Teeny Weeny Miny Mo, Referendum is the Way to Go

The Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua initiative launched by the Demi Negara Community triggered a potpourri of reactions from Malaysians at home and abroad. The vast majority are supportive while, as expected, a fringe group exhibited emotionally-charged resistance bordering on idiotic lunacy. Perhaps the dichotomous interpretation of the initiative between Mainstream Malaysiana and the prickly fringe groups reflects the demographic reality of Malaysia, where every act, every endeavour, every move are viewed from cloudy race-tinted lenses by a race-obsessed populace. The naysayers and resisters manifested in full glory their estrangement from reality, in a gory racist orgy sustained by collective denial of an inevitability.

Yes, I say inevitable.

There is no other way.

Our 52-year experiment of stirring undiluted chunks of foreign cultural-linguistic elements in a Malay soup inside a curdling social cauldron has been an utter failure. We are now estranged, mutually-alienised, moving apart, and caught in a self-destructive game of racial extremism exacerbated by a flourishing anti-national movement stoked by long-dormant subversive forces.

Indeed, the survival of the Malaysian nation itself hinges on the recalibration of our social framework, beginning with infusing the necessary cohesion among our disparate populace. This shall begin with our children. They will determine Malaysia’s future, whether we hurtle into the abyss of social destruction based on the current socio-political trajectory or we emerge reinvigorated in 2020 as a progressive nation of the true Anak Bangsa Malaysia, a nation of patriots cohesive in shared affinities and speaking in one voice – Bahasa Malaysia – the expressive soul of our nation.

Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua is the catalyst of this journey towards meaningful, cohesive nationhood, a key component of the blueprint of a raceless Malaysia that has been vigorously expounded in Demi Negara.

As of today, almost 1,600 people have signed the on-line petition, another 1,300 plus patriots became members of the Satu Sekolah Facebook site, and dozens of blogs proudly carry the Satu Sekolah logo. Based on the petition and Facebook sites, Satu Sekolah supporters include cabinet members, prominent politicians, academics, government officials, corporate chieftains and Malaysians from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds. These are the people who still believe in the Malaysian Story, in forging a united Bangsa Malaysia of unquestioned loyalty to the land we share.

Who then are the resisters to change? Who are these naysayers?

The usual suspects.

Lets begin with politicians. In this respect, the Pakatan Rakyat has been interesting. Till today, there has not been a single adverse official reaction by either the DAP, PKR or PAS on Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua. Maybe they are cunningly calculative, as to oppose Satu Sekolah would be to repudiate their own vision of a unified Malaysia under their Ketuanan Rakyat mantra. And when the Rakyat – the majority Rakyat – speaks of One School, they listen.

What about the Barisan Nasional? Well, we should not generalise, but a Teeny Weeny little Napoleon from a Barisan component party, MCA, made some noise, an act memorable for its humourous ludicrousness than anything else. Interestingly, this Wee Ka Siong @ Wei Jiaxiang chap is a Deputy Minister of Education, in effect a public servant voted by the Rakyat and sworn to serve us Rakyat irrespective of ethnicity or background. Perhaps Teeny Weeny’s actions are quite understandable. You see, Teeny Weeny wants to be the new hope of his stuttering party after their near demolition by DAP and PKR in PRU12, and he gets more than his fair share of bludgeoning in Parliament by the DAP Chinese zealots who accused him of not doing enough for Chinese schools in this country. Hence, Teeny Weeny's need to be seen as the champion of Chinese Rights in Malaysia today, and prove to his DAP and PKR and even Gerakan detractors that MCA is not a running dog of UMNO. This spawned his foolish bravado of demonising Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua to the extent of threatening a police report for “crimes” only known to him. The MIC didn't criticise Satu Sekolah, but did their part to further polarise our children as well.

Yes friends, we are living in interesting times indeed. You push an initiative to unite Malaysians, you get threatened with a police report by no less than a serving deputy minister of Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia government. But when others spew seditious garbage against the Malays, Bahasa Malaysia, the Raja-Raja Melayu, Islam, NEP, even Malay Reserved Lands, they are feted as heroes by some, by the ungrateful beings who now deify the megalomaniac Chin Peng against all logic and realities of our country’s political history.

