where do we go from here, malaysia?
It is rather unfortunate for Khairy Jamaluddin to have made that now infamous statement of his, expounding how a weak UMNO will become an easy target for other political parties in the BN ruling coalition.
On the surface, his statement could be construed as an inherent lack of faith in the intention of the other component parties and a convoluted understanding in the fundamental concept of power sharing in the BN.
It paints the picture that the component parties in the BN, rather being a coalition born out from a firm commitment to common goals and values, are instead solely driven by the Darwinian instincts to survive and each desperately jostling to reach the alpha male position.
On the surface, his statement could be construed as an inherent lack of faith in the intention of the other component parties and a convoluted understanding in the fundamental concept of power sharing in the BN.
It paints the picture that the component parties in the BN, rather being a coalition born out from a firm commitment to common goals and values, are instead solely driven by the Darwinian instincts to survive and each desperately jostling to reach the alpha male position.
Rather than being viewed as mutual partners, the other component parties are seen as opportunistic rivals.
Perhaps Khairy has forgotten that most of the component parties in the BN are racially based and cater exclusively to the needs of their respective communities; and in such arrangements, each of them usually minds their own business.
Therefore, to suggest that another party could somehow take over the mantle of BN from the dominant UMNO is quite unlikely.
Unless of course, MCA suddenly decides to take care of the welfare of the Malays on top that of the Chinese, a situation which will be quite unprecedented if it is to come true.
In short, the BN coalition may cater for the well-being of all the races but the UMNO party will continue to serve the Malays, MCA party for the Chinese and MIC party the Indians.
As a coalition, the BN could claim to be truly Malaysian in its representation but as far as partisan politics goes, it is still divided along racial lines.
But back to Khairy, it is actually difficult to fully understand the full ramifications of his statement on the state of the BN coalition. I mean, if the other component parties were to take advantage of a weak UMNO, what does it bode for the rakyat?
If MCA were to become the alpha male in the BN coalition, is he implying that the well-being of the Malays would not be taken care of? Or vice versa?
If such fears and distrusts still run deep among our current political leaders, then we are no better than we are nearly 50 years ago when we proclaimed independence from the British.
In fact, some would even argue that we have moved backwards since then.
If we still allow narrow and unfair racial prejudices to cloud our judgement and prevent us from grasping the bigger picture of Malaysian future, then the much trumpeted harmony amongst the races are nothing more than simply cheap sloganeering.
If we could not even entrust our well-being in the hands of other races who have lived, toiled and fought along side with us for nearly the past 50 years, then does the progress we have achieved so far has any significant meaning?
I think the saddest part of this whole issue is that Khairy - who once studied overseas and exposed to a diverse environment, hence expected to have a more global world-view that transcends petty racial partitioning - had easily fallen prey to the need to prove his political worth by conveniently conjuring up a racial bogeyman fashioned in the image of the Chinese.
It feels as if in Malaysia, one of the requirements in one's rite of passage to become a full-fledged politician is to shamelessly rattle the sensitivities and provoke the backlash of the other races.
It sounds as if you will have to trample on other people's head in your way to the top; and the worst part is that we feel no regret in doing so at all, especially judging from Khairy's refusal to apologize to the Chinese.
Sadly, our country have come to a point where we no longer view racially-tinged statements, attacks and insults as something abhorrent anymore, where it is acceptable to disparage other races to fulfill our own ends.
The truth is that we are often asked to tolerate and respect other races but we have never been publicly advocated to understand, delve into and compromise with them.
It is enough for us to accept the fact that we have to live side by side in this country but we never bothered to inquire, to get to know or to immerse ourselves in the customs, values and needs of the other races.
In short, we have been living comfortably amongst our own kind, effectively cloistered and oblivious to the comings and goings of other races.
Our country have degenerated into nothing more than mutiple islands of comunities each consigned to a particular race.
With such deliberate seclusion, it is no surprise that our rational mind often take a backseat whenever issues that transcend racial barriers crop up in our midst.
