Posted on by Kit

Ripping to shreds Shamsul Akmar’s arguments

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

I would like to reply to Shamsul’s article that appeared in today’s New Straits Times. You can read the full text of the article below. The parts in brackets (Point number 1, 2, 3, etc.) are my own additions for easy reference — so that you know which part of the article I am replying to.

Point number 1: Ex-Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been lamenting about the problem with the Malays his entire life. His letters to First Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman (which I have already published in the Internet back in 2001-2002) and his book, The Malay Dilemma, show that his opinion of the Malays go way back to the 1960s.

During one Umno general assembly, Mahathir cried because, according to him, he was disappointed about the attitude of the Malays. When asked by a journalist soon after he retired what he would consider his greatest regret in 22 years as Prime Minister, Mahathir replied that his greatest regret is that he could not change the attitude of the Malays.

And which part of the attitude of the Malays is Mahathir so upset about? He said it in his letters to Tunku Rahman, he said it in his book, The Malay Dilemma, and he said it many times more after that.

The Malays are too feudalistic, said Mahathir. “Why can’t the Malays be more like the Chinese, pragmatic?” asked Mahathir. And one of the reasons (I said ONE of the reasons) Mahathir engaged the Rulers in two Constitutional Crises back in the 1980s were to ‘break’ the feudalistic mentality of the Malays.

But he failed. The Malays rallied behind the Rulers, not behind Umno, and Mahathir was forced to back off.

So how does Shamsul come across whacking DAP for being feudalistic when the Grand Old Man of Malaysian politics said that this is what is the problem with the Malays? It is like a prostitute accusing Paris Hilton of being a woman of loose morals.

Point number 2: Shamsul accuses DAP of being a Chinese chauvinist party. Does DAP stand for Parti Cina Malaysia like the ‘M’ in Umno stands for Malays, the ‘C’ in MCA for Chinese and the ‘I’ in MIC for Indians? The ‘D’ in DAP stands for Democratic, not Chinese.

Point number 3: ‘Middle ground’ means meet in the middle. It does not mean ‘Middle Kingdom’ like in Old China. In English, when we say we search for the middle ground, it means we look for a compromise. We meet halfway. You take one step towards us and we take one step towards you. That is how we achieve the middle ground.

In short, it is not a winner takes all and loser loses all type of situation. It is you give in and I also give in. We both sacrifice something for the sake of compromise and for the sake of meeting in the middle, the middle ground.

Point number 4: And of course DAP will never be able to do it alone, as Shamsul says. Malaysia is not about one race or one religion. Malaysia is a diversity of races and religions. But how do you achieve unity in diversity? Well, you create a ‘melting pot’ of ethnicities. So certainly DAP can’t do this alone without the support of the others.

Is this so wrong? In fact, it is the reverse of wrong, although Shamsul tries to portray this in a negative light.

Point number 5: Sure, DAP’s slogan used to be Malaysian Malaysia. But DAP realises that Malaysians do not quite grasp what it means. So that has since been dropped. In fact, it was dropped a long time ago, not only now.

What about Umno’s slogans that have changed ever so often? Now it is 1Malaysia. It used to be Islam Hadhari not too long ago. And, before that, Umno had a string of slogans such as Malaysia Inc., Look East Policy, Buy British Last, and God knows what else. There are so many I can’t even remember them all.

Point number 6: Now this is an interesting point raised by Shamsul. Is DAP’s Middle Malaysia meant to break Barisan Nasional’s domination? I certainly hope so. I would be very upset if DAP is embarking on the Middle Malaysia strategy with no intentions to break Barisan Nasional’s domination. It must always be about demolishing Barisan Nasional. It must never be about anything but that.

Point number 7: Now Shamsul laments that PAS is compromising with its other partners in Pakatan Rakyat. Well, good for PAS. I remember when Umno used to lament that PAS is so extreme and uncompromising. Now Umno complains about the reverse?

