Darah Tuah: Gugurkan Kaum Dan Agama

"Perlembagaan Malaysia hanya menyebutkan secara khusus / mengiktiraf lima sahaja kaum di negara ini iaitu (1) Orang Asli (Perkara 160), (2) Melayu (Perkara 160), (3) Bumiputera Sarawak [Perkara 161A (6) (a) & (7)], (4) Bumiputera Sabah [Perkara 161A (6) (b)] dan (5) kaum-kaum lain".

"Apa yang sebenar berlaku ialah tahap toleransi antara kaum semakin terhakis dan yang wujud ialah uneasy racial co-existence. Justeru bagaimana pula pengguguran ‘kaum’ dan ‘agama’ ini boleh menyelesaikan masalah sebesar gunung Kinabalu itu? Dijangka kerajaan akan ditomahkan sebagai tidak bersedia ‘menggenggam bara api sehingga jadi arang’, jika syor tersebut dilaksanakan juga."

"Tidak ada lagi hak istimewa untuk orang Melayu/Bumiputera kerana tiada lagi “kaum Melayu/Bumiputera”? Semua bahasa menjadi Bahasa Kebangsaan seperti di Singapura? Semua agama adalah agama rasmi? Institusi Raja-raja Melayu dihapuskan kerana sudah tidak ada lagi orang Melayu di negara ini? Adakah ulterior motive mereka yang sebenar ialah hendak menjadikan negara ini sebuah republik?"

"Apabila agama Islam, Melayu dan Bumiputera tidak lagi diiktiraf dalam mana-mana dokumen rasmi, bagaimanakah hendak melaksanakan peruntukan-peruntukan dalam Perlembagaan yang berkaitan dengannya seperti Perkara 3 (agama Islam), 38 (Majlis Raja-Raja), 39 (Kuasa pemerintah)), 89 (Tanah rezab orang Melayu), 90 (Tanah adat di Negeri Sembilan & tanah di Trengganu), 152 (Bahasa Kebangsaan), 153 (Hak istimewa orang Melayu), 160 (Tafsiran Orang Asli & Melayu) dan 161A (Kedudukan istimewa Bumiputera Sabah & Sarawak)?"

"Bukankah mereka yang mengsyorkan ini sebenarnya tidak ikhlas dan barking at the wrong tree? Jika mereka benar-benar ikhlas hendak mewujudkan perpaduan kaum dengan menghapuskan pengenalan kaum dan membasmi polirisasi kaum maka punca utama perkauman iaitu sekolah pelbagai aliran hendaklah dihapuskan segera dan digantikan dengan sistem satu aliran sekolah kebangsaan untuk semua."

Abolishing ISA, Malay Rights and Other Things That People Blame The Government For

Opposition and supporters are harping the same tunes. Abolish the ISA, Malaysians for Malaysia, BN is racist, Government is corrupt and abusive with its power. If the government is corrupt, guess who was Finance Minister in 1997 who almost tethered us with new economic masters in the form of IMF. It's always easy to blame the system and blame the leaders. Credits to Pakatan Rakyat for an extraordinary PR exercise pre-election with blogs and internet campaigns, discrediting the keris, etc. BN didn't know what hit them and it should be a lesson to our leaders that credibility and accountability must again be virtues held high up.

Because of the state of openness and somewhat freedom of speech, questions are being hurled about the NEP, Malay rights, ISA and even the Azan. While the NEP is a double-edged sword, we have to admit that a significant amount of people benefited from this, not just the Malays. Of course, some people would choose to keep a closed eye on that and the numbers. There are also Malays who have milked infinite riches from the special rights and now condemn the policy and its failure.

The Special Position of the Malays in the Constitution could be a poison also, especially for those who choose to take the path of least resistance and sell their precious contracts back to the Chinese. We all know that. As suggested by a senior Minister earlier, if we are ready to amend the Special Rights, only Parliament has the legal right to do so and that would reflect the will of the majority. Even the US has affirmative actions in their education system to ensure that a healthy percentage of non-Caucasians are admitted into universities because of their demographic disadvantages. The SAT is blamed to be biased for educated white folks and does huge injustice to the Latin and African Americans who were deprived of better education at an early age.

