Race, Trade And The GST

It is GST-day in Malaysia, and whilst the shops are mostly yet to open, this blogger has not as yet experienced any signs of meltdown, at least not between my home in Taman Tun Dr Ismail and the Brickfields area where I work.

 

As usual, there has been an eruption of user generated material on social media, thankfully most in jest or poking fun at the GST... it is a new tax after all, and no one likes any tax, however good it is supposed to be! Back at home, I only had to suffer my wife returning from last minute pre-GST shopping at about 11pm last night. I have a couple of new belts and a new pair of shoes as well bought 2 nights ago. Interesting to note Malaysians NOT rushing to buy stuff pre-GST either, at least not at OU or Masjid India where were!

 

So are we seeing the normal storm in the teacup or have all partisan sides and the social media now been so discreditted that Malaysians have just decided to wait and see first before judging which side of the 'GST is good for you' vs 'KitaLawan GST' debate is right?

 

What this blogger does find distrubing though is the racial slant that the GST debate has taken especially in the last few months. We have social media material flying around claiming that the UMNO/Malay-led government is using GST to get more money from the rakyat to buy private jets and other nonsensical items of expediture. All unsubstantiated of course, and conveniently forgetting the much lauded PAP/Chinese-led Singapore government introduced GST 3 decades ago... can be trusted ka? Coz... ?

 

Then there is the reverse rhetoric about how Chinese businesses are using several strategies to 'dodge' GST, like breaking up firms into smaller enterprises, each with revenues less than the RM500k GST threshold - also not making sense as such an action results in other costs to escalate for the broken up enterprises and ignores other elements like loan liabilities. Still, this plays to the mantra of GST being good as it supposedly will make the 'Chinese traders' more 'honest' when dealing with 'Malay consumers'!

 

Now we hear that there is a 200,000 strong volunteer force out there to help authorities monitor against businesses profiteering from GST. So this volunteer force comprises of... multi-racial group ka? Got target businesses for them to 'monitor' ka... multi-racial owned also?

 

This can get really ugly very quickly, but this is what it is coming to in multi-racial Malaysia. So, the real risk to GST may end up being racial tension and disharmony escalating! Brings the hatred of taxes to new levels!  

Namewee Feeling How It Is To Be Anti-Malay

There was a time in Malaysian socio-political history when there was a label worse than 'racist' for a public figure, that label being 'anti-Malay'. This may seem strange for the younger generation of today, but being anti-Malay as recently as in the early 80's was seen as being shallow, viscous, ignorant and a threat to harmonious relations between all races in Malaysia.

Well, Namewee may be unhappy at having his film rubbished by those who haven't even seen it, but he has to accept this as a reality rather than rant on it. The reality is that someone writting for an established Malay mainstream daily has rubbished his movie due to it simply being directed by him. Why? Because they perceive him to be racist and 'un-1Malaysian'. But truth be told, Namewee's image is worse, as to many Malays, he is anti-Malay.

Namewee has come a long way since the day he published the Negarakuku, a sign-post of how a segment of ethnic chinese-Malaysian youths were and still are developing in terms of socio-political consciousness. Negarakuku showcased a lack of respect and culture as well as a complete ignorance of history, leading up to a feeling of angst and anger towards the Malay-led establishment in Malaysia. It was an outpouring of anti-Malay feelings

Ironically, Namewee was saved of being disowned completely by the nation by the MCA, the Barisan National (BN) government's Chinese component party that is typically rejected by the kind of youths Namewee represents. Namewee and his like typically reject the MCA as being the lackeys of the dominant United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party in the BN coalition. Nevertheless, Namewee followed MCA's advice and apologised.

All Malaysians, generally having adopted the soft-hearted forgiving nature of Malays, chose to forgive, but did not forget. The tarnishing of national symbols, such as the national anthem, is not so easily forgotten. Strangely, or perhaps naturally, him being a media person, Namewee did not seem to want to be forgotten. Since being anti-Malay in the guise of ignorant honesty seemed to work before, Namewee caused further controversies over Youtube.

At the same time, Namewee worked hard to establish himself among the independent media elite of the country, cleverly leveraging on his notoriety and building on his 'simple' yet direct persona. These independents, having grown without too much government support, if at all, proved receptive to Namewee's entry to their circle, allowing him the opportunity to develop as a 'Malaysian' artiste separate from his racist of 'anti-Malay' persona on the web.

It is a shame that when confronted with Namewee's version of racist abuse, BN figures react with either the extremes of calling for his figurative head or embracing him with hope of making him 'understand'. Maybe these leaders are confused by Namewee's apologies for being ignorant and maybe accidentally sounding racist... but this is ridiculous of course! I believe Namewee knows exactly what he is doing - he admits to being a degree holding media man!

For me, Namewee has been a warning sign of there being a segment of disaffected chinese youths who reject the Malaysian Social Contract as they have been given little reason to respect it. However, that was before. Now, I see Namewee as a figure that is a danger to society as he has chosen to earn a living by being the embodiment of the anti-Malay in the public eye. And he dares do so as he believes he can always apologise to the soft-hearted.

Namewee's evolution to being a menace to society was re-affirmed to me when a senior MCA leader recently suggested to bloggers that Nasi Lemak 2.0, Namewee's film, is racist and anti-Malay. It would seem Namewee's former saviour, and despite its recent weaknesses, still the strongest champion of ethnic Chinese rights, the MCA, has disowned him, knowing him to be a danger to continued harmonious prosperity among Malaysians.

So Namewee. Grow up. Stop pretending. Don't even bother apologising. Accept that there are some of us Malaysians, not just Malays, have accepted the cultivated persona you have for what it is. You are a racist  and anti-Malay. Just be greatful the only thing we will (or rather won't) do is to your movie, which even without watching we are reassured is anti-Malay. Sit down and shut up you Racist Anti-Malay Icon.

Please note, this article DOES NOT encourage the watching of Nasi Lemak 2.0 as it is racist, anti-Malay (has to be coz of the director) and will likely be available as cetak rompak soon anyway!

MAYC: Punca Peristiwa13 Mei Patut Didedahkan Kepada Pelajar

Sebagai Presiden MAYC, saya telah berwawancara di Berita Minggu yang terbit pada edisi 22 Ogos sudah. Yang menarik bagi saya adalah ia diberi tumpuan tak disangka oleh organisasi seperti Badan Peguam Malaysian (Malaysian Bar Council). Oleh itu, says tergerak hati untuk menyertakannya di sini sebagai sebahagian dari sambutan kepada jawapan teman saya Jebat Must Die kepada penidak kepentingan Dasar Ekonomi Baru. Dipersilakan ke soalan dan jawapan:

SEKALI lagi isu hak dan keistimewaan Bumiputera ‘disentuh’ kaum lain. Bagaimana MAYC melihat perkembangan ini daripada kaca mata generasi muda yang bakal mewarisi kepemimpinan negara.

Saya rasa tidak salah pemimpin kaum lain menyentuh hak istimewa Bumiputera, terutama jika mengajukan cadangan membina. Tetapi cara atau kandungan diajukan harus menghormati perasaan masyarakat Bumiputera. Sebarang usaha mengurangkan apa yang difahami oleh Bumiputera sebagai hak, akan sentiasa dipandang serong.

Dr Chua pula mungkin memikirkan yang cadangan memberi diskaun atau harga khas untuk Bumiputera sebagai timbal balas pengurangan sasaran 30 peratus DEB sesuatu usaha membina. Malangnya, ini juga boleh menimbulkan kegusaran. Contohnya saya sebagai belia Melayu agak terguris apabila dikatakan sasaran ekuiti kaum saya harus lebih rendah. Sudahlah itu, dicadangkan diskaun pula seolah-olah Bumiputera ini kumpulan subsidi.

Apakah isu hak dan keistimewaan Bumiputera difahami dan diterima generasi muda bukan Bumiputera mengikut pemerhatian MAYC selama ini. Apa persepsi mereka dalam isu ini.

Sebenarnya banyak kekeliruan mengenai asal usul hak keistimewaan orang Melayu dan lebih-lebih lagi mengenai peruntukan DEB untuk meningkatkan ekonomi semua rakyat demi kemakmuran sejagat. Contohnya, terlalu ramai belia memikirkan DEB menolong Bumiputera saja. Mereka tidak mengetahui peruntukan untuk membantu kaum India yang juga menghadapi cabaran ekonomi. Malah pemaju hartanah terkemuka, Presiden dan Ketua Eksekutif SP Setia Bhd, Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin baru-baru ini mengakui masyarakat Cina masih menerima manfaat pembangunan ekonomi sepanjang zaman DEB rancak dilaksanakan.

Saya rasa, sebab utama kenapa hak istimewa terutama sekali DEB menjadi isu sensitif yang kerap menimbulkan kekeliruan belia kerana kerajaan mungkin terlalu berhati-hati dalam hal pendidikan sejarah di sekolah. Contohnya Peristiwa 13 Mei 1969 walaupun ia diakui sebagai titik hitam, tiba masanya dikupas lebih terperinci supaya orang muda diajar sejak di bangku sekolah mengenai bahayanya ketidaksamarataan ekonomi boleh mengancam ketenteraman negara.