With partners like this, what hope for BN and UMNO in PRU13? You see, the non-Malay votes are already lost to the PR, and now the Malays may view MCA with contempt and disgust thanks to the antics of the likes of Teeny Weeny. Do you think Teeny Weeny can retain Ayer Hitam without the Malays who composed 56.4% of voters in the constituency and who would loyally vote for the BN dacing at every PRU irrespective of candidate? We shall see. But I think Ayer Hitam is too UMNO lah, too safe for heroes like Ah Siong. Perhaps BN should field him in Ipoh Timur or Seputeh to validate his gumption. But again, maybe this chap has noble intentions, perhaps misunderstood by many. But how could the Malays, including his Malay constituents who voted him to parliament, connect with his thoughts when his webpage is not in Bahasa Malaysia, but in Mandarin and English? Haiya Ah Siong, is this the way to say Terima Kasih to the Malay voters who made you a YB?

Teeny Weeny’s site also boldly proclaimed: “Speak Up, Make Changes, have NO FEAR.”




Yeah right … we speak up to make changes via One School and we get threats from Teeny Weeny, but I must say we have no fear.

Ok, who else opposed a unified school system for our children?

Well, the other usual suspects of course, the type who oppose for the sake of opposing. Yes, these are the professional opposers. These resisters themselves have NO alternative to whatever they oppose. That would be too brain consuming, quite understandable based on the characteristic dearth of gray matter that made them oppose Satu Sekolah in the first place.

I personally don’t take this motley crew of anarchists and pseudo-subversives and plain vanilla racists seriously. There’s nothing much you can do with people already set in their values and attitudes, what I termed Damaged Goods. As they say down in South Carolina, “it ain’t worth a pitcher of warm spit.” Yup, let them be, let them holler and shriek and yelp in their isolated dens and nooks and crevices. After all, we are a democracy. Imagine life without this eclectic collection of bumbling jesters? What would KijangMas write about?

Oh yes, some did their best to project an "intellectual" flavour to their futile opposition of Satu Sekolah. I cannot help but laugh at their flimsy, rudimentary and woefully lightweight arguments clouded by a mysterious paranoiac aversion to "things Malay" that afflict their troubled souls. I don’t want to clutter this post with my response to a vain pseudo-intellectual wannabe, but if you have time and appetite for gory literary dyslexia, go here. Of course, the less intelligent types typically just shout obscenities in their desperate lunge onto the path of the Satu Sekolah movement now gaining momentum among the common Rakyat. And I marvel at the sheer hypocrisy of it all as many of them are not exactly products of vernacular schools themselves! See, they use the literacy bestowed upon them by the Sekolah Kebangsaan to hantam the Sekolah Kebangsaan in a grotesque manifestation of the toxic Malayphobia that dominate their lives. Perhaps they should send their own kids to the likes of SJKT Tepi Sungai, Klang as a matter of principle.

Others? Yeah, it gets more bizarre as you burrow deep inside the cybersleazoid scrapheap. Nothing much can be learned from the emotional rantings of these rabid racists, except perhaps to validate Satu Sekolah's thesis that our children should go to one national school to avoid the very cultural-linguistic estrangement exhibited by these clueless resisters. As for this and this and this, well, their choice of hieroglyphics said it all.

Can we have an intelligent dialogue with fellow Warganegaras who chose to communicate in a script alien and incomprehensible to the vast majority of the Rakyat?

Thanks in part to these detractors, the Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua campaign has succeeded in putting the issue on the table. It has catalyzed healthy debate and raised public awareness. And contrary to claims by the forces of disunity, there really is nothing complicated about implementing One School by a sovereign nation. This is not Rocket Science. In fact, it is the norm in 99 percent of the world. It is a national imperative, a necessary component of nationbuilding, indeed, a non-negotiable avenue towards the ultimate creation of a raceless Malaysia for all. The resisters and naysayers above are mere irritants to our larger national agenda that must be embraced by all Warganegaras who pledged loyalty to King and Country, who in school swore to uphold the tenets of the Rukunegara. Of course, the establishment of One School may be a long process, but we now have the roadmap as promulgated in the memo and a tangible target.

We must ask ourselves: Why should the selfish indulgence of some elements within the 24+7 percent of the populace hold our beloved nation hostage to debilitating social fragmentation in perpetuity?