We have be cooped up for so long that we begin to reflexly treat every unfamiliar thing that comes our way as a threat to our social, economic and political standing.
Even the simple and innocent request for a wider platform to discuss national issues are immediately seen as an intrusion into our own collective lifestyle and a deterioration of our own self-imposed racial supremacy.
And when we are finally coaxed into such open discussions, we seek every opportunity to prevent the issue from being further explored, everything from the classic method of invoking the ugly racial ghosts of the past to the practice of attacking the racial loyalty or religious credibility of the questioner or messenger.
As soon as the avenue for discussion is opened, we quickly concoct mutiple ways to try to shut it, our responses a sad reflection of our barely-stretched intellect.
Indeed, we seemed to prefer thunderous chest-thumping, fiery rhetoric and morally repugnant mud-slinging to get our message across as opposed to a cool and rational dialogue infused with humility and honesty.
Lately, such actions are not only limited to racial issues but has also spread to religious, social and economic issues - the fundamentally semantic battle of whether Malaysia is an Islamic or a secular state, the accusations that the Gerakan-led Penang is not giving enough attention to the Malays and the recent fighting among the students at UPM, just to name a few.
At times, it seemed that Malaysians have lost the ability to hold a civilized conversation altogether.
When will we ever learn that in most cases, the message not to the messenger that should be given more attention?
When will we ever learn that attempting to discredit someone purely because of the message he carries is not the way to gain supporters in this day and age?
When will we ever learn that irrationality never goes hand in hand with the handling of delicate issues since it could easily tear the fragile racial fabric of our country?
When will we ever learn that clamping down on the real story, whitewashing the past and enforcing a blanket ban on the painful aspects of our history would not make it go away?
It is certainly sad that as we near our 49th Merdeka, racial overtones are being non-chalantly tossed around in our political arena with endless goading from each side of the divide filling the newspaper daily.
In fact, it would seemed paradoxical for our leaders to continually enjoin the rakyat to refrain from doing anything that will disrupt the peace and harmony which we have enjoyed for the past half a century when they freely traded racial barbs with each other in the august house of the Parliament.
Until our leaders learn to eat the humble pie and adhere to their own advice, they could not expect the rakyat to take their words seriously.
After all, hypocrisy at the top will only lead to disenchanment the bottom.
Change could and would only start to occur if the very people who advocated it stick to the rules they themselves have laid down.
I think the faster we recognize how debilitating our inclination to dwell on racially-charged matters is to the country, the easier it is for us to escape from its clutches and the sooner our journey to recovery will be.
It is timely for us to realize that in this increasingly globalized word, the role which racial connotations play in our daily dealings with the world is greatly diminishing and fast becoming irrelevant.
With globalization meaning that an Indian could well be the manager of multi-million dollar company in the US or an American becoming a respected political advisor in the one of the Arab states or a Chinese as a famous expert in Malay Literature, it can be said that the notion of a particular race having exclusive control of its own affairs and matters is quite laughable.
Thus, continuing to disproportionately magnify our racial differences and propping up the facade of racial supremacy will not achieve nothing except hurt ourselves in the end.
In fact, infighting stemming from racial tensions will only create dissension within the country which will directly impair our ability to compete with the rest of the world.
While other countries are quickly refashioning themselves in order to become effective players in the future global economy, we are still hopelessly stuck in the racial quagmire and refusing to face up to our past demons.
49 years is too long a time for all of us to be in a perpertual state of denial about the state of our country and its people.
I believe it is high time to end it now and begin a new beginning.
Selamat Hari Merdeka Malaysia!
Perhaps Khairy has forgotten that most of the component parties in the BN are racially based and cater exclusively to the needs of their respective communities; and in such arrangements, each of them usually minds their own business.
Therefore, to suggest that another party could somehow take over the mantle of BN from the dominant UMNO is quite unlikely.