Amnya belia tidak menafikan darurat komunis ancaman kepada kemakmuran negara. Ramai menginsafi dan bersyukur negara selamat daripada ancaman pada masa itu kerana pendidikan mengenai keburukan ancaman komunis, disokong pula propaganda media antikomunis dari luar, begitu terperinci serta sampai ke pemahaman belia. Kini China sebagai negara komunis mungkin hebat membangun sementara Vietnam masih dikagumi kerana berjaya mengalahkan kuasa besar Amerika Syarikat, tetapi belia Malaysia masih bersyukur kita bukan komunis seperti China dan Vietnam.

Saya sebagai Presiden MAYC menyarankan Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin sebagai Menteri Pelajaran mempertimbang untuk memperincikan pendidikan penyebab 13 Mei dan usaha mengelak ia berlaku, termasuk DEB. Ia harus diperkenalkan sebagai pendidikan wajib di sekolah menengah. Mungkin diperkenalkan sebagai sebahagian kurikulum perpaduan 1Malaysia kerana gagasan ini akan berjaya jika kita mengambil kira pahit manis sejarah hubungan antara kaum.

Mengapa sistem kuota 30 peratus ekuiti Bumiputera perlu dikekalkan dan apakah erti keistimewaan ini kepada generasi muda Malaysia hari ini.

Seperti saya katakan, sebenarnya generasi muda sekarang agak bingung mengenai maksud 30 peratus ekuiti ini. Tambah lagi, fokus terhadap 30 peratus ekuiti mengalihkan pandangan daripada unsur DEB yang lebih relevan kepada golongan muda, seperti peluang mendapatkan pendidikan terutama sekali tetapi tidak terhad ke universiti. Contohnya, jika belia diberitahu MRSM akan dimansuhkan, ini akan membawa lebih banyak bantahan. Namun sebagai belia Melayu, saya juga hairan kenapa sasaran 30 peratus ekuiti Bumiputera begitu dipersoalkan oleh MCA dan dulunya DAP. Padahal, Bumiputera merangkumi lebih 60 peratus rakyat negara ini.

Salahkah sasaran ekuiti untuk Bumiputera iaitu kurang daripada separuh jumlah Bumiputera. Saya rasa lebih adil dan memandangkan pecahan ekonomi kaum Cina jauh lebih tinggi daripada peratusan rakyat Cina. Persoalan sebegini daripada pemimpin kaum Cina khususnya, tidak membina, malah menimbulkan tanda tanya berhubung niat sasaran berkenaan dipersoalkan. Saya ternanti-nanti cadangan pemimpin kaum India, supaya kaum itu juga diberi sasaran ekuiti. Rasanya, memandangkan peratusan rakyat India, tak salah mana-mana pemimpin menyarankan sasaran ekuiti paling kurang lima peratus untuk kaum India.

Saya juga rasa tidak salah sasaran berasingan diwujudkan untuk Bumiputera Sabah dan Sarawak. Mungkin 10 peratus? Ini semua sasaran mencapai keadilan ekonomi di Malaysia. Apabila negara semakin membangun, inilah peluang untuk memastikan bukan kumpulan kaya saja semakin kaya, tetapi semua mendapat manfaat. Lebih penting ialah pengagihan kemakmuran ekonomi lebih sekata. Ini harus dibincangkan, bukan setakat sasaran 30 peratus ekuiti Bumiputera.

Apakah rasional MCA menimbulkan isu sistem kuota 30 peratus ini. Apakah kemungkinan langkah ini diambil kerana bimbang ditolak pengundi Cina pada pilihan raya umum akan datang atau satu ugutan.

Saya fikir lebih baik ditanya kepada MCA. Namun saya rasa tak logik jika pemimpin MCA berharap ini membantu mereka menjadi lebih sedia diundi. Pengundi mana yang untung dengan cadangan ini? Ia tidak jelas, tetapi yang terlihat pengundi Melayu rugi. Mahukah Melayu mengundi calon MCA jika dasar MCA merugikan mereka? Wallahualam. Sudah pasti Dr Chua Soi Lek lebih berpengalaman dalam berpolitik daripada saya.

Ada pihak mempersoalkan rasional kaum Cina membangkitkan kuota 30 peratus ekuiti Bumiputera kerana pada realitinya, mereka masih menguasai sektor ekonomi. Apa pandangan MAYC. Apakah kaum Bumiputera masih perlu dibantu untuk menguasai sektor ekonomi.

Saya sebenarnya terdidik dalam bidang ekonomi dan boleh saya katakan di sini yang usaha ‘penguasaan’ ekonomi oleh mana-mana kumpulan amnya tidak akan membuahkan hasil yang mapan mahupun paling lumayan untuk masa hadapan. Sebarang usaha untuk menguasai sektor ekonomi memberi gambaran kuasa digunakan untuk mengehadkan perkembangan ekonomi sesuatu kumpulan. Ini adalah usaha yang tidak membina. Untuk sesuatu ekonomi itu maju, ia haruslah digerakkan bersama.

Untuk Bumiputra dan masyarakat Malaysia amnya, pengagihan nikmat ekonomi harus menjadi tumpuan, bukan penguasaan ekonomi oleh pihak tertentu. Sebagai pemimpin MAYC, saya lebih suka melihat ahli kelab gabungan MAYC sama hebat kemakmurannya tak kira Melayu, Cina, India, dalam atau luar bandar, Islam, Kristian, Hindu atau Buddha.

Apakah Bezanya Perkasa, Dong Jiao Zong Dan Hindraf?

Pelbagai helah sudah mula keluar akan kenapa masyarakat Cina menolak BN dan gagasan 1Malaysia di Hulu Selangor. Kononya antara faktor penting adalah kelemahan parti-parti komponen BN yang mewakili kaum Cina dan juga layanan terhadap Perkasa oleh para pemimpin UMNO. Ada juga yang mengatakan kaum Cina lebih memberi penumpuan kepada masalah negara dan tak tergerak isu-isu remeh yang dibicarakan pada PRK tersebut.

Bagi jurublog, helah-helah sedemikian amnya cakap karut yang diadukkan dengan cebisan kebenaran. Antara yang menyakitkan hati adalah lontaran cemuhan kepada Perkasa sebagai kumpulan pendesak Melayu. Apakah salah Perkasa wujud untuk mendesak supaya hak-hak orang Melayu dipelihara? Apakah bezanya Perkasa dengan Dong Jiao Zong? Tidakkah Dong Jiao Zong sama ekstremis dalam tuntutannya, malah ada yang mengatakan ia lebih ekstrim lagi!

Adakah Perkasa sebuah organisasi yang terbukti mengipas api perkauman sehingga semarak membawa kepada keganasan? Bukankah Hindraf sebagai suatu organisasi lebih terbukti membawa keributan dan mengancam ketenteraman awam? Malah, parti politik PKR lebih terkenal membawa keganasan di jalanan dengan aktivitinya, tetapi kenapakah majoriti kaum Cina masih sedia menyokong PKR di peti undi? Berbeza dengan Perkasa, yang telah berjaya mendesak supaya Model Ekonomi Baru diperincikan lagi, pastinya untuk kebaikan seluruh rakyat!

Saya juga berasa cukup terhina apabila diberitahu pengundi Cina amnya mahukan isu-isu peringkat nasional ditangani sebelum sedia menyokong semula BN. Apa, bangsa lain tidak begitu 'maju' ke? Adakah PKR terbukti berupaya menangani isu-isu pembangunan ekonomi, perkauman dan sebagainya? Mana ada buktinya di Selangor! Yang adapun bukti, adalah bagaimana Pakatan Selangor masih gagap dan tak habis-habis menuduh BN atas segala kepincangan usaha kerajaannya.

Yang saya boleh percaya sikit pun adalah kekecewaan kaum Cina terhadap usaha kerajaan menangani rasuah, yang ternyata masih ada kepincangan. Pengamal rasuah mahupun mereka yang mengambil kesempatan dari ketirisan usaha kerajaan harus dihalang dari terus mengecapi nikmat duit rakyat. Contohnya, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim yang kaya-raya berlebihan akibat terlalu banyak mengaut untuk dari DEB patut ditolak! Tapi eh, eh, kaum Cina mahu pula mengundinya!

Apa lagi isu nasional? Kalau kaum Cina benar-benar mahukan isu nasional yang dianggap penting kepada mereka ditangani, kenapakah mereka tidak memberikan kekuatan menerusi sokongan jitu mereka kepada BN semata-mata untuk memberi muka kepada pemimpin politik mereka? Ini tidak, lari begitu banyak undi Cina dari BN, sehingga kini, relevan tidaknya MCA dan Gerakan di dalam BN menjadi persoalan! Malah, tak hairanlah sekiranya kaum Cina hilang kerusi kabinet kelak!

