve  consideration:

“In any political event, it is always important to look at the intent. The intent of the Bersih 4 rally was not to insult a particular race or religion. It was to demand for good governance, strong institutions and clean government. These are universal objectives, certainly not with parochial, seditious or incendiary intention.

“Bersih can’t be held responsible for the idiosyncrasies of all individuals participating in the rally. Inevitably some will be more overzealous than others. However, did those who stomp on the picture did so because Najib and Hadi are Malays and Muslims? How about they stomped on the picture because Najib and Hadi have failed them as their leaders?

“I think there are subtle differences which we must take cognisance. I would prefer to think that it is not about race or religion; it is about frustration, unmet expectation and anger.”

Whatever the reasons, Malaysians should not stomp on the pictures of leaders as it is so easy for the whole episode to be distorted and misunderstood.

Be that as it may, the question Najib should himself ponder long and hard is whether it is worthwhile for him to abandon his two policy initiatives, the  1Malaysia Policy and the Global Movement of Moderates initiative, just  for the sake of holding the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay rally?

Is it still possible for Najib to resuscitate and rescue the 1Malaysia and Global Movement of Moderates initiatives from oblivion or the graveyard?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 September 2015, 11:05 am and is filed under
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Malaysia is pounded every day by a surfeit  of lack of integrity issues and problems, which is hurtling Malaysia down slippery slope to failed state

Malaysia is pounded every day by a surfeit of lack of integrity issues and problems, which is hurtling Malaysia down the slippery slope to a failed state.

Something is very wrong with the national institutions and  system of values, which have reached a very advanced stage of rottenness, when the Police confirmed today that the body found in a drum filled with concrete last Wednesday was that of deputy head of the Attorney-General’s Chambers Appellate and Trial Division, Anthony Kevin Morais.

Morais’ abduction and gruesome murder were believed to be related to a corruption case he was handling.

Today, we have three bad news all related to one mega corruption scandal in Malaysia – the long-running M50 billion 1MDB scandal, viz:

•	FBI starts probe on 1MDB, says WSJ (Malaysiakini)

•	Ambiga says ‘appalled’ by 1MDB critic’s six-day demand (MMO)

•	Najib risks arrest if he travels abroad, says Dr Mahathir – by V. Anbalagan (TMI)

Questions teem everyone’s mind.

On former UMNO leader, Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan – why is Najib so scared of him to the extent that he is barred from leaving the country on Friday when he wanted to fly off to New York to meet US federal law enforcers to seek their aid for investigations into the 1MDB scandal. He was arrested after he was barred from leaving the country.

Why was Khairuddin remanded for six days which was clearly excessive and punitive as  the power to detain individuals is meant for the purpose of  investigations and not to punish anyone.

Furthermore, why was Khairuddin investigated under Section 124(C) of the Penal Code relating to “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy”, when Parliament was assured that this new provision was meant only to deal with terrorists or those who want to overthrow the government by violent or unconstitutional means?

The news that “FBI starts probe on 1MDB” shows that with or without Khairuddin’s information, another country has joined the queue to initiate investigations about Malaysia’s 1MDB and money laundering offences, joining countries like Singapore, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Hong Kong.

Is Malaysia becoming an international rogue state?

But it is the third news item which has caused the most heart-burns to Malaysians – imagine the Malaysian Prime Minister being arrested in a foreign country like a common criminal?

Mahathir drew a grim picture on the possibility of Najib being arrested by Interpol if foreign countries investigate the prime minister for alleged money laundering.

The former Prime Minister said: “He could also be arrested if he left the country. So he has to remain here, like how he withdrew the passports of some people and barred them from going overseas.”

It is anathema just to think of the Malaysian Prime Minister being treated like war criminals such as the  Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.

What has Malaysia been reduced to 58 years after Merdeka and 52 years after Malaysia?

[Media Conference Statement (2) at Jalan SP Chelliah, Penang on Sunday, 20th September 2015 at 12 noon]

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 September 2015, 4:54 pm and is filed under
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Of Umno Malays and Cina DAP

– Anas Zubedy

The Malaysian Insider

20 September 2015

Ten things to ponder about the terms Umno Malays and Cina DAP.