Unless of course, MCA suddenly decides to take care of the welfare of the Malays on top that of the Chinese, a situation which will be quite unprecedented if it is to come true.
In short, the BN coalition may cater for the well-being of all the races but the UMNO party will continue to serve the Malays, MCA party for the Chinese and MIC party the Indians.
As a coalition, the BN could claim to be truly Malaysian in its representation but as far as partisan politics goes, it is still divided along racial lines.
But back to Khairy, it is actually difficult to fully understand the full ramifications of his statement on the state of the BN coalition. I mean, if the other component parties were to take advantage of a weak UMNO, what does it bode for the rakyat?
If MCA were to become the alpha male in the BN coalition, is he implying that the well-being of the Malays would not be taken care of? Or vice versa?
If such fears and distrusts still run deep among our current political leaders, then we are no better than we are nearly 50 years ago when we proclaimed independence from the British.
In fact, some would even argue that we have moved backwards since then.
If we still allow narrow and unfair racial prejudices to cloud our judgement and prevent us from grasping the bigger picture of Malaysian future, then the much trumpeted harmony amongst the races are nothing more than simply cheap sloganeering.
If we could not even entrust our well-being in the hands of other races who have lived, toiled and fought along side with us for nearly the past 50 years, then does the progress we have achieved so far has any significant meaning?
I think the saddest part of this whole issue is that Khairy - who once studied overseas and exposed to a diverse environment, hence expected to have a more global world-view that transcends petty racial partitioning - had easily fallen prey to the need to prove his political worth by conveniently conjuring up a racial bogeyman fashioned in the image of the Chinese.
It feels as if in Malaysia, one of the requirements in one's rite of passage to become a full-fledged politician is to shamelessly rattle the sensitivities and provoke the backlash of the other races.
It sounds as if you will have to trample on other people's head in your way to the top; and the worst part is that we feel no regret in doing so at all, especially judging from Khairy's refusal to apologize to the Chinese.
Sadly, our country have come to a point where we no longer view racially-tinged statements, attacks and insults as something abhorrent anymore, where it is acceptable to disparage other races to fulfill our own ends.
The truth is that we are often asked to tolerate and respect other races but we have never been publicly advocated to understand, delve into and compromise with them.
It is enough for us to accept the fact that we have to live side by side in this country but we never bothered to inquire, to get to know or to immerse ourselves in the customs, values and needs of the other races.
In short, we have been living comfortably amongst our own kind, effectively cloistered and oblivious to the comings and goings of other races.
Our country have degenerated into nothing more than mutiple islands of comunities each consigned to a particular race.
With such deliberate seclusion, it is no surprise that our rational mind often take a backseat whenever issues that transcend racial barriers crop up in our midst.
We have be cooped up for so long that we begin to reflexly treat every unfamiliar thing that comes our way as a threat to our social, economic and political standing.
Even the simple and innocent request for a wider platform to discuss national issues are immediately seen as an intrusion into our own collective lifestyle and a deterioration of our own self-imposed racial supremacy.
And when we are finally coaxed into such open discussions, we seek every opportunity to prevent the issue from being further explored, everything from the classic method of invoking the ugly racial ghosts of the past to the practice of attacking the racial loyalty or religious credibility of the questioner or messenger.
As soon as the avenue for discussion is opened, we quickly concoct mutiple ways to try to shut it, our responses a sad reflection of our barely-stretched intellect.
Indeed, we seemed to prefer thunderous chest-thumping, fiery rhetoric and morally repugnant mud-slinging to get our message across as opposed to a cool and rational dialogue infused with humility and honesty.
Lately, such actions are not only limited to racial issues but has also spread to religious, social and economic issues - the fundamentally semantic battle of whether Malaysia is an Islamic or a secular state, the accusations that the Gerakan-led Penang is not giving enough attention to the Malays and the recent fighting among the students at UPM, just to name a few.
At times, it seemed that Malaysians have lost the ability to hold a civilized conversation altogether.