Point number 8: Maybe there are some in PAS who share the top leadership’s views about the Allah word issue while there are some who don’t, as Shamsul alleges. So what? Have you not heard of democracy? Have you not heard that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion? Have you not heard about the right to express your opinion? And you say this is bad? I say it is good. It shows that democracy exists in PAS and that members are allowed the freedom to disagree, even with the top leadership.

Point number 9: Ah, Shamsul has to be very careful here. Khalid Samad is not ‘justifying’ his support for and solidarity with DAP and PKR by quoting verses of the Quran. If the Quran says so then the Quran says so. You are not ‘justifying’ anything by following the Quran. You are just being a good Muslim. And this is a crime?

Point number 10: Okay, let us talk about the Member of Parliament for Kulim. I know him personally of course. And so does my wife, a Chinese who converted to Islam. And one day my wife whacked Zul Nordin in public.

“What kind of Muslim are you?” asked my wife. “You are a hypocrite. You are a disgrace to Islam. You should remove that white skullcap on your head.”

Zul Nordin walked away speechless. He could not reply to even a Chinese who was never born a Muslim but became a Muslim later in life. You should have seen the smile on Datuk Kamarul Bahrin’s face to see a Chinese convert take to task a so-called mujahid of Islam.

So, Shamsul, I would not use Zul Nordin as a ‘good’ example if you want to argue your case. He is court jester at best. His white skullcap is probably too tight it restricts the flow of blood to his brain.

Point number 11: There are two points here. One is about the ‘outdated’ or ‘expired’ leaders in Pakatan Rakyat. I agree with Shamsul on this one and have said the same thing many times myself. Pakatan Rakyat needs to do some spring-cleaning. But then even Umno and Barisan Nasional suffer from this same problem, not only the opposition.

And on the second point that maybe PAS, DAP and PKR should dissolve and everyone join one party, that is certainly a good idea and I have no criticism against Shamsul on this suggestion. But let us see Barisan Nasional do this first in the spirit of 1Malaysia. I am sure Pakatan Rakyat will not be too far behind once Barisan Nasional takes the lead. Would Barisan Nasional dare do what it is challenging Pakatan Rakyat to do?

Point number 12: And on the final part of Shamsul’s piece, I want to correct him on only one point. Pakatan Rakyat is NOT a multi-racial party like Barisan Nasional. It is a non-race-based coalition. Multi-racial is still racial. Pakatan Rakyat is non-race-based, which means race, even multi-racial, does not exist.

And this is what Shamsul and his Umno masters do not understand. And since they do not understand they therefore do not know how to ‘spin’ their anti-Pakatan Rakyat propaganda.

Enough said already!

*************************************************

Middling value in ‘Middle Malaysia’
SHAMSUL AKMAR, New Straits Times

DAP’S new remedy for the nation — Middle Malaysia, sounds quite ancient and feudal — very much like the Zhou Dynasty’s Middle Kingdom.

Even if the Middle Kingdom is attached to that which is Egyptian, it is still very feudal, a period when rulers were divine and a law unto themselves. But for most Malaysians, surely Middle Malaysia will echo that of the Chinese Middle Kingdom and not that of the Egyptian. (Point number 1)

As it is, it has already been pointed out in the blogosphere that DAP’s departure from Malaysian Malaysia to Middle Malaysia is an attempt to beguile the Malays who had rejected the former as a subtle chauvinist agenda. (Point number 2)

Whether such arguments will gain currency is anybody’s guess but the coining of the new slogan by DAP has attracted debate.

It is ironic because DAP stalwarts, its national publicity secretary, Tony Pua, for example, in promoting the Middle Malaysia idea in his blog, described it as “apt in times like this, as we swim in various parochial and fringe controversies like Allah and ketuanan Melayu”, are now themselves accused of promoting “a chauvinistic fringe concept”.

Pua, when explaining Middle Malaysia, said: “It is time to position DAP and our partners Pas and PKR as taking the middle ground where the overwhelming majority of Malaysians stand, while leaving our political enemies to take the extremist position.” (Point number 3)

It sounds very reasonable albeit rhetorical.