Sepatutnya, pemimpin, pemikir dan pengulas kaum Cina harus mengaku sahaja yang penolakan BN di Hulu Selangor kerana pendapat yang menular di kalangan masyarakat tersebut bahawa lemahnya BN membawa keuntungan. Keuntungan kepada siapa? ... Fenomena ini tidak lain dari yang dilihat di Kelantan; kesukaran BN merampas negeri tersebut berkait dengan pendapat yang wang pembangunan akan terus dicurah selagi BN berusaha untuk merampas kembali negeri tersebut.

Jadi helah lainnya semua sekadar helah sahaja, kerana kan malu bagi kaum Cina sekiranya pemikiran sedemikian jelas terdedah kepada kaum Melayu, India dan yang lain akan kebenaran di sebalik kecenderungan pengundi di Hulu Selangor? Tetapi ahli politik dan pemimpin BN harus menerima ini sebagai suatu realiti. Mungkinkah kerana ini, kaum Cina akan melihat perubahan sikap dari kerajaan DS Najib yang sebelum ini kuat berusaha menarik hati masyarakat tersebut?

Wallahualam... bagi jurublog adalah kelaku sebegini oleh mana-mana kaum di Malaysia tidak boleh diterima-pakai, bukan sahaja atas dasar 1Malaysia, tetapi dari segi sopan-santun antara kita. Mungkin sudah masanya para pemimpin Cina, dari memberi helah, mengingatkan masyarakatnya akan sejarah. Tak perlu tinjau jauh ke prinsip jusoli, tetapi ke PRU 1990 dan 1999 sudah memadai. Pada masa itu, pemimpin Cina cukup berpengaruh kerana kaum mereka kuat menyokong BN.

Why BN And 1Malaysia 'Lost' In Hulu Selangor

I'm going to be 'punished' for this posting, especially by those who read the title only and choose to draw conclusions without reading further. They will likely be joined by 'kaki ampus' as well. However, as much as the Hulu Selangor by-election win by BN was a welcome result, the victory carries reminders of a similar by-election some 3 years ago, in Ijok, where a local boy from the MIC also once trounced a PKR 'Giant'.

This posting will not touch on how BN's machinery assured a win ahead of Pakatan's 'meagre' means, which will be among Pakatan's excuses. Time and again previously, BN had been losing by-elections despite its large machinery. In fact, in Bagan Pinang, the BN candidate's machinery drove things ahead of BN's own. And of course all who were present at Hulu Selangor and even Bagan Pinang would agree that Pakatan's recources are now far from meagre. So, moot...

This posting also will not talk about the quality of candidates. It was rather obvious that Sdr. Kamalanathan would be more appealing to locals than Datuk Zaid Ibrahim. Kamal is quite a personable fellow, humble yet with intelligence discernable beneath his warm smile. So, despite being an 'unknown', it would be easier for fence-sitters who wish for a Wakil Rakyat that connects with them to Kamal ahead of the rather aloof and 'superior' Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

This posting is meant to highlight that the reason for the small majority in this BN by-election victory, hence my conclusion that it was a 'loss' is the poor quality of voters that we may have in Malaysia. Why would I deem these voters of poor quality for the job of deciding their Parliamentarian? I'll present a few anecdotes with the hope you will draw the same conclusions:

1. PKR nominated a Malay for a Malay majority area, supposedly due to feedback from a voter study of the area.


2. BN was relieved that a local Malay PKR leader, such as Datuk Dr Hariri, was not nominated as PKR candidate.


3. BN spent a lot of time, energy and effort convincing Malay voters to vote Kamalanathan despite his race. It was variously implied that voting Kamalanathan was effectively supporting Malay leadership to which Datuk Zaid is known to have undermined.


4. Kamalanathan was rumoured to have lost 10% of the Indian votes (from 70% to 60% support) due to reports of his joining a Perkasa event.


5. In the last days of the event, PKR spread a document supposedly from Perkasa, urging Malays to vote Datuk Zaid Ibrahim as a Malay candidate. (This is to be verified and this blogger find this dubious knowing how hated Datuk Zaid is hated by Perkasa for being a sell-out)


6. The preference of each race group for which candidate was apparent from the outset, leading to the tactics above. With the Chinese likely supportive of PKR due to the overwhelming influence the Chinese-led DAP has over Selangor state government policy and the Indians plugging for the candidate of their race (with no real link with DS Samy Vellu being seen), the Malays held the deciding vote.


7. Questions are now being asked on whether promises to build a Chinese School in Ulu Selangor should fulfilled seeing as 75% of Chinese voters supported Datuk Zaid.

BN may have won this by-election battle, but they have not won the war for the hearts and minds of the Rakyat. Remember that the PKR they were battling is no stronger, and if anything, is much weaker than the one that beat BN for the Parliamentary seat in 2008. Nevertheless, despite policies meant to cure BN of many of the perceptions of the electorate towards it, such as 1Malaysia, BN's win is surprisingly small.

As hinted above, the problem may not lie with BN or indeed policies of DS Najib's government to allay fears of economic favouritism of Malays and indeed promote unity through 1Malaysia. The problem may simply lie with the way Malaysians think, act and behave. The problem may be than Malaysians are still 'racist'...

There is an Arabic word, asabiyyah, which is often given a negative context as tribalism, clannishness, nationalism and indeed... racism. Ironically, the concept of asabiyyah according to Ibnu Khaldun, the great Muslim thinker, is not necessarily negative as it exists as a driving force for communities to develop with social cohesion towards civilisation. However, asabiyyah become truly negative when it is applied to the detriment of other groups, tribes or races.

Much of the racism in this country is spread by PAS, Gerakan and DAP. These parties don't do it necessarily by practicing racism, but more by labeling BN's predominantly race-based or regional then race based parties as racist! They do so by labeling UMNO, MCA, MIC and other BN partners as practisioners of negative asabiyyah. They should instead highlight that why BN is made up that way is to reflect the reality on the ground, that we still cluster in racial groups.

To some extent, despite near sectarian propaganda attacks, most viciously by PAS, Gerakan and DAP pre-May 13, 1969 then repeatedly over the course of the 80's and 90's, BN has been able to hold fast against the onslaught as the many communities are convinced that for Malaysia to succeed, all races must cooperate, just as their political leaders do in BN. However, this message failed in the dark Pak Lah years. Racism is now rampant again at the ballot box.

How does the BN government address this? It is ironic that despite being the party trying to resolve multi-racial tensions that it and its components are the ones labeled racist! Coversely, Pakatan appear could be as negatively asabiyyah as they like without blame! The blame was repeated time and again at Hulu Selangor, when voters were repeatedly reminded that the DAP dominated exco curtailed the BN building of an ITM, an institution to directly benefit Bumiputras.

Such blame may be an effort to shine truth to who is really racist. However, it is disagreeable to me that such truth is revealed and emphasised to Malays, inciting their group anger towards a Malay MB led by the nose by Chinese DAP state exco members. In a sense, the revealing of truth of Pakatan's racism is in itself an act of racism when done this way. Racism here begets racism!

On the Chinese side, there were whispers coming to me, some conveyed in apparent triumph, of non-Malay anger, when Kamalanathan met with Perkasa. Supposedly, this incident would shift votes from the Indian firmly towards PKR, threatening BN's position. The impression given by these whispers are that the Chinese like to keep Selangor as it is, with an MB led by the nose by Chinese DAP exco members. The impression also was that Indians didn't like Perkasa.

But really, if we are truly buying into 1Malaysia, what is so wrong with Kamalanathan meeting with Perkasa? As a future Parliamentarian, surely he has to be open to the views of Malay pressure groups as well, even supposedly 'ultra' ones like Perkasa. What's so different with Kamalanathan then meeting with Dong Jiao Zong? Oh, can't Malays have extreme pressure groups and NGOs like Dong Jiao Zong to further the Malay cause?

Maybe there would have been greater happiness if Kamalanathan met with Hindraf? Sure, Hindraf is proven to be violent in conduct, but hey, Kamalanathan is an Indian, so of course he should speak to Hindraf, right?

All this is sick! Kamalanathan is now Parliamentarian for all of Hulu Selangor and will make a difference to national policy-making, so... he should take in ALL points of view, whether it be Malay, Chinese, Indian, Murut, Iban etc.So what if he meets Perkasa? is it such a sin that he wants to know what Malays want? Isn't it responsible for him to do so as he move towards 1Malaysia.

In the end, what sickens me about the events and outcome at Hulu Selangor is this. The winner is not an only an Indian from MIC but a Malaysian from BN representing all Hulu Selangor voters in Parliament. Problem is, how many voters still see him as an Indian from MIC? Problem is, how many struggled to vote for him because of despite of this? Until our voters improve in quality such that race is not front and centre of their concerns, we would never have 1Malaysia...

Hijack Atau SABOTAGE?!

Sejak semalam lagi, ada ura-ura yang usaha mengumpulkan rakyat bagi menyerahkan memorandum membantah tindakan 50 Ahli Parlimen Australia yang menyibuk mendesak pembatalan perbicaraan kes jenayah rogol homoseks DS Anwar Ibrahim akan bakal di 'hijack'! Yang menibulkan kebingungan kepada ramai dari kami adalah:

1. Siapakah yang mungkin ingin meng'hijack' usaha menunjuk perasaan secara aman ini, memandangkan pakar 'hijack' tunjuk perasaan seumpamanya, yakni DS Anwar Ibrahim, tak mungkin bersetuju isi memorandum tersebut! (Kalau tak, memang DS Anwar pakar yang telah berjaya meng'hijack' tunjuk perasaan dari tahun 70'an lagi, termasuklah 'gelombang kuning' anti-Pak Lah usaha pemimpin UMNO yang rapat dengan istana beberapa tahun lalu!)


