Happenings in our beloved land, Malaysia

Written by an enlightened Malay (a market analyst)

The Malays Are Lost And Waylaid - At The Crossroads Of A Malay Dilemma

If you happen to travel around this country, check on the statistics, especially the pasar malam, find out who runs the stalls and their businesses? Check out our beloved Chow Kit Road, and see who owns the thriving commerce? Or visit the Pudu wet market and see who is shouting for customers at 4am (even before the cock crows).

Half the businesses now are with the foreigners, another half with other races, the Malays only have land titles left (especially reserve land of no value). All the GLC's are still in Malay hands, but not for long; otherwise all will be sold off in no time at all.
As a people, the Malays are not known for perseverance and enduring commitment. They have no business acumen. Being entrepreunerial is a steep climb for the man and the Malays have no stamina to stomach the strains and stresses. I speak from experience. They are easily swayed by circumstances. Hook wined by politicians' play.

More than half our local workforce are pendatangs (Indons, Myanmars, Nepals, Vietnamese, Banglas!)

This country is not only bankrupt as said by Idris Jala, but also - telah dilelongkan. The poorer of the majority Malays left behind will become beggars and mat rempit, mat gian, mat ragut and mat dadah (they are all subsidized by our government funding to buy their No 1 drugs of escapism to run away from a harsh reality - Metadon).
Who culled their own Malay race?
Nobody but UMNO-BN itself! I rest my case.

Since 1960s esp. during Dr Mahathir rules,UMNO has effectively carried out the population engineering of our country to ensure its own long-term survival by creating the myth of a two-pronged “Ketuanan Melayu” strategy of mind control.
“Ketuanan Melayu” for the majority Malay masses who are lulled and
numbed into a feeling of being superior over the non-Malays because of
their demographic numbers; and “Ketuanan Melayu” for the favoured
UMNOputra Malay political elites through the accumulation of massive material wealth and power for themselves and their cronies. And while UMNO has failed by almost any measure you chose to gauge them – good governance, ethics or morality – without question they have succeeded too well in the social engineering exercise after the bloody race
riots of May 13, 1969.

The duplicity of UMNO in proclaiming 1Malaysia - Satu Bangsa, Satu Negara -while all the while undertaking a relentless program to
whittle down the numbers of the non-Malays through a very precise and focused political initiative is breathtaking in its effectiveness!

Consider this -

In 1957:

– 45% of the population were Chinese
-- 12% of the population were Indians

In 2010:

– 25% of the population are Chinese
– 7% of the population are Indians

Over 600,000 Chinese and Indian Malaysians with red IC status were
rejected repeatedly when applying for citizenship and possibly 60% of
them had passed away due to old age.

Since 1957:

-- 2 million Chinese have emigrated
– 0.5 million Indians have migrated
– 3 million Indonesians came over to Malaysia to become Malaysian
citizens with Bumiputra status even if they stay less than 5 years.
(Nett gain 0.5 million and an additional of 3 million manufactured
Bumiputras like Muslim Indonesians). The most famous is none other
than Mohd Khir Toyo who stayed for 20 years but became MB of Selangor.

In the not too distant future, I reckon Malay bumiputras may have to worry about 2nd or 3rd generation Indonesian migrants, owing to the virtues of hard work and thrift taught by their parents, or
grandparents, would have surpassed the majority Malays in terms of
socio-economic progress.

Mohd Khir Toyo is smarter than most local-born Malays in terms of amassing his personal wealth at the shortest duration of time. Even Muhammad Muhammad Taib is no match for him. That's how smart Khir Toyo is.

Instead of teaching their people the virtues of hard work and
perseverance, the UMNO warlords are proclaiming Ketuanan Melayu to feed off the Chinese minorities like parasites. If not for the Chinese taxpayers, the Malays will be sleeping the five footways. Of course the Chinese isn't a threat - they are just workaholics - they want to
create wealth and prosperity so much so that no failures of any kind
is going to stop them. Not even the ultra Malay racists spewing blood
in their eyes or frothing venom in their mouths. It is envisaged the
Chinese demographics will dwindle to stabilise at 4per cent of the
overall Malaysian population but their accumulated wealth and economic
power will continue to rise to more than 75per cent of the overall GDP
of the country. That’s proof enough how steady and influential the
Chinese economic stranglehold over the majority Malays will become;
and we believe racial hatred and resentment is well likely to remain
for the next 50 years. They work hard for the money but we envy them
in our idleness.

