A I S E H M A N . O R G

I have always wondered about that topic of getting support.

My family came from the grassroots. My parents were both orphans during the japanese occupation.

They never had any special support from the government of the day but went on to become primary school teachers, bringing up the family on a meagre income.. To put it simply we are Urban Peasants.

We were disciplined not to touch any of the "buku pinjaman" schemes or the "Nutritios Food" programme which existed in those days...

We did not.. but ironically my friends who were better off did so..

Being an urban peasant my chinese friends showed me the way of how to get an education etc. even if their fathers were just lorry or taxi drivers.

I think having the "recent migrant" mentality is good as we will be reliant on no one else other than ourselves...

It makes us stronger no matter how the wind howls and the waves crash...

This is the same article that was published by Raja Petra earlier in Malaysia Today.

It's an uphill struggle, but I agree with you, Malays must reject UMNO as a political solution for them, difficult though it will be. To do that, there has to be a complete revamp of UMNO members and office-holders (as what Din Merican is proposing) or a complete rejection of UMNO at the polls.

Now that we entail a revolution of sorts. Are Malays ready for that? Probably in a hundred years. For now, we fight our own little battles....

Let's take a look at the Malay psyche. As a people the Malays are feudalistic; which is why in a land area hardly bigger than England there are nine royal houses with orders of chivalry (this to my mind is a physical trapping of feudalism) running into the 20s or 30s if one cares to count. Such a psyche is fertile ground for the development of patronage. And the Malay component of the confederation of political parties forming the government of the day practises just that - politics of patronage where the grassroots leaders of consequence, the divisional chief and the 10 or so delegates who form the caucus to the annual circus held off Maxwell Road, are beholden to the number 1 leader. This has been going on since the days of the blue blooded Kedah chap helming the party. The Pekan aristocrat refined the process and the non-U president from Kedah, being the Machiavelli that he is, honed the process and used it to ensure that he was beyond challenge for 20 whatever years that he was the party supremo.

The question begging an answer is, what does the Malay do about this. My tuppence worth of thought is that the Malay intelligentsia got of his/her arse from being a comfortable armchair critic and get into the fray. Climb to the top of the pile and assume leadership position right to where it matter most, the supreme council. (You have no bleeding choice, that's how democracy works). One Shahrir is inconsequential; but 20 Shahrir? But having gone to the top of the pile, change the system. Don't be corrupted by the system and get changed by it.

The other option for the Malays is to put in the party which prides itself as being based on the teachings of Islam. But given that they are Malays and therefore feudalistic, I'm willing to bet my little pinkie that they will suffer a sudden rush of s*** to their brain boxes and behave just as badly as the current Malay lot holding the political power. But of course there is the egalitarian offshoot of the S'pore political grouping forming (heavens forbid) the government in malaysia, either singly or in cahoot with other groups. Should this happen I will pray for the malays and hope that god will answer it! Cheers.

...of the few who were in the assembly hall and actually felt ashamed when Hisham(n)uddin waved the keris... what can they do to rage against the machine?

i cannot believe that every single umno member praises the call for NEP to be re-established blindly.

If it is indeed so, we have a case of herd mentality here.

Which intelligentsia can dislodge these people without falling from grace themselves?

How do you negotiate with corrupt brutes?

Unfortunately, this problem is not only limited to UMNO Malays. We must realize that what we are facing here is ultimately a generic Asian problem - Every Man(or Woman) For Himself(Herself).

That is why the orang putih controls the world.

Forty-seven years after Independence, the people of Malaysia are still searching for an identity. Are they malays or muslims first; are they Chinese, Indians or Malaysians first?

This identity crisis is a result of the failure of the BN government, which has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957, later as the expanded Barisan Nasional.

The truth is that the malays of this country partly owe their independence to the non-malays. The reason was that the British refused to give independence without an agreement from the non-malays.

Another argument put forth by the pro-malay special rights group is that, they made a compromise by giving the non-malays their citizenship and in exchange the malays must be given their special privileges.

