Utusan Malaysia called on Umno today to spearhead a 1Melayu, 1Bumi movement involving all Malay parties — claiming DAP was intent on toppling the country’s Malay leadership. Utusan also added that the Chinese already controlled everything and was now aiming for political power.
Although, I would like to take Utusan’s side on this, I am afraid that Utusan is wrong to make such a sweeping statement. Most people believe that Chinese voted for DAP simply because DAP is a multi-racial party. The Chinese rejected MCA simply because it is the only party that represents Chinese. Many Malays refuse to vote UMNO because of the same sentiment.
“Only absolute political power has not been controlled by the Chinese, everything else has been taken,” pointed out Utusan. But it is inaccurate. To say that everything else is taken by the Chinese is laughable. What did the Chinese take? The Economy? Most Chinese thinks the Malays are controlling the economy through the NEP, and not the Chinese.
Other than the Chinese billionaires frequently mentioned in the press, the rest of the Chinese are not any economically different from the Malays. Are we going to fault the Chinese for being economically better than us? So what has the NEP done except for ensuring that we Malays are left further behind? Also, there are a lot of Malay Billionaires, except some of them do not have audited accounts to track their wealth.
Will the Chinese Malaysians fault us for absolute power in the country’s political administration? Must we Malays have absolute Political Power? What happened to power sharing? Why must we taunt the Chinese? Was it wrong for them to support DAP?
Great slogans
DAP’s great slogans among them, Undi Untuk Ubah (Vote for Change), Enough is Enough and Selamatkan Malaysia (Save Malaysia) were not only a hit with Chinese Malaysians but Malay Malaysians were also charmed by its spell, and don’t you agree that it sounds very appealing?
“In truth, those slogans are aimed at no one else but specifically the Chinese. It is displayed proudly on the chests of DAP candidates and supporters in the Sarawak election so that the Malay leadership of Malaysia is changed,”Utusan added. Very untrue as these statements were aimed at Malaysians of every community and not just the Chinese, Sincerely, the Chinese Malaysians should not be faulted for BN’s poor performance.
In the Utusan column, it was said that the Chinese community was a united force whose “brotherhood” was unmatched by any other race in the country. That they were united, helping each other economically, close and supportive, protective of their language, culture and each other, is a very good observation by Utusan. If that is the case shouldnt we try to emulate the Chinese then?
“In short, the Chinese are actually very fortunate to be in Malaysia. They have controlled everything. The top ten Chinese are Malaysian billionaires,” Utusan wrote.
I would not agree with that, as I think if they could make it here, and if they were back in China they would have been multibillionaires, given their explosive economy. And on no account, should we imply that they are fortunate to be in Malaysia. They are like you and me, born and bred here, and they are Malaysian citizens, and they also contribute to the economy of the country. We have no arguments with them.
Malays disunited?
Zaini, the Utusan editor who wrote the article, also said that while DAP has united the Chinese politically, Malays have so far done nothing in response. They are a race that is quite comfortable, complacent and apathetic. In fact, their thoughts are quite disorganised,” he wrote.
That is a sad fact as Malays are disunited. But the fact that UMNO has not done very much to improve the lot of the Malays, while the Chinese were racing to the finish line is the biggest factor that has caused the Malays to look at greener pastures in PKR and PAS.
Malays themselves cannot see much hope in racial politics and many are secretly hoping for change that will see a clearer landscape and a cleaner government, corruption free, nationalistic and where we can be respected for our beliefs. Utusan and UMNO always seem to condemn our own race. I really wonder why?
I think the last thing we want is to fan the fires of racism. Malaysia is a wonderful place, and it is big enough for all Malaysians, and we should learn to share, and respect each other’s beliefs and culture. Let the Politicians fight among themselves and while we try and douse the flames of radicalism.
Lastly, BN should ask themselves why the Malaysian Chinese are leaving in the first place. Very frankly, I think Chinese and Indians see BN as a lame government, unable to control the fanaticism of certain factions, the bullying tactics, and their unofficial label as 2nd class citizens, the Divide and Rule policy, clinging on to a hopeless Race Based Politics, Rampant Corruption and the erosion of Human Rights. Even Malays have lost hope as evidenced in the last election. What then of the others?
Utusan added that the Chinese component parties in Barisan Nasional (BN) would not be upset with such a move to unite the Malays as the Chinese were already united.
No, they would not be upset, but they will blow their tops at such a suggestion. It is a direct challenge to their loyalty for BN, and it will not go down well with the other component parties. BN should instead transform itself from the beginning, instead of clutching at straws now, because I really fail to see how the Chinese can be a threat to us.
Choose the 1Malaysia route
If BN and the Home Ministry endorses Utusan’s view, which many consider as anti-national, it will only strengthen the people's belief, that our Government is not serious about 1Malaysia.
In the past, religious protests against the Bible and Malay Supremacy were seen as sabotage by subversive elements out to disable Najib’s 1Malaysia. It has also tarnished Najib’s sincerity to promote the 1Malaysia concept.
BN failed to see that Malaysians were ready to embrace and had actually accepted 1Malaysia in the past, but bit by bit, this was chipped away by uncontrolled racist and religious flare-ups until most Malaysians now cannot feel even its shadow.
The RM50 million email fiasco will also not resurrect the faded 1Malaysia image and neither can the mainstream media if it continues to publish everything contrary to what 1Malaysia stands for.
[Source: MC]
No comments:
Post a Comment