Whereas the Indonesian newcomers went out to work before you become
awake and they are not home yet when you call it a day and went to
bed. Will the majority Malays consider them a threat when they
deservedly find new wealth? The Indonesians respect the Chinese for
their business acumen and diligence. Do the Malays think likewise if
not indulge in unguarded jealousy and envy?

Now the non-Malays are well aware of this tinkering and engineering of
our population and it would do us Malays no good to say that it was
UMNO’s doing and that we had no hand in what happened at the end of
the day. As a Malay I was then comfortable that UMNO was the dominant partner in the Barisan Nasional. It was indeed comforting to know that Malays controlled four of the five major banks. We were also in control of UMBC, MISC and Southern Bank – all previously owned by the Chinese. But seemingly the Chinese-owned Public Bank which is not in our control is moving ahead of the others still in economic prowess and competitive skills. What’s wrong with our control?

Education?

Between 1968 to 2000:

– 48 Chinese primary schools shut down
– 144 Indian primary schools closed
– 2637 Malay Primary Schools were built

Of the total government budget for these schools, 2.5% were for the
Chinese, 1% for the Indians and a whopping 96.5% for the Malay primary schools.

The fact that 2637 Malay primary schools were built between 1968 to
2000 implied that the engineered process of retarding our majority
Malays or bumiputras is getting obvious. At the end of their school
lives, they have nowhere to go except to stay put in this country, as
like idiots they have nowhere else to go because everywhere they are
faced with a serious language problem and a communication breakdown with others. They will, like it or not, have to support the Ketuanan Melayu concept to survive for their freebies or welfare. The mentality is - No need to work and money will still come. Scions of the rich and wealthy UMNOputras will be educated overseas and return to continue to rule over their poorer local stupid cousins.

Petronas petrol stations?

Of the 2000 station the Malays owned 99%. Yes…we the Malays were
indeed in control. In control of what? We were in control of all the
business licenses and permits for Taxis and Approved Permits (APs).

We were in control of Government contracts of which 95% were given to Malays.

We were in control of the rice trade through Bernas that bought over
80% of Chinese rice millers in Kedah. Even Robert Kuok aka Sugar King was forced to sell his sugar franchise to UMNO crony interests so that the Malays are deemed to be in control of the sugar market; and the other essential basic items.

We were in control of bus companies. Throughout Malaysia, MARA buses could be seen plying all the routes. Non-Malays were simply displaced by having their application for bus routes and for new buses rejected. Many local Chinese owned bus companies are already kaput in the urban centres.

Every new housing estate being built had a mosque or a surau. None, I
repeat “no” temples or churches were built for any housing estate even
if the majority residents are non Malays! We even blare the loudspeakers in every mosque calling for Azan at maximum volume just so to tell the non Malays and non Muslims that we are in control!

So why with control over all these highly visible entities and business opportunities are the majority Malays still unable to stand tall and with pride over and above the non-Malays? We are unable to so do because it was not the Malays that benefited from these opportunities - only the favoured UMNOputras enjoyed the benefits, and the poorer among the majority Malays were merely taken for a ride as their name were used by UMNO to hijack the national agenda. The Chinese bogeyman and the Malay hobbyhorse work wonders for UMNO to play one against the other in their evil scheme of Divide and Rule to suit their survival plan.

Why must UMNO constantly harped about the need to spoon-feed the
majority Malays – about Ketuanan Melayu when it is already in place
and about Bumiputra status and all the privileges and rights that goes
with that special status?

And as a Malay I want to ask the non-Malays why you still chose to
live in a country whose racist government has by its actions and deeds
done whatever it could to make you not feel welcomed as a Pendatang?
The non-Malays I know have all told me the same thing – Malaysia is
their country – they know of no other country they can call their own. And so they stay and put up with the abuses and nonsense.

The difference now is that there are enough Malays who are ashamed by the nihilistic antics of this ultra racist Malay political
organization call UMNO. There are enough Malays to tell the non-Malays that we feel your pain, too. We understand your frustrations and despair at not being treated as equals in a country you call your own.