This anomaly is unheard of anywhere on earth. Why Malaysia so special? Why some people get special foreign language privileges in schools of their own making? Who is dependent on special privileges now? How come I see the proverbial tongkat and crutch galore whenever beneficiaries of this special concession twist and turn and kick and scream everytime the government tries to integrate their children with Mainstream Malaysiana? Wau-lau-eh, sampai bila mau guna ini tongkat sekolah? Masih mau asingkan diri dari arus perdana selepas 52 tahun merdeka? Bila mau jadi Rakyat Malaysia sepenuhnya yang berinteraksi rapat dengan semua kaum dari awal bangku sekolah dan fasih dalam Bahasa Malaysia milik kita bersama? Kalau mau "sama rata," kita harus amalkan Satu Sekolah. Betul? Boleh? Tak mau? Tak boleh? Masih pekat dalam kancah kuno belenggu perkauman yang menjahamkan negara?

So your motto is Malaysia Tak Boleh kah? Haiya, like this how?

Our schools affect us Rakyat more than anything else. We should let the Rakyat decide. We should have a national referendum on vernacular schools. A simple Yes-No answer. Let us collectively decide our future. A referendum is a fair, equitable way to gauge the preference of the Rakyat. We had referendums in the past on matters of more importance. Indeed, the formation of the expanded Malaysian Federation itself was determined via referendums of the people of Sabah and Sarawak. Other democracies have referendums as a matter of choice and necessity. In California, referendums are held for almost anything under the sun, from property taxes to public school funding to same-sex marriages.

Yes, a referendum is the most democratic way. Nobody can argue on the logic and fairness of the process as each of us has one vote irrespective of origin, background, ethnicity or sentiment. This is the epitome of justice, fairness and kesamarataan demanded by the anti-NEP forces all these years. Yeah, in the spirit of kita semua sama, lets vote sama-sama. Satu orang, satu undi.

Let the Rakyat decide.

Demi Negara calls for a national referendum on vernacular schools.

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Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua: Lets Sign the Petition

Join the Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua Campaign by the Demi Negara Community. Post your comments and sign the linked Petition. Thank you.

n.b. The previous post did not make the RSS feed and blogrolls.

Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua

This started as a thought. One of a thousand thoughts shared among the fertile minds of the DN Community. Members of this community of patriots are known as the DN Knights, a term coined by the pioneering Knight of all, the indomitable Mat Cendana of Mat Cendana’s Blog Review.

The issue of streamlined schooling surfaced repeatedly as the DN Knights deliberated on the mutifaceted impediments to national unity and the seeming futility in forging a true Bangsa Malaysia of sufficiently shared affinities to reflect our common nationhood.

A Knight by the nic of Sepadu, a regular commenter renown for his thoughtful views on making Malaysia a better land for all, dropped a cyber-bombshell of a suggestion. He asked if the collective wisdom and energies of the DN Community could be harnessed to draft a memorandum to the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, to implore the government to seriously relook at the current multi-stream educational anomaly with an eye towards forging a singular Sekolah Kebangsaan for all Malaysians. This is what Sepadu said:-

I'm thinking of drafting a letter in BM, in the name of the Demi Negara community represented by you and to be signed by you in whatever manner convenient to you, addressed to YAB TPM merangkap Menteri Pelajaran ... The issues are so important that, in addition to hoping the authorities come to this blog, we bring our views directly to them in the form of a letter ... I would begin writing the draft after getting your OK and the response from other members of the DN community, expressed as comments in this post of yours (DN: April 19, 2009 6:04 AM).

I said o.k., go ahead and lets see if the Knights would oblige and contribute to the cause. The trickle of support quickly became an avalanche as Malaysians from all walks of life voiced their support for this initiative, with many e-mailing me privately. One of these closet supporters who finally "came out" is NJ, a true patriot and fellow critic of PM Najib's fuzzy 1 Malaysia concept. Kembara Politik volunteered as the editor. Bro satD of Pure Shiite fame set-up our literary sandbox at Writeboard, an Open Source-type community editing site. Rezuan Asrah of the Elusi IT blog was particularly committed and provided the necessary technical expertise to our cyber-collaboration. The inimitable Pakcik Dal, the urbane mountain man, resident sage and voice of reason at DN, almost single-handedly collated the relevant narratives from past comments at this blog, a daunting task reflective of his energy and commitment towards a better, cohesive Malaysia of the future.

Thoughts and opinions poured in from around the world. Zazaland from France, a member of the Malay diaspora in Europe, related the French approach to social cohesion via education and expended her own resources to secure detailed European research materials. Many others provided a stirring repository of references and research findings, including Cenderawasih and Omong. My compadré, Jebat Must Die, shared his thoughts. Indeed, the JMD blog is a veritable trove of facts and anecdotes relevant to the cause. An anonymous patriot answered my call for the Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua logo and worked tirelessly to fine-tune the design. Terima kasih saudara. Even Tommy Yew, my old sparring partner often identified with this Unker, chipped in with encouragement and provided cyber-kopi-o to the team.

