Chinese are not grateful? Sour grapes again...

Oh my God. This UMNO chap is still in the dark of what happen to his party. Only politicians from race based party would ask and say this type of question. I remember Gaffar Baba asked the same question back in the 80's of " What Chinese want". But then the Malaysian society was simple. Aspiration of many races were really simple and straight forward, they wanted more business opportunities, education choices, etc., easy to fullfil in short. Now it's different. Malaysians' needs and wants have simply go beyond filling ones stomach but we have gone over it to ask for things like accountabiliy and transperancy in Government Administration and this is not shared by Chinese alone but it has become a Malaysian Aspiration. Dr Toh has summed it up nicely in the following article.

by Dr. Toh Kin Woon, The Malaysian Insider, 14th April 09

In a recent interview with the Malay language Mingguan Malaysia, our country’s newly minted Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, claimed that he was at a loss as to why the Chinese voters failed to support the Barisan Nasional in the recent by-elections for both the parliamentary seat of Bukit Gantang and the state constituency of Bukit Selambau, despite the BN pouring millions to the Chinese schools.

He further suggested that perhaps Malaysian Chinese wanted to play the role of kingmakers in elections. I find these statements by the DPM distasteful and an insult, not just to the Malaysian Chinese community, but to all Malaysians.

This latest outburst also manifests either a total lack of understanding of the demands of the electorate of all ethnic groups on the part of Umno, or an inability on its part to respond with progressive measures, or both.

So much for their oft-repeated claim that it has understood the message of the larger Malaysian polity as expressed through the polls on March the 8th last year. To begin with, the DPM’s statement further confirms that the BN continues to engage in the practice of utilising public funds to buy electoral support; a practice that has long been condemned and eschewed by the public.

Malaysians welcome the development of education at all levels by the government, but at no time will they condone public funds being given to schools in a constituency during the campaign period in return for their support for the BN. For the information of the new DPM, one of the key factors that has led the public to continue to reject the BN is that their status as the political masters of the nation has not been given due respect.

This was clearly shown in the BN’s recent unconstitutional grabbing of political power in Perak. The people in Perak, and for that matter the whole nation, were angry that they were totally sidelined in the crisis engineered by the BN’s stubborn refusal to go back to the people for a new people’s mandate, when the Pakatan Rakyat government called for a dissolution of the state legislative assembly upon the defection of three of its representatives to the opposition bench.

They were also miffed by the total disregard of the BN for the constitution in dislodging the Menteri Besar, who is now the newly elected Member of Parliament for Bukit Gantang. If only Umno and the BN had agreed to hold the polls that will enable the people to choose a new state government, their electoral downslide might have been mitigated.

In the event, their greed for power, come what may, and their arrogance that led them to ignore the people, had the better of them. Another factor is Umno’s hypocrisy in relation to the subject of the monarchy. To get at the opposition, it resorted to launching unfair attacks of les majeste against the PAS candidate in Bukit Gantang, when in fact there are records to prove that Umno, more than any other party, is even more guilty of this “crime”.

Umno and the BN will also do well to note that the uneven development that has taken place over the years has brought along with it wider social cleavages. The antagonism of the poor and marginalized towards the ruling elites is bound to grow stronger.

To the deprived of all ethnic groups, it has not escaped their attention that the hegemony of political power by the Umno and BN elites has led to abuses, corruption and cronyism as manifested in the dishing out of patronage resources to the few of all ethnic groups.

And they are bent on breaking this hegemony of both economic and political power by the BN oligarchs through supporting a system that will allow of more competitive politics based on ideological contests and an alternation of coalitions in power. This is what will lead them to continue to support the Pakatan Rakyat.

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" by Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill uttered these words during WWII reminding British people of how much they owed to so few who sacrificed their lives for the safety of the British people.

Here tonight I want to thank Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang voters who voted for Pakatan and opted to continue the reform they wanted but had not come to them since last 8th March. Many Malaysians who want reform owe it to these voters who on behalf of Malaysians sent a clear message to the ruling BN :- enough is enough, WE WANT REAL CHANGE. Not those cosmetic changes and false hope created by the controlled Malaysian media after Najib took over.