You must remember that UMNO will never treat you as equals or partners in progress. They want eveything for themselves. If you are not happy you can get out. UMNO does not give a damn if you're a rocket
scientist or Albert Einstein Reborn. If you are non Malay you are 2nd
class pendatang. Remember that well.

And enough non-Malays had migrated abroad to cause our country to
understand that their loss is another country’s gain. Singapore gained
the most. A loss, which our country can ill afford to sustain in the
long run. Only dumb and stupid Malay leaders deny the causes.

And more important, all these groundswell of disgust and contempt at
UMNO has manifested itself in a way these political idiots cannot
understand – losing our votes in the 12th General Elections on 10
March 2008. Say Amen for that. Instead of seeking penance these racist
bastards scream for bloodshed and mayhem still.

And so we wait for the 13th General Election in 2011 which we hope
will dish out the relevant karma for UMNO and its lameduck Barisan
Nasional partners. The stooges and the parasites.

Meantime understand what they have done to us all – not only the
non-Malays but also to the Malays and do not allow UMNO or Barisan Nasional to play the race card and start their divide and rule antics on us anymore.

You are one with me and we are two.
United we stand divided we fall.
One for all and all for one - is our game plan.

Do you, remember?

I write this for my fellow Malaysians residing overseas or plan to reside overseas and do not intend to go back home. Please have a read. It's simple and short, but I know the message can be delivered.

Do you remember the first time you cried for something painful, the first time you cried for something joyful, your first hug, your first best friend, or even your first "it's going to be ok"?

Here's my answer. I do not remember. But you know what? I remember the times I cried for something painful. I remembered the times I cried for something joyful. I remember getting hugs from my family and friends. I remember all my best friends. And through all the miseries that I have gone through in my life, I remember hearing the words, "it's going to be ok".

Do you remember the feeling when you first enter primary school? Do you remember the feeling when you made your first friend there? Do you remember how it feels going home, telling your mom and dad how was school?

I remember I was scared of school. I remember pulling my mom's shirt and hid behind her back. I remember her smile, telling me "it's going to be ok". And under the shy and scared nature I portrayed physically, deep within myself, I remember how happy I was, to finally go to school. I don't remember my first friend there, but I remember who my friends were. I remember how it felt, going home telling my mom what I did in school. I remember how it felt, telling my dad which girl I thought was cute too.

Do you remember jumping into the river, and bathe in the cool gentle water under the hot blazing sun? Do you remember the first time you flew a kite, and had troubles with it? Do you remember the last time you went out with a friend, untill 2am in the morning, just to have supper?

I remember jumping into many cool gentle rivers, under many hot blazing suns, and would not come out until my mom shouts at me to. I remember struggling on how to fly the kite, and my dad told me, "不要紧 (it's going to be ok)", took out his fishing rod, and taught me how to fly it. I do not remember the last time I went out until 2am in the morning, just to have supper, because I remember, there were too many a time that I have done so.

Do you remember how you first cycled, fell down, and bled? Do you remember when, on those very hot afternoons, you go out and ask the pak cik,"Bang, cendol satu"? Do you remember on rainy days, when you were stuck outside and under the rain, with no umbrella or shelter nearby?

I remember falling down many times. I remember crying out loudly, and my neighbour took me in and gave me sweets to cheer me up. I remember after school, I will go to the front gate and meet my pak cik, and buy a bag of cendol to quench my thirst. I remember, many times when I was walking outside and it started to rain, I ran, and just kept running, telling myself, it's going to be ok.

These are my memories and feelings that grew from home. And basically, what I want to share, is that overtime as we grow older, we slowly forget these feelings and need to be reminded once in awhile. Overtime as we grow older, we start to run away from our feelings because the grass is greener on the other side. And overtime as we grow older, we start to ignore our feelings, and pursue more important things for our future.

But you know what? It's ok. It's going to be ok. If you can feel the way I feel, start asking yourselves. Do you remember home? Ask yourselves, do you remember your identity? And more importantly, ask yourselves. Do you, remember, Malaysia?

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/do-you-remember-clement-ting/

Not all Malays are to be blamed. Learn to stop accusing all of them.

"Perempuan Cina pelacur semua!" (All female Chinese are prostitutes)

"Pengkhianat negara, China DAN Malaysia" (Traitors! To both China and Malaysia)

"Cina komunis bangsat!" (Damn you Chinese communists!)

