by Mariam Mokhtar
May 16, 2014
Why are Malays obsessed with supremacy ? Is it brainwashing or their own insecurity?
The Terengganu debacle, the 2009 Perak coup and GE13 have one thing in common: Najib Tun Razak.
Najib’s fingerprints are all over these important events in Malaysian history. Najib’s involvement proves that Malaysia is a kleptocracy.
Umno Baru was founded in 1988 and has risen to become a deadly threat to the national security of a multicultural country like Malaysia. How did this cancer spread so quickly?
The political link
Umno Baru is not a political party. It functions more like a business. It is like the grandmother of all GLCs. It has access to unlimited funds with branches all over the world. Unlike public listed companies, Umno Baru shareholders (its supporters) and the consumers of this enterprise (the rakyat) have little say.
Money speeds up decision making. It helped the Terengganu trio who resigned from Umno Baru, in the infamous Perak coup in 2009 and in GE13.
The true purpose of Umno Baru is to prolong the political life of its leaders. With political power comes the ability to squander the wealth of the nation.
In 1987, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah challenged former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for alleged vote rigging in the Umno internal elections. The High Court declared Umno an illegal party. The original Umno, which is synonymous with Tunku Abdul Rahman and independence, suffered an ignominious end because of Mahathir.
Humiliated by the courts, Mahathir schemed and plotted to punish the judiciary. Mahathir did this because they had put him in the awkward position of being the PM of Malaysia but the president of an illegal political party.
With his position as PM in jeopardy he quickly formed a new party in 1988 and called it Umno Baru. Mahathir transferred the assets of the original Umno to his creation Umno Baru.
The Tunku and Hussein Onn withdrew their membership from Umno and never sought to rejoin Mahathir’s Umno Baru. Mahathir had brought shame on the party, the judiciary and the nation.
The Malaysians who praise Mahathir tend to ignore this shameful piece of our history.
The irony is that Mahathir was considered by many Malays to be Malay enough to lead the nation but sadly the Malays who try to do things in the interest of all Malaysians are not considered Malay enough.
The Malays
“Malays need protection & Islam needs defending.” These two myths have long been peddled by Umno Baru but the effect has been to belittle the Malays and demonise the religion.
Few Malays ever ask UmnoBaru: “Why do we need protecting? From whom or from what?” The irony is that Malays need to be protected from Umno Baru because it is an extremist party.
If for any reason Malaysia ceased to exist tomorrow the Malays would still survive but Umno Baru would be defunct.
If Umno Baru were to fold tomorrow, Malaysia would thrive and the Malays would flourish.
The most valuable resource of this nation is not so much the natural wealth of the country like timber, oil, oil palm and rubber. Our most valuable resource is the people.
Malaysia would not be where it is today if not for the collective efforts and sacrifices of everyone, including the non-Malays, who built the economy, risked their lives in the two World Wars, the Emergency and the Confrontation.
Islam
Islam is not just a religion for Umno Baru leaders. It is a tool to divide the nation, to bring the opposition down and to control the Malays. Muslims are the most oppressed race in Malaysia.
Everything they do or say is under scrutiny. Even scholars and octogenarians like Kassim Ahmad are treated shabbily. Books and films are banned to stop Muslims from expanding their knowledge.
President Obama did Malaysia a disservice by praising Malaysia for being a moderate Muslim nation. Even as he said it, bibles were banned from hotels in Pahang and extremist groups like Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) were provoking the non-Muslims whilst the authorities stood idly by.
Hudud is used to distract Malaysians from more important economic issues like the GST, and the government’s inability to plan and manage a crisis. The government’s failings were dramatically exposed during the disappearance of flight MH370.
Hudud is a barbaric practice and has no place in the 21st century but many Muslims refuse to say or are afraid to say in public that they do not agree with this crude practise. They are torn between believing in democracy and having faith in their religion.
How often have you been dismissed by Muslims who for lack of something constructive to say will accuse you of invoking God’s wrath?
How often have Muslims told the non-Muslim to “stop meddling in our religion, we don’t meddle in yours”? These Muslims forget that children have been kidnapped and dead bodies snatched in conversion cases. Bibles have been confiscated and other insults hurled at non-Muslims and their places of worship destroyed.
Which Islamic country has become completely crime-free and rape-free after the implementation of hudud? How is corruption punished under hudud?
As always some Muslims will say to more liberal Muslims, “You are not a true Muslim,” and terminate the discussion after warning, “Have you prepared your answers for when Allah questions you at Padang Mahsyar?” (The Day of Judgement)
Aversion to change
Despite 44 years of the New Economic Policy (NEP) and various other affirmative action policies, the majority of Malays are very poor, they lag behind in education, they lack confidence, they lack English speaking skills and cannot find employment in the private sector.
Umno Baru manages to convince the Malays that the non-Malays are responsible for their failures. Ordinary Malays are prevented from achieving their true potential but because of conditioning by Umno Baru, are averse to change.
Malays must muster the courage to confront their leaders and make them accountable for their wrongdoings.
Malays should demand that Malays who get rich by corrupt means are punished instead of saying “Takpe lah. Dia orang kita juga!” (Never mind. He is one of us!)
The key to progress lies with the Malays. The population of Malaysia is 60% Malay. Even if all of the non-Malays were to vote for the Opposition it would still be insufficient to create a change in government. Changing Malay minds and attitudes is essential if the whole nation is to move forward.
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