There is no doubt BN is in need of restructuring and major overhaul. We are seeing it transpire. Pakatan should just stop nitpicking and run their 5 states to prove to the people that they are worthy. I don't see much difference anyway. Wasn't a temple demolished under their watch in Ampang? It's easy to condemn - try doing it yourself.

My Reply to Jaredsdad> Hi, I hope you're doing your part not just as voter but a concerned individual to realize that not only race-based politics is real and alive in BN but also in Pakatan Rakyat. What does that say about both sides? I hope you're going down to the ground and listening out to grass root people. It's always comfortable to sit in our chairs and blog and whine about how racist certain individuals are and how corrupt the Government is and why you deserve more subsidies for petrol because we are an oil exporter, etc etc. If you're doing your part, that's great. At least you could appreciate the uphill battle.

On ISA and many other rules of the land, some are justified and some questionable. However, it is still an act passed in Parliament and only Parliament can decide to amend or suppress it. That is the essence of democracy, whether fair or not to some individuals. It is the will of the majority. Why hasn't Pakatan passed the motion in Parliament to amend or throw it out the window?

If BN is labelled as racist and they've been winning elections under the leadership of Tun Dr Mahathir for decades, then you are safely concluding that majority of Malaysians are racist.
There is nothing wrong with being proud of one's race. It is our identity. To be acknowledged as a Malaysian is also an identity (although identity these days is quite questionable seeing the massive fan base of English Premier League in Malaysia considering there's no real affiliation to the teams or the nationalities who represent the teams). Doesn't mean we throw out the keris or the sari.

The New Malay Dilemma

"Changing culture is far more difficult than changing the policies of government". This is what we've talked about a few posts ago on the mentality of the Malays and the mental revolution required as discussed part 1 and part 2.

By former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on
Malays remaining behind others despite privileges.

The Malays are among the few people whose race is legally defined. Thus, the Malaysian Constitution states that a Malay is one who habitually speaks Malay, professes the religion of Islam and practises Malay customs. There is nothing said about the definitive culture of the Malays. It follows that changes in culture do not make a Malay person a non-Malay.

Culture is made up largely of the value systems accepted, even if not actually practiced by a people or a race. Observations have shown that the culture of a people determines whether they are successful or they fail...

Europeans, Asians, Africans and American Indians can all be successful and can all fail. It is, therefore, not the race or ethnicity which determines success. It is the culture.

When I wrote The Malay Dilemma in the late 60s, I had assumed that all the Malays lacked the opportunities to develop and become successful. They lacked opportunities for educating themselves, opportunities to earn enough to go into business, opportunities to train in the required vocation, opportunities to obtain the necessary funding, licences and premises. If these opportunities could be made available to them, then they would succeed...

But today, the attitude has changed. Getting scholarships and places in the universities at home and abroad is considered a matter of right and is not valued any more. Indeed, those who get these educational opportunities for some unknown reason seem to dislike the very people who created these opportunities. Worse still, they don't seem to appreciate the opportunities that they get.

They become more interested in other things, politics in particular, to the detriment of their studies. In business, the vast majority regarded the opportunities given them as something to be exploited for the quickest return...

They learn nothing about business and become even less capable at doing business and earning an income from their activities. They become mere sleeping partners and at times not even that. Having sold, they no longer have anything to do with the business. They would go to the government for more licences, permits, shares, etc...

Why has this thing happened? The answer lies in the culture of the Malays. They are laid-back and prone to take the easy way out. And the easy way out is to sell off whatever they get and ask for more. This is their culture.

Working hard, taking risks and being patient is not a part of their culture. It should be remembered that in the past the Malays were not prepared to take up the jobs created by the colonial powers in their effort to exploit the country. Because the Malays were not prepared to work in rubber estates and the mines, the Indians and Chinese were brought in. At one time, the migrants outnumbered the Malays. Had they continued to outnumber the Malays, independent Malaya would be like independent Singapore.

But the Malays have apparently learnt nothing from the near loss of their country in the past. Today, they are still unwilling to work and foreign workers are again flooding the country. And because they are not equipping themselves with the necessary education and skills, they have continued to depend on others.