But the more interesting aspect about Middle Malaysia is that DAP concedes that it will not be able to achieve it on its own and that it needs the all-round support of Pas and PKR. (Point number 4)

This is unlike its Malaysian Malaysia concept which was promoted as a DAP exclusive. With the promotion of Middle Malaysia, Malaysian Malaysia may soon be a slogan of the past. (Point number 5)

The first question now is whether this Middle Malaysia will be embraced wholeheartedly by DAP’s partners.

The next is whether Middle Malaysia is the formula to break Barisan Nasional’s domination. (Point number 6)

While PKR may just adopt anything, which can undermine or diminish Umno and BN, the same cannot be said about Pas.

Pas has, since the taste of the 2008 general election bounty, shown its preparedness to compromise on issues, which used to be its raison d’etre such as the Islamic state and hudud, but on several occasions struggled to keep abreast of its secular and liberal partners. (Point number 7)

Even in the Herald issue, Pas leaders have been unable to commit themselves to whether they agree on the use of the word “Allah” by those of other faiths. (Point number 8)

There are those within their midst like MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad who has shown his eagerness to be aligned with DAP and PKR in much of their political stance, justifying his action with Quranic verses and Prophetic traditions. (Point number 9)

For that matter, even in PKR, the MP for Kulim Bandar Baru has on several occasions shown that he was opposed to the pursuits of DAP and his party. (Point number 10)

Before the DAP can “sell” its Middle Malaysia to the rest of Malaysians, their partners would have to get their act together and remove their leaders who are still stuck in various parochial and fringe political principles.

Another question begging for an answer is if DAP can convince PKR in embracing Middle Malaysia — would not the separate entities become redundant, if not overlapping?

As it is, most of DAP’s pronouncements are either echoed by PKR or similarly trumpeted. If Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) could see this and decide to embrace PKR, surely, sooner or later, either PKR or DAP must come to such a conclusion.

The only difference between the two parties now is that DAP has more non-Malays while PKR has more Malays and if they both decide to blur the racial identities, they should be able to exist as one and helm the Middle Malaysia together and not separately. (Point number 11)

But it is doubtful that Pas can ever be with the others unless DAP and PKR accept its leadership and subscribe to some of its ideological principles.

Then, it can be wondered aloud if Pas will be accused of subscribing to parochial and fringe interests.

On the part of the BN, it will never be able to be one as it was formed as a coalition of separate entities intending to pursue separate interests.

That has been its strength and its bane depending on the ebb and flow of domestic politics.

If the respective races they represent are comfortable, even if not necessarily pleased, with the distribution and equation, then the coalition is in good stead.

That has been the formula since the days of the Alliance and the succeeding BN.

The acceptance of BN over the years is actually quite a feat given the fact that it is not ideology-driven unless its pragmatism is considered one.

Otherwise, it is a political bargaining by party elites and adjustments are made where and when necessary.

While detractors are accusing BN of being too immersed in race politics, the BN components have existed because each race wanted them to represent its interests.

BN is actually a reflection of what the Malaysian races are all about — the want for race-based privileges be they in economy, or in education.

If the Malay/Bumiputeras want their privileges in scholarships and other economic ventures, the non-Bumiputeras want their race-based education to be protected and defended.

For as long as the different races in the country feel that their needs and interests are best pursued by the politicians and political parties representing their race, the BN concept remains the most viable though not necessarily ideal.

Their detractors, though styling themselves as multiracial are never far away from pursuing these racial interests in their political quests.

The only difference is that the BN admits it is a congregation of race-based parties while their opponents proclaim themselves to be the epitome of multiracial virtues.

And how dare anyone equate Middle Malaysia with the Middle Kingdom. (Point number 12)

32 Replies to “Ripping to shreds Shamsul Akmar’s arguments”

  1. RPK is brilliant in his thoughts
    A true patriot who unfortunately is hounded by Umno B/BN in order 2 silence him
    RPK a truly lethal weapon against Umno B/BN, cos d latter knew that this 1man champion can n will lead 2 d demise of Umno B/BN
    At all cost, Umno B/BN must stop RPK fr participating in d next GE, esp as speaker
    M’sia needs more RPKs 2 move on 2 a true 1M’sia

  2. “the BN concept remains the most viable though not necessarily ideal.” shamsul said.