This argument is the most ridiculous I have heard thus far but in their ignorance some Malaysians still think that citizenship is for a certain race to give. This logic would mean that the minorities will always be seen as foreigners who will never be equal to the malay bumis.

The Chinese and Indians must accept they are immigrants and they were given citizenships in 1957 on the agreement that the malays are given special rights and privileges.

Stretching your logic a bit further, are you also suggesting that in America, the Negroes continue to be slaves to the whites otherwise they give up US citizenship and go back to Africa?

This is stupid idiotic logic. Even if the so-called contract was valid, it was so only in the 50s and 60s.

We are nearly 50 years after independence and all Chinese and Indians have begun citizens. They are no more bound by the so-called social contract which enslaved their ancestors.

Umno is afraid to give up ketuanan melayu because it is bankrupt of ideas in competing with others in this 21st century democracy.

Umno's warped logic is that it is better for country to be backward so long as malays benefit than for country to prosper, where malays are marginalized.

This warped logic is in fact the beginning of the end of the malays who will never progress and compete with others on equal footing and level playing field, so long as they subscribe to ketuanan melayu and have crutch mentality in forever relying on special privileges……….

Malays will crumble from internal weaknesses and disappear in era of globalization……….no need for others to colonize them as Mahathir had constantly raised this bogey.

My dad is a racist; so is my mom. Similarly racists are my brother, sister and relatives. All the Malaysian friends I now have are, and those I had were or at the least had been, racists too.

Well, perhaps thanks to all these people, I have become - and remain - a racist as well.

You see, we are the members of a much larger community: Malaysia - the racist nation!

The term community is somewhat misleading. We are not united as such as a nation should be. We are only united by the fact that all of us - at one time or other - had been are or will become, racists......

All of us formally became racists in the year of 1971, when racism was institutionalised in Malaysia. Not that racism didn't exist before: it did; it lurked underneath, which --- as everyone knows --- erupted as the May 13 ethnic riots. Hence came the New Economic Policy, set up to divert the winds off the sails of racism. Ballasting the boat, and listing it in favour of the economically disadvantaged malay-Malaysians may lead to Malaysians seeing each other as equals, it was thought.

Then came the 80s, which also gave Dr Mahathir.

Still, racism remained somewhat otherworldly to me. All of us practiced racism, on the streets, in shops, in schools and in the house, but racism was never blatant - at least in my life. That changed as the 80s came to a close.

............

Please tell me, can anyone even imagine a multi-cultural Malaysian nation --- where no one discriminates the other on the basis of race, where everyone treats the other as a brother or sister - being run by the same racist parties that exist now? Is such a future even conceptually possible?

It is time for me to descend to earth and crawl back into my racist carapace, and be a realist again. And heap praises on our nation and on the ideals that are so central to its psyche: long live, racism! Long live, racist Malaysia - the model racist nation!

It is no wonder our civil participation is as backward as it is.

Do you have any idea why Singapore is almost the first world country or 20 years better than Malaysia?

One could argue every country has its own policies and laws that place prejudice on certain parties - yes, that is true, but none so shamefully as those who (Malaysia) not only boast about it, take the credit for the successes of these people whom they slam their discriminatory abuses on, and have no intention to change it (and that said with a smug look on the face).

Bangsa Malaysia? Bah, humbug!

I am a female Chinese Malaysian, living in the Washington DC area in the United States. I have read many of the letters that often talk about foreign countries when the writers have no real knowledge of actually living in those countries.

Many draw conclusions about what those countries are like after hearing it from someone else or by reading and hearing about them in the media or after four years in a college town in those countries.

I finished STPM with outstanding results from the prestigious St. George's Girls School in Penang. Did I get a university place from the Malaysian government? Nothing. With near perfect scores, I had nothing, while my bumi friends were getting offers to go overseas.

Even those with 2As got into university. I was so depressed. I was my parents' last hope for getting the family out of poverty and at 18, I thought I had failed my parents. Today, I understand it was the Malaysian government that had failed me and my family because of its discriminatory policies.