Their political dominance will protect them for a time. But that dominance is fading very fast as they quarrel among themselves and breaks up into small ineffective groups. Their numerical superiority means less today than at the time of independence...

The Malays, together with the other Bumiputeras, make up 60 per cent of the country's population. But in terms of their political clout, it is now much less than 60 per cent. They are now more dependent on non-Malay support, both the government party and the opposition.

Economically, of course, they have less than half the 30-per-cent share that has been allocated to them. If we discount the non-Malay contribution to the nation's economy,Malaysia would be not much better than some of the African developing countries.

To succeed, the Malays must change their culture. They must look towards work as a reward in itself. They must regard what they achieve through work as the true reward. There should be some financial reward but this must not outweigh the satisfaction obtained from the result of their work...

Changing culture is far more difficult than changing the policies of government. It is easy enough to propose affirmative action but it is not easy to implement it. The recipients must have the right attitude if the results are going to be obtained...


Unfortunately, their view is that their crutches are symbols of their superior status in the country. The sad thing is that they are not even using the crutches properly. As a result, they gain nothing or very little from the availability of these aids...

So what is the new Malay dilemma? Their old dilemma was whether they should distort the picture a little in order to help themselves.

The new dilemma is whether they should or should not do away with the crutches that they have got used to, which in fact they have become proud of.

There is a minority of Malays who are confident enough to think of doing away with the crutches, albeit gradually. But they are a very small minority. Their numbers are not going to increase any time soon. They are generally regarded as traitors to the Malay race...

There will be a host of protests over this generalisation about Malay attitudes. We read almost every day about blind Malay people and other handicapped Malays graduating with university degrees or driving cars or doing all kinds of work.

This does not prove that the generalisation that I make is wrong. These are exceptions. They only prove that if the right attitude or culture is adopted, even the handicapped can succeed.

The dilemma faced by those few who want to build a strong, resilient and independent Malay race without crutches is that they are most likely to end up becoming unpopular and losing the ability to influence the changes in the culture and the value system which are necessary.

It seems that they should not try and yet they know that without the cultural changes, the Malays are going to fail.


By Mahathir Mohamad

Responding to Dato' Seri Khir Toyo's entry

There was a pretty good article about what the leaders in the past said about power sharing concept and distribution of wealth (taken from Dato' Seri Dr Khir Toyo's blog):

DSKT: "Misalnya apabila Kerajaan Selangor semasa pentadbiran saya menubuhkan Pusat Kebudayaan Melayu dengan peruntukan RM 20 juta, kaum Cina dan India turut mendapat peruntukan yang sama.

Malah kerajaan Selangor di bawah pentadbiran saya merupakan yang pertama melancarkan tabung khas untuk pendidikan anak-anak kaum India yang miskin di bawah Tabung Pendidikan Anak-anak Pekerja Ladang. Kerajaan Selangor juga menaja lebih 100 orang anak kaum India yang miskin untuk belajar kemahiran di Inspens".

Presiden MCA, Tun Tan Siew Sin, dilaporkan dalam akhbar tempatan bertajuk "Tun Tan Answers Critics on special Previleges" dalam pada 30 april 1969, berkata:

"The Malays, through UMNO, were generous enough to relax the citizenship laws of this country to such extent that within 12 months of independence, 90 percent were still non-citizens after nearly 100 years of colonial rule in the Malay States. In return for this major concession. the MCA and the MIC agreed to continue the policy of preserving the special position of the Malays while at the same time upholding the legitimate interest of other communities."

- Sumber Tan Sri Khalid Awang Osman, Malaysia - An Anthology, Vantage Press, New York, hal. 38-39.

UCAPAN PRESIDEN MIC merangkap MENTERI KERJAYA RAYA, POS DAN TELEKOM, TUN V.T. SAMBANTHAN DI DEWAN RAKYAT PADA 1 JUN 1965.

"Now, in 1955 we won the elections with a great majority. Then we obtained freedom in two years time. During this period, we had to discuss citizenship and various other things. Now what did the Malays do - since we are speaking on racial lines - what did the Malay leadership do? The had 88 percent of the electorate still with them. What did they do with citizenship?