    BN concept is “not necessarily ideal”, he thought. Yeah. Yeah. That we all know. Worse than that, the BN concept in its 50yrs of operation had bled away hundreds of billions of our money, shooed away hundreds of thousands of our young and capable people and granted citizenship or PRship to millions and millions of undeserving aliens who were labourers, low skilled workers and uneducated people. Saying the BN concept is “not necessarily ideal” is like saying Bush was “not necessarily wrong” to have mounted the “war on terror” in Iraq. BN concept is evidently wrong! And what is evidently wrong cannot at the same time be “viable”.

    He certainly made a nice specimen of stupidity in its purest form.

  3. YB Kit,
    Situation may get worsening off with two cases of hog head attack happened at two suraus at Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur on early morning 27 Jan 2010.

    Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein should tell us about the truth. What was actually happening in Malaysia now?

  4. ///When asked by a journalist soon after he retired what he would consider his greatest regret in 22 years as Prime Minister, Mahathir replied that his greatest regret is that he could not change the attitude of the Malays.///

    Good for the Malays who retain their culture and no changed by Mamak to mamak ways. Unfortunately there are some among the UMNOputras who sold their soul to follow mamak.

    Mamak succeeded in changing the thought of some Malays into discriminating jobs, believing that manual work is a disgrace. That is why while we have unemployable graduates and certainly unemployable non-graduates, we still have to depend for foreign workers in agriculture and construction sectors. Mamak moulds Malays into thinking that only white collar jobs are not beneath their dignity, and so the government created non-productive, in terms of goods and service, government jobs to be monopolized by Malays. The expenditure no doubt adds to the computation of GDP for the country and helps to make the figure looks good. Though mamak could not claim to have changed the attitude of all Malays, the number that he has influenced is enough to make this country join the rank of Zimbabwe.

  5. Let’s gear up on the voter registration monitoring process, ensure all malaysia voter by increase the eligible registration hassle free. All malaysian eagerly waiting for this day to cast their vote from the bottom of their heart.

  7. IGP Musa Hassan needs to tell us about the truth: whether the Police Force of Malaysia are still in control of the peace and tranquility on the street of Malaysia.

    In Johor Bahru, we have bunches of jerks walking around at the city centre identifying themselves as the Royal Princes threatening and bullying the tourists coming from the direction of Singapore. What action did the Police take on these faked princes?

    And the recent hog head left in the mosque located along Old Klang Road simply cannot happen by chance or by accident. Has IGP Musa Hassan found yet any clue on what is happening in Malaysia with all these recent cases of arson and vandalism happened to the places of worship in Malaysia?

    We have the rights to know what is really happening that can pose threat to the peace and harmony of our society!

  9. “The BN concept remains the most viable though not neccessarily ideal.”..Shamsul . Yeap it’s most viable for umnoputras and cronies,no doubt about it. The people especially the rural malays folk and the east malaysians such as the kadazan/dusun/murut,the ibans and dayaks are becoming poorer and poorer.See shamsul, the vast marjority of these poor folks are not bothered with the concept but the implementation side which is pretty questionable.All they are seeing up til now are just talks and no sincere action and whatever action that were taken it was only for the benefits of umnoputras and cronies.The staged NEP is for Umnoputras and cronies in the name of helping the malays folkand other bumiputras. Umnoputras and warlord plus cronies have built castles in almost every poor kampong folks villages through out the country.One can easily see that one castle standing tall among hundreds of pretty poor shelter houses.Here I agree with #2 dagen saying the BN concept is evidently wrong and what is evidenly wrong cannot be at the same time be “viable”. Poor Shamsul has eyes but did not see it .I think it’s more likely that he didn’t want to see it.

  10. For over 30 years we have been fed the same bullsh!t that BN remains the most viable option though not necessarily ideal. When is the “ideal” part going to happen ? In another 30 years ? How can BN be ideal when all its component parties are wracked in internal strife ? When all of the protagonists are fighting for one thing only – power. How can BN be viable when the country is on a slippery slope to oblivion ?