"Chauvinist!"

etc

How do you feel? Disturbed? False accusation? Petrified? Anger?

These are the common insults that we Chinese in Malaysia are given. Similarly, from the Chinese,

"Balik kampung la babi" (Go back to the village pigs!)

"Malas! Bodoh! Tak guna! Tak boleh harap!" (Lazy! Stupid! Useless! Unreliable!)

etc

Linking the 2 insults together, you'll see that none of these are applicable to you (for the MAJORITY of you, actually). Heck, most of these people that threw insults at the Chinese do not even know the meaning of chauvinist. They just use it because everybody is using it, and they just follow suit. Similarly, does the Malay bear any resemblance to pigs?

Most of the Chinese will say yes, because Malays are all lazy, dirty and useless.

But here's what you Chinese do not know. They are NOT ALL lazy, dirty and useless. Only some. Similarly, NOT ALL Chinese are prostitutes, traitors, communists and/or chauvinist!

The insults that put race as the SOLE contributing factor are purely unjustified. There are Malays that are capable in standing on their feet. Look at Anwar Ibrahim, he's a Malay. I do not know about the evil deeds that he has committed in the past, but having been sacked as the deputy PM, sent to jail, and rose back up to political power AND managed to strengthen the bonds between DAP and PAS (2 extremists that virtually cannot co-exist) is clearly not something the average man on the street could do.

How many of you ever have any friends of a different race, that can share, joke and laugh with you? There must at least be one in your life. If s/he can do these things with you, will you ever insult them for being their-own-negatively-portrayed-kind?

What I am trying to say here, is that not everyone is at fault for something that their race has portrayed negatively and strongly towards the public. We have to stop cursing each other, because these are just not who we are!

In fact, the Malays are already beginning to accept Chinese into their community. Compare today and 10 (or 20) years ago, although the racial tension was low, it was mainly because we merely tolerated, and we NEVER accepted. Today, racial tension is high, but you'll be surprise, we are getting more and more ACCEPTED. There are generally more cooperation between difference races in Malaysia today than last time. The racial tension is high only because the media, controlled by the government shares false news and accusations. Only pro-UMNO (or Umnoputras) will buy that and start causing more havoc around our neighbourhood!

For example, the dragging of the cow in front of the Hindu Temple in KL. That's not the Malays' fault! it's those Umnoputras fault!

Another example, the burning of churches. Hey, please-la...it's really obvious who's behind these ok.

To conclude, STOP accusing Malays! If you do, you are no different from Umnoputras because you, too are increasing racial tension. Again, not all Malay behaves that negatively! And no one likes to be insulted for who they are not. I know it's tough to suddenly just change your hatred. I admit that I too behave that way as well even today to a certain extent. But I am trying my best, and I hope we all can too, try out best, to stop segregating our brothers and sisters in Malaysia for being different.

Illegal-but-made-legal-robbery in our country

I would like to voice my opinions and frustrations against Dr. Mahathir’s comment on the Malaysian Insider titled “Ex-premier blames ‘extremists’ for increased race strife “on 12th September 2011.

(http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/ex-premier-blames-extremists-for-increased-race-strife/)

A quick recap, Dr. Mahathir mentioned that the “extremists” from the three main races in Malaysia are making increasingly unwarranted demands. He gave one example, that non-Malays asked for Malay rights to be abolished.

He further gave a comment that all races must compromise with each other, and that not all demands from all races will be met (only 50%). Dr. Mahathir gave the example that the Chinese were given the right to continue studying Mandarin in vernacular schools.

Since he talked about language, let me first voice my frustration on our ex-PM’s distasteful comment.

Let me give you a story and let’s have a think of it to see if it is fair. There is a bag that can give any group $10 daily. Of that $10, 40% must be given away (as tax for example). EVERY GROUP is given a map to look for these bags (think of it as treasure hunting). Hence, these bags can be gotten if people actually try and look for it. From this story, who is benefitting and who is losing? Is this system fair?

Next, assume group Z has this bag, and they must give $4 (40% of $10) away as tax. Group A, B, and C that do not own this bag need not pay tax, but demands all groups that has this bag to share 30% of their profit with them. Even more so, because group A, B, and C are bigger than group Z, they made it a rule that only people from A, B, and C can have this special right.