If we look around in Asia and East Asia, particularly, you will find that my race the indian race, is not welcomed in Ceylon, is not welcomed in Burma. Look at my brother Chinnese race, it is not welcomed in Thailand, in Vietnam, in Cambodia, in all the other areas. What help do they get for citizenship in all these territories? In Burma, as we know, Indian have been send packing, in Ceylon they refused them citizenship and in Burma it is likewise. I know it, you know it. And yet in Malaya what happened? Here we found that the Malay leadership said, "We shall tkae them unto ourselves as brothers, we shall give them full opportunity to live in this country, we shall give them every opportunity to become citizens." And so, in 1957, for the whole year, we waived language qualifications, and tens of thousand of Indians, Chinnese, Ceylonese and others became citizens...

As I said, it has been my great good fortune to have born in this country. Where else can you find a more charitable, a more polite, a more decent race than Malay race? Where else can you get such politically decent treatment for any immigrant race? Where else in the history of the world? I ask you. These are the facts. Who are you to safeguards us? I am 10 percent minority race here. But I am happy here.

My response: I despise the Malays questioning their own rights in the Constitution. Having said that as well, I do know that numerous Malays are furious not because of their Constitutional rights, but how some leaders are treating them and getting away with blatant abuse of power. That is why we have a democratic process whereby the majority decides who they want as their leader.

As for the other races, the chinese and the indians, the question about the constitutional rights is a non-issue. It is not that easy to amend the constitution especially when the Malays are the majority. Having said that, there are moderate chinese and indians who do not question the rights and want to live in peace and harmony with the Malays as long as their rights are not taken away from them, likewise there are moderate Malays who share the same philosophies. Even Tun Mahathir said that it's better to share a pie that's growing rather than not have a pie at all.

UMNO Election (Update 4) and PR's choice for DPM (update 1)

Update 4 (28/7): Tok Pa pulled out from the race.

Update 3 (27/7): Datuk Seri Utama Mohamad Hassan pulled out from the VP race.

Update 2 (25/7): List of UMNO Vice Presidency candidates:

1. DS Hishamuddin Tun Hussein
   
2. DS Syed Hamid Albar (being challenged at Division)
   
3. TS Rahim Tamby Chik
4. DS Khaled Nordin
5. DS Ali Rustam
6. TS Muhammad Muhammad Taib
7. DS Shafie Afdal
8. DS Adnan Yaakob
9. DS Musa Aman
10. TS Mohd Isa Abdul Samad
11. DS Rais Yatim (being challenged at Division by his deputy Datuk Yunus Rahmat, Klawang State Assemblyman)
12. DS Shahidan Kassim
13. Datuk Zahid Hamidi

20/7:

• One branch attempted to open the flood gates by nominating Datuk Seri Najib as UMNO president. One division in Johor might follow suit. Other contests:
• Sembrong, Kubang Pasu (TDM's former division), Balakaban (enjoying pension money after declining deputy minister post), Beaufort, Sipitang have nominated AAB as President and DSNR as Deputy President.
• Gua Musang nominated their chief as candidate for presidency
• Putrajaya plans to also nominate AAB and DSNR this Saturday
  
• D Mukhriz supports DS Hisham's notion that the top two posts should be contested
• PR has officially announced DSAI as their choice for the top seat should PR takes over from BN government. The question is, who is their choice for DPM? PAS will be furious if the composition of the newly formed government does not have at least 60% of Malay YBs after the planned hop in September (now DSAI says the plan has been delayed because of the sodomy case). PAS has already met with their UMNO counterparts to discuss issues regards the Malays and Islam. Will this widen the crack in Pakatan Rakyat?
  

Efficiency in Allocating Resources (of scholarships and NEP provisions)

Parliament is actively debating the allocation of scholarships with respect to racial composition in the country. The scholarships would allow students to further their studies to possibly the university of their choice or with similar credentials. The current allocation is 55% for Bumiputra and 45% for nons. According to YB Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian), the latest statistical data indicates the population of Bumiputra at 66%, therefore the allocation of scholarship should reflect the racial composition.