Fortunately, I did not give up and immediately did research at the Malaysian American Commission on Education Exchange (MACEE) to find a university in the US that would accept me and provide all the finances. My family and friends thought I was crazy, being the youngest of nine children of a very poor carpenter. Anything that required a fee was out of our reach.

Based on merit and my extracurricular activities of community service in secondary school, I received full tuition scholarship, work study, and grants to cover the four years at a highly competitive US university.

Often, I took 21 credits each semester, 15 credits each term while working 20 hours each week and maintaining a 3.5 CGPA. A couple of semesters, I also received division scholarships and worked as a TA (teaching assistant) on top of everything else.

For the work study, I worked as a custodian (yes, cleaning toilets), computer lab assistant, carpet layer, grounds keeping, librarian, painter, tour guide, etc. If you understand the US credit system, you will understand this is a heavy load.

Why did I do it? This is because I learnt as a young child from my parents that hard work is an opportunity, to give my best in everything, and to take pride in the work I do. I walked away with a double major and a minor with honours but most of all a great lesson in humility and a great respect for those who are forced to labour in so-called 'blue collar' positions.

Those of you who think you know all about Australia, US, or the West, think again. Unless you have really lived in these countries, i.e. paid taxes, paid a mortgage, taken part in elections, you do not understand the level of commitment and hard work it takes to be successful in these countries, not just for immigrants but for people who have lived here for generations.

These people are where they are today because of hard work. (Of course, I am not saying everyone in the US is hardworking. There is always the lazy lot which lives off of someone else's hard work. Fortunately, they are the minority.)

Every single person, anywhere, should have the opportunity to succeed if they want to put in the effort and be accountable for their own actions. In the end, they should be able to reap what they sow.

It is bearable that opportunities are limited depending on how well-off financially one's family is but when higher education opportunities are race-based, like it is in Malaysia; it is downright cruel for those who see education as the only way out of poverty.

If you want to say discrimination is here in the US, yes, of course it is. Can you name a country where it doesn't happen? But let me tell you one thing - if you go looking for it, you will find it. But in Malaysia, you don't have to go look for it because it seeks you out, slaps you in your face every which way you turn, and is sanctioned by law!

Here in the US, my children have the same opportunity to go to school and learn just like their black, white, and immigrant friends. At school, they eat the same food, play the same games, are taught the same classes and when they are 18, they will still have the same opportunities.

Why would I want to bring my children back to Malaysia? So they can suffer the state-sanctioned discrimination as the non-bumis have for over 30 years?

As for being a slave in the foreign country, I am a happy 'slave' earning a good income as an IT project manager. I work five days a week; can talk bad about the president when I want to; argue about race, politics, and religion openly; gather with more than 50 friends and family when I want (no permit needed) and I don't worry about the police pulling me over because they say I ran the light when I didn't.

How about you.............?

Look, that seems to be the problem with certain countries. They seem to want to bash and victimize themselves every possible step of the way so as to not take blame for anything, and using sorry justifications to uphold their prejudiced and many times, racist policies and laws.

Look at Malaysia and Indonesia. It's not only the Chinese there that are suffering. And about "Chinese being privilege", yes right. Many of us know of times where British put up those familiar "No Chinese and dogs" signs banning certain nationalities inside. I don't know how privileged is that.

Need I mention the thanks they give their minorities (that provide the iron rice bowl to the economy), for example, sin money (a tax that is considered dirty because it comes from license taxes paid by gambling resorts and pig farms and such, considered sinful and unclean by their majority religion, Islam) used for Chinese welfare……….many Chinese there have slammed it as an 'insult' to them.

Stop referring to some sob past to justify some country's unfair policies and laws that relies on leeching on certain races for certain things, while the locals or the majority (malays) just sits back and enjoy the spoils.

Indonesia has plenty of Chinese who were abused, raped by Indonesians and so on for being "richer" and "taking money away from the people".

Hello, if they didn't have the - cannot be bothered attitude - and actually work hard to make a proper living for themselves without wasting precious money on luxury or items not necessary, and saving money, living frugal, they wouldn't have fallen into their own financial muck, and resorted to blaming other races for their own misery.

