Posted on

Bahasa Malaysia – by itself will not promote togetherness, unity and integration among Malaysians

Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday that the reversion of the designation of the national language as Bahasa Malaysia as in the first three decades of nationhood was intended to promote togetherness, unity and integration among Malaysians.

He said the government did not want to see the Cabinet’s decision in April being turned into polemics.

He said: “Our view regarding the national language is that it is owned by everyone, regardless of race and ethnicity.

“Although the national language is Malay, we want to make it a language for all. That is the rationale (for the change).”

Although this is the latest “flip-flop” of the Barisan Nasional government under the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, I support it.

I welcome both the restoration of Bahasa Malaysia as the official reference to the national language and Najib’s explanation, especially as Najib was one of those responsible in turning the issue into polemics in 1986.

Although Anwar Ibrahim is being blamed for the change from Bahasa Malaysia to Bahasa Melayu in 1986 when he was Education Minister, one of Anwar’s strongest supporters in the change at the time was none other than Najib, who was then the Deputy Umno Youth leader to Anwar as the Umno Youth leader.

It has taken Najib more than 20 years to fully understand and accept the DAP’s arguments at the time criticizing the change on the ground that the national language must transcend its racial origin to become a language of all Malaysians regardless of race, language, religion or culture. It is better late than never.

However, the restoration of the term Bahasa Malaysia to designate the national language does not mean that the various mother-tongues of multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-cultural Malaysia are not Malaysian languages — as all mother-tongues of Malaysians must be fully recognized as an integral part of the Malaysian linguistic and cultural mosaic. Continue reading “Bahasa Malaysia – by itself will not promote togetherness, unity and integration among Malaysians”

Posted on

Restoration of Bahasa Malaysia welcome – but why the sheepish, surreptitious, selective announcement?

The restoration of Bahasa Malaysia as the official reference to the national language is most welcome.

DAP had been very critical of the move in the eighties when Bahasa Malaysia was dropped and replaced by Bahasa Melayu, as it was a step backwards for Malaysian nation-building.

The Cabinet decision in April to restore the term Bahasa Malaysia for the national language has proven the DAP right in taking a far-sighted nationalist position in the past two decades that the term Bahasa Malaysia should continue to be used to signify that the national language had been elevated to a language for the nation and all races which make up the nation — and that it was Umno, MCA,. Gerakan, MIC and all the other Barisan Nasional component parties which had been wrong in taking a retrogressive step.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was the Education Minister in 1986 when initiating the change, had been blamed for dropping the term Bahasa Malaysia in favour of Bahasa Melayu.

The question is why the other Ministers and leaders in Barisan Nasional, whether Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC and other component parties from Sabah and Sarawak went along with the change and did nothing to restore the term for the past 10 years when Anwar was no more in the Barisan Nasional. Continue reading “Restoration of Bahasa Malaysia welcome – but why the sheepish, surreptitious, selective announcement?”

Posted on

Dancing with desire

by Azly Rahman

“The self-controlled soul, who moves amongst sense objects, free from either attachment or repulsion, he wins eternal Peace.”
– Bhagavad Gita

In the Golden Age, Rulers were unknown. In the following age Rulers were loved and praised. Next came the age when rulers were feared. Finally the age when rulers are hated.
– Lao Tzu

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
~ Voltaire

Wealth and power are temptations that erode our character. We should enslave these and put them to good use with the help of the inner self.

Many will fail and suffer when wealth and power become master to one’s destiny. The self will be destroyed, families will break down, communities will be in chaos, nations will become violent and turn against each other, countries will go to war and destroy countless millions.

American is one nation that is being destroyed. Malaysia will be following suit if we do not amputate our desire and stop dancing to its tune.

Inner peace, like what Kung Fu’Tze, Lao Tze, the Buddha, etc taught us begins with the inner self, inner conscience.

In Islam it is called “fitrah” or the “the gift” that has to be known, named, taken care of, nurtured, developed, and fed with good and healthy food of the soul so that this inner self may become larger than the universe outside and will have the energy to conquer evil.

This inner self will be the dictator to inner desire that wants to dominate, plunder, and possess others. Continue reading “Dancing with desire”

Posted on

Michael Backman – most wasteful projects in Malaysia

Exclusive Interview with Michael Backman

1. What was the initial thought that prompted you to write about your “Boleh or Bodoh column”? What was and has been your intention in writing the article?

Malaysia has good people, good resources and a legal system that ought to function. It depresses me that Malaysia hasn’t been more successful than it has and that it is still fighting the old fights of the 1960s.