This is a highly sensitive subject, therefore requires much discussion and debate (contrary to what people in general think that the more sensitive it is, the less we should talk about it). Having said that, I'm walking on thin ice and trying to use the best of terms and words to describe and relay my opinion on this subject matter. The NEP/NDP has always been well-intended (to eliminate identification of race by economic function). It is also a well-thought plan to elevate the Malays to high economic stature. However, the by-product of NED/NDP could be the further polarization in this country because of the poor implementation and leakages.

• The common argument is that the Malays in the rural area are not ready to compete, therefore require aid to compete in the 'open' market context. I totally agree with this (but it shouldn't sacrifice the need to attract the brightest and smartest).
  
• UMNO leaders will continue to fight for the allocation for the Malays as they are their power base, likewise the other parties.
• As long as we have fragmented education system starting from primary level, the segregation and polarization would continue to get worse and it would be more apparent at tertiary level.
  
• Universities need to be ran by professionals without 'political obligations'. Universities should also be ran like a business. Harvard attracts an endowment fund of close to US27B because it's being run like a business. I'm not saying we can be like Harvard in 5 years, I'm just saying we have to head in that direction. Down South has a better rated university than us because it's ran like a business. It is a business. It's one of the biggest revenue for the US after arms, entertainment and technology.
  
• On scholarships: Contractual agreements must be reviewed to ensure that our students return home and serve the country, be it private or public sector. A small percentage of scholars (including non-Bumi) must be groomed to enter the public sector, be it GLC or into the government as PTD officers. Have them sign a contract for at least 7 years.
  
• Students who fail to maintain scholastic achievements must repay the full amount of the scholarship and sent back home. The effort in collecting debt from unpaid student loans must be doubled. Those who violate this must be sued and be made example.
  
• A small percentage must be allocated for the 'elite' students, those who have a high chance of gaining entry into Ivy League or Ivy-League equivalent schools, the Oxfords of the world, Imperial etc. THESE are the ones we need to take care of. This should be merit-based regardless of family background. These students should be lined up for the next CEOs and senior managements of GLC, govt, banking institutions, multinationals, universities (need to encourage the teaching profession by increasing pay grade for those who deserve), etc.
• What I'm interested to know is how much the scholarship covers and what is the actual budget. I don't think everyone needs to get really excited about this since other corporate entities offer scholarships as well. If the other non-Malays think Petronas and such are too biased and award scholarships to only Malays, let's get the big Chinese conglomerates to fly Malay students to MIT, then we'll talk.
• Judging from my personal recruitment experience of local graduates, our local products are still mediocre. Little confidence level, poor command of English. It is consistent with feedback from other oil companies. There needs to be a balance between adhering to the quota and getting the best and brightest.
  

The Strength of the Malays, PAS co-operating with UMNO & of Biotech competition in the south

Had an intellectual chat with a senior OP whom I highly respect. When I was 17, he was actually the first person lecturing my peers and I about the history of the Malacca sultanate, the special rights of the Malays and that we should not be ashamed of having that constitutional provision. He also instilled a sense of nationalism in our head and continuously reminded us that we have the responsibility to the nation to serve to lead.

Fast forward to 11 years later, I still see the same spirit in him when talking about the present political landscape. We both agreed that the provision in Article 153 of the Constitution has been opened to abuse by people driven by greed and lust of power. He agreed that race-based politics was by design not intention, that the colonial masters had established the system in such a way that the basis of politics is racial background. I personally think that we would see this trend diminish in the urban areas.

On the sensitivities among the non-Malays about Article 153, he argued that the non-Malays should not feel threatened as long as the policy is administered well. The Malays should be the ones protecting not only their interests but also ensuring that the entitlement for others is not compromised (with power comes great responsibility).

Malays who have been offered scholarships and have completed their studies must fulfill their contractual obligations. Those who were offered loans and defaulted should be punished severely for abusing the privilege. Same goes with leaders who flaunt openly with their wealth and mansions. The decline of moral in leaders and the Malaysian citizens is apparent. The respect of law and order has also diminished extensively. Mat rempits should be taken off the streets and forced to conduct community service or be sent to jail for rehab or labor work (this would reduce the need for foreign workers by 5% in the construction industry).