All these energised enthusiasm were well-marshalled by Sepadu and Bro satD, a fellow Kelantanese currently advising the Indonesian government on complex financial reforms in the true spirit of Nusantaran solidarity.

What transpired was a unique online collaboration, perhaps the first of its kind in the Malaysian blogosphere. The Knights collectively conceived, formulated and refined a memorandum to the Deputy Prime Minister in a truly seamless self-regulating "Open Source" environment. And this is not for a trivial feel-good note. The memo covers a complex subject with far-reaching impact on nation building.

The memorandum to the DPM calls for a re-synthesization of our educational framework aimed towards forging a singular National School System conducted in Bahasa Malaysia, except, of course, for certain prescribed subjects.

The rationale is two-pronged:-

- One. There is no Constitutional provision for multiple language streaming of our schools. Education is an official matter of state, and per our Constitution, all such matters must be conducted in one language and one language only, our national language, Bahasa Malaysia. The supremacy of Bahasa Malaysia is also a matter of strategic national interest and a public good of the highest priority. Anything that transgresses this public good -- in this case Vernacular Schools -- by definition, are unconstitutional and must be removed from our social realm.

- Two. The segregation of our citizens from a very young and impressionable age (via vernacular schools) has become the single biggest impediment to the creation of a true Bangsa Malaysia unified by a common identity, mindset and language. After almost 52 years of Merdeka, a large proportion of MyCard-carrying Warganegara Malaysia are functional-illiterates in the language of their country of citizenship, and are incapable of partaking in the process of nation-building and social integration expected of citizens of any nation in this world.

The vernacular school menace MUST be eradicated from our blessed land. This is Malaysia. The national language is Bahasa Malaysia. English, the international language of commerce, science and technology can be a second, albeit unofficial language. The other languages are best kept and nurtured in their countries of origin and, if truly necessary as a cultural imperative in this country, be uttered within the private confines of the specific communities. This is clearly articulated in Article 152 of the Federal Constitution, which says:-

The national language shall be the Malay language and shall be in such script as Parliament may by law provide, provided that no person shall be prohibited or prevented from using, otherwise than for official purposes, or from teaching or learning any other language.

The operative words here -- "using," "teaching" and "learning" the other languages -- refer to the usage and acquisition of these languages in and of themselves only, and restricted to the context of "otherwise than for official purposes" and do not by any stretch of the imagination infer to their usage as the language of instruction in such an important "official purpose" as Malaysia's school system.

I don’t see any other way to forge national integration, national unity, to instill a sense of commonality of purpose and a sense of shared destiny except to vigorously push for a streamlined, singular School System for ALL Malaysians. Every single one of us, of all origin and ethnicity, must speak in one tongue and undergo the same educational journey as Warganegaras of this blessed land. No single Anak Bangsa Malaysia should be allowed to fall into the communal trap laid by selfish, irrational chauvinists and denied the same opportunity as Mainstream Malaysiana.

Relive the battle cry "Satu Bangsa Satu BAHASA, Malaysia Berjaya!" of our forefathers amidst external threats when Persekutuan Malaysia was formed in 1963. And a single school system taught in Bahasa Malaysia is the single-most crucial element in the forging of this true Anak Bangsa Malaysia and the determinant of Malaysia's tenability as a cohesive and progressive nation for all.

Memorandum to the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister from the Demi Negara Community:-

Y.A.B. Tan Sri Muhyiddin bin Yassin
Timbalan Perdana Menteri
Merangkap Menteri Pelajaran
Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia
Blok E8, Kompleks E,
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan
Persekutuan
62604 PUTRAJAYA

Y.A.B. Tan Sri,

Pengkajian Semula Sistem Pembelajaran Malaysia untuk Melahirkan Suatu Bangsa Malaysia Yang Bersatu, Teguh dan Bersepadu

Dengan segala hormatnya kami mengemukakan cadangan yang tersebut di atas demi melahirnya suatu Bangsa Malaysia yang kukuh, bersatu dan bersepadu yang akan menjamin masa depan negara kita. Kami bukanlah suatu kumpulan politik atau berpihak kepada mana-mana unsur politik negara ini. Kami adalah warganegara yang prihatin terhadap pembentukan masyarakat Malaysia yang jitu dan yang benar-benar sehati dan sejiwa yang akan mengemudi negara kita tercinta ke arah kegemilangan.