    Nah, PR should be given a chance to prove themselves as being even more viable than BN. Many of us know it is not too difficult to prove this.

  13. //His white skullcap is probably too tight it restricts the flow of blood to his brain.//

    Is his white skullcap the same as the headband worn by the Monkey King which contracts and squeezes his skull when he disobeys his master?

  15. akmar’s text is so boring i almost fell asleep half way reading it. & i didn’t finish reading it at all. It’s the same old childish way of trying to make the opposition look bad. I read his 1st paragraph, I already know the entire essence of whatever he is trying to poop out.

    let’s compare what the two wrote.

    Yea, you all see it too. That’s the difference between an adult and an ignorant child

  16. Writer Shamsul Akmar skews the word “Middle” in DAP’s “Middle Malaysia” saying it sounds like “Zhou Dynasty’s Middle Kingdom” when in context, it is but a reference to pursuing a course of action in politics midway between extremes that is neither too liberal nor too conservative, based on pragmatic (read) grounds balancing the competing interest of various races of this multiracial country. In doing so, the writer appears appealing subtly to emotions based on race as when he says, in blogosphere, “DAP’s departure from Malaysian Malaysia to Middle Malaysia is an attempt to beguile the Malays who had rejected the former as a subtle chauvinist agenda”. The writer is assuming that there is a paradigm shift of ideology from ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ to ‘Middle Malaysia’ but he has not examined how different one is from the other.

    The appeal to race is subtly defended throughout as when he defended race based politics of BN. He says that “the BN components have existed because each race wanted them to represent its interests. BN is actually a reflection of what the Malaysian races are all about — the want for race-based privileges be they in economy, or in education.” (Note: The “England” here is obviously not that precise: by “want”, the writer means desire when it fact it means the “lack”). He adds further that “if the Malay/Bumiputeras want their privileges in scholarships and other economic ventures, the non-Bumiputeras want their race-based education to be protected and defended.” Actually these race based agendas are more the agendas of UMNO and MCA but he somehow ascribes it to the rakyat/people as if the likes of communal parties like UMNO and MCA represent the majority, and opines that “for as long as the different races in the country feel that their needs and interests are best pursued by the politicians and political parties representing their race, the BN concept remains the most viable though not necessarily ideal”. This does not answer why, if he says BN’s racial formula is viable, the BN got an electoral beating in last election to the extent that UMNO now seeks to reinvent, and BN comes out with 1 Malaysia inclusive motto; it does not also explain how if it were that viable, a big mountain can be made out of the mole hill of the use of the word “Herald” that led to places of worship being desecrated, the latest being 2 pig heads thrown at mosques’ compounds.

    It is obvious that he thinks little about PR & its component parties making at least an effort via its politics to break out of the racial mold of our traditional politics. Instead he pokes with alacrity at the underbelly of PKR by pointing out Anwar’s kid glove treatment of Kulim Bandar Baharu MP Zulkifli Noordin whose articulations are more consonant with that of UMNO’s, arguing that this shows clearly that although PKR desires “to portray itself as multiracial” it is however “living with the constant fear of losing its pull with the Malay voters”…The writer’s observation is right of course in this respect but it does not balance against genuine efforts made by many quarters within PR (notably Mohd Nizar, LGE, MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad or the other Khalid, MB of Selangor) to overcome the racial component of the political equation. Neither does he balance against the iniquities of racial/communal politics that have in last 50 years entrenched a feudal system of patronage leading to rampant corruption conflicts of interest and abuse of power.

    So the analysis by a journalist of two decades here hardly qualifies as being a balanced and objective piece of writing. To be fair it is likely not intended to be. On that score, detractors of BN and Opposition supporters will be justified to show it the “Middle” finger!

  19. Who does Alliance and later BN represent the last fifty years? Since when were the interests of common people (be they Malays, Chinese, Indians or other Bumiputra) represented in Alliance and BN?