So the mathematics goes like this. Group Z that has this bag earns $10/day, gives $4 as tax, leaving behind only $6. Of this $6, $1.80 must be given to groups A, B, and C as their special rights, leaving behind only $4.20 for group Z.

Every other group that has this bag must also give $1.80 to A, B, and C. Of that $1.80, 40% or equally, 72cents must go to tax and hence, A, B, and C gets $1.08 from every other group by just sitting there and implement more policies that favours them and announce to the world that this is a "fair" system.

HOWEVER, if group A, B, and C ever decides to look for the bag, they are allowed to enjoy a total profit of $6 in addition to the $1.08 gotten from other groups.

And now the question, who is benefitting and who is losing? Is this system fair?

What I aim to tell in this story, is that this miraculous bag, is our human capital such as knowledge and language. And that the map to this miraculous bag, is free education. China is now the world’s largest economy after America. Malaysia should be blessed to have people that possess the knowledge for Chinese culture and the Chinese language.

These are the major tools that can help link the Malaysian businesses with China strongly. The more amazing news about the Chinese language is that it does not stop in China, but can be branched out and further linked to the Singapore, Taiwan and even the Hong Kong economy! And just so you know Mr. ex-PM, even the ex-PM of Australia, Mr. Kevin Rudd, a white guy, is fluent in Mandarin and can score higher than me, a Chinese, anytime.

Let me share one more good news to all Malaysians. Our third main race is the Indian race and India too is booming rapidly. See how blessed our country is right now?

With such an unfair system, what makes you think that groups with the miraculous bag will want to remain in that economy when they can go elsewhere, and maintain their profit of $6? See how this relates to the brain drain problem?

And so my dearest ex-PM, judging from your message, are you saying that non-Malays must tolerate the Malay special rights, in exchange for them to gain more knowledge that can benefit the country? I find this logic very disturbing. What do you think? If you yourself choose to not find this bag, should not this be your problem? Why are the hardworkers punished in the end and the lazy A, B and C be rewarded? We are given the map, and we choose to find this bag. Implementing such unfair policies that favours such groups are pure illegal-but-made-legal-robbery in our country.

The principle of equality is basic human rights. Everybody deserves to be treated equally. Every developed nation demands in their law, that their citizens to be treated fair and just. No one is asked to behave differently.

If you, Dr. Mahathir, is so keen in maintaining the Malay special rights, do tell me, aside from the mass murder of the Jews, how are you different to Adolf Hitler when he demanded all Jews to behave differently and that Germans deserves to stand above them?

And for the Malays, if you are standing beside this man, go think whether if you are different to the Germans in WWII that sees Jews as the inferior race that they are, and hence do not need to be treated on equal grounds.

Lastly, for the Malays that chooses to stand strong and fight this temptation of having the easy way out, I want to thank you and if possible, personally. I pray that you will continue to live this spirit and spread it like a wild fire towards the whole nation and wake people like group A, B and Cs before they start to make every other group to leave the country in future.

A united Malaysia

Before going to the serious issues, I want to first talk about the recent Nasi Lemak 2.0 by Namewee (If you think it will be draggy, skip to the third paragraph). The song has inspired me deeply. I cried both in my house and in the public library everytime I listen to it (I believe, many others as well but maybe not until you cry). I have yet to watch the movie as I am currently residing overseas. However, according to the trailer and their theme video Rasa Sayang 2.0, although most of the actors inside are Chinese, and even the theme song is in Chinese (mostly), the Malay and Indian actors inside do portray a very united community, which really gives me hope in hoping that our beloved country Malaysia will one day be truly united and that all race will love each other as though their own.

I find the first sentence of the Rasa Sayang 2.0 lyrics most meaningful and would like to share it here before going into more serious issues.

我愛我的國家 有國才有家
wo ai wo de guo jia, you guo cai you jia
I love my country. With a country, I will have a home.
Saya cinta negaraku. Adalah negara, adalah rumahku.
(apologies to the Indians, I cannot speak Tamil. Kindly translate it for me if you ever see this)

Now for the more serious issue that I would like to bring up for discussion. What is it that brings upon a united nation? Language? Culture? Religion? I used to believe that language, culture and religion are whats important. I remember suggesting to my friends, and even strongly arguing that for a united country, we need to sacrifice something important. I remember telling them that if I were to ever to join politics, the first thing I will implement is to abolish Mandarin and Tamil altogether. This is to show we Chinese and Indians are sincere in becoming one with the Malays.