We also talked about our alma mater and the merits of relocation. He did convince me that relocation made some sense. First of all, the buildings that we have were not meant to last long. The walls of the dormitories are made of asbestos and the whole structure is slowly falling apart. The relocation would enable us to build something more resilient and relevant to current times. This should be a permanent feature and we must ensure that the construction is solid to avoid another relocation in 50 years. It should reflect the greatness of RMC but not too much that it pampers the boys too much. I'm just worried about the close proximity of the power lines. The old buildings should remain in the hands of RMC, not NDU. Allocation should also be put aside for the International Baccalaureate program. MCKK and TKC are the other 2 schools intending to implement the same system within the next few years.

On the poor participation among the young ones to give back, he agreed that youths are typically highly-driven and energetic. They should focus their energies and ideas into actions and also listen to wise old men for advice.

Other news:

• PAS cannot be taken lightly. With 83 seats compared to DAP's 73 and PKR's 40, it is the actual backbone of PR with 2 states under its belt. Why is it consulting with UMNO? Another crack in the coalition? Even Selangor PAS youths are giving the subtle hints.
• Meanwhile, is Malaysia Biotech Corp ready to take on Singapore? "One ground-breaking proposal is to let promising biotech firms list even if they do not have a financial track record. The move could make Singapore the first stop for such firms in Asia". That is a very bold and competitive move. How will we counter this and continue to attract investors?
• On food price increase: Even religious ceremonies were not spared.

Answer to comments on "Malaysia for Malaysians and Special Rights of the Malays"

my answer:

bats, Article 153 grants the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or King of Malaysia, responsibility for safeguarding the rights and privileges of the Malay and other indigenous peoples of Malaysia, collectively referred to as Bumiputra. The article specifies how the federal government may protect the interest of these groups by establishing quotas for entry into the civil service, public scholarships and public education. It is often considered to be part of the social contract (Wiki). The word "position" is just another preposition used. Let's skip the terminologies and technicalities of it. We all understand there's a provision for the Malays in the Constitution.

On scholarships and education; in general, the rural folks are far behind compared to those privileged in the cities with better infrastructure, resources and man power. The classic argument is that scholarships should be for low-income families and not for smart rich kids. We forget the middle-class group which is diminishing slowly over time. This is also another group that needs aid. Tertiary education is not cheap as you have experienced yourself. The poverty cycle is something hard to be breached. The kids in the rural area are behind compared to their peers in the cities due to family obligations and others. Question is: do we fund the poor but mediocre or fund the smart ones but could barely afford it (forget about the rich and the definition of rich for now). Is the requirement of a scholarship based on meritocracy or family wealth? It should be a balance of both.

Under privileged group is getting aid and fundings from the government. How do you think they get their books, uniforms, skim susu, transportation allowance, etc. How do you think ppl get to go to universities in Malaysia? Where do you think RM7B per year goes to if not for subsidies in education? There are vast improvements need to be done in our education system. There are leakages of course but a person as smart as you can't possibly believe that all of that is going to someone's pocket?

On acquisition of projects from influential people: this is not just a Malaysian problem, it's everywhere. The collusion of politics and business is unavoidable even in the developed countries. In the US, they are called the "Special Interest" groups ranging from guns for the constitutional provision of the right to bear arms, tobacco, oil, defence. We can get into details offline.

I won't say the execution of NEP was flawed. It has its weaknesses but we've seen an elevation of status. Maybe not as much as we would like, but better. The profession of lawyers and doctors are dominated by the Indians. Where do you think they went to school and who paid for their schooling? The construction of universities and institutions such as MARA have helped increase the number of Malay young professionals. There is still hard core poverty not just in Malaysia, but the whole planet. It doesn't mean we haven't done anything to improve. The most powerful country in the world couldn't even organize emergency teams when Katrina hit New Orleans. In the outskirt of Chicago, a bustling city in the US, lies Madison street where 1 out of 3 African Americans goes to jail for some felony due to poverty.