Malaysia ‘s Chinese have accepted the NEP and its successor policies. They define themselves as Malaysians first and foremost and are among the proudest Malaysians. They have learned Malay. Essentially, they have done everything that has been required of them and yet still there is this endless preoccupation with race in Malaysia.

Meanwhile the rest of the world is just so unbelievably dynamic now. Malaysia is looking more and more like a sleepy backwater relative to what’s going on elsewhere in the world.

Many Malaysians don’t seem to understand this. Many like to travel overseas – but when they do, too many look but they don’t see. They don’t see how things in Malaysia could be improved. They don’t want to learn from anywhere else. They think Malaysia is a special case. They should be bringing back new ideas to Malaysia. Instead they just want to bring back duty free.

2. Have you ever considered the impact the column might have upon your relationship with Malaysian government and its people? We understand Rafidah Aziz, Malaysia’s Minister for Trade and Industry, criticised your column by saying you probably know nothing about Malaysia. Has there been any (positive or negative) impact/response from publishing the column? Continue reading “Michael Backman – most wasteful projects in Malaysia”

Posted on

Don’t ban it if you don’t get it

Don’t ban it if you don’t get it
Azly Rahman

There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance. – Goethe, German philosopher

The Internal Security Ministry denied that it had seized 10 copies of the book on May 13, clarifying that it had only taken the books to check the contents. The books would be returned if they contained nothing that violated the Printing Press and Publications Act 1984.

Deputy Minister Fu Ah Kiow said news reports stating that the books were seized were incorrect and believed that the matter was being deliberately blown out of proportion to gain publicity. “It is just a very ordinary procedure, something that the officers will do if they receive reports about any publication that may be unfavourable for the public.

“They will still carry out their duties even if there is no report,” he told reporters. Fu was asked to comment on the books taken from a bookstore in Mid-Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. Fu said his officers were still reading the contents.’ (The Star)

The above news report still amplified the culture of book banning we have had since independence. To be telling schoolchildren and parents that we ban books is not conveying a smart message for our smart schools. Why not tell these children to think and think freely and to read and read voraciously? Why use the schools to promote the message of active ignorance?

Active ignorance

In our history, one of the most famous books banned was of course The Malay Dilemma by a medical doctor from Titi Gajah, Kedah. The author later became Malaysia’s fourth prime minister, staying in power for 22 years. We banned Kassim Ahmad, Othman Ali, Karen Armstrong, and many work of national and international authors who proposed new line of thinking about society. We ban good movies on the Malaysian early political experience that tries to enrich our youth with a radical perspective of this nation and its narration.

We were even afraid of our respectable social scientist Dr. Lim Teck Ghee’s Asli findings on the New Economic Policy, written with such a refreshing and constructivist perspective. Through the repressive Internal Security Act, we jailed out intellectuals — without trial — people like Lim Kit Siang, Dr Syed Husin Ali, Kassim Ahmad, Dr Chandra Muzaffar, and many others who lived their lives presenting alternative viewpoints for a better Malaysian future. We have installed a government of active ignorance, interested in the advancement of poor understanding of human development. We continue to live a national life of contradiction. Continue reading “Don’t ban it if you don’t get it”

Posted on

A simple and dignified wedding celebration spoiled by the presence of the State Mufti

by Richard Teo

Like many Malaysians, I was particularly enthralled when the Raja Muda, Raja Nazrin Shah in a speech some time ago declared that “Malaysians of all races, religions and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun”.

For such pearls of wisdom to flow from a regal figure is extraordinary especially when we compare to the diversive speech by our erstwhile politicians in a political meeting sometime ago.

However, like many others, I feel disappointed that the simple and dignified wedding celebrations was tainted by the presence of the State Mufti, Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria who was given a prominent role in conducting the wedding ceremony.

This religious head who is Perak’s State Mufti should have been charged and imprisoned for inciting racial riot at a Catholic church. His malicious intent to cause racial disharmony was deliberate. From his pulpit he announced to his shocked congregation that a mass conversion was about to take place in a Christian church.

His infuriated Muslim congregation marched to the Catholic Church and almost cost a riot. Fortunately, an ulgy incident was averted when it was found that the conversion was for a group of Indian girls. Continue reading “A simple and dignified wedding celebration spoiled by the presence of the State Mufti”

Posted on

Rakyat who have made Bangsa Malaysia a reality…

by SK Chua

As a true blue Malaysian born and bred here all my 55 years, I have no doubt that this is the country for me and for my kids.