1. Both terms, Umno Malays and Cina DAP, when used in a malicious way are racist remarks.

2. I know many from both Umno and DAP sides who are not racist and are multi-racial in their outlook.

3. Just because we put Umno in front of the word Malays and DAP before the word Cina, it does not mean we are not being racist when we make nasty racial remarks about them.

4. Many closet racists are those who pretend to only target Umno Malays or Cina DAP when they want to make racist remarks.

5. Many racist politicians hide their racist politics by pretending to target only a racial group within a particular political party – so they use terms like Umno Malays or Cina DAP.

6. Both terms are a sly, convenient and deceiving way to hide a racist heart.

7. It is a more targeted racist politics; meaning the terms Umno Malays and Cina DAP is a cheap use of targeted racist politics by both sides to pander to the lowest minds within each political party’s constituents.

8. It is an ultimate weapon of political strategy that allows racism to be propagated while at the same time hide behind a multi-racial façade.

9. Closet politicians who are hiding behind these terms should come out of the closet or stop using them to prove otherwise.

10. Followers of political leaders who use such terms must wake up and tell those leaders to quit using racist strategies. – September 20, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 September 2015, 8:39 pm and is filed under
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Tolerance of racism in Malaysia

Julia Yeow

The Malaysian Insider

20 September 2015

Malaysia Day has come and gone, and it’s tragic that a day to celebrate unity, interdependence and diversity was instead hijacked by a street rally which achieved little but show the world that Malaysia has become a country utterly divided along racial lines.

Covering Wednesday’s protest for work created a strange disconnect for me, almost as if the words shouted and messages on the banners were meant for, and coming from, people from some foreign, far-away land.

That was until I received a message mid-way through Wednesday’s rally. It was a friend who has been working and living in Malaysia for almost a decade, someone who has grown to love this country almost as much as her country of birth.

She was shocked and angry after having just read on the news that Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali had taken to the stage at the rally and said the following words:

“Dulu kita bukan masyarakat majmuk tetapi melalui rundingan dan tolak ansur kita menerima kaum lain. Kita bagi mereka kerakyatan. Kita bagi kerakyatan, kita ingat mereka berterima kasih.”

(Once, we were not a multicultural people, but through negotiation and give-and-take, we accepted other races. We gave them citizenship. We gave them citizenship, and we thought they would be grateful.)

I was actually surprised at how subdued Ibrahim’s speech was, compared to some of the more vile and fiery speeches of his early years as a self-proclaimed defender of Malay supremacy.

My friend was obviously not privy to the racially aggressive atmosphere that has become Malaysian political culture. She teared in anger as she struggled to understand how somebody could speak in public about other Malaysians of another race in such a derogatory and disrespectful manner, and get away with it.

My response to her was a simple, much-less dramatic, “We’re used to it”.

That was when it hit me how much I have come to tolerate racism in this country.

When political leaders use terms like “pendatang” (immigrants) or “balik China” (Go back to China) on non-Malays who have been a part of Malaysia for generations, we tolerate it.

When a national Umno-owned newspaper screamed “Apa lagi Cina mau” (What else do the Chinese want?) on its front page after the 13th general election and continues to exhort its Malay readers to stand up against some phantom Chinese threat to their dignity, we simply grit our teeth, roll our eyes and tolerate it.

And when we look to our government for some sign of censure against the racist, hate-filled speeches, but find only endorsement, again we accept it as part and parcel of our lot.

The fact is that Malaysian minority races have become so desensitised, so adept at living with government-sanctioned racism that we don’t even baulk anymore at what would be totally unacceptable anywhere else in the civilised world.

It’s clear that the sowers of hate do so with impunity and with the tacit approval of the government, but there is another reason why the message of hate seems to overpower the message of acceptance and unity.

While most of us don’t want to believe that the average man-on-the-street actually agrees with the divisive sentiments spewing from the mouths of some leaders, not enough Malaysians are speaking out their disapproval.

It has been a soothing balm to see and read of the many Malaysians, specifically Malays, who have since come out on social media to distance themselves from Wedneday’s rally and its supposed call for greater Malay dominance.

From everyday Malaysians, to influential Malay community and political leaders and even members of royalty, it was and is comforting to know that the voice of reason has grown louder even as the voice of bigotry continues to sound out.

More needs to be done, and more need to stand up. As much as it works as a defense mechanism, we can no longer be impervious to this hateful culture of racial bullying.

In the case of hate speeches, a dignified silence is, unfortunately, a form of approval.