2. Kenapakah usaha untuk meng'hijack' tunjuk perasaan ini kelihatan begitu lembap sekali, sehinggakan para pengelola asalnya dapat mengesan akan usaha ini sebegitu awal dan pemantauan serta tindak-balas kini sempat dilaksanakan? Kumpulan politik manakah yang berupaya menunjukkan kelembapan tindak-tanduk sebegini rupa, seakan-akan budak-budak membuat kerja orang tua!

Awal pagi tadi, saya menerima sms yang mengesahkan serta menjawab segala persoalan di atas. Rupa-rupanya, yang ingin meng'hijack' usaha tunjuk perasaan dan penghantaran memorandum ini adalah tidak lain dari YB Hj Khairy Jamaluddin! Patutlah nampak lembap sekali usaha ini terlaksana, dan sememangnya adalah lojiknya yang YB KJ tergerak hati untuk mencontohi idolanya DS Anwar. Malangnya, bakat KJ memang dari dahulu tak kesampaian...

Masalah bagi penganjur asal tunjuk perasaan dan penghantaran memorandum bantahan kepada Pesuruhjaya Tinggi Australia pula adalah, takut bila orang nampak sms baru jemputan KJ untuk tunjuk perasaan bersama-sama, nanti orang naik berbulu dan tak pergi! Faham-fahamlah, mana ada makhluk yang mahu dilihat bergaul dengan idola korupsi seperti KJ sekarang! Maka adalah yang tertanya-tanya, KJ ni, nak 'hijack' acara ini kah atau berusaha men'sabotaj'?!!!

Wallahualam...

Woi KJ, dari sibuk nak 'hijack' perahan peluh orang lain, kenapa tak menjuarai Bakri sahaja oi! Bukan kerja engkau ke nak memperjuangkan nasib anak muda Melayu?! Ke ADUN Sekinchan tu pun kawan akrab kau juga?! Dia pun 'black crow' ke, sebab dilanggarnya Bakri dengan 4WD juga?!

MP Malaysia: (Pendatang) Australia Patut Menjadi Manusia Dahulu Sebelum Mengkritik Orang Lain

Dipetik dan dialih-bahasa beredit dari blog Marahku.

Ribuan MP (Manusia Penduduk) Malaysia mendesak Australia menghentikan penindasan terhadap golongan aborigin, menuntut pampasan ke atas segala jenayah keji terhadap masyarakat aborigin, menggesa pemberhentian diskriminasi terhadap pelarian baragama Islam dan secara amnya menjadi Orang atau Manusia dahulu.

Semata-mata kerana mereka baru sahaja meminda undang-undang melarang liwat tidak menjadikan mereka lebih 'bertamadun', is cuma bermakna masyarakat Australia tak kisah kalau seorang lelaki meliwat lelaki lain! Apakah ini petanda ber'tamadun'... Kalau berlandaskan ide ke'tamadun'an ini, adakah 'hak' seorang penagih dadah menghancurkan hidupnya atau 'hak' seorang anak berumur 12 tahun melakukan kegiatan seks patut diterima? (TIDAK!)

Keputusan Australia melupuskan undang-undang yang melarang liwat dan perilaku homoseks paling-paling adalah tindakan rambang dan menurut kelaziman terkini masyarakat Barat.

Sekiranya Australia kini merasakan dirinya berperibadi tinggi, ia seharusnya membayar ribuan juta sebagai pampasan kepada aborigin kerana menggangu kehidupan aman dan harmoni masyarakat tersebut malah menindas dengan begitu kejam sekali penduduk asal negara mereka tanpa berperi-kemanusiaan. Berikan pampasan dahulu kepada 'generasi yang hilang' dan juga keturunan mereka yang dibunuh secara suka-suka oleh peneroka awal berkulit putih berketurunan banduan dari Britain.

LUNASKAN DAHULU TANGGUNGJAWAB TERHADAP MASYARAKAT ABORIGIN SETELAH MEREKA MENGALAMI PENINDASAN BERATUS TAHUN LAMANYA DAN PENIDAKKAN HAK-HAK ASASI MANUSIA SEPERTI PENDIDIKAN, PEMBANGUNAN EKONOMI DAN KEMUDAHAN AM SECARA TERSUSUN OLEH KERAJAAN AUSTRALIA!

JADILAH MANUSIA DAHULU, BARULAH BOLEH SIBUK NYURUH ORANG LAIN BUAT ITU DAN INI!

Sehingga menjadi orang... nikmatilah hak kamu untuk meliwat satu sama lain dengan diam... wahai Australia...

Malaysia The Racist-Phobic State...

I have been reading the news of the resignation of Datuk Nasir Safar with much regret at the hypocricy as well as the twisted values Malaysian leaders and opinion-makers seem to proudly hold. What do I regret? Datuk Nasir's alleged words that seemed to have offended those who attended a 1Malaysia forum? No! I can't quite regret that seeing as the words weren't mine. However, I DO REGRET DATUK NASIR SAFAR HAS RESIGNED SO SWIFTLY! Why?

1. There was much talk of his allegedly causing offence. However, nowhere was it explicitly reported what it was that he actually said. Could it be that he was foolhardy in the words used rather than going out of the way to offend? It doesn't make sense for him to say these 'alleged' things at a 1Malaysia forum, does it? Furthermore, one must know Datuk Nasir to realise this was likely an innocent gaffe... more on who he is after this...


2. If causing offence by hurting the feelings of other races should result in the loss of a government job, why are racist senior members of government still walking around the corricors of power in the Najib era? For instance, why has no action been taken on Datuk Tan Lien Hoe since she insulted Malays by calling us pendatangs? In fact, on recent news, it seems we have replaced one racist Chief Minister with another in Penang.


3. Is being an alleged racist in government worse than being corrupt? It certainly seems so when "icons of corruption", those found to be among the most corrupt but allowed to remain in the corridors of power, are seen frowning at Datuk Nasir Safar's alleged racist remarks! So, if corrupt can stick around, but if racist, have to go! Is 1Malaysia open to corruption as long as it isn't racist corruption?


4. My recent writings on the Allah issue has had me being called a racist too. However, I found a wonderful context of this being shown when chit-chatting with a bunch of friends on the fringes of a wedding. A Malaysian Chinese friend declared,"You're a racist Akhram, but I still support you! At least you're not a hypocrite!". Another then followed up with,"Besides, Malaysia is a Multi-Racist state!". We all laughed... we were not 'racist-phobic'.

Many who now declare Datuk Nasir a racist don't even know him, and have judged him from some 'alleged' remarks. I admit that I know not what words were said, but this man I certainly know of. I know of Datuk Nasir Safar, the nationalist, who rose first as a leader in a multi-racial youth organisation, MAYC, before joining politics. Datuk Nasir who was deployed repeatedly to speak to the Indian community, such as when I bumped into him at the Bukit Gantang by-election.

I know of Datuk Nasir Safar who has not the slightest smear of corruption against his name. A Najib loyalist who curtailed his rise through the ranks of UMNO Youth in Johor by being the first to suggest DS Najib be DS Anwar Ibrahim's successor to UMNO Youth leadership many years ago. Datuk Nasir, who is approachable and still carries a casual air, despite having had an office on the Fourth Floor.

This is the Datuk Nasir Safar I know. Could he have said the things being so 'alleged' against him? Perhaps. Does this make him a racist? No more than the average Malaysian I would wager. Should he have been reprimanded? Sure, why not? But resign? Sorry mate, I think that would be going too far! I'd rather have the allegedly corrupt Datuk Shafie Abdullah resign first! Unfortunately for Datuk Nasir, Malaysia seems to be racist-phobic, but not corrupt-phobic...

Final thought... knowing who Datuk Nasir is, a clean, capable and loyal aide to DS Najib, why is it then we have icons of corruption helping to push him out of the Prime Minister's Office? If DS Najib was to accept Datuk Nasir's resignation, would this be based on wisdom or populism...?

Say NO To Nazri's Cop-Out Idea To Appease Allah-Grabbing Catholic Herald! There Are Better Ideas...

I was appalled by the cop-out statement of appeasement by DS Nazri Aziz as published by the NST today. According to DS Nazri, Non-Muslims in three states and the Federal Territories are allowed to use the word 'Allah'! He also said restrictions on the use of 'Allah',"... is under the state law. But in Federal Territories, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak, there is no such law to stop them."

What!!!?

So now, instead of having to accept the historical situation in Sabah and Sarawak only, which DS Nazri himself seems to mistakenly limit to,"...Iban and Kadazan families, there are Christians and Muslims in one family...", forgetting that even Melanaus have the same, Malays in the Peninsular have to accept multi-use of the word 'Allah' in Penang and the Malaysian Capital Cities of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya too?!!