I was 17 years old and in the hometown of Pontian, Johor when the May 13 incident happened. Our parents’ only concern at that time was my elder brother’s safety in Ceras at the Technical Teachers’ Training College (fondly known as T3C).

Back then there was no email and our parents had to wait for him to call back the next day to tell us he was safe. He told us there was no problem at all at the dormitory and that all students, Malays, Indian and Chinese were like a family to one another and he could not assure us enough that whatever was happening out there was not going to affect their closeness under the same roof.

We believed him. Even in Pontian, we had neighbours and friends of different race and faith living next to each other but we never looked at one another as adversary. Continue reading “Rakyat who have made Bangsa Malaysia a reality…”

Posted on

Was May 13 naturally orchestrated?

Was May 13 naturally orchestrated?
by Azly Rahman

Perhaps it was. That would be the answer to the event that has become embalmed as a semiotic of racial conflict. Perhaps it wasn’t planned. We need more interpretations of this event. If we ban more books on this, we are afraid of holding a mirror to our history and ourselves.

If we encourage our youth to explore the roots of the bloody conflict, we will have a better generation of thinkers. No more “Ketuanan Melayu, China, India,” or whatsoever notions of self-aggrandisement –just the simple act of opening the dialogues of peace.

But was May 13 planned? I have some thoughts.

It has to happen when and because the lid of authoritarianism was lifted. It was the British lid that brought some kind of stability to the lowest of the lower class of Chinese, Indians and Malays. Continue reading “Was May 13 naturally orchestrated?”

Posted on

Malaysia 2007 – export brains, import brawns

Malaysia is celebrating 50th Merdeka anniversary – half-a-century of nationhood. But things are going wrong all over us, whether macro or micro, from long-standing protracted ones to unheard-of scandals and outrage of public services.

The cry of Ooi C.H.’s plaintive email can be summed in one sentence – why is Malaysia continuing to export brains and import brawns? Read Ooi’s cry of a Malaysian patriot and nationalist:

I’m a former student from a famous high school in Bukit Mertajam. Each year, my school ‘produced’ many excellent students and intellectuals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc, for the community and nation.

This year also the same. My school achieved most satisfactory results in both SPM and STPM. But sadly, among those ‘good’ students, more than half will pursue their studies at private colleges, such as Inti, Nilai.

After 1 year of study at these colleges, they will further their study overseas if their financial situation allows them to do so. It’s not only loss of human resources, it also a huge loss in terms of money. Let’s say, if a student spends RM200k to go to Australia, Canada, etc. Imagine how much it wil be if this involves 1000 students a year?

When the STPM results were announced, yes my school did it again. 6 students got 5As and 1 of them was among the best candidates in the country. 38 students gained 4As.

Most of them have done the same thing after receiving their results. Guess what? Yup, they applied for Singapore’s universities. I guess about 15 people got the offer from Singapore. I think all of them will accept the offer, no doubt. What is so surprising about the small number of 15 students?? All of them are top students in my school!! According to the Singapore government’s policy, they will be bonded for 3 years. As they will receive attractive salaries and stable permanent jobs in Singapore, few of them will come back to develop their career in Malaysia. Continue reading “Malaysia 2007 – export brains, import brawns”

Posted on

Jamaludin Jarjis – stop censoring the press and be man enough to make public apology to Sheena Moorthy

The Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Dr. Jamaludin Jarjis should stop censoring the press and be man enough to make an unqualified public apology to third-year CalyPoly Biotech Malaysian student Sheena Moorthy for his disgraceful conduct in making racist and derogatory remarks about Malaysian Indians when he met Malaysian students in Los Angeles, California a fortnight ago on 30th April.

During his official visit to California enroute to the Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO) Convention in Boston, Massachussets, Jamaludin had met some of the Malaysian students studying in California especially the ones from TPM Academy twinning programme at the Belacan Grill Malaysian Restaurant, Redondo Beach, Ca.

One of the students was Sheena Moorthy, who has become a cause celebre with her complaint that during the 3 ½ hour session, Jamaludin made “totally uncalled-for racial insults” when he passed a few racial remarks on her, being one of the two Indians present there.

This incident happened in front of a crowd of about 100 people including students, officials from the Malaysian Consulate, TPM, Tourism Malaysia, etc. But everyone is afraid and nobody is prepared to stand up to speak the truth.

Sheena and her sister, Dr. Sheela Moorthy, who is currently living in the USA and supporting her sister’s education at CalyPoly, are demanding a public apology from Jamaludin.