My stand has always been this: stop blaming others, you have to be responsible for your own well being. For people in privileged positions, participate and help out. This is what's lacking among youths these days who are too busy with their jobs. The next time you spend your weekend watching HBO, think about what you could have done for someone else.

from bats:

what started out as "Special Position.." at the beginning of the article morphed (unintentional, i'm sure) into "Special Rights..." by the end of the piece, and there-in lies the problem.

while the idea is noble, the execution, as i've witnessed, is anything but. 55% of the economic pie is no small feat, but are we ever going to achieve that if the country's wealth is only distributed amongst the ruling elite? it has become a family business and since families never really die, we're going nowhere.

we all know of folks who latch on to politicians in hope of projects, only to sub them out anyway. so what you have is a small circle of bumis and non-bumis who feast on the proverbial pie, while the ones who really need a little love don't get any. 55% or whatever that number is, will remain a pipe dream. what you'll get instead is a group of millionares, even billionares, but that's about it.

it's a touchy subject. blood has been shed over it, sure. but if that's the approach, then status quo will rule for decades to come. we can all accept, sit down and get on with it. SOS.

there is no harm in Islam being the official religion and the King being the head of state. Our country is unique and its identity is its badge of honour. god bless our country for that. I am pretty sure that with good governance, Malaysians will be fine with that, as they have been for yonks now.

what we must acknowledge is the fact that not only underprivelaged malays need this help. underprivelaged others need this handicap too. if that is understood and accepted, we can then put an end to the hijacking and put our country's wealth to good use. you're right, we're seeing it in the cities, but again, those calling for the total abolishment of this policy, the very ones who gained from it, should calm the f*ck down and accept that it will take time to uplift the economic standing of the underprivelaged, be it malays or anyone else.

for a start, the clowns bitching about PSD's decision to increase scholarhips for non-bumis should be flogged. what's their beef with children of other Malaysians who share the same IC colour?

Malaysia for Malaysians & The Special Rights of the Malays

I had an interesting discussion with a government officer today about the relevance of race-based politics and the Special Position of the Malays in the Constitution. Here is what Tun Dr Ismail said according to a book written by Ooi Kee Beng:

"I regard the special position of the Malays as a handicap given to the Malays with the consent of all the other races who have become citizens of this country so as to enable the Malays to compete on equal footing for equal opportunities in this country. That and that alone is the only aim of the Special Position of the Malays. But unfortunately the Malays themselves have tended to give the impression consciously or unconsciously that the Special Position of the Malays is a sign that the Malays are placed superior to the other races in the country. The biggest mistake that the Malays made of course was to coin the term "Bumiputra" because this term tended to convey an entirely different meaning to what was intended for the Special Position of the Malays. By coining "Bumiputra" the non-Malays suspected the Malays of wanting to classify themselves as first-class citizens while they were relegated to second-class (Letters 23 February 1970)".

"An UMNO man complained at a meeting that despite Malay rights, the Malaysian contingent preparing for the Munich Olympics was made up mainly of Chinese. "Where are Malay rights there?" he asked. No one knew what to say, and it fell on Ismail to answer: "Special rights are only in the field of economics, not in sports," he ventured. "Do you mean to say we should use strings to make Malays good at high jump?" At that he burst out laughing. That was one of the few times I saw him laugh so heartily (Interview with Tun Ghafar 16 Oct 2005)".

I argued that the dynamics of Malaysian politics have slightly shifted into a new direction since the last election. Race-based politics may or may not be relevant, if it's not relevant, it's a matter of time. Like-wise, if the other races want equality, all should compromise. If not, it is a big stale mate. I think we are seeing the start of the transition in the cities. It would be a long time until the rural folks would start thinking about it. Having said that, I still think that our country will remain a country with Islam as its official religion and the king is recognized as the Head of State. As long as that remains, the Malays will be in a slightly "privileged" position. That's just an opinion.

He also argued that we were never invaded by the Brits; we were merely consulted on administrative advice. The word he used was 'jajah' (conquer) and that the Brits never conquered us. I said, if you were right, somebody needs to change our history books and what we're teaching our kids.

For those who are second-guessing me, this is my stand: The Special Rights are there to allow the Malays to compete on a level-playing field. When that day happens, i.e. Malay has 55% of the economic pie (the term economic pie is also subject to discussion), the handicap should be removed, like the game of golf.