Why the cop-out DS Nazri? Afraid of the swing of Catholic votes? Do you think Catholics are as shallow as the leaders of their church? Do you not care about the feelings and sentiments of Malays in Penang and the Federal Territories? Don't you remember that BN lost in 5+1 states at PRU12 in part due to RETURNING MALAY VOTES FROM THE FEDERAL TERRITORIES AND PENANG? have you forgotten that BN LOST MALAY VOTES IN PENANG AND KUALA LUMPUR?

Does DS Nazri not realise the majority of Malays passionately think of this issue as illustrated below?

Some may be appalled that I talking about votes as being DS Nazri's motive. Well, I'm doing so as I cannot fathom why else he would be copping out like this! It cannot be because he is behaving as Malay leader... OK it is consistent with many other weak Malay leadership actions I have seen on this issue, but this is probably the weakest yet! As a Malay leader, he should be adopting the majority view, affirmed by DS Zahid Hamidi in Parliament which is illustrated here:

It can't be as the so-called law minister either, as it is inconsistent with the more proper legal line of awaiting the results of the court of appeal (which is by the way, MAYC's stated stand to date... our pro-tem President's a lawyer after all!). Nazri's stand is hence also inconsistent with the Malaysian Government stand AGAINST Catholic use of the word Allah, as TS Muhyiddin has reaffirmed that the government's appeal against Judge Lau Bee Lan's decision is proceeding.

If DS Nazri really wanted to show himself to be the best among his cabinet colleagues by resolving this issue, there would be more equitable ideas that could be mooted. For instance, SatD's been driving towards this one I believe, one could propose what the Indonesians are REALLY practicing, rather than what many have incorrectly said that Allah is of common use among Muslims and Christians there.

In Indonesia, the Christian 'Allah' is pronounced differently, it is voiced akin to 'Alah' in Malay phonetics. The double-L in the word Allah is actually denoting the phonetics of the double 'Lam' in the arabic spelling of Allah. If the Catholics crave use of the word so much, why not adopt Alah as their word for God? They pronounce it phonetically as Alah anyway as the 'Mat Salleh' Missionaries tend to be unable to pronounce Allah properly. Leave Allah to Malays.

We can even make this consistent across Malaysia! Allah for Muslims, Alah for Christians! Maybe then someone will be inspired to use Elah... etc. Thinking 'global', maybe we can then even advance this Malaysian 'Alah' solution to be adopted by Indonesia and other countries where there is dual-use! Of course, we should do this only if there are similar concerns as in Malaysia, concerns which I understand is arising among our neighbours.

Do I like the idea of the Catholics using Alah instead of Allah? Not particularly, as it feels like another cop-out, but at least it isn't as big a cop-out as DS Nazri's!

Catholic Silence... In Defiance Or Obedience? To Whom?

The last church attack was some days ago. Fortunately it was with paint and seemed more like a prank rather than being stained by the anger of the previous weeks. Perhaps this is a sign of an anger subsiding, or at least reigned in by the monarchs stepping in and with us at last having one senior UMNO man, Tan Sri Muhyiddin, sounding like a Malay leader more than a Malay apologist. More of this later.

The past week we have seen the rise of a more educated Muslim response to the debate on the use of the word Allah by Catholics in Malaysia. The opinions and arguments against the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims range from a basis of history, that of theology and stems from a lifetime of activism through to simple common sense. It is my hope that those non-Malays really interested in the issue have a glance at all these arguments...

I'm about to make another 'inflamatory' statement or observation in the body text (some would have been offended just by the title above!), so I think it worth drawing your attention to the Disclaimer at the bottom of my blog. The Disclaimer clearly states that:

This blog carries the personal views of Akhramsyah Muammar Ubaidah Sanusi (A M Ubaidah S) and does not represent the views, principles or actions of any other company, organisation, entity or individual owned, employing or that has employed, affiliated or linked to A M Ubaidah S at any time.

Why is it important for me to draw your attention to the Disclaimer? It is because a few days ago, someone lodged a complaint with my company, suggesting that I be sacked! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! How's that for a 'violent' response!? Fortunately, my company treats its employees fairly, so I was informed of the call, assured my position was fine as the firm respects my rights to free speech and concern was expressed over my well-being!

So, if you think my next comment sucks big time, please, read the Disclaimer, and save your energy (and my busy bosses' time) from trying to get me sacked! You have a better chance getting me arrested... actually, hope not!

Anyway, I still would like to hear from the real culprits that have created this whole mess, the Catholic establishment in Malaysia. It appears as if the Catholic leaders have chosen to adopt an 'Elegant Silence' on the issue! So, when are they withdrawing their case from the courts in line with the views of the Rulers? When are they publicly declaring a return to the status-quo? Where is even the apology to all affected by their agenda, whether Muslims or the firebombed churches??

One can argue that the Catholic establishment's continued crass pursuit of spreading a Malay gospel across Peninsular Malaysia despite the disharmony it causes, may just be a reflection of the attitude of their current Pope, Benedict XVI. The same Pope has till now, still not fully addressed the slurs towards Islam when presenting the Regensberg Speech in September 2006. He even cheekily apologised for the a small part of the speech, whilst not withdrawing the slurs!

So, when the Catholic church in Malaysia stays silent following the calls for their case to be dropped, is it in defiance of the Malay Rulers? Worse still, could it even be in obedience to the Pope? So, do they have to defy the Rulers if they are to obey the Pope? What a position to be in! To be instructed by a German sitting in a palace 'in' Rome to pursue something that disrupts the harmony of the multi-religious community in Malaysia as a show of piety must be hard to bear...

... but I really can't have any sympathy for them! Rather than having a youngster charged due to a Facebook posting, the police should really be investigating the Catholic church for evidence of malicious sedition! TS Muhyiddin himself remarked to the press that his Christian friends from East Malaysia expressed regret over the Catholic Herald's poor behaviour in this matter, surely laying responsibility over the whole issue on the shoulders of the Catholic leadership!

But before I go, let me continue with some more finger pointing. Where was the Malay leadership in the midst of this issue boiling over? I am not talking about DS Najib, who very rightly maintained his dignity as the leader of all Malaysians. His intervention is best reserved for a little later. I am also not talking about TS Muhyiddin, who was abroad when the matter exploded in violence and who nevertheless succeeded in providing the first show of strong Malay leadership.

I am talking about the so-called next line of UMNO leaders onwards. Why has the language been more of appeasement and the tone been apologetic? The UMNO Youth Chief for instance was amply silent on Malay sentiments, but was quick to to seek appeasement for the resulting violence and is all too keen on the conviction of a 20+ year old nuisance on some Facebook postings! Is he saying youths on Facebook are more a threat to our nation's peace and harmony?

There has been the odd saving graces of course. For instance, DS Zahid Hamidi's performance in Parliament stands out when voicing Malay concerns in unity with the non-Erdogan PAS MPs like YB Ustaz Taib Azamuddin. On the blogs, we have Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz, an UMNO Youth Exco member who stands out for his firm focus against the Catholic pursuit of the use of Allah. Nonetheless, a vacuum persists, made worse by DS Anwar's and the Erdogans' selling-out on the issue!

Whilst I point my finger towards the weakness of Malay leadership on this matter, I nevertheless cannot excuse the Catholic establishment from the 'original sin' here. A reaction from the Malay leadership would not have been necessary if the Catholic Herald had not pursued the matter in the courts. Without that action, there would not have been any sort of reaction at all! As nothing would have been sown to be reaped...

Will The Catholic Church Now Defy The Malay Rulers?

I was elated to see the Malay Rulers intervening on the matter of the use of the word 'Allah' in the Catholic Herald magazine. As I had hoped, the message from the Rulers was that the use of the word 'Allah' should be exclusively for the God as worshiped by Muslims. Interestingly, an enactment from 1988 that forbids the use of the word Allah by other religions has since surfaced, and should assist in bringing the matter to a close.

As I had hoped, the intervention by 2 Rulers (that I am aware of so far), the Agong, His Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Wathiqu Billah Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin and the Sultan of Selangor, His Royal Highness Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, has led to some calm. I have not heard of any further Church attacks in any case since their intervention. One hopes this will be followed up by some consideration by the courts in the next round.

Of course, a greater hope would be for the Catholic Church to now bow to the will of the Malay Rulers and concede that it was indeed unwise for them to pursue the use of the word Allah. Indeed, if they had remained satisfied with the word Allah's continued use in East Malaysia as it was, we all would have lost much less. Now, it would be more dignified for the Catholic authorities to just withdraw their case from the courts and concede... rather than defy the Malay Rulers...

In the hope that the intervention of the Rulers will bring this sordid episode of provoked violence to a close, I have to thank many here for reading my views on this matter. I also appreciate the comments, however vitriolic, that has given me some interesting insights. I am particular grateful to those who have spread my message out, from Pet, wherever you may be (London? Hahaha!), the Edge, through to KJ's Coffee Boy (still 'unspoilt' I hope!).