Sheena has written to complain about Jamaluddi’s racist and derogatory remarks to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and several Malaysian Ministers, including the MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.

Last Tuesday (8th May), I first raised the Sheena-Jamaludin issue in Parliament when I spoke in the debate on the Youth Societies and Youth Development Bill, citing it as one instance of Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders setting bad leadership examples to Malaysian youths on national unity and national integration. Continue reading “Jamaludin Jarjis – stop censoring the press and be man enough to make public apology to Sheena Moorthy”

Posted on

Ketuanan Melayu – are students taught that this is mere history which contradicts Bangsa Malaysia and Vision 2020?

History students must be taught that “Ketuanan Melayu”is a concept pertaining to a past historical era but not pertinent to Malaysia of today as it contradicts the Bangsa Malaysia concept of Vision 2020

Parliament has set up the Select Committee on unity and national service to grapple with difficult and hard issues pertaining to national unity and nation-building.

The task and challenge of the Select Committee is to wrestle with these great issues and give its considered recommendations “and not just transmit the government’s stand or views.

I find that on many issues raised by those who attended the public hearings of the Select Committee, the Select Committee took the easy way out by responding either with “take note” (ambil maklum) or “acknowledges comment” (memperakui ulasan) based on the relevant Ministries’ official replies.

This is utterly useless as this is not the role for which the Select Committee had been set up by Parliament and it should not shirk from its duty to take a stand on the issues pertaining to national unity and integration which had been brought to its attention.

Let me give one illustration.

I refer to the submission by the DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng to the Select Committee on 29th April 2005 on education . The topic, as noted in page 88 of the report, is to “eliminate racist concepts” in Form 3 and Form 5 history textbooks which dwelt on the concept of “Ketuanan Melayu”. Continue reading “Ketuanan Melayu – are students taught that this is mere history which contradicts Bangsa Malaysia and Vision 2020?”

Posted on

Last-minute ban on international Muslim-Christian diagloue – big blow to Malaysia’s reputation as model multi-religious nation

When tabling the motion for the House to accept the interim report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Unity and National Service, the Select Committee Chairman and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Dr. Maximus Ongkili said the government encouraged inter-religious dialogue to promote inter-religious understanding and national integration.

The latest development in this field questions the seriousness of the government’s commitment to inter-religious dialogue.

I have here the London Times report today headlined “Summit on religious harmony is thrown into discord by Malaysia” which reads:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has suffered a serious setback in his attempts to foster Muslim-Christian dialogue after the Malaysian Government banned an interfaith conference he was due to be chairing this week.

Christian and Muslim scholars from around the world had bought air tickets, written papers and begun to pack their bags for the Building Bridges conference, the sixth in a series intended to foster dialogue between the two religions. It was cancelled with just two weeks notice. Continue reading “Last-minute ban on international Muslim-Christian diagloue – big blow to Malaysia’s reputation as model multi-religious nation”

Posted on

Indians can change their destiny

Indians Can Change Their Destiny
by Richard Teo

I fail to agree with Samy Vellu’s assertion that the 3% equity for the Indians had been on the national agenda for a long time and that nothing had been planned and implemented for the community. The failure to reach that equity level lies not wholly with the govt but with the MIC leader which Samy leads.

The dilemma facing the marginalised Indian community will continue as long as they are led by the current MIC leaders. For 25 years the Indian community have been led by these leaders and in many ways the trust bestowed on them have been repeatedly betrayed.

The pitiful and marginalised position the Indian community are enduring would not have occurred had their leaders placed community above self, service and sacrifice above greed.

Partly to blame for this current dilemma are the Indian community generally and the MIC members specifically. Like the proverbial sheep been led to the slaughter house, they had faithfully placed their trust to these same leaders who had deemed fit to plunder the wealth meant for the poor and destitute in the Indian community. Continue reading “Indians can change their destiny”

Posted on

Merdeka! But are we totally free?

Merdeka! But are we totally free?
by Azly Rahman

Let me share my thoughts on independence and social contract by first quoting excerpts from a poem by the American poet Emma Lazarus, and next from the Enlightenment thinker Jean Jacques Rousseau.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” (The New Colossus by Lazarus, inscribed on the Statue of Liberty in the New York).

“Nations, like men, are teachable only in their youth, with age they become incorrigible. Once customs have been established and prejudices rooted, reform is a dangerous and fruitless enterprise, a people cannot bear to see its evils touched, even if only to be eradicated, it is like a stupid, pusillanimous invalid who trembles at the sight of a physician” (Rousseau in The Social Contract).