When will we ever learn that in most cases, the message not to the messenger that should be given more attention?
When will we ever learn that attempting to discredit someone purely because of the message he carries is not the way to gain supporters in this day and age?
When will we ever learn that irrationality never goes hand in hand with the handling of delicate issues since it could easily tear the fragile racial fabric of our country?
When will we ever learn that clamping down on the real story, whitewashing the past and enforcing a blanket ban on the painful aspects of our history would not make it go away?
It is certainly sad that as we near our 49th Merdeka, racial overtones are being non-chalantly tossed around in our political arena with endless goading from each side of the divide filling the newspaper daily.
In fact, it would seemed paradoxical for our leaders to continually enjoin the rakyat to refrain from doing anything that will disrupt the peace and harmony which we have enjoyed for the past half a century when they freely traded racial barbs with each other in the august house of the Parliament.
Until our leaders learn to eat the humble pie and adhere to their own advice, they could not expect the rakyat to take their words seriously.
After all, hypocrisy at the top will only lead to disenchanment the bottom.
Change could and would only start to occur if the very people who advocated it stick to the rules they themselves have laid down.
I think the faster we recognize how debilitating our inclination to dwell on racially-charged matters is to the country, the easier it is for us to escape from its clutches and the sooner our journey to recovery will be.
It is timely for us to realize that in this increasingly globalized word, the role which racial connotations play in our daily dealings with the world is greatly diminishing and fast becoming irrelevant.
With globalization meaning that an Indian could well be the manager of multi-million dollar company in the US or an American becoming a respected political advisor in the one of the Arab states or a Chinese as a famous expert in Malay Literature, it can be said that the notion of a particular race having exclusive control of its own affairs and matters is quite laughable.
Thus, continuing to disproportionately magnify our racial differences and propping up the facade of racial supremacy will not achieve nothing except hurt ourselves in the end.
In fact, infighting stemming from racial tensions will only create dissension within the country which will directly impair our ability to compete with the rest of the world.
While other countries are quickly refashioning themselves in order to become effective players in the future global economy, we are still hopelessly stuck in the racial quagmire and refusing to face up to our past demons.
49 years is too long a time for all of us to be in a perpertual state of denial about the state of our country and its people.
I believe it is high time to end it now and begin a new beginning.
Selamat Hari Merdeka Malaysia!
posted by wanaimran at
6:55 AM
6 Comments:
I will always be irritated when someone started to talk about anything on races. It is alright to talk about it in positive light but not otherwise.
To me, for someone to talk negatively about races or making issues out of our differences, means these people are, to name a few, ill-informed or ignorant or lack of knowledge, et cetera., to the purpose of man's existence on earth and/or why we are created.
We always have this habit of finding people's weaknesses or faults, first. Not the other way around. It is easy to count weaknesses in people but not their strengths. We only talk or count or list down people strengths when they die as in the form of obituary (?).
Why are we always wasting our time in finding other people faults or weaknesses. Need we be reminded that we only live once; yesterday may never come again, today is to live through and tomorrow....
Tomorrow? Is there tomorrow for us if this is how we regard, treat and look at each other???
[O humankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and female, and made you in nations and tribes, that you may know and deal with each other in kindness (not that you may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God (is he who is) the most righteous of you, and God is Knower, Aware] (Al-Hujurat 49:13).
To me, there is no threats in being different from each other but I would tap or take as much opportunities as possible in our differences.
Lets get our priorities right, shall we?
Quote: 'It is timely for us to realize that in this increasingly globalized word, the role which racial connotations play in our daily dealings with the world is greatly diminishing and fast becoming irrelevant.'
I agree with my whole heart. It's such a shame to talk about racial purity in this globalization world.
Let us forget about BN. We can't hope them to change for us. They just won't do it.This is their formula to gain power as a group of racial base parties. Unless the people are more educated and aware that what they did on us, if not we still have to face more challenges ahead which perhaps could tear us apart.