I found at least one foreign webservice treating my views a little more kindly. More significantly though, after all my criticism of liberal Malays, I also find it hence of greatest irony (or maybe not) that it's a liberal that got the purpose of my article that caused so much confused anger, and whom I believe understood the gist of what I was trying to convey. Good on you Anas Zubedy!

Finally, one correction worth recording here. I never sent my postings to Malaysia Today or the Malaysian Insider. They were picked up the the respective web-portals/news services themselves. So, if I am so guilty of 'propogating violence', then so must they be. Fortunately, I don't think any of us were doing anything of the sort. We were propogating truth... of a fashion... from a Malay's eyes...

To Which Christian Is 'Allah' A Norm?

I have had a lot of fun raising awareness of the violence being incited by the Catholic establishment through their pursuit of the use of the word Allah in their Malaysia-wide publication, the Herald, over the last couple of days. People need to be made aware that the continued insults and denigration of Malays in Malaysia will have its repercussions, and we are at the moment fortunate that whilst the majority are angry, only a few churches have had to suffer damages.

I suppose now that I am laying blame on the Catholic establishment for inciting this anger, even more people will be angry towards me, but such is the cost of revealing truth. If there is anything I have learnt from the comments to my past 2 postings, it is that too many non-Malays don't even understand the issue as seen through Malay eyes. In fact, confusion is rampant, e.g. many think this is an 'East Malaysia issue', when the Herald, is distributed nationally, with a KL office!

Anyway, I have had to focus on work since yesterday, so I would like to refer Muslims, especially liberal ones who think it is all 'ok' to share 'Allah' with everyone (and that includes you Marina Mahathir) to this timely reminder by the astute JMD. In addition, I also publish here (uneditted other than punctuation and capitalisation) a write-up by a much wiser man that may shed further light on the issue as seen through educated and rational Malay eyes:

Which Norm?

The head of the Catholic church in Malaysia, in an article in the Herald, argued that the Catholic church has a right to use the word Allah as it predates Islam and therefore by implication is not specific to Islam. If this is so why is the name Allah not in the Torah or the Bible? These were the religions that predate Islam. Why was God called Yahweh in the Torah and Deos in the Bible and not Allah? I fail to see the reverend’s evidence for this in the religions that predates the prophet Mohamad (saw)

The reason it (Allah) is not in the Bible or the Torah was that the Torah was revealed to Moses in Hebrew and the Ingil revealed to Isa in the Aramaic and the Aramaic word for God is Elah as the prophet Isa calls him. Allah is in the Koran because it was revealed in Arabic. Is the reverend suggesting that Arabic was widely used before Islam? In my humble knowledge of the middle Eastern history the widely used language then as the equivalent of English today is Greek. That is why the first written Bible was in Greek. The universal name for God before Islam was Theos not Allah.

The word Allah is of Arabic origin. If its use predates the Koran it was confined to the Arabian peninsula, not even Syria or Iraq nor Egypt. Before Arab conquest of these land each had its own language and God is named in their respective languages. Hence it is ridiculous to suggest that Allah was widely used before Islam.

It boggles my mind that the Catholic Church would insist on using the Arabic name for God that was used by the prophet Mohamad (saw) but chooses to ignore the Aramaic name Elah as used by the prophet Isa (puh). Is the Church suggesting that the name Mohamad (saw) used is more important than that used by Isa’s in the hierarchy of God’s name?

This would be my argument to the High court had I been the lawyer that represented the Government.

The reverend further suggests based on his first premise that because the word Allah is part of the Malay language the Church has a constitutional right to use it in a Malay language publication. I would ask the reverend the same question. Was the word Allah part of the Malay language before Islam came to the Malay peninsula. Before that date Malays were either Hindus, Buddhist or just plain Animist. Where is the evidence that shows Allah was the word for God in the writings of the preislamic period in the Malay peninsula.

Allah was introduced to Malays by Arab traders and only became part of the Malay language when Malays adopted Islam as their religion. In the lexicon of Malay words Allah was specific to Islam and refers only to the God of Muslims not the God a Malay prayed to before he become a Muslim. Hence to argue that Allah is a general Malay word take no cognizance of its Arab origin and ignores its Islamic origin in the Malay lexicon. That will be my argument to the appeal court.

I have heard many arguments by both Malays and Christians that in the Arab world Allah is used by Christians as it is in Indonesia. If Arabs and Indonesians don’t object why should Malays. Allah is an Arabic word hence its general use in the Arab speaking world is understandable.

The practice of Islam in the Arab speaking world is not standard. Some are more liberal and others stricter. There are parts of the Arabian peninsula where the presence of a non-Muslim is regarded sacrilegious and a man could loose his head for saying Allah has a son. Why was that not used as a comparison.

It is certainly mischievous or pure ignorance to use the Arab speaking world as a norm. Which country would you choose? Some people accuse Malays of thinking they are more Muslims than the Arabs. Of course we are! We are stricter than the liberal ones like Egypt, and Lebanon and of course more liberal than the very strict one like Saudi.

The Arab norm used by Malays from the beginning was the practice of the Arabian peninsula where the first Muslim missionaries came from, not the larger Arab speaking world. For quite sometime in Malay history an Al Azhar graduates was not acceptable as religious teacher only a Madina or Meccan graduate would appointed for such post because of the conservative norms of the latter.

Like wise what the Indonesian norm is, is their choice to make. It is certainly not the norm used by Malays. Because the word Allah is allowable for non muslim religious service there, does not mean it should also be practiced in the Malay peninsula. If we Malays accept that argument than the next Indonesian practice that will be demanded will be of Christians marrying Muslim without converting as a constitutional right. I also have Indonesian acquitances who eat pork when they are abroad, something a malay would not do.

Should that also be the standard for Malays. If an Indonesian norm is to be compared to Malays it would be closer to Aceh than Java. Ultimately Malays have their own standards for Islamic practice and the Indonesian have theirs so let that be. Lakum dinnukum waliyadin. To you your religion to me mine.

Half A Million Ringgit Of Misplaced Generosity...

I was shocked to hear DS Najib's government saw it as appropriate to donate RM500k to the Metro Tabernacle church at Desa Melawati due to the damage it suffered through arson a few days ago. It was said that this was due to the extent of the damage the church suffered. I think this is a load of nonsense and that DS Najib was just poorly advised as to the most appropriate course of action. Giving away half a million ringgit to the church is certainly unwise as:

1. The government was not responsible for the arson attack. Of course, one could claim the government is ultimately responsible, but that is like saying the government of Kelantan should be blamed for flooding in the state!


2. On the above, paying the RM500k gives the impression that the government is taking ultimate responsibility for the arson attack!
   


3. If the government wanted to do something for the church to ease their suffering, they needn't have bothered with the RM500k as to churches in Malaysia, permits to locate churches are more valuable than money, and the Metro Tabernacle has been applying to relocate. Just expedite it for them!
   


4. The church premises would have been insured. So, what with the intentions to relocate and everything, this arson attack may have been a boon for the church insurance wise! What is then the need for the government to shore up the church's finances with public money?
   


5. The Metro Tabernacle could have just made a claim to the largest landowner on Earth for damages, the largest landowner being the Roman Catholic Church! What with the church attack being due to the Catholic Herald magazine's court case in the first place, I think they have a case!

But all the above is not as big a deal as the precedent the government pay-out to the Metro Tabernacle creates and its potential impact:

1. Does this imply that the government will pay out to all churches or other related institutions (schools, seminaries, etc) that suffer significant damage from protests over the Herald's case?


2. Does this give the Hindus the right to now claim compensation for the various temples demolished by state agencies, even if they were inappropriately sited? Again, the issue here could be resolved just by sorting out the permits for specific locations.


3. Does this not encourage arson for the sake of gaining state funds for rebuilding? Even the publicity, getting a whole bunch of ministers to suddenly appear in churches and other places of worship they would not have been to otherwise! Some would say even this has value...


4. The trend of giving assistance to the affected churches will emerge among corporate entities, and it is regrettable it began with one from a GLC being run by the PM's brother! This will further enhance the possibility of increased arson for profit of one form or another.

But going back to the source of this violence, escalating Malay anger over the robbing of the right to use of the word Allah, this act by the government:

1. Will again be seen as the government being apologetic rather than addressing issues distressing Malays.


2. Will open the door to accusations that the government is now bringing the state's treatment of other religions on par with Islam which is the only religion acknowledged by the constitution. This is extremely dangerous.


3. TS Koh Tsu Koon's idea of now having an 'interfaith dialogue', whilst sounding nice to liberal sensibilities, will just inflame matters. Malays will see no reason to dialogue as they see themselves as having given up enough already and suspicions will arise that TS Koh is reviving the IFC idea. This WILL NOT STOP THE VIOLENCE! In fact, it may make it worse!

How then could this violence cease:

1. The PM should invite the Rulers to intervene to bring the matter out of the court. The Rulers can then constitutionally put a halt to the Herald's case. This will appease Malays across many fronts, not just by dismissing the issue but also by demonstrating the presence of Malay power to address their concerns still.