Perhaps if enough of us openly reject and voice our utter disgust at this unhealthy and toxic poison that has made its way into our Malaysian culture, we might just turn the tide.

Perhaps the government will finally realise that a leadership that endorses such racism is one that has no place in Malaysia’s future.

And perhaps our children will one day grow up in a society that truly embodies the beautiful ideals of a multicultural Malaysia which our founders had fought to build. – September 20, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 September 2015, 8:26 pm and is filed under
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Ali Rustam and the prolonged May 13 trauma

Aidila Razak

Malaysiakini

21st Sept 2015

COMMENT
 National Silat Federation (Pesaka) chief Mohd Ali Rustam seems to be suffering from prolonged trauma.

The symptoms were striking in his interview with Mingguan Malaysia yesterday on the achievements of Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu on Sept 16.

Asked what the rally, meant to ‘reclaim Malay dignity’ had achieved, Ali turned Dr Who to travel close to five decades into time to the race riots of 1969.

“They (Bersih 4 organisers and participants) try to show that Kuala Lumpur belongs to Bersih and the DAP gang, and Malays should balik kampung (go back to the villages). But now the villagers are coming to Kuala Lumpur.

“They think we have lost our self-worth and that Kuala Lumpur does not belong to various races. They think Malays don’t belong to Kuala Lumpur, and it is only for DAP and Bersih.

“They try to show they are brave and that Malays are not. They held rallies four times, and yet no Malays were brave enough to fight back,” he said.

Note the mention of taunts of ‘balik kampung’.

On May 12, 1969, majority-Chinese parties held a post-election victory parade in Kuala Lumpur.

The ethnic Chinese participants of the parade reportedly brought brooms to symbolise sweeping Malays out of the capital city, and told Malay bystanders it’s time they go back to their villages now that the Chinese have political power in the city.

What brooms?

I did not see brooms at the Bersih 4 rally on Aug 29 and 30. Nor did I witness anyone telling the Malays to ‘balik kampung’.

Instead, there were blatant displays of distaste for a sitting prime minister who admitted to have received RM2.6 billion – an amount greater than the entire Selangor budget for 2015 – into his bank account, from a donor he did not care to reveal.

But for Ali, who lived through the riots, the sight of ethnic Chinese protesters flooding the streets of Kuala Lumpur urging the PM’s resignation induced flashbacks.

He saw brooms again, he heard people telling Malays they didn’t belong in the city and when these uncouth Chinese youths started stomping on Najib’s picture, it all became convoluted into another form in what seems to be a mind addled with fear and anxiety.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is no joke.

Recently, the US government found a pattern of suicide among marines who went on tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It was later traced that many of those who committed suicide after returning to the US were from the same company, and had gone through some of the most horrific incidents on duty together.

In the UK, police officers on duty during the 2001 race riots sought legal action for compensation over psychological trauma sustained during the violent clashes between white and British Asian youths.

Some 46 officers went on sick leave over the incident. A total 260 officers sustained physical injuries.

Recurring flashbacks

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM IV), among symptoms of PTSD is the feeling “as if the traumatic event were recurring”.

This would include “a sense of reliving the experience, illusions, hallucinations and dissociative flashback episodes”.

Is Ali suffering PTSD or are we all suffering from some never-ending collective trauma from May 13, 1969?

As far as ethnic clashes go, Bosnia-Hezergovina remains one of the more harrowing examples in modern history.

In 2000, there were hundreds of international and local NGOs working in Bosnia to repair the social and emotional damage of the war, which resulted in ethnic cleansing.

The work includes attempts to break the ‘us’ vs ‘them’ mentality, and dialogue to help the previously warring groups see each other as humans and fellow citizens.

There was never such a thing after the fledgling Malaysia woke up from the charred remnants of the race riots. There has never been any since.

I remember the date referred to in whispers when I was growing up, like it was something evil never to be uttered.

When I was in school, there was hardly a mention in my history textbooks of the incident, which scarred the nation’s psyche and changed policy irreversibly.

I imagine this to be the case today, when even a fictional love story between a Malay man and a Chinese woman at the time of the riots in a literature anthology caused a DAP MP to jump.

For those from my generation and younger, only those willing to go out of their way to know about this significant moment in history, will learn more about it through academic papers and books.

