Malay leaders with their one-track minds

By Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Jan 5, 2015

Many Malay leaders only know how to play one note, ‘C’. They should find people who are able to teach them how to use other notes when making intellectual melodies. The tunes these Malay leaders play constantly harp on the Chinese, Christians, communists, children in child custody cases, and compassion.

Decades of indoctrination have damaged the mindsets of many Malays. The process can be undone, but the work has to start now.

If you want to see how jittery some of those in authority are, look at the manner in which the Ipoh City Council (MBI) reacted to the mural which Lithuanian painter and graffiti artist Ernest Zacharevic painted on the wall of an Ipoh shoplot. His painting showed an old man drinking coffee, but to some Malays, the painting resembled Chin Peng, the deceased secretary-general of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).

Sinar Harian reported that the MBI would hold talks with Zacharevic to alter the painting. Some Ipoh residents made allegations of a subtle effort to reintroduce communism to Malaysians. Sense finally prevailed, and the MBI did not make any changes to the painting, but why did they entertain bigots in the first place?

Perak NGO Front chairperson Mohd Salleh Mohd Khan made the absurd suggestion that the owner of the building should be questioned, “so that everything is made clear”.

The violence of the CPM still haunts many Malaysians, but what appears to escape the minds of many Malays, is that their own government is deeply indebted to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Our leaders love it when leaders of the hottest economy on earth want to cultivate their friendship. Mao Zedong’s great leap forward into communism has now been followed by a greater leap in the pursuit of profit.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) central committee member Rani Rasiah reported in 2011 that every year, representatives of the Communist Party of Cuba attend the Umno general assembly in Kuala Lumpur. Bilateral ties between Malaysia and Cuba were arranged by Mukhriz Mahathir, president of the Friends of Cuba Association in Malaysia.

The PRC owns big chunks of Malaysia and has invested heavily in our economy. One political pundit alleges that at a recent sale of luxury apartments in Shanghai, the purchase also included a complimentary apartment in Johor Baru.

The monorail in Malacca was built by a firm from the PRC, and despite breaking down, former menteri besar Mohd Ali Rustam kept pouring hundreds of millions of ringgit into the monorail project, which can’t even travel along the few kilometres of track.

In 2013, HELP University conferred an honorary doctorate on North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un. His people were delighted. Did the Malay NGOs who worry about the coffee-drinking grandfather complain about the possible influence on Malaysians, by the North Koreans who are sent to study here?

The PRC buys large amounts of our raw materials. China dolls have been accused of taking away the attentions of Malaysian men, who then neglect their responsibilities to their own families.

Tourist arrivals from the PRC were affected by the disappearance of MH370, and our Tourism Ministry was alarmed. When the PRC navy performed drills on the James Shoal islands, some 80km from the Sarawak coastline off Bintulu, our head of the armed forces dismissed these concerns.

Why make a fuss?

Did the Malay NGOs complain about the subtle ‘invasion’ of the PRC? Why make a fuss about the image of an elderly gentleman on a wall?

Muslim extremists complain that the Chinese-led People’s Action Party (PAP) of Singapore are trying to take over Malaysia, but why keep silent about the sand being smuggled from Malaysia for Singapore’s land reclamation projects? Malaysia is literally being moved to build Singapore.

In Selangor and Penang, Umno Baru, their supporters, and extremist Malay and Muslim NGOs, all blame Christians for wanting to insult Islam or to install a Christian MB in the two states. Allegations of the conversion of Malays to Christianity have been made, but none of these irresponsible politicians have produced any evidence of these “Christian Malays”. Did ordinary Malays ever wonder why these allegations only surface in opposition-held states?

Just before the Bersih 2.0 rally in July 2011, 31 PSM members were arrested by the police. They were accused of staging a coup d’état and plotting to overthrow the Agong. The police evidence included T-shirts bearing the image of Che Guevara and independence fighters such as Rashid Maidin and Abdullah CD.

Inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar (left) refused to do his duty and arrest Muslim convert Mohamad Ridhuan Abdullah who had kidnapped his child after the High Court granted custody of their daughter to his wife, M Indira Ghandi, in 2010. Malaysians are justified in feeling that they cannot depend on the courts to dispense justice.

Last December, the Court of Appeal ruled that the IGP cannot be compelled to recover Indira’s six-year-old daughter. If it had been Ridhuan who had won custody of his daughter, many Malaysians believe that the IGP would have speedily arrested Indira.

Malay leaders with a one-track mind are easily spooked by words which begin with ‘C’. They help to spread panic and defeatism amongst the Malay community. It is hoped that in 2015, thinking Malays like those in the Eminent 25, will help create a fairer society in Malaysia.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).