2. The Herald could simply withdraw the case from the courts in the interest of the peace between all Malaysians. This would present the church not just with immediate security, but also a moral victory... whilst Malay leaders could go around placating the more dangerous elements and allowing the police to do their job catching the perpetrators without being encumbered by the risk of further attacks.

The above are options to immediately stop the escalation of violence, but it will not address other concerns that have brought Malays too close to the Tipping Point towards it. These concerns need to be addressed by the government to bring us well away from the brink. Waving a finger and crying out "1Malaysia" is not enough. Remedial action is needed to undo 5+ years of continuous damage to the Malays' sense of pride.

I also hope that the absence or reduction of violence from Monday does not give everyone a false sense of security. The violence is probably reduced as people are at work...

Torched Churches... Reaping What Is Sown

Churches are now being torched, four at last count. I believe more churches will be torched, stoned, graffitied, sullied, picketed, etc, for as long as the use of the word 'Allah' by the Catholic church issue is not resolved to the satisfaction of Muslims in this country. Note that Muslims, in Malaysia include not just Malays, but also non-Malay Muslims, Indonesian, Bangladeshi and other foreign workers as well as an increasingly large overseas student population.

The description of Malays being comprised of all these groups in Malaysia is not a cop-out, but helps me with emphasis, as quite contrary to the view of Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, who DOES NOT understand NOR represent the majority of Malays (we don't understand or represent her either), THE MAJORITY OF MALAYS ARE NOT HAPPY WITH THE MISUSE OF THE WORD ALLAH BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH!

Unlike Datin Paduka Marina, I'm not claiming to represent the majority of Malays, but am conveying their "whispered screaming", via gossip at kenduris, from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi through to the organising of protests by Malay and Muslim NGOs that do formally represent the majority Malay view. As pro-tem VP of the Malaysian Association of Youth Clubs (MAYC), I have also been approached by other organisations to join them in protest. (We've declined... for now...)

Now, there has been calls for calm from the Malay 'leadership'. Unfortunately, Malays may choose not to listen to the same leadership that has continuously failed to defend their rights or to correct past wrongs against them. Whilst non-Malays leaders who insult Malays, calling us 'Pendatang' say, are allowed to remain in power, Malays are expected to weather escalating insults, with one mainstream newspaper recently happily questioning our very existence!

Now we see even the opposition so-called 'Islamic' party, PAS, dithering, projecting confused statements in a pathetic attempt to gain political mileage out of the issue! What Malays want is LEADERSHIP in addressing this issue, not posturing for votes! To also then have so called Malay 'thought leaders' like Marina persist with liberal drivel when the matter has past the point of her comprehension of the Malay mind and sociological history adds insult to injury.

Malay history is punctuated by incidents of violence, with the common theme leading up to such being the continued denigration of the race simply due to our good nature. No majority ruling race has happily allowed for the culture of other races to bloom other than this country ruled by Malays. Also, in no other country has everything been shared so equitably, as even in the USA, for all the hype over Obama, the political and economic leadership is still overwhelmingly white.

As any mention of past Malay physical violence in the face of our continued denigration will be labelled 'racist', let us look at recent 'non-violent' history:

When Malays exercised electoral 'violence' against their UMNO leaders during PRU-12, throwing BN leadership out of 4 states and severely weakening it in 1 other, the message sms-ed by the DAP leadership,"... don't provoke the Malays...", worked well to halt the momentum towards Malay physical violence. However, the denigration of Malays has neither ceased nor been reversed, and if anything, has continued to escalate as many began to forget...

E.g., Malays are still dissatisfied with their reduced quotas at local universities, whilst non-Malays in their quest for 'equality' remain uninterested in the reasons why Malays need them. MOST MALAY STUDENTS HAVE NO-WHERE ELSE TO GO OTHER THAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES WHILST NON-MALAYS CAN GO PRIVATE! The result is, now, many otherwise university-bound Malays are on the streets, hungry, angry and with the intelligence to organise...

And for the Catholic Church to then venture down the silly path of robbing Malays of the exclusive use of the word Allah... Malays may be lobbing molotov cocktails at all churches indiscriminately, but this is only fair. It is not just the Catholic church that is responsible for this Malay anger, but also the Protestant and Evangelical (that have no use for Allah, to them, a pagan moon-god) for not joining ranks with Malays against the Catholic stand...

Soon...

• Malays will figure out that it is not just the fault of the churches, or the Christian heirarchy for robbing us of Allah, but the fault of all Christian congregations for letting their religious leaders continue to insult us.


• Malays will figure out that now that they're in for a penny, might as well go for the pound by attacking Hindu temples for their original insults towards Malay communities by claiming the 'historical right' to build anywhere.


• Malays will believe since many non-Malays were sitting idle by the side allowing Malays to be insulted, maybe they should be reminded to that they are condoning these insults.


• Malays in organised mobs will turn on our leaders for being so limp in their defence of our rights.


• By then it would be too late, as even intelligent Malays will figure out that as we're being accused of being racists anyway by the ungrateful children of 'Pendatang' in this country, might as be racists... the worst kind of racists...

Am I advocating violence? No I am not. I am saying that Malay violence is inevitable, at least if the current trend of apologising for Malay anger rather than addressing it continues. And in this case, Christian dogma does ring true, one reaps what is sown. The seeds of discord had been sown in this country for far too long in the guise of quest for 'equality'. And so it comes to pass that the road to hell is lined with 'good' intentions, or rather, pretentious excuses.

As for me, a rational educated Malay that Marina Mahathir assumes to know all about, there is little to do but sit back and protect what I can from the violence that will come... and pray... to Allah Subhana-Wa-Ta'ala... the correct, singular and unique one...

Bergunakah Serangan Politik Terhadap Tun Dr M?

Nampak gaya, walaupun sudah sebegitu lama Tun Dr M bersara, masih ramai yang tergerak hati untuk terus menyerangnya. Terkini suatu percubaan dari Barry Wain, seorang penulis yang memang kritis terhadap Tun Dr M sekian lama. Mungkin kerana geramnya terhadap Tun, terlanjur pula kali ini beliau menuduh, tanpa landasan fakta yang utuh, kononnya Tun Dr M secara peribadi merugikan negara sebanyak RM100 Ribu Juta sepanjang 22 tahun sebagai PM.

Tuduhan tanpa sandaran fakta selain ungkapan pendapat tersebut, tercetak di dalam buku,"Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times". Ada ura-ura mengatakan buku ini mungkin diharamkan, namun ini disyaki helah pembangkang sahaja untuk mempopularkan buku tersebut. Buku tersebut tidak mengancam keamanan mahupun kesejahteraan negara. Malah, intipatinya juga tidak mengancam keutuhan kerajaan sekarang.

Mungkin kerana itulah, apabila pemimpin DAP, Lim Kit Siang (LKS), cuba mempopularkan buku tersebut dengan menyarankan ditubuhkan sebuah Suruhanjaya DiRaja untuk menyiasat tuduhan Barry Wain tersebut, Tun Dr M dengan rela mengesyorkan kerajaan untuk membenarkan buku tersebut dijual. Malah Tun seolah-olah lebih seronok sekiranya laris jualan buku tersebut untuk memperkuatkan kes saman terhadap Barry Wain dan yang bersekutu dengannya.

Sebagai pemerhati, kita juga agak seronok melihat Tun Dr M dengan begitu santai menghadapi tohmahan serta serangan peribadi terhadap beliau, baik yang langsung (penulisan Barry Wain) mahupun tidak langsung (saranan LKS yang tuduhan barry disiasat). Jawapan Tun bukan sekadar menepis prasangka buruk terhadapnya, malah sekaligus menyerang kewibawaan pemimpin DAP tersebut serta kesahihan tuduhan melulu Barry Wain.

Di negara Barat, kes seperti ini mungkin tidak timbul kerana takutnya seseorang penulis akan akibat sekiranya tuduhan melulu tanpa sandaran fakta akan membawa muflis apabila disaman oleh yang terfitnah. Tetapi di Malaysia, oleh kerana khabar angin sedia diterima sebagai fakta sementara surat layang dan blog menjadi penyalur maklumat yang dipercayai, para penulis mungkin tidak berhati-hati... sehinggakan 'Barry Wain' pun boleh berjangkit sama!

Namun, kepada saya sebagai penulis, isu siapa yang dituduh, bersalah-tidaknya penulis dan gelabahnya LKS tidaklah berapa penting. Pada saya, adalah lebih penting kita bertanya sama ada bergunakah kerja menyerang Tun Dr M ini? Saya malah berasa hairan apabila LKS melatah sama! Malah, LKS siap menyarankan supaya puluhan, mungkin ratusan ribu ringgit rakyat dibelanjakan semata-mata untuk 'menyiasat' tuduhan tidak bermakna terhadap Tun!

Apakah manfaat kepada rakyat yang diharapkan dari LKS dalam menyarankan Tun Dr M terus diserang kewibawaannya? Selain kepentingan politik peribadi LKS, penulis merasakan tiada manfaat lain yang boleh dicapai. Ketelusan? Ketelusan haruslah ada makna. Maka, kalau kita berjaya 'menteluskan' suasana dengan penyiasatan tuduhan Barry Wain, apakah ia memberi manfaat selain 'pengajaran'? Bukankah pengajaran sudah terkandung dalam buku yang sama?

