I know the title may be really racist, but please read further on before commenting as I can assure you, this is not a paper about racism, but about the different groups of Malays in Malaysia.
To start off, I believe the Malays are split into 3 groups. The first group are called the Umnoputras. These are the people that support Umno to the bitter end and denies all facts and figures that although have been proven both locally and internationally to them, still do not believe it because to them, Umno is the sole party that can take care of the Malay’s well being in the country. Hence, they believe that whatever Umno does is for the benefit of all Malays.
I have been debating online on forums, facebook and comments on e-news comment box about how the government is wasting our money and that if we do not stand up for ourselves, the whole country including Malays will be swallowed one day by these very people they claim to be their protectors.
Let me give you two fine examples on comments I believe to fit into my category role of Umnoputras. The first comment is in relation to the submarine deals.
“....When we love a country, we will spend anything to defend the country from FOREIGN AGGRESSION and LOCAL TREASONS.
Only those who do not love the country will question whether we should buy sub-marines….knowing that the most potentian EXTERNAL THREAT would be from the sea surrounding us....”
warisantmk on August 4, 2011 9:22 am
http://malaysiatoday.com/2011/08/rm493.3-mil-approved-to-maintain-scorpene-submarines/#comments
Well said Warisantmk. I strongly agree 100% that if we love our country, we must do everything and anything to protect it. However, these two submarines have been left in Sabah doing nothing aside from rotting and telling the world and all Malaysians that the country has two (useless) submarines. These two submarines are not suitable for the underwater terrains in Malaysia (especially Sabah) mind you. Not to mention that Brazil has also bought the same subs but at a MUCH MUCH lower price.
Even if our waters are protected by these two submarines, which I highly doubt by the way, by your logic, is throwing money out of the country by purchasing these subs at a highly inflated price not a threat to your country’s economy? You must at least know through simple supply and demand that when the Ringgit is oversupplied in the world market, it’s value will drop and people like you and me are going to suffer in the end. Is this how you show love to your country?
You can throw facts at me that the Ringgit has appreciated against the dollar. True. It has. However, is that truly the case? Has our economy gotten stronger? No. The Ringgit is not the only currency that appreciated. Many others have as well. It is not because of our strong economy that strengthened our ringgit, but because the US economy is weakening.
My second example would be in relation to the special rights of Malays. Umnoputras have been arguing heavily that this is Tanah Melayu. It is only their right that they have some edge over other race. I countered by saying why? Is there a develop country in this world that gives special rights to their citizen? I can go to Korea, US, UK, Australia etc and be a citizen there and I will not be judged by the law to behave differently. Of course, after commenting as such, I was heavily countered back with plentiful ruthless comments such as “Go there then. Malaysia does not need traitors like you” or “Balik China lah pendatang!”.
Let me get this fact clear to you people. Firstly, I was born here and so were my friends of all races. We all share our love for Malaysia and will do anything to combat those that pose a threat to it. Sure we may learn an extra language or two. But so what? Is the government stopping the Malays from learning extra languages? I have to say that I have seen Indians and Malays speaking Mandarin. In fact, I have Malay friends that spoke better Cantonese and Mandarin than me. Furthermore, if we can learn Malay, you can learn Tamil or Mandarin, right? Stop judging us by our languages and accuse us to be associated with China and India, because I can also use the same logic to say that we know Malay, and hence WE ARE MALAYSIANS!
Secondly, the Chinese and the Malays have been coexisting since 500years ago (go refer to Malaccan history). I BEG you to please prove me wrong because I, and the world know that this is a proven fact. In fact, as far as my knowledge about my ancestry goes, my great-great grandparents from both sides of my parents can be traced here. I believe that gives me a leverage of 150years or so in this land to at least let me termed it as MY motherland? If you compare me to those Indonesians and Pilipinos that came to Malaysia both illegally and legally and getting their PR (permanent residence) today and citizenship the next, they can immediately gain access to such rights and I cannot. Please remember, they have no roots here, I have. How is that fair?
Obviously the argument does not stop. One lady from the Mahathir facebook page countered me by saying the special rights gives the Malays an edge in business which they lack heavily compared to the Chinese. She even argued that when the Chinese came to Tanah Melayu, they came with their mining machineries and more than 2000 years of business knowledge. The Malays on the other hand were still in their kampongs farming, simply doing their daily activities. How is that fair?