ABOLISH ISA, OSA, UNIVERSITY ACT, PRINTING ACT, BAN RACE BASED POLITICAL PARTY AND FREE THE MEDIA NOW

What would happen if Pakatan loses the by-elections?

At the moment a lot of bad news are coming out that Pakatan's battle in three by-election could soon end in defeat. Najib's appointment as new PM and the release of 13 ISA detainees have created false hope among Malaysians that he could do what Abdullah had failed to do. But never mind about how Najib is going to govern this country, let us look at the possibility of Pakatan's defeat. What would happen if Pakatan loses in three by-elections namely Bukit Selambau, Bukit Gantang and Batang Ai?

1) There will not be any follow-up on VK Lingam case - correct, correct, correct. Remember?

2) The illegal take over of Perak become legal;

3) It will encourage more similar take over in the near future;

4) No more reform on police force;

5) Racism will be used whenever UMNO survival is threaten and they can be assured of its effectiveness;

6) Multiracial political party will be dead in Malaysia and race based parties will be given a new breath of live;

7) Samy Vellu will rule another few decades;

8) PKR's march to Sarawak will be halted; it means Taib Mahmud's dynasty will live another day;

9) Kugan & Altantuya's death will be in vain;

10) The political tsunami of 8th March will be halted.

So, Malaysia will be back to pre-8th March where UMNO's hegemony will once again raise its ugly head. It seems now we don't have much choice. Many are forced to accept the reality and go into hibernation.

How does this fit into Najib's 1Malaysia agenda?

The right wing nationalists often accuse the Chinese and Tamil primary schools of creating division in our country. So, you think the National stream education system would be more effective of creating a Bangsa Malaysia? I have my doubts.

This particular school in Subang Jaya is instilling racial awareness into primary one pupils' mind, albeit in a very subtle way there is through racial identification with religion. In other words, if you are from a certain community, your belief system ought to be of certain religion. If you are Lim Chin, you ought to be going to temple to pray, so on and so forth. By this logic I should be going to temple and not go to Church to pray. SO what do I do now?

This is certainly not helping in forging a Malaysian nation. In fact is creating a lot of confusion in the pupils' little brain. I would think the authority encourages us to send our children to national type school because it could help in strengthening our national identity, but this example shows otherwise. Their objective seems to create a permanent racial identity among many races in our country. For what reason? I really don't know. Perhaps it's for the ruling party to prolong their racist agenda by continuing British's divide and rule policy. You guess is as good as mine. Someone must have benefited from his policy?

On the eve of Najib's take over

I am having a strange feeling on the eve of Najib's take over the country's premiership. Obviously given the option I would not choose him as my PM, but the feeling is that : I am powerless to change the situation. The ordinary Malaysian citizen have no business in the running of the country. Can you imagine, in the age that we see democracy in action in US, here in Malaysia we are still stuck in the age of pre-merdeka, so ancient and so out-of -place. I was just celebrating the triumph of the democracy of 8th of March and here come the guy who has been chosen by the selected few of UMNO, the racist party in the 21st century to take over the government of Malaysia tomorrow.

I want to quote US again, not that I don't see their hypocrisy, but they are one of the best example on this earth now. In US those who forgot to pay their taxes would be queried of their suitability of high office, those that joke unintentionally about race would be punished severely in an election and the examples are countless. But here in our country, a PM candidate can just SMS to a suspect of a murder case, telling him not to worry because he can talk to AG and he would be find. No mainstream media carried the news, nothing happened to this candidate, he just arrogantly brushed off the accusation. Here in Malaysia the entire governmental institutions are established to serve only one purpose, that is to prolong the incumbent political party's rule over the country.

I have a feeling that the country is going back to the 80s and 90s during Mahathir's rule where they always win, where ISA, OSA and police were used freely to crash oppositions. I think I will go back to hibernation, again.