Propaganda from both ends

The rest will be left to the fuzzy ruminations of pop culture (remember ‘Tanda Putera’) and propaganda from both the opposition and government on what apparently happened and why we should or should not be afraid.

Suffice to say, it is easier to mislead the ignorant than those who know.

I suspect Ali’s sudden claim that Bersih 4 was a rally to tell Malays to balik kampung is more odious propaganda, and less a symptom of an ailing mind.

Let’s get this straight. Telling a sitting prime minister he needs to shape up or leave has nothing to do with ethnicity.

Najib is Malay, but so what? Would getting a RM2.6 billion from an unidentified donor be any less questionable if the PM was Chinese, Indian or Iban?

Malays should not feel insulted if Najib is insulted, nor should the ethnic Chinese feel demeaned when an effigy of Lim Guan Eng is torched.

These are politicians, office-bearers, civil servants. They are copping criticism for what they do in their day jobs.

They do not represent the entire ethnic community, nor should they be an extension of anyone’s understanding of their own identity or self-worth.

Ali and the 45,000 people at Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu may think otherwise.

But really lah.

If he continues to see brooms and hear taunts of “balik kampung” when there were none, he should get some help instead of infecting others.

AIDILA RAZAK is a member of the Malaysiakini team.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 September 2015, 9:49 pm and is filed under
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Deepening Malay Polarization More Dangerous Than Inter-Racial Divisions

Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com

21st Sept 2015

Over 46 years ago a largely Chinese group of demonstrators celebrating their party’s electoral victory triggered Malaysia’s worst race riot. Last Wednesday, September 16, 2015, an exclusively Malay rally in predominantly Chinese Petaling Street of Kuala Lumpur triggered only the riot police’s water cannons.

            What flowed on Petaling Street last Wednesday was clear water, not red blood as in 1969. There was also minimal property damage (except for loss of business) and no loss of life. That is significant; that is progress.

            Malaysia has come a long way since 1969, the current shrill race hysteria notwithstanding. However leaders, political and non-political, Malays as well as non-Malays, are still trapped in their time-warped racial mentality of the 1960s. They still view the nation’s race dynamics primarily as Malays versus non-Malays.

            That is understandable as the horrific memories of that 1969 race tragedy, as well as the much earlier and more brutal Bintang Tiga reign of terror, had been seared into the collective Malaysian consciousness, permanently warping our national perception.

            The challenge today is less the risk of inter-racial conflagration of the 1969 variety, more a Malay civil war similar to what is now happening in the Arab world and what has happened on the Korean Peninsula. Last Wednesday’s red-shirt rally illustrates this point.

            While the earlier and visibly non-Malay Bersih 4.0 demonstrations had considerable Malay support, including from such luminaries as Tun Mahathir and National Laureate Datuk Samad Said, the exclusively Malay red-shirted Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu drew condemnations from many Malays, leaders and otherwise.

            The head of the Malay NGO Group of 25, Noor Farida, contemptuously dismissed the red shirts as “rent-a-mob crowd.” As a former diplomat I would have expected her to be, well, a bit diplomatic and try to heal the division, not add to it.

            The fact that these supposedly enlightened Malay leaders saw fit to condemn and not try to at least understand the aspirations and frustrations of those red-shirted protestors underscores my contention.

            Make no mistake. Ethnic and racial conflicts are still a tragic reality today in much of the world, even in the enlightened West. Witness the reaction in Western Europe to the current flood of non-European refugees. Only a few months ago America went through another of its all-too-frequent wrenching race riots in Ferguson, Missouri, a century and a half following Reconstruction and over half a century after the adoption of the Civil Rights Act.

            In the Middle East, the Jews and Arabs are still at it. Nonetheless and to put things in perspective, more Arabs have been killed in modern times by fellow Arabs than by Jews, or the Jews and the West combined.

            That observation underscores the lethality of intra-racial conflicts. The present undercurrent of Malay xenophobia however, blinds us to this new emerging and far more dangerous reality.

            This peril is amplified and abetted by the glaring deficit in our community today of a buffering body or mediating mechanism to bridge and heal the divisions within us. While our traditional ethics and culture had served us well in the past, our pseudo or culup modernity has destroyed those pristine values.