Today it seems, other races seem to be holding the reins of the economy in certain countries and these countries, instead of realising, they are falling behind and bucking up to be competitive to regain their competitive spirit and improve their situations, resort to using cheap tactics that discriminate against every other race, clearly, it shows they have no intention of getting their sorry bums up and working hard for their families and their country's pride.

Even countries like Saudi Arabia, where unemployment, crime, and every other bane of a country is rampant, because of the cushy role, the monarch plays as some sled oil dealer of the world.

Unlike which incidentally, still has quite a percentage of their economy made out of oil revenue, but is improving where they've realised that if they continue playing the stereotype of the dumb fat oil sheik, they're not going to get anywhere and once the oil runs out they'll have a major crisis in their country.

North Korea is another country in Asia that is decadent, and finds no end to blaming other person or country for their stupid mishaps.

There, discrimination is at its best. Policies and laws mutilated in the name of corrupted politics run amok, and despite depending so heavily on foreign imports, they yet label these people as the problems of society that spreads evil decadent ways of the outside world into their country and refrain from giving these people proper rights - yet these people (the Chinese) are the ones contributing to the country the most.

One could argue every country has its own policies and laws that place prejudice on certain parties - yes, that is true, but none so shamefully as those who (Malaysia) not only boast about it, take the credit for the successes of these people whom they slam their discriminatory abuses on, and have no intention to change it (and that said with a smug look on the face).

That is a slap on the face to democracy and equal rights for all.

[One could argue every country has its own policies and laws that place prejudice on certain parties - yes, that is true, but none so shamefully as those who (Malaysia) not only boast about it, take the credit for the successes of these people whom they slam their discriminatory abuses on, and have no intention to change it (and that said with a smug look on the face).]

That is a slap on the face to democracy and equal rights for all.

Unfortunately the prime minister of the last 22 years, Dr Mahathir, has mixed politics into every aspect of our civil life. The privatisation of public utilities and transport, the management of Proton, Petronas, Malaysian Airlines, banks and the Renong have all been influenced by Malaysian politics.

As a result we, the people in the last 22 years have inherited a rotten education system with more than 60 percent of ethnic Chinese in Chinese-type schools and a substantial number of malays in Sekolah Agama Rakyat or private Islamic-type schools.

A system where one group is taxed for the benefit of another group will only work if the tax payers feel that the tax beneficiaries are selected on the basis of economic need, nothing else. As a proud tax payer, I know that taxation is necessary for the maintenance of the social contract.

The poor in Malaysia must be served but I am sure all taxpayers feel that this should be done in a manner which is blind to age, ethnicity, gender and religion.

Our government is filled with people who do not fundamentally understand economics and the forces of free market and capitalism. They think they do, but they don’t.

Many of them have grown rich under the NEP which they think has not hurt anyone and hence they think that free markets, market forces and open competition is something that can be tamed.

For those that come from a poor background, the situation seems almost impossible as their rich neighbours only seem to keep on being rich. This is because the rich are always fewer in number while the poor are many.

The Malaysian problem is that rich do become richer. And because of the political system, the players are the same.

Out of control - this is all I can say about any type of enforcement and the level of corruption in Malaysia. No idea what Pak Lah has done in his first year in office but judging from the ground, I guess nothing much.

There is still concentration of power in the prime minister’s position, a practice inherited from Dr Mahathir.

There is still a lack of urgency and political will to tackle corruption. Many cases involving politicians are still pending while new cases do not seem to get the attention of the Anti-Corruption Agency for reasons best known to them.

The law enforcement which was once among the best of Southeast Asia is now reportedly the most corrupt government agency in Malaysia. The judiciary, once also respected in the region and the world is now not a respected place where Malaysians can find justice.

And just like his predecessor, he is not living up to his slogan. In fact as home minister, he is not such a nice guy after all.

molisa

Wow, that's quite an inspirational story........

But can I ask, what is meaning of nation? What is meaning of freedom? And what is meaning of citizenship?