Adakah Suruhanjaya DiRaja yang disarankan LKS berupaya membawa hukuman ke atas tuduhan Barry Wain? Rasanya tidak. Ini bukan sahaja kerana bukti tuduhan Barry Wain tidak ada. Beliau malah hanya sekadar meminjam ungkapan pendapat kritis terhadap usaha-usaha pembangunan Tun Dr M yang kerap di kitar-semula oleh media kongkongan Yahudi. Tambah pula, kalaupun ada kesalahan urus-tadbir Tun, pengundilah yang seharusnya menghukumnya, bukan mahkamah!

Kini terlihat pengkomplot dalam tuduhan melulu tanpa asas terhadap Tun Dr M tercari-cari jalan keluar dari salah-laku mereka. Dipergunakan pula teman-teman pro-Singapura di Malaysian Insider untuk menyarankan Tun Dr M menyaman Barry Wain tanpa berlengah lagi. Ini semua kerja karut yang juga tak membawa manfaat! Ingat, saya tidak memohon aksi yang lebih beradab terhadap Tun, kerana mungkin ada yang tak faham, tetapi kupohon usaha lebih berguna!

Tun Dr M seorang negarawan ulung yang sudah bersara. Hebatnya beliau sehingga nasihatnya dipinta dari seluruh pelusuk dunia. Malah musuhnya Amerika Syarikat juga pernah memohon sedikit maklum-balas bagaimana menangani pengganas sejurus selepas pengeboman pada September 11. Gerak-kerja Tun memantau dan melindungi ekonomi negara dari merudum terus sewaktu krisis ekonomi pada akhir '90-an kini menjadi asas menangani krisis yang terbaru.

Adalah lebih berguna bagi kita rakyat Malaysia, tak kiralah dari fahaman politik mana sekalipun, melapangkan dada dan memanfaatkan masa yang masih ada bersama Tun dengan menimba ilmu, pengalaman, baikpun apa-apa pengaruh tersisa padanya di arena dunia untuk memperbaiki masa depan negara-bangsa. Kerja mencomotkan nama Tun tidak memanfaatkan, malah memincangkan kita kerana status beliau sebagai ikon yang memasyhurkan nama negara.

Malaysia tidak ada Pele atau Maradona. Jauh dari itu Tiger Woods atau Roger Federrernya. Datuk Lee Chong Wei dan Datuk Nicole David belum dapat menggoncang dunia. Kita belum lagi melahirkan saintis hebat seperti Einstein atau Nicola Tesla dan alhamdulillah Nordin Mat Top hanya dicaci-cacai di Indonesia, belum ada Usamah yang bersembunyi di celah Gua Niah. Kita tak perlu Tom Cruise atau Bono sebagai hero kita. Yang kita ada Mahathir sahaja...

Makanya bukan sekadar tiada gunanya menyerang Tun Dr M selain untuk kepentingan politik, tetapi perbuatan berterusan sebegini merugikan negara. Manfaat yang boleh diberi dari mendekatinya pasti bergunung lebih dari melemaskan imejnya di mata dunia dengan debu-debu tuduhan berbaur fitnah dan tohmah tunasan iri hati terhadap beliau. Kalau geram nak memburukkan nama seorang tokoh, bidas sahaja Lee Kuan Yew yang tiada nilai bagi kita...

Kepimpinan Melayu Menjelang Maal Hijrah

Tahun ini saya menyambut Maal Hijrah di Langkawi. Bukannya dengan perarakan anjuran UMNO, Belia atau mana-mana kumpulan masjid. Tetapi sambil membawa keluarga bercuti, menziarah tempat-tempat istimewa bagi saya sewaktu muda, seperti Lubuk Semilang yang masih dingin air terjunnya dan Hj Ramli, tak ubah lewat dihidang juadah lazatnya!

Dalam tempoh 10 hari sejak saya terakhir memblog, nampak gaya isu hangat yang berapung di jaring maya amnya masih sama, soal Kepimpinan Melayu. Pembaca mungkin bingung membaca hal ini, tetapi kepada saya jelas bahawa Kepimpinan Melayu merupakan isu lazim terapung malah tenggelamnya terlalu sekejap sebelum timbul semula sepanjang beberapa tahun sudah lamanya.

Kepimpinan Melayu lain dari Ketuanan Melayu. Ketuanan Melayu adalah retorik. Ia retorik yang ditimbulkan oleh golongan penulis dan pendidik nasionalis Melayu untuk menaikkan semangat bangsa Melayu. Ia tidak pernah diutarakan untuk diterima oleh segenap lapisan masyarakat Malaysia, hanya khusus untuk orang Melayu menghayati sejarah sebagai tuan tanah bumi Tanah Melayu.

Terkadang pada suatu masa dahulu, Ketuanan Melayu tersisip sebagai retorik pembawa makna di dalam kursus-kursus Biro TataNegara (BTN). Mungkin dari sinilah sekalian dengan pembacaan penulisan retorik Melayu oleh bangsa-bangsa lain di Malaysia, Ketuanan Melayu mula dikelirukan dengan asas kepimpinan Malaysia sejak Merdekanya Malaya, yakni Kepimpinan Melayu.

Kepimpinan Melayu adalah ide bahawasanya sebagai kaum asal dan amnya teramai jumlahnya di Tanah Melayu, bangsa Melayu tidak boleh lari dari tanggungjawab memimpin di Malaysia. Asalnya Melayu memberikannya hak sejarah untuk memimpin manakala keramaian bangsa memberikan hak demokrasi yang mengutamakan suara teramai diikuti kehendaknya dahulu.

Kepimpinan Melayu mungkin terlihat jelas haknya untuk terus diterima di Malaysia, tetapi anggapan ini salah jika pemimpin Melayu hanya berpaut kepada hak sejarah mahupun ramainya Melayu semata-mata. Sebabnya adalah kerana Malaysia negara yang mempunyai golongan minoriti yang besar mahupun berpengaruh, terutama sekali dari segi ekonomi.

Islam sendiri mengajar yang hak sejarah mahupun majoriti sesuatu kaum tidak dengan sendiri menjadi asas kepimpinan sesuatu negara. Di Madinah, Rasulullah s.a.w. memerintah walaupun kaum Yahudi di situ dapat memberikan jalinan sejarah lebih lama bertapak di situ dan ramainya mereka sehingga boleh berpecah kepada 3 puak! Namun Rasulullah s.a.w. dan golongan Arab-Islam memerintah...

Pengajaran Rasulullah s.a.w. dan masanya memerintah di Madinah menunjukkan bahawa golongan minoriti boleh memerintah asalkan:

1. Minoriti bersatu-padu sementara Majoriti berpecah-belah.
2. Minoriti menunjukkan kebolehan memerintah lebih handal dari Majoriti.

Alhamdulillah, mungkin berdasarkan pengajaran inilah, UMNO pernah berjaya memimpin Perikatan kemudian Barisan Nasional sekaligus Malaysia sejak merdekanya; kerana pemimpin Melayu tidak leka atas dasar hak sejarah mahupun ramainya kita semata-mata. Jelas juga yang bergoncangnya Kepimpinan Melayu sekarang adalah kerana bangsa berpecah-belah politiknya dan kelemahan bersemarak apabila pentadbiran Pak Lah gagal mentadbir di mata rakyat.

DS Najib kini terlihat sedang berhati-hati mengukir jalan mengembalikan keyakinan rakyat kepada Kepimpinan Melayu. Usahanya mungkin sudah mula berjaya dan bukti tidak langsungnya adalah serangan terkini Pakatan terhadap institusi-institusi yang mengutuhkan Kepimpinan Melayu seperti BTN. Tetapi pada hemah saya, yang paling membahayakan usaha DS Najib dan pemimpin lain untuk menyuburkan kembali Kepimpinan Melayu bukanlah komplot Pakatan ...

Lebih membahayakan lagi adalah apabila ahli kabinet DS Najib memperagakan kenakalan ataupun mungkin kegopohan berpolitik seperti dipertunjukkan Datuk Nazri Aziz tempohari. Terkini pula, terlihat kerakusan yang ditunjukkan oleh penyokong-penyokong seorang Ketua Pemuda UMNO yang hebat cita-citanya! Mengalpakan lagi apabila seorang pegawai politik DS Najib sendiri dipertikaikan kewibawaannya.

DS Najib dan barisan pemimpin terdekat dengannya, termasuklah TS Muhyiddin, haruslah peka mendengar baik suara rakyat baik dari blog mahupun laporan jalanan berganding dengan nasihat orang-orang lama seperti Tun Dr M yang sejarahnya masih menggilap obor Kepimpinan Melayu. Adalah lebih baik Kepimpinan Melayu diutuhkan dengan kisah-kisah hero tak didendang kita ataupun bahan sejarah mentadbir yang hebatnya diakui dunia...

... dari diberi muka berterusan kepada primadona penghancur warisan Kepimpinan Melayu 1Malaysia...

Selamat Menyambut Maal Hijrah!