The excerpts above inspire my essay on the meaning of social contract.

Let us go back to our history and listen attentively to the idea of the formation of Malaysia. We must revise our understanding of social contract that we derive from state-authored textbooks, written by the intelligentsia; knowledge that has since formed the perception of policy makers.

What revisions do we need to make to our social contract, if we are to be independent? Continue reading “Merdeka! But are we totally free?”

Posted on

Hishammuddin – apologise for “keris-wielding” episodes to restore confidence as a symbol for national integration among students

During the debate in Parliament today on the Youth Societies and Youth Development Bill, I called on the Umno Youth leader and Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to apologise for his “keris-wielding” episodes to restore confidence as a symbol for national integration among students in the nation’s schools.

This raised the heckles of UMNO MPs in the House particularly Datuk Badruddin bin Amiruldin (Jerai) and Idris Harun (Tangga Batu) who demanded clarifications which I rejected as I had only ten minutes to speak as the second last speaker on the Bill.

As a result, the last MP in the debate, Razali Ismail (Muar) started his speech on the “keris-wielding” episodes, allowing Badruddin to go on a rampage to accuse me of being disrespectful and contemptuous of Malay culture and the Yang di Pertuan Agong in not accepting the keris as a national symbol.

In rebuttal, I made it very clear that I accepted without reservation the Malay keris as part of the national emblem, and that when the Yang di Pertuan Agong unsheathed and kissed the keris, it was a symbol of justice.

However, what was unacceptable was when the Umno Youth leader wielded the keris in the context of extremist and communal demands utterly insensitive of the feelings and rights of all communities in the country. I reminded Umno MPs that at the recent Umno Youth general assembly, an Umno Youth delegate even asked when Hishammuddin was going to use the keris now that he had wielded it twice — highlighting the totally unacceptable circumstances of the keris episodes. Continue reading “Hishammuddin – apologise for “keris-wielding” episodes to restore confidence as a symbol for national integration among students”

Posted on

What else does the govt want from us?

What else does the Govt want from Us?
by Richard Teo

On the same day when it was reported that two major banks “require law firms to have a minimum of three partners of which one must be Bumiputra with a minimum 50 per cent stake in the firm before they can do any business with the banks” another report in Singapore says “Job ads in the city: No age, race.”

Two different emphasis on policy matters, one from our close neighbour Singapore and one from our own virtually sums up the two different directions we are heading.

After 50 years of being in power our leaders are still promulgating laws and policies which are dividing the nation while in Singapore, the rationale is to eliminate race as a criterion to select candidates for jobs believing in the concept that “multi-racialism is a fundamental principle here”.

How divergent and different each nation’s path has become.One will lead the nation to ultimate destruction whilst the other will grow and prosper.

How can our leaders be so myopic and parochial? Why must it always be the Malays vs Chinese thing? Can’t they adopt a more pragmatic view that the Chinese are not their enemies and that we are all sitting in the same boat. If this boat sinks we sink together. Continue reading “What else does the govt want from us?”

Posted on

Ijok – full Parliament debate next week if PM wants to know reasons for Chinese swing to Opposition

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should honour his promise to be Prime Minister of all Malaysians and allocate time for a full debate on the meaning of the Ijok by-election on Saturday before the current Parliamentary meeting adjourns next Thursday after a four-day resumption beginning on Monday.

Two days ago, Abdullah conceded that there was a swing against the Barisan Nasional among the Chinese voters in the Ijok by-election and asked the MCA and Gerakan to explain why the Chinese had supported the Opposition.

However, MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting still disputes that there is any significant swing, claiming that while “there was a certain extent of swing in the votes but as a whole, Barisan still obtained a substantial number of the Chinese votes”.

With such hidebound denial syndrome with the classic complex of the ostrich hiding its head in the sand, how can the Prime Minister expect to get any truthful answer from MCA and Gerakan leaders as to why there was a swing of the Chinese voters to the Opposition in Ijok?

MCA leaders are quite united in publicly pinning the primary blame for the swing of the Chinese voters to the Opposition in Ijok on the MIC and the poor service record of its former Assemblyman Datuk K. Sivalingam. Ka Ting said a secondary factor was the unhappiness of the Chinese with “certain statements which had hurt their feelings”.