    Today, not only the MCA does not present the Chinese (or MIC the Indians), even UMNO does not represent the common Malays anymore. Alliance and BN are nothing but representing the feudal, crony and elite interests from day one. Please Shamsul, Malaysia is not just Malay privileges or Chinese education. When people want national unity and integration, it is more brought about by genuine desire of individuals to sacrifice a little of themselves in exchange for the greater common good that they can see happening in the society and country they live in. It is who we are as one people under one flag.

  20. I fully understand why and how umno make our generations indebted huge amount of money doesn’t owe. Therefore, be prepare and shoulder together the cause of damages to our nation when new goverment form rather than our children suffer later.

  21. “Sacrifice a little of themselves in exchange…for greater common good…”

    You tell me how young UMNOputras driving Bentleys and Ferraris have sacrificed ANYTHING of themselves. The day Mamakthir came into power and decided that the end justified the means was the day that this country went to the dogs.

  22. Shamsul article appeared in NST? Did not read it, only saw it Utusan.. Did he really did the English writing himself or was it translated?

    For the life of me, I don’t have a clue who the average NST reader is. Frankly, if the article came out even in TheStar, lots of people will cancel their subscription and sales would drop..

    Common, read the language in English. Maybe it shows I am poorly trained in BM or that BM training is just bad training in this country (I got all As school!) but when you read it in BM, the automatic objection don’t register very quickly but in English, my training sort of automatically rebut very quickly internally. You read each line and automatically without much thinking, you automatically see the poor argument, the poor logic in a thousand myriad ways..

    So you wonder if this article if appear in other publication can result in cancellation, you wonder what the effect is on NST and who their readers are?

  26. limkamput :
    Zaid should just join DAP, no need to argue too much within PKR; it is a wasted effort.

    Actually Zaid has mentioned it clearly before. He joined PKR because he need to join one of the parties in PR to be able to be officially recognized and to undertake the necessary work.

    Zaid is actually commited to PR and not to any specific one of the parties that make up PR.

    Besides, DAP and PAS has got enough decent leaders already (roughly speaking). PKR is the party that is in dire need of good leaders.

  27. PR must be doing some thing right that get UmnoUtusans so worried !

    As can be seen from the rebuttal by RPK and the article by UmnoPutra, the days of UmnoUtusan are not far. This is good news for Malaysia

  28. PKR is Umno’s main target as it’s the most vulnerable within PR. Umno’s target is to seek certain PKR’s MPs and state assemblyman who are pretty vulnerable to greed and power to their side in order to destroy PR. PKR should hold on firmly its position if they want to lead PR to victory in the 13th general election. PKR should emulate the good shepherd who counts his sheep everyday and if one is missing,he would search and rescue it and bring it back to the flock.

  30. Everything and anything not working smoothly in keDAILan..DAP and PAS are noted and reported in details…with interviews made by anyone……telling why they are not happy with PR..reported in papers…fast..up to date..news.
    You can never see the efficiency ….if anyone..leaving UMNO/BN.
    The power of suggesting…promoting ..advertising…all bad news of PR and all good new of UMNO and BN….on and on…till all Malaysians cannot escape to be hypnotized with the thoughts…how good UMNO and BN are…don’t rock the boat..vote them in …..forever.
    You need to read how these unhappy guys explain Refomasi no more in PR and Evolution..is PR objectives.
    I am glad…from a racist mouth…he noted PR is doing a job to have an 180% turn away from present government.. fast tracking things….away from UMNO’s way of governing.
    PR is fine tuning everything for the coming 13th GE…and better let all the bad new out now…and not at last moment…near election time.
    In 12th GE… all voted the symbols of PR…and 13th GE…will have greater amount of voters…doing same thing..to get rid of UMNO/BN.
    Najib knows….how weak is UMNO/BN…and the show has just started to confuse Malaysians..with fear and terror.

  31. Trouble between a prostitude and Paris Hilton is filty RMRMRMRMRMRM…But what makes a Malay a Malay ? There are so many different races. Bugis. Javaneses. Achehnese. They speak Malay too. They all have one common religion. Would a Bugis prefer to be known as a Malay ?

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