Let me tell you. As far as I, or any other Chinese or Indians out there for that matter are concerned, we did not inherit any business knowledge or mining machineries from our parents or grandparents. Most of our ancestors were the “ku-lis” (low income labours) in case you did not know. My maternal grandmother worked in a rubber plantation for at least 55years. Her husband, a lorry driver. My paternal grandfather was a sailor and a gambling addict that often comes home with little or no money. His wife, a housewife that argues with him every day and night in front of their children. My mother did not go to college. She failed most of her subjects because she was not blessed with “2000 years of business knowledge”. My father started work since six and had to help rear his family.
With such a poor background, my family has managed to make ends meet and even send me abroad to further my studies. In fact, the Penang Malays are already overtaking the Chinese through the open tender system (you have my salutes for achieving this far). So why are you Umnoputras constantly saying you cannot when you actually can if you bother to even try?
Next, the second group of Malays I call Neo-Malays (NM). The Penang Malays are the finest NM there is in Malaysia.
I want to share an idea from a NM friend of mine name Ian Adly. After studying in the US for awhile, he told me that the word race is becoming less defined because people are intermarrying and their children are a mixture of both race. On a different matter of scale, I and many of my friends that studied abroad are all called Malays simply because we are Malaysians. When I tell them that I am a Malaysian Chinese, they quickly said “no, you are a Malay” while scrubbing their heads often in confusion upon my statement.
Another friend of mine named Yun even had an argument with her Canadian professor in lecture because her lecturer kept insisting that ALL Malaysians are Malay, just like all China citizens are Chinese.
Furthermore, it is these very NMs that knows the true meaning of fair and freedom and will do whatever it takes to bring down corrupted politics. Such NMs are supporters and/or followers of Pakatan Rakyat. Why? Because Pakatan is the only alliance party in Malaysia that supports true democracy. No Malaysians are singled out. If you are poor, you will be helped, regardless of race. After 50 years of independence and coexisting since Merdeka, these are the people that has evolved for the sake of their love for their motherland whereas the rest are still stuck in the 19th and early 20th century mindset where if you are of a different race, then you are different and do not deserve to be the same as other Malays.
Finally, the last group of Malays I call the ignorant ones. I apologize if I may have insulted you and/or your friends/families. But I have to prove my point because there exist such Malays and you cannot deny this fact.
These are the people that hold no care for politics. All they know is that BN will protect them, and hence will blindly vote for BN, BN will continue to rule (thanks to you) and there is nothing we can do about it if this continues. Why? Because the majority of the ignorant Malays are poor and living in rural areas. It is not their fault that they do not know of corrupted politics. It is BN’s fault for successfully isolating these people by restricting the media and sending Malay traitors to share the “good word of BN”.
GE13 is coming really soon. It is very much needed that this word of truth be spread to everyone. I pray that Malaysia will finally be peaceful internally. However, prayers will only work if we do something about it. Here I am writing this in hope that the Umnoputras can finally wake up to this cruel fact and stand up to make a change for the better. For if you do not, it will not just be you that is suffering, but your children and theirs as well. Our descendants depend heavily on our actions today much as we have depended on the actions of our forefathers to achieve independence from the Brititsh. So please, BANGUN, RISE UP!
Lastly, I would like to make a short comment about the people that has migrated overseas and are termed as “traitors”. Traitors are people that brings misfortune to the country. These migrators did not betray their country. They simply moved on with their life because the majority of the people in their motherland have forsaken them. Instead of living in poverty and/or death, they have decided to sacrifice their friends and family be migrating abroad. They are not traitors, they are victims, victims of their motherland! The true traitors are people in BN. These are the people that are eating away the rakyat’s money for the pleasure of themselves and themselves only. And you know what is ironic about it? These corrupted politicians are fully supported by Umnoputras, the same people that constantly calls migrators traitors and Chinese and Indians pendatang.
To conclude this, I would like to post a side note for you Umnoputras to have a think about. Najib is spending RM160,000 on electricity and RM66,000 for his house a MONTH. Your fellow citizens, mainly the poor in Sabah and Sarawak do not have access to clean water and electricity throughout their LIFE. Sure, our PM deserves to live in luxury, but at the expense of the poor and to such an extent? Please do not forget that his wife, Rosmah has spent USD24million (RM70+million) for a ring. If after all these and you are still an Umnoputra, then you are branded as a traitor much like BN, not just to your country, but to your family, friends, and your descendants.