What is meaning of slavery? Etc.

I hope will read story with more care to get these answers!

Our legal system sucks, our government sucks, our sport sucks, the people sucks too........

Is there anything about Malaysia that doesn't suck?

That's why I sent my son to study oversea. I want him to learn the culture of other people not just the standard of study in this country.

Any welcome to Malaysia - the only country in the world (another world record) where majority needs the protection from minority.

Actually we have a very good country.

We have a very good people, multi cultured, multi racial, we live very happily long long time ago even before Independence.

But after Umno taking over the country, everything, many things change!

The protectionism and bumi special rights are the roots to our today problems.

I myself feel very sad to see what is happening in Malaysia. The country is getting sick, very sick!

I was in the same situation way back in 1980s. My only choice was to go to Australia. I am happy I did. Now I can retire in any country I want, including Malaysia. If I had been accepted in the Malaysian university, I would have less than a fifth of what I have now.

Hoping some miracles will happen in future........

Well, I worked in a few different countries and I have met some transplanted or former Malaysians (Chinese or Indian and even mixed blood). Almost all of them narrated the same treatment they received while they were in Malaysia, when I asked them why they wanted to leave the beautiful country Malaysia.

I have talked to an automotive engineer in Germany (ex-Malaysian married to a German); I met a mining engineer formerly from Ipoh who now lives in Canada; I met a petroleum engineer in Australia who is specialized in fracture stimulation (whatever that is);

I met a spacecraft engineer in Houston who has nothing good to say about Malaysia……….many more people with great talents and expertise who have given up Malaysian citizenships……….most interesting was a malay women who married to an American geologist……….she did not repay her RM90000 Mara loan and do not want to return to Malaysia.

So……….now I am in Malaysia for a year and I realized what those people told me about……….Most of what they said I can now sympathies and understand the situation.

They never ever regret the choice make to give up Malaysian citizenships. Being a non-bumi is a second or third class citizen in this country.

My job here is not to change the political situation……….I am just saying what I come across……….

Reading through most of the posting made me realize, how through the years Malaysian had change. The Malays have progress in their thinking. Independent Malays not associated to UMNO have been getting on UMNO's nerve. These group of Malays know, only through hardwork and self preservation can they stay clear of UMNO vicious circle.

But sadly to say when this bunch of Malay people stay and continue the struggle the non-malays who share the same aspiration earlier decided to pack and leaved. Looking for greener field citing discrimination as the reason. Leaving behind cahoot to takeover their place.

Every once in a while, they will echoes from afar. Voicing their disgruntled of the yester years treatment that they received and at the same time boasting of their present success in a far, far away land which no one can confirmed nor condemned.

May I ask, if you don't mind, what is there in what you said or what you did that help the Nation In Dependence?

hotcili60
I don't really know the crux of your question.
Anyway these people voted with their feet and wrote about their experience. They wanted to tell you about this country and how its government discriminated its minority people. I can feel they love this country too but this country or rather this govt did not love them. I can also feel their sadness and how things are turning for their Malay brothers and sisters who are getting weaker and weaker in this globalised world and all this is UMNO's fault.
They realised if this is not stopped immediately this country will eventually go down the drain like those fourth world banana republics.
Their ancestors have helped this country to fight for independence and even fought off Japanese invaders but our govt have never been grateful and instead discriminated against them to the hilt. They also saw that they have become 2nd class citizens in their country of birth and were very disappointed when Indon labourers can become first class citizens whereas foreign spouses of non Malays took years just to get a PR. Even terrorists like Hambali and Abu Bakar can become PR holders easily. Something is definitely wrong with this country.
Hot cili maybe you are Malay and oblivious to others who are suffering and as a Muslim yourself is this injustice reconciliable to the tenets of Islam?

Tony Gunawan also voted with his feet and went on to become USA's first world badminton doubles champion with Bach. Instead of helping his original country to badminton glory he helped another country to become a potent rival.
The same could be said of our citizens who voted with their feet. Many went to Singapore and worked for companies that became our competitors. If our country and government has been kind to some of its citizens this additional competition wouldn't have been created. I hope the present BN govt will realise its folly and there is no substitute to REAL meritocracy.