            Consider that when the British imposed the Malayan Union Treaty with the acquiescence of our sultans, Malays (except for our sultans of course) were united in opposing it. Our grandparents expressed their disagreement and displeasure with our sultans in our traditional halus (subtle) ways – by demonstrating our loyalty publicly. That mass display prevented our sultans from attending the inauguration of what would have been the first British Governor of Malaya. The protest was so subtle that our sultans missed the message. Bless the British, they did not.

            Back then we were blessed with “towering personalities” like Datuk Onn. His courage led him to defy his own sultan in the tradition of Hang Jebat, to the point that he (Onn) was once labeled a derhaka (traitor) and banished to Singapore.

            Today we are bereft of such smart, strong and honest leaders. Instead we are cursed with an abundance of the pseudo-towering variety. Like Hang Tuah of yore, they are corrupt, incompetent, and obsessed with sucking up to their superiors, the sultans as well as sultan wannabes. These leaders do not bring us closer; they would rather divide us so as to maintain their positions.

            Najib personifies this type of leadership.

            One expects our commonality of Islam to bind us. Far from it! Islam and its institutions in Malaysia have failed miserably on this front. Instead of bringing us together, Islam divides us, mocking our Koran and the teachings of our Prophet.

            Our muftis could not even agree as to what is halal and haram. Our government-issued ulamas could not say enough kind words on UMNO leaders, even blessing their corrupt deeds, all in the name of Islam! Meanwhile those aligned with PAS would have us believe that not voting for PAS would doom us to eternal hellfire.

            In many villagers there are separate mosques for PAS and UMNO followers. Even funerals and marriages have been boycotted in the name of Islam.

            This religious fissure goes deep. The intolerance of a hijab-clad Muslimah for her tudung-free sisters goes beyond attire.

            There are other equally dangerous fissures. There are those who consider English fluency an asset and strive hard to acquire that for themselves and their children. Others view that as denigrating our national language and culture, an act of treason no less. Again, that reflects the profound differences in our worldview.

            These fault lines are fast converging. Given their proper alignment and timing, they could all explode simultaneously, with catastrophic consequences to all, Malays as well as non-Malays.

            I am less concerned with the differences between non-Malay yellow-shirters and Malay red shirts, rather between yellow-shirted and red-shirted Malays. The latter division is becoming increasingly irreconcilable and more dangerous. Yet they share some common elements beyond race and faith. Both recognize and value the rights of citizens to demonstrate publicly and or otherwise petition their grievances to the government.

            Yes, both have a lot to learn about public demonstrations. They are not alone. Even the University of California is still grappling with the issue of where to draw the line between freedom of speech and intolerance.

            Barisan, specifically UMNO, must appreciate and address the concerns of Bersih if it hopes to win the next election and then govern without much harassment. Likewise Pakatan, specifically DAP, must not dismiss the apprehensions and frustrations of the Himpunan Group. Those red-shirted Malays may be crude in expressing their frustrations nonetheless their concerns are legitimate.

            The shrill offensive cries of Tanah Melayu and Balek Tongsan are but emotional outbursts of those who feel marginalized and helpless. Their emotions preclude them from seeing beyond. If all the pendatangs were to leave and Malaysia to become exclusively Tanah Melayu, who would fix those Mat Rempits’ motorcycles, defend them in courts, or sell them smart phones at affordable prices?

            Bersih and Himpunan need to appreciate each other’s positions, and then help solve or at least ameliorate those differences. To Himpunan, Bersih’s criticisms of the UMNO government are seen as belittling Malay leadership specifically and the Malay race generally. To Bersih, if only the government and UMNO leaders were to be a wee bit more competent and a whole lot less corrupt, the plight of Malays generally and those red-shirters in particular would be much better.

            It does not take much effort to appreciate the other side’s point of view. I was impressed with the recent incident at Bayan Lepas when a redshirt leader came to disrupt a Berseh 4 gathering. The quick and counterintuitive thinking of the organizer had that individual address the gathering. Thus instead of confrontation, there was communication. That is the sort of gestures that need to be done and encouraged.

            For Malays, we first need to build bridges, not dig trenches within our own community. As for the offensive cries of pendatang and Balek Tongsan, Zunar’s latest cartoon encapsulates my point well, and with lots of humor. It depicts a Mat Rempit begging an Ah Peck to fix his (Mat’s) motorcycle.

            Intra-Malay fissure is not just a Malay problem. Malaysia cannot be stable if its largest racial entity is fractured.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 September 2015, 5:49 am and is filed under
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