I am getting very very pessimistic about the future of Malaysia. When I can see all the oppressive laws abolished? With Najib taking over as PM, I don't think my hope will ever be materialised. Things will just go back to status quo, that's it, end of our struggle. The fruits of the democracy planted last March will possibly crumbling down soon.

I hope I am wrong about my fear. But I can't help with this feeling, this new PM don't inspire but only despair. The political dust storm has finally arrived and I just found out that I could not find any shelter to hide from it...

Are we seeing a failed Malaysia?

The colonised have become the coloniser. Perhaps the true merdeka can only be attained when UMNO/MCA/MIC - the colonial relics are defeated thoroughly in the general election and race-based political parties banned forever.

But looking at the way it goes, it's very tough. They are exploiting all the branches of the government and media to cling on to power. Very tragic indeed. Race-based political parties are the cancer that is killing our country slowly, it gradually tearing apart our society and finally if we don't do anything, death will be upon us all soon. Let's be clear about this, you can’t have race-based political parties and promote Bangsa Malaysia at the same time. By focusing on racial interests, we perpetuate the racial divide and provide opportunities for racial chauvinists to exploit the situation. In the 21st-century Malaysia, politicians should compete on ideas and policies and not race.

by Azly Rahman, Mar 23, 09 12:55pm, MalaysiaKini

I was born in a British military hospital in Singapore and grew up in a Malay kampong in Johor Bahru. I’ve moved from one realm of cultural experience to another, living in one enclave to the next in the process of being schooled and becoming an educator.

I've finally ended up in a truly multi-cultural town a half-an-hour’s drive from New York City where I have lived for several years. Sometimes I wonder if all this make me a cultural construction of multi-ethnicity or a if I am still a Malay. Is the question of being Malay merely academic by now? I think I am still that. I still speak Malay fluently and write in Jawi quite beautifully, although my almost half of my life has been ‘schooled’ by American education, constantly exploring the ideas of America the pastoral – the hard core Jeffersonian ideal drawn from Humanism and the Enlightenment Period. At times too I would still plow through representative texts of ancient Malay philosophy and to situate the core ideas within newer perspectives I constantly acquire, so that as the poet WS Rendra would say, we will always “reconsider traditions”. Here in the US, I teach a course called ‘Cross-Cultural Perspectives’, trying to engage my students in the works of Edward Said (right), Clifford Geertz, Renato Rosaldo, and the like.

I find myself again having to interrogate my subjectivity and objectivity as a culturally-constructed being in my attempt to play the role of Socrates in dialectical conversations with students in our exploration of the multiple meaning of culture. Each semester is a learning experience, teaching me newer ideas of what culture, race, and ethnicity mean. Yearning to come home to the kampong where I grew up, I am still waiting for a time to share new ideas that will help Malaysian students transform realities by turning them into radical thinkers and social reconstructionists with deep interest in transcultural philosophies. We need such a revolution in thinking.In August, we will engage in yet another ritual of a nation perpetually in narration: the Merdeka celebrations. Consider the proclamation from the Rukunegara:

Our Nation, Malaysia is dedicated to: Achieving a greater unity for all her people; maintaining a democratic way of life; creating a just society in which the wealth of the nation shall be equitably distributed; ensuring a liberal approach to her rich and diverse cultural tradition, and building a progressive society which shall be oriented to modern science and technology. We, the people of Malaysia, pledge our united efforts to attain these ends, guided by these principles:

Belief in God
Loyalty to King and country
Upholding the constitution
Sovereignty of the law, and
Good behaviour and morality

These words, constructed and proclaimed in 1970, after the bloody riots of May 13, 1969, contain internal contradictions if we analyse it today. Country in deep distressIf the proclamation is our benchmark of Merdeka, we must ask these questions:

1) How have we fostered unity when our government promotes racism thorough racialised policies and by virtue of the fact that our politics survive on the institutionalisation of racism?