Keep up blogging!!! Hope Imperial students will be totally different than what Oxbridge graduates are doing now in the government :P
We need more open-minded person like you to represent the true voice of malaysian!
It saddens me to see Malaysia not maturing in this particular matter over the years.
I'll keep this short. As far as things are going in the country, it will be difficult for this issue to be resolved. Yes, it's high time for someone to take a stand but the saying goes, "when you cant go against the system, you end up joining them or else".
For this very reason, Malaysia will remain as followers and not leaders.
It's a sad state of affairs that racial intolerance continue to run deep in Malaysia, stoked by no other than shallow politicians and leaders with their own agenda.
I grew up in a multi-racial community living in harmony and learned to be tolerant of the differences that existed. Thus I am indeed a proponent of a Malaysia for Malaysians. However, that will remain a dream for now, for as long as racial sentiments continue to be fanned by careless and selfish politicians.
It is disheartening to note that after almost half a century of independence, we've made little progress in racial integration that will lead to a one-nation-one-people society. We continue to be beset by distrust for the other races. We continue to be racially biased in all aspects of life. For example, before I left my previous job, I made a strong case for my replacement to be based on merit. I have no racial inclination. Although the Malay candidate was a close friend of mine and popular with the Malay management, my prefered candidate happened to be a meritorius Chinese. He didn't get the job. The last time I heard, he left to work overseas, and the management is now stuck with a non-performer.
As I see it, the incumbent is ineffective not because he is Malay, neither is the Chinese praiseworthy because of his race. But we are so easily blinded by our faith in our own kind, and mistrust for others, that we tend to overlook the fact that these two people are individuals with their own character no mater what their skin colour. Merit does not discriminate colour.
If only our politicians and powers-that-be can encourage the populace to see all Malaysians as one people, we would have made a great leap forward, and the time wasted harping on racial issues can be better spent on doing great things for the country.
When I first read about Khairy's remarks, I coudn't help but felt a sense of insecurity and discomfort. Of course this was not the first time that an UMNO leader, especially from the youth wing to utter racist rhetoric to gain political capital for himself. What worries me is that for them to constantly use racial issues to climb their potical ladders, it can only mean that there is a "market" for it, i.e. the UMNO mainstream seemed to endorse their action and buy their idea of raising racial issues. Demand and Supply. Simple enough.
But really, after I read your entry on The Sun and eventually found out this blog of yours, I discover that all my fears and worries may seem to be exaggerated, for there is still someone as liberal as you in the Malaysian soil. If only there are more people like you who believe the idea of "Malaysians for Malaysia", that Malaysia will be liberated and freed from all the nonsense in which we are currently indulged. I espeically admire your idea which supports meritocracy. Indeed, after 49 years of independence, it seems that we are heading backward instead of forward, which we should. Racial politics is still very much the mainstream and it may take years or even decades to overturn it. I feel that it is the mindset of the Malaysian people that Malaysia still remains as it is. Most of them just can't accept a man or woman from another ethnic to lead them. What's wrong if an Indian or even an Iban to become a leader for all if he/she is really capable of? This is the paradox of Malaysian ethnic unity: on the surface we are saudaras, but when it comes to power and politics, everyone thinks from his clan's perspective and interests, but not those of Malaysians' as a whole.
Mind us, if this continues, not only will racial unity be desultory, Malaysia as a whole will also lose out in the era of globalisation, so long as the reward system is based on racial factors instead of merit. We are so far behind Singapore (who is currently absorbing elites regardless of race all around the world), and there must be a reason for it.
Btw, keep it up saudara Aimran!:)
Dear Wan, I am deeply encouraged that a fellow Malaysian of your background has realisd the predicament of our country. I can only hope & pray that you will continue to be part of a growing grass-roots movement towards a fair & equitible Malaysia for All Malaysians in this global village without prejudice.Your encouragement within all walks of rural & urban Malaysians is vital to securing our country's reputation & economy for the near future.
regards,
lepak-lad
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