"The "I want to help Malays" way leads to less action because the help is for others. A person will help others as far as he can without affecting his position and sacrificing too much of his comfort and leisure. On the other hand, the plans for progress among the Chinese, the Jews, the Americans, the Germans and the Japanese, which are drawn up by individuals for themselves, are vigorously implemented by those concerned, because they are working for their own gain. Though this is selfish, the total result produced by the full implementation of these plans exceeds the total result produced by the aggregate approach of the Malays. The aspirations and plans of the Chinese, the Jews, the Americans, the Germans and the Japanese can be fully implemented, whereas those of the Malays are not implemented or only partially implemented. This is the difference, and this is clear from the results".
The other interesting part, besides the obvious issues that we talk about till now, is about vocabulary. There is no such Malay word as "persistent" or "initiative". On the other hand, there are no English words to describe "latah" or "merajuk". "If a word does not exist in the language, this shows that the object does not exist in the society".
The book is the brain child of UMNO Youth and I reckon it should be made compulsory reading for members and recommended reading for the general public.
(TDM's Mental Revolution Campaign in 1981)
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4 comments:
Amuk is a Malay word, but did the British use the phrase 'to run amok' after being chased by some crazed fella in Tanah Melayu?
There is a word for merajuk. It's to sulk - to express ill humor or offense by remaining sullenly silent or withdrawn.
sulking still doesn't truly express the true nature of merajuk.
ask barge.
tak nak ah. nanti dia merajuk.
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