2) How have we maintained a democratic way of life, when our educational, political, and economic institutions do not promote democracy in fear that democratic and multi-cultural voices of conscience are going to dismantle race-based ideologies?

3) How are we to create a just society in which the wealth of the nation is equitably distributed, when the New Economic Policy itself was designed based on the premise that only one race need to be helped and forever helped, whereas at the onset of Independence poverty existed among Malaysians of all races?

4) How are we to promote a liberal approach to diverse culture and tradition when our education system is run by politicians who are championing Ketuanan Melayu alone and ensure that Malay hegemony rules in all levels and all spheres of education, from pre-school to graduate levels?

5) How are we to build a progressive society based on science and technology when our understanding of the role of science and society do not clearly reflect our fullest understanding of the issues of scientific knowledge, industrialisation and dependency?

Are we seeing a failed Malaysia?

Across the board, the country is in distress: education is in shambles, polarised, and politicised; the economy is in a constant dangerous flux; the judiciary is in deep crisis of confidence; public safety is a major concern due the declining confidence in the police; and politics remain ever divided along racial and religious lines.The ‘transition to power’ that we are seeing is an unwelcome testament to a country inching towards a quagmire.This is the Malaysian version of Dorian Gray, one that shows the image of a vibrant nation of progress and harmony, and racial tolerance and a robust economy, but is a deformed Malaysia that is merely a continuation of a feudal and colonial entity.

The colonised have become the coloniser. The state has become a totalitarian entity using the ideological state apparatuses to silence the voices of progressive change. The nationalists have nationalised the wealth of the nation for themselves and perhaps siphoned off the nation’s wealth internationally. This is the picture of a broken promise made by those who fought for Independence; the voices of the early radical and truly nationalistic Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, Sikhs, etc. of the Merdeka movement.

It is this promise that, 50 year hence, has been broken by those who capitalise on the extreme ends of the politics of identity.How then must Malaysians celebrate the next Merdeka Day? By flying the Jalur Gemilang upside down? Or put justice in its place by engineering a multi-cultural jihad against all forms of excesses in the abuse of power? To de-toxify the nation and begin with Year Zero of our cultural revolution through the gentle enterprise called peace and multi-cultural education?Herein lies education as a solution. I believe we need a radical overhaul of everything, philosophically speaking. We have the structures in place but need to replace the human beings running the system. We have deeply racialised human beings running neutral machines.

We have ethnocentric leaders running humane systems. We have allowed imperfection and evolving fascism to run our system. We have placed capitalists of culture behind our wheels of industrial progress; people who have the dinosaur brain of ketuanan this or that.We have created these monsters and unleashed them to run our educational, political, economic, and cultural systems.

We have Frankenstein-ised our Merdeka.We need to re-educate ourselves by reinventing the human beings we will entrust to run our machines. We must abolish the system and create a new one.We must be aware that class in the broadest and most comprehensive sense of the word is what we are dealing with and through class and cultural analyses we can arrive at a different path to a newer Merdeka.

In this coming Merdeka, 40 years after May 13 1969, the rakyat armed with wisdom of a new era must speak softly but carry a big stick. Our struggle for a renewed Merdeka has only just begun. Malaysians have no choice. We are multi-culturalists now. We must abandon race-based politics.

Ketuanan Rakyat

I was at MBSA with Ashvin to listen to the Ketuanan Rakyat Pidato Kebangsaan by Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim. It was an important speech that outlines the principal underlying Pakatan Rakyat's Governing Philosophy. I think the time has come for the Government to be managed by political parties that are multiracial in nature. I think million of Malaysians would like to see that one day Malays, Chinese, Indian and other Minorities sitting together to make our country's policies. Currently, UMNO is the one who makes all the policies and its Central Committee is the de facto Malaysian Cabinet, even more powerful than the Cabinet itself.

My hope for the future:

- Constitution will be respected

- ISA, OSA, University Act, Printing Act will be abolished

- Parliment will again become a place where people's voices are debated and an oversight body for the government policies

- Local council election

That 's my hope for the future for now.