Sickening Racist Statements

Let me say this again. I respect Tun Mahathir from his positive side. At the same time, Tun M is a very controversial man. He’s done a lot of good, & also a lot of bad. This comment he made, is in the bad list. As for Datuk Ibrahim Ali, I don’t know him well, that’s why I’ve put his picture. Tun M doesn’t need an introduction.

As a reminder, I have nothing against any race. Insulting races on a blog is not my thing either & no race will ever be insulted by me in this blog. I believe it only does more harm than good. It’s these kinds of comments made by some politicians that cause a hindrance in the unity of Malaysians & piss me off.

These comments were made at a rally organized by Malay right-wing group Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa on March 22 2009. Ibrahim Ali is the president of the group and also a MP for Pasir Mas. Anyway, here are the comments made by them.

Tun M’s comments:

"Malaysians have forgotten about the nation's history and have abused the kindness of the Malay people".

"Malays are even called immigrants in their own country. Other immigrants cannot be called immigrants. If anybody were to call them immigrants then they must apologize but no apologies are needed if they call Malays immigrants". Dr Mahathir instead accused the Chinese educationist group Dong Jiao Zong (DJZ) as racists who practiced apartheid. "That is apartheid, not us. We proposed that everyone study together in one school then only can you have bangsa Malaysia”.

"But they did not want this. They did not want to mix with the other races especially the Malays. They did not want their children to mix with Malays and that is apartheid, not us”.

"I would like to say a little bit about the Malay people in Malaysia even though I might be accused of being racist. If the Malay people are not allowed to speak about their problems then they might become a race that does not have any rights in their own country”.

"These dangers are true because we can already see the pressure and insults against our people when they are made as minorities in their own community".

"Even though the Malays were divided by different political parties, there were able to unite and retain power. Malays were respected and feared but now they no longer control the country's power”.

"Nowadays people no longer respect us. Whatever is asked by others, even if they are winners or losers and even if they are right or wrong, we have to entertain them. We must respect others, even a little mistake we must apologize on behalf of the Malay race”.

Datuk Ibrahim Ali’s comments:

"If they are polite, we will be polite. But if they are not, neither will we. If they are kurang ajar (ill-mannered), we too can be kurang ajar”.

"The truth is that justice has not yet come to Bumiputeras who have spent centuries being oppressed by colonial masters" .

"We will not tolerate Bumiputeras losing face or our honour. Especially Malays and Islam, do not ever try to play around with these".

Now, why did they have to make statements like these ?

Here’s my view of Tun M’s statement:

The only reason I see for his statement was to give political mileage to his son, Mukhriz who was contesting in the UMNO polls. Tun M said that just about a week before the UMNO polls…yet his son still lost. May I know what specific abused kindness was Tun M referring to ? Who have called the Malays immigrants ? When you refer to a person whose parents & grandparents were born here as immigrants, don’t you think you should be noble enough to apologize ? Are you blind to not see your mistake ?

I find it hypocritical of Tun M to say this. Has he forgotten that his father was an Indian born in Kerala, India ? In another point of view, several of us have ancestors who came here from another country. However, they were the first generation. After that, all of us earned our citizenship legally and rightfully. Please don’t forget that part of our nation’s history.

Secondly, why is Tun M suddenly bringing up the matter of DJZ & the school system ? What big apartheid is Tun M talking about ? I personally don’t consider this apartheid at all. To see actual apartheid, just read up on apartheid issues that use to occur in South Africa for nearly 50 years. As for the schools, Tun M is probably referring to the vision schools issue. The reason why vision schools failed was because it restricted the use of the respective mother tongue of the races in schools. Anyway, racial integration in schools is an entirely different story by itself.

Who says kids of different races aren’t in the same school ? Open your eyes & see all the national schools around you starting with the names Sekolah Kebangsaan & so on. Besides, any child of any race is not deprived from entering a vernacular school...so how can you say this race doesn’t want to mix with that race ? It’s just a different approach of education. To have bangsa Malaysia, putting everyone in one school is not the only way nor is it an ultimate solution. There are a lot of other matters to attend to when it comes to that.

Thirdly, what is the justification to say that Malays or any race for the matter can’t voice out their problems ? Look at all the political parties & politicians around. Aren’t they listening to the people’s problems ? It’s just a matter of how the problems are attended to in the end. Another thing,…anybody can hear, but not everyone can listen.

Fourthly, who is stupid enough to make the Malays seem like minorities in Malaysia ? Haven’t they seen the statistics of the racial population here ? As for insults against the Malay people, I disagree. I see insults against certain Malay politicians & parties, not the people in general. Even if it’s true to a wide extent (which I disagree as I only see it happening among politicians in Parliament), it works in all ways...Malays, Chinese, and Indians insult each other!! It’s not a one-way road.

Fifthly, as for Malays being respected and feared but now no longer control the country's power…Respect is not a right. Respect is not given, it’s earned…& I don’t think anybody respects a person whom they fear. Do you respect a person whom you fear ? Please correct me if I’m wrong. I disagree that the Malays are not respected, I feel that it’s certain politicians who have given the Malay race a bad name that are not respected.

As for Malays not controlling the country’s power…who’s our PM, who’s our DPM ? Who’s our AG ? How many non-Malays are there in parliament ? Who’s your school headmaster/headmistress ? Please don’t think of this as if I’m stirring up racial sentiments. I’m just trying to prove how Tun M’s statement is incorrect.

Finally for Tun M, he says that Malays must respect others, even a little mistake they must apologize on behalf of the Malay race. What nonsense ! Is he saying that Malays shouldn’t respect the other races ? Is he saying that Malays or any other race on Earth for the matter shouldn’t apologize for their wrongdoings ? It also depends on how severe the mistake is. One great example is Ahmad Ismail who insulted the Chinese community last year by calling them squatters & pendatang. Wasn’t he wrong ? Was it ethical ? Does he have any morals ? He’s not even noble enough to apologize !

Now my short view of Ibrahim Ali’s statement:

His whole short statement is just plain rude. Kurang ajar himself actually. He sounds more like a batu api to me. Are the Malays the only race on Earth who were oppressed by colonial masters ? I don’t think the Malays are losing their honour. It’s politicians who make statements like these that lose their own honour…& who’s playing around with Malays & Islam ? What’s the big threat ? What’s all the hullaballoo about ?

Finally I shall just quote the sayings of Muaz Omar & Sheridan Mahavera. Muaz Omar said, “To the politicians or these so-called heroes, the Malays, just like any other race in this world, are human beings and are not commodities that can be sold or traded with throat roaring shouts to defend their honour when these leaders themselves are the ones reaping all the benefits, leaving crumbs for the rest.”

Sheridan Mahavera said, ” The public has heard UMNO presidents talk about how the party must represent all Malaysians, and cringed the very next day as other party seniors tell critical non-Malays to shut up”.

In conclusion, I find that the multiracial people of Malaysia are living in harmony. It’s only some politicians who are stirring up racial sentiments to gain or retain power.