This has further reinforced public doubts about the ability of the MCA and Gerakan to tell Abdullah the truth as to the reasons for the swing of Chinese voters in Ijok to the Opposition, especially when: Continue reading “Ijok – full Parliament debate next week if PM wants to know reasons for Chinese swing to Opposition”

Posted on

Ijok – Raja Nazrin has answer for swing of Chinese voters to Opposition

The front-page headline of Sin Chew Daily today blared: “Chinese in Ijok support Opposition — PM wants to know why from MCA and Gerakan” .

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the other Barisan Nasional top leaders especially MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu are elated by the Barisan Nasional victory at Saturday’s Ijok by-election with a bigger majority than in the 2004 general election — but whether the country has anything to be jubilant about over the Ijok by-election on the occasion of the 50th Merdeka anniversary of the nation is a subject which should engage the serious debate of all thinking Malaysians.

Abdullah’s public puzzlement as to the reasons for the swing of Chinese voters to the Opposition in the Ijok by-election and wanting to be enlightened by MCA and Gerakan bear testimony to the validity of my question as to whether the country has anything to celebrate over the Ijok by-election – whether, for instance, Najib is right that the Ijok by-election is proof that Malaysian democracy is “vibrantly alive” or whether it is the symbol of the worst culmination of electoral corruption in the past 50 years of Malaysian election history.

But what cannot be in doubt is that the Ijok by-election represents a great failure not only for MCA and Gerakan but also of Pak Lah as Prime Minister who had pledged to “hear the truth” when the reasons for the swing of Chinese voters to the Opposition in the by-election continue to elude them.

In the first place, how can Abdullah hear any “truth” from the MCA when the MCA supremo in the Ijok by-election, MCA Secretary-General Datuk Ong Ka Chuan had only a day earlier publicly denied that there was any swing of Chinese voters to the Opposition in Ijok by-election? Continue reading “Ijok – Raja Nazrin has answer for swing of Chinese voters to Opposition”

Posted on

Singapore Malays better off than Chinese in Malaysia

Singapore Malays better off than Chinese in Malaysia
by Richard Teo

It is rather ironic that Baki Aminuddin could venture to write in Malayisakini that “S’pore Malays worse off than Chinese here” when in fact the opposite is the truth.

Before I begin to answer his fallacious argument I would like to pose one very simple question to him. If S’pore Malays are really worse off in Singapore why is there no exodus of Malays from S’pore to Malaysia? Instead the opposite is happening where the Chinese are making a beeline to Singapore for work and education?

Baki is naive to deny that LKY’s statement that the BN govt is systemmatically marginalising the Chinese and non-Malays. Before condemning the S’pore govt of marginalising the Malays and their education Baki should support his assertion with facts rather
than spurious allegations.

There is no official policy to deny the Malays the chance to further their education till tertiary level provided they have the abilty to compete on a level playing field. Can Baki honestly say that the Chinese and non-Malays in Malaysia are given the same opportunity in education? Is it not a fact that Malays are exclusively given places in Mara schools where with their one year matriculation exams they can hop into any of the local universities whereas non-Malays have to undergo the more rigorous two year STPM exam to gain admission? Continue reading “Singapore Malays better off than Chinese in Malaysia”

Posted on

It grieves my entire being but does it bother Pak Lah and Cabinet?

I have received an email which grieves my entire being but does it bother Pak Lah, our Prime Minister and the Cabinet? If they do not understand the cry deep from the heart and soul of “J”, who sent the email, then the 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations this year are completely meaningless, waste of time and money.

Read this heart-rending email:

Dear Mr. Lim,

I have utmost respect and admiration for your tenacity in remaining in Malaysia to champion the cause of justice and equality and fight for a Bangsa Malaysia. My heart broke when I read about your article regarding the honest cyber cafe operator especially when he wondered if he “had chosen the wrong country” to start and operate his business.

I see my situation summed up in that phrase. You have said before that the best and brightest are leaving this country. Well, I am making every preparation to leave. I have consistently scored straight As in every public exam and placed among the top 3 of my form. In university, I studied medicine and am among the top scorers. I have just graduated and scored near perfect results in a medical licensing examination that will enable me to work abroad and further my studies.

I was born a Malaysian yet I cannot see myself as a Malaysian. As a chinese, I feel that I am being discriminated against. I feel that the government is trying its hardest to sideline me just because of my race. I look around and see this discrimination manifested in various forms. From the issue regarding religious conversion to the allocation of places in local universities, the stench of discrimination is sickening. Continue reading “It grieves my entire being but does it bother Pak Lah and Cabinet?”