The biggest gap in perception is perhaps what is clearly demonstrated by Din Merican and the blogs written here. Din Merican believes that there will be a day when Malays will chose not to be dependent while most of the blogs here clearly do not believe it so although they hope it will.

It is rare even never in history for any group to give up an advantage unless forced to. Whether you talk about the right to vote for women, civil rights for minorities and women, these issues were forced where if granting them did not happen, it would have been disastrous and untenable.

What will force the Malays to change is nothing intellectual but either the protest of the non-Malays or the bankrupt of the patronage system. What has kept the system honest within UMNO is not our rules and system but the fact that UMNO has always had its own change in leadership that kept change at least partly honest. Razak died early. Hussein own gave up the Premiership. Mahathir was challenged several times and had 5 deputies. The Anwar saga which resulted in the dark horse Badawi being premier is dynamic honest change positive for most. The danger is UMNO may never see such change ever again and worst in the whole of BN. It is becoming like the PAP of Singapore where change is mandated by the top rather than from the bottom. The change will create and even more elitist Malay society which will make the NEP and UMNO hold on power impossible to remove.

The key to removing NEP and UMNO from power is to force the change of aristocracy within UMNO. That is why direct election of top office in UMNO is important, that is why UMNO campaign financing need to be publicly accountable and subject to ACA investigation. Unless the Malays recognize these trends as dangerous, then yes, UMNO will always stay in power and NEP will never be removed.

Elcra

You wrote, "Which intelligentsia can dislodge these people without falling from grace themselves ... How do you negotiate with corrupt brutes?"

Well you don't negotiate. You change; it's about change management, man. Which was why I proposed that the educated Malays, the intelligentsia, got themselves into the act and change from within. Which therefore makes climbing to the top of the pile to fill meaningful leadership positions within UMNO a critical first step. Because these people can then be the change agents.

When this happens, we could then address all the dissatisfaction spewing out from the various blogs which has taken on the venom of racism.

When this happens, only then could we tackle the source of this venom; the so called Merdeka pact between Tengku Abdul Rahman, Tan Chen Lock, Claude Thuraisingham, et al. Only then could we return to the spirit of that pact overseen by Lennox Boyd and begin to dismantle the injustice done to the poor deserving Chinese and Indians. At the same time the change agents should not take it too hard on those Chinese who never bothered to give a fair chance to good hard working Mlalays in their companies and organisations.

Then and only then can we - Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, whoever - begin to take our rightful places under the Malaysian sun; Hot but too bad, particularly when the smog is not around.

bonvivant,

Good point. But my question was a rhetorical one.

The problem is, time and time again, the educated and honorable (REAL honor) Malays have tried .... and failed to infiltrate the ranks. Some of them even become corrupt themselves.

This is about the other side of democracy.
Majority Rules ... it's good and all when general consensus is made up of logical,resonable and wise people.

It's another story when you have self-serving monsters draining the country's resources while lamely fronting the excuse of defending one's rights.

We all know change, for the better, is needed. The tricky thing is 'How' it's going to be accomplished.

Molisa....
So sad ma .... but sorry no tears from me .... good riddance maybe ....best of luck ....

give the them everything .. and the malays will lose all ... at the moment the malays have nothing but political majority ...take that away .....the malays will be slave in their own country ...remember bintang 3... remember 13 may ...how the malays were slaughtered ....that will never happen again...and UMNO will protect the malays ...I will support UMNO ...say what you want about UMNO ..the malays will forever support UMNO ..we will make sure UMNO will prevail ...TAK AKAN MELALYU HILANG DI DUNIA....

Selamat,
There are so many untruths in what you said that it has become a great injustice to others.
The non Malays don't want everything but only fairness and social justice, a very tenet of your great religion. If you can't even suscribe to the tenets of your own religion I am afraid you may be branded a hypocrite and a very racist one at that.