Language
However, as I continued to live overseas and be more expose to a different environment filled with people of many languages, I realized, that it is not the main contributor towards a united people. Why do I say this? Look at Australia and America. These are countries that are filled with immigrants and hence, have many different languages and culture. In fact, schools in these 2 countries encourage their students to learn a different language, mainly French (no idea why), if they can. In Australia, students are encouraged to either pick up French or Bahasa Indonesia. Shocked? I sure was when I learnt of this.

Lets look at our closer neighbour, Singapore. Although the majority of the citizens there are Chinese, and the education they receive are mostly Chinese, the people there are more united than in Malaysia. Why? The Malays there maintains their mother language, Malay, by the way. The majority, Chinese, however, do not discriminate the Malays for learning a different language, which is very different from Malaysia where the Malay majority discriminate us for learning a different language. Bare this in mind, the Chinese in Singapore DO NOT learn Malay. Simultaneously, the Malays there DO NOT learn Chinese (except private classes - tuition - of course). But in Malaysia, although we learn Chinese and Tamil, we learn Malay as well.

So what is wrong here? Should not the Malays be grateful that we are learning Malay as well unlike Singapore? Besides, and as argued many times before, if we can learn 3,4 or 5 languages, then the Malays should be able to learn an extra language or 2 as well right? For those PJ and KL-lang (lang = people in hokkien), if you have EVER went to FOS (Factory Outlet Store) in the Curve back in 2005, you will notice that there was this Indian supervisor there that actually knows English, Malay, Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese. It is funny that he does not know Tamil, but that is besides the point. The point here is, he knows more languages than me and even beats me flat in "my own game" (Mandarin and Cantonese).

Of course, many people will argue and say Language is important for unity and will then throw other evidence tat me. I truly believe that language is important for unity, but it is NOT the main contributor for a united nation. For the sake of argument, I will put in the example of Thailand. The original Thais and Thai-Chinese are also more united than us Malaysians. Their education system is that EVERYTHING is in Thai. Hence, Thai-Chinese mostly DO NOT know Mandarin. I even asked my original-Thai friends,

"Who do you want to marry next time? Thai or Chinese Thai?"
28 year old reply,"What's the difference?"
24 year old reply,"As long as she's a REAL girl, can already".
(Insider joke, there are transexuals in Thailand and my friend is looking for a REAL girl)

I do not intend to base heavily my evidence on just this two's answer. However, if you ever compare this sort of answer to Malaysia, what are the chances that the Chinese and Indians will say something similar towards the Malay race? Again, bare in mind, all three race KNOWS Malay. From this example, we have a common denominator, language, and yet, the degree of unity is remarkably different.

Maybe it is because the Chinese and Indians knows an extra language, and hence the Malays feels left out sometimes. This type of answer is fairly common and I received it quite alot as well. The Malays do not know if we are discriminating them or not IN PUBLIC, IN FRONT of their face or behind their back. Let me shut this theory once and for all. The Chinese and Indian community are MORE united than the Malays themselves today (Umnoputras vs Neo-Malays). The Chinese do not know Tamil (see my lyrics translation on top? I do not know Tamil!!!) nor do most Indians know Mandarin. So here's my question, why are Chinese and Indians more united?

To conclude for this section, language is NOT the main contributor towards a united nation.

Next up,
Culture
Chinese - Chinese New Year (CNY)
Malay - Hari Raya (HR)
Indians - Deepavali

During CNY, I have invited my Malay friends and Indian friends to my house. Simultaneously, my Malay friends even invited me to their house during HR! Unfortunately, I have not celebrated Indian New Years before, but I look forward for future invites as I LOVE INDIAN CURRY!!! And you know what is best about our difference in culture? We get to eat LOTS of different yet AMAZING food! By the way, to those Chinese extremists out there, not all pork dishes are awesome. My family do not eat pork at HOME ever since I was young (different story-lah if we go restaurant). It is my family culture, and we still get to taste lots of amazing good food without traces of pork.

