By P Ramakrishnan | 11 August 2012
Aliran
It is a ridiculous to claim that only Umno. MCA and MIC have the right to decide the Merdeka Day theme because the founding members of these parties fought for and won Independence for the country.
This was stated by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz. It is well known that his forte is in making statements that have very little merit!
Every Malay, every Chinese and every Indian was not a member of these communal parties then. Is he trying to assert that without the support of the vast majority of these communities who were not members of these parties, Umno, MCA and MIC successfully negotiated with the British for our Independence?
Common sense will dictate that there was no need for them to be members of any political party to support a just cause. Just because they were not members of any political party at that time that did not invalidate their support and influence in the quest for our freedom. Without the tacit support of the majority of people who were not members of these political parties, we could not have attained our freedom.
These people may not have been members of political parties, but many of them were not just ordinary people. They too were involved in societies and welfare organizations and wanted Independence for our country. There were civil society groups and the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action (AMCJA), the Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) and the Persatuan Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya or PKMM – all involved in the fight for Independence. It was the sum total support of everyone that secured our freedom from colonial rule.
Today we may not be members of Umno, MCA or MIC but all of us are the legitimate descendants of that generation who played a significant role in the struggle for Independence. What was achieved then is also our heritage. This heritage is not the sole monopoly of Umno, MCA or MIC. All of us are inheritors of that heritage. Let this be not forgotten!
As citizens of Malaysia, we also have a right to be consulted and have the right to propose a theme for the Merdeka celebrations. To deny this responsibility – as the BN government is trying to do – is to display sheer arrogance of power and nothing else!
Thousands of Malaysians have rejected the theme and logo chosen by the BN government on the grounds that it smacks of Barisan Nasional’s political propaganda and it is absolutely unbecoming on this occasion. The Merdeka celebration must be above politics and must remain as a celebration that brings all the citizens together to rejoice in the memory of 31 August 1957.
But the BN government is being obstinate in wanting to go ahead with its decision for petty political reasons.
This is totally unnecessary. The BN’s stubbornness is alienating a sizeable number of Malaysians from jointly celebrating this auspicious occasion in the true spirit of Merdeka. That is a pity!
________
P Ramakrishnan, the immediate past president of Aliran, continues to serve on the Aliran executive committee
Rama: If you have been following the pro-BN blogs, you will find that many are of the opinion that the Chinese and the Indians were given citizenships through the sheer generosity of the Malays in the 1950s. They are now saying that the pendatangs don’t merit a say in anything, and should simply sit still and be grateful. That’s what MCA, Gerakan and MIC are doing.
///A lack of employment could be a major source of motivation for criminals in the country said Datuk Akhbar Satar the director of HELP University’s Institute of Crime and Criminology He also said that it was easy now for people to learn how to commit crimes due to widespread information over channels such as the Internet “When people have no job they feel they have no other way to survive ” he said “They want a shortcut to get money ” Akhbar also said that to fight crime over the long term the country has to cultivate the value of integrity in its citizens.///–MalaysianInsider
To cultivate the value of integrity in the citizens should begin with cultivating the value of integrity among the leaders, and particularly the politicians. Corruption breaks a persons integrity, and with institutionalized corruption the society simply breaks down.
The so-called affirmative actions through NEP is another form of making people seek short-cut to success. Tun Razak wanted NEP to last for 20 years but it has gone on for forty years and continuing. Two generations have depended on short-cut. That short-cut mentality has become Malay culture.
Student visas have been misused by so-called institutions teaching basic English in the country to import Africans who are in the news as nuisance to the country. In this case, the directors of a few institutions make a lot of money and the ordinary citizens pay the price of having to tolerate nuisance. These English-language students have the time to learn about the environment to commit crime, and after that they can always head home to escape arrest. Meanwhile the police are blamed for inaction.
When BN (UMNO, MCA, MIC etc) is defeated at the coming elections, they will no longer be able to determine the annual Merdeka them, if we follow Nazri’s moronic reasonings.
Pakatan will be in charge and it will lead all the people, naughty and mischievous BN people included, to celebrate our National Day as ONE people. Nazri can then sulk.
When BN (UMNO, MCA, MIC etc) is defeated at the coming elections, they will no longer be able to determine the annual Merdeka theme, if we follow Nazri’s moronic reasonings.
Pakatan will be in charge and it will lead all the people, naughty and mischievous BN people included, to celebrate our National Day as ONE people. Nazri can then sulk.
BN hopes that MCA might get 10% of Chinese votes. Thus 90% of Chinese would not vote MCA. Of the 10 million voters, 2 million are Chinese. Thus only 200,000 Chinese might vote BN though MCA claims to have more than a million members. Some 80% of MCA members would not vote MCA. These MCA members might not actively withdraw their membership from MCA, but they know that MCA now has lost its soul. In fact MCA has created problems for Chinese Malaysians because they gave BN the excuse to claim that policies discriminating against Chinese are accepted by Chinese representative in government. Without MCA, foreign investors might think twice about coming here, and the government would have to explain how racist policy could ensure stability. MCA can play a beneficial role to Chinese and the country if it stops pretending to be a political party representing Chinese interest. If it intends to play a political role, it should stop to be affiliated to a racial political structure.
“…It is a ridiculous to claim that only Umno. MCA and MIC have the right to decide the Merdeka Day theme because the founding members of these parties fought for and won Independence for the country….”
This is the underlying cause of the power abuse and rampant corruption in the BN. These people feel they have this God given right to grab what they can from the gravy train becuase they had fought for the independence. Never mind that they were just babies when independence was granted. And just because they joined the BN they have the right to rape and ravaged the nation.