Hence, in terms of food and celebration culture, I believe EVERYONE is in favour for a diverse celebration! (Refer to my formula below if you find my explanation above draggy and has skipped many points)

Many culture = Many food = You can be unhappy-meh?

If that still does not convince you to believe my formula, then here is another formula for you.

Many culture = many celebrations = MANY HOLIDAYS! (still unhappy? go see a psychologist)

In fact, this is what makes Malaysia truly unique from others! I have westerner friends that are jealous of our culture. Why? Here's my holiday plan in Australia throughout the year, every year.

1. Summer - 3 months
2. Winter - 1 month
3. Chrismas - it's in summer, so no replacement holiday
4. One week off in mid-semesters (2 semesters a year) for us to catch up our studies, and hence it's not a holiday to me.

Still do not see why my Westerner friends are jealous? Here, let me explain it to you. IT IS DULL AND BORING! We have Dragon dance, they have summer and winter. We have ketupat and rendang, they have summer and winter. We have Thaipusam, they have...summer and winter, ok, maybe party and beer as well. For those that do not want to enjoy summer holiday, they go for summer school. Fun eh? (on a side note, do you now see why Westerners loves to party and beer? it is because, compared to us Malaysians, they have a dull culture!)

My point for all these, is that the difference in our culture has given me, at least in my point of view, a great amount of happiness. Given the chance to stay in Australia, or even go "back" to China like many Malays have cursed me to do so, my answer for you is this. I am Malaysian. Always will be, always have been, and so will my future generations be. I am happy to have Malay and Indian friends, because I can celebrate all sorts of celebration and eat lots of different food! In fact, I believe my Malay and Indian friends are also grateful to have known me or other Chinese because, similarly, they get to enjoy my culture. If you do not believe me, I dare you, go ask ALL oversea Malaysians.

1. What do you miss most aside from your family and friends?
2. Which food do you prefer?

You will find that despite our colour, language and culture, our answers are all the SAME. Hence, we have a common similarity. Shouldn't similarty equal unity?

Ok, maybe it is a different cultural point of view that makes us different. Dr. Mahathir once commented that the Chinese are too Greedy, the Malays are too lazy and the Indians cannot be trusted. It is sad, but this is true (67% of it at least in my opinion). However, I do not blame it on their culture. I blame this on the government. Through the NEP, the Malays have been favored heavily and hence many has gotten lazy. This is a fact. Prove me wrong. Throw me whatever, and if you even dare, then get ready for more counters by me.

The Chinese? Having a barrier in front of them, they meet only 2 options. Poverty and death OR survive. In order to survive and because we all love our family, the Chinese community has no choice but to work really hard for their future generations' sake. For example, being the eldest son in a Chinese family, I have witnessed my mom coming back home at 12am everynight, since young, EVEN on occasional Sundays and go to work at 8 or 9am in the morning the next day. As for my dad, the amount of SENTENCES we ever talk is lesser than 8 in a month. Why? Because he is always outstation.

Being the eldest in the family, I am my sibling's "parent". I treat my sister as my daughter sometimes. Looking for good tuitions, go to school on her report card day, call up her teachers to check on her progress and even send her to the hospital when she broke her hand! As for my brother, despite the fact that many of his teachers has already given up hope on his education, I remained one of the only person to harbour hope that he may one day graduate and pursue his dreams in drawing. Although the way I treated my brother was VERY VERY harsh, but that is because he is not disciplined enough most of the times.

I am not the only Chinese that has this harsh experience mind you. My grandmother that has worked in the rubber plantation for more than 55years, even told me she cried for several nights when her children are asleep because her eldest son (my beloved uncle) sacrificed his primary school education half way so that he can help lessen her burden, all for the sake that her other children, including my mom and my aunts and other uncles to at least graduate from secondary school and if possible, go to college, which unfortunately, my mom did not even qualify to get into.

Hence, with such a background, please tell me, how can we not want more money? The NEP does not favor any of us remember? We do not want money for the sake of wanting it, but so that our future generations will not have to suffer like the current generation. It is because we understand the meaning 苦 (bitter), which is why we do not wish this bitterness upon our loved ones. Furthermore, its not like we rob or steal from people. We work hard for it. Is it a crime to work hard? If it is so, tell me, under what article in the Malaysian law, that clearly states, you are not allowed to work hard?

For the Indians, I wish I can say much about them but unfortunately, I cannot. I cannot not because I hate them, but I just do not see how they are not trustworthy! My indian friends seems to be more trustworthy than some of my Chinese friends apparently. Maybe I am just blessed with good friends that are relatively more trustworthy than Dr. Mahathir's circle of Indian friends. Then again, this is entirely my point of view, so I could be wrong.

To put it simple, culture is not to be blamed here, but government policy's such as the NEP. I agree that we must help the poor Malays to stand on their feet, but such a move is only crippling them more. To make matters worse, it favors the rich Malays EVEN more because the policy applies to them as well. Furthermore, poor Chinese and Indian communities are helpless because the policy does not see them as deserving.

Lastly,
Religion
I want to point out that we Malaysians have respected each other's religion for many years now, until recently of course, because of dirty politics. Since 2006 till this year, I have been to Batu Caves to perform first aid. I remember the first time I went there, I heard Indian chanting a certain word towards their family members for support. Not knowing that it was forbidden to do so, I actually shouted chants beside a family to show support. Of course, many Indians then looked at me at most, angrily. No one cursed or threw anything at me. I was told later on of course about my inappropriate behaviour and have then stopped. The Indians in this story has showed that they were tolerant with me despite our differences. It is because we know we are different, we therefore grew to be more tolerant towards each other because not everyone celebrates the same culture.

I know that this is quite wrong for the Malay extremist, but there are also Malays that celebrates unofficial Christmas with me even and they do not see anything wrong with it. We merely exchange gifts and greeted each other out of respect because they know that we celebrate Christmas, and just want us to be happy on that joyful day. Simultaneously, we do not sing carols or preach the gospel in front of them because we know that they are Muslims. Hence, it is our unofficial Christmas.

During Puasa, I understand that it is unfair to be eating in front of Malays. But during breaks and lunch periods, we have our food in restaurants and canteens. It's not like we actually buy food, look for a Malay and eat in front of them. Furthermore, if we look at other multi-religious country, I will point at Indonesia because it is most similar to Malaysia, you will find that the Indons there do not really find other race eating during Puasa month much of a bother. Why? It is because they too have grown tolerant towards understanding our differences. I am sure most Malay feels the same way they do as well, especially the neo-Malays.

Hence, I dare say that religion is, like the 2 other factors, are not a major factor towards disunity. People might try and use religious wars between Christians and Muslims since ancient times against me. But let me ask you, these separate groups, do they coexist together or do they live in 2 separate countries? I believe most religious wars started because 2 different religions did not coexist together and hence people were more extemist back then. Look at China. You will be surprised, but there are in fact a large number of Chinese Muslim citizens. In terms of percentage, I could be wrong as I did not do much research on it, but the PERCENTAGE of Chinese Muslims may perhaps be LOWER than Malaysian Christians. Nonetheless, their number is higher and higher number means it is relatively easier for a single person to spark hatred amongst the community to divide the whole Chinese community altogether. However, they too are living peacefully, unlike in Malaysia today.

Answer?
So what is it that creates disunity? I personally do not know if I have the right answer. Not much research have been done on this, and I can only speculate based on me and my friend's opinions. If you really want to know my point of view, it would be the government policies.

By the way, I do not blame NEP entirely, even though the NEP, by itself, has played a large propotion is separating us Malaysians. I blame largely on the government's FAILURE to promote effective policies. If the government can perhaps give incentives towards lets say children of mixed heritage, there will be more intermarriage between races and people will find that they can no longer point fingers at each other entirely for being different.

Furthermore, although Malaysia is a Muslim country, forcing Malays and other people that had once convert into Muslims to remain faithful to Islam is just a fallacy towards Islam and against human rights. Indonesians are not forced to become Muslims, and yet the majority of the population are Muslims. So why is the government so afraid of this to the extent that such policy must be heavily implemented? It only scares people into not blending together into 1 united community and hence, separate us all.

Perhaps one day, when the right policies are implemented, will we see if what I have said is true or not. Until then, no one will really know.

Three types of Malays : Umnoputras, Neo-Malays and the Ignorants.

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 19^th and early 20^th 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.