Gejala-Gejala Polarisasi Kaum di Malaysia

Pengkajian semula sistem pelajaran negara ini haruslah dilakukan memandangkan fenomena perpecahan kaum yang semakin meruncing di masa kini. Gejala ini amatlah jelas sekali di alam siber dimana segelintir masyarakat kini mempamirkan sikap anti-negara yang semakin berleluasa. Jelas sekali, anasir-anasir ini tidak menghormati asas dan prinsip Perlembagaan negara, tiada rasa cinta kepada Tanah Air dan juga menonjolkan penulisan hasutan yang mencetuskan sentimen perkauman yang begitu ketara sekali. Secara lantang anasir subversif ini mempertikaikan segala lambang kedaulatan dan intipati negara kita tercinta. Dari pengamatan kami, puak penderhaka ini antara lain telah menyentuh perkara seperti berikut:-

• Mempertikai kedaulatan institusi Raja-Raja Melayu yang diperuntukan dalam Perkara 181 Perlembagaan Malaysia .

• Membangkitkan isi-isu sensitif seperti kedudukan istimewa Orang Melayu dan kaum Bumiputra lain yang termaktub dalam Perkara 153 Perlembagaan Malaysia .

• Mengabaikan Bahasa Rasmi negara, iaitu Bahasa Malaysia, dan mempromosikan secara meluas bahasa-bahasa asing, termasuk Mandarin dan Tamil, yang bertentangan dengan Perkara 152 Perlembagaan Malaysia.

• Menidakkan adanya suatu Kontrak Sosial (berkaitan kerakyatan masyarakat Bukan Melayu dan kedudukan istimewa Orang Melayu) yang telah terjalin di antara kaum-kaum di negara ini sejak Merdeka dahulu.

• Mengeji dan mempersenda Dasar Ekonomi Baru yang digubal mengikut Perkara 153 Perlembagaan Malaysia.

• Mempersoal dan menidakkan peranan dan pengorbanan Orang Melayu yang telah bertapak di Bumi Tanah Melayu sejak sebelum zaman Kesultanan Melayu Melaka lagi dalam pembentukan dan pembangunan negara ini.

• Melebihkan peranan puak imigran dalam pembentukan dan pembangunan negara ini ke tahap yang menyimpang jauh dari kenyataan.

• Menjanakan berbagai penipuan sejarah yang akan memudaratkan pemikiran rakyat negara ini, terutama anak-anak di bangku sekolah.

• Mempersenda dan memperlekehkan segala simbol kenegaraan Malaysia yang patut di sanjungi dan dipertahan oleh setiap lapisan masyarakat, termasuklah lagu Negaraku, Keris, Songkok dan, seperti tersebut di atas, institusi Raja-Raja Melayu, Bahasa Malaysia dan sejarah negara ini.

• Mempertikai hujah-hujah pemimpin Bukan Melayu terdahulu seperti Presiden MIC, Tun V.T. Sambanthan dan Presiden MCA, Tun Tan Siew Sin, dimana pemimpin-pemimpin ulung tersebut telah melafazkan rasa kesedaran, keinsafan dan berterimakasih terhadap budi perkerti dan sikap bertolak-ansur Orang Melayu di dalam pemberian kerakyatan Jus Soli kepada kaum pendatang di Tanah Melayu, tidak seperti nasib yang menimpa kaum mereka di negara-negara serantau.


Kewujudan Bangsa Malaysia Yang Berbahasa Malaysia dan yang Berlandaskan Budaya dan Tatatertib Orang Melayu

Setelah hampir 52 tahun merdeka, negara kita kini menghadapi masalah perkauman dan kerapuhan sosial yang amat membimbangkan. Polarisasi kaum telah sampai ke tahap kritikal dan kini mengancam kesejahteraan masyarakat dan keselamatan negara. Justeru, Malaysia sudah tiada pilihan kecuali berikhtiar untuk menzahirkan suatu Bangsa Malaysia yang teguh bersatu, yang berbahasa Kebangsaan sebagai bahasa utama, yang bersepadu dalam pemikiran dan yang mempunyai tahap patriotisme yang tinggi berlandaskan cinta kepada negara dan hormat kepada Perlembagaan.

Berpandukan kepada semangat kenegaraan yang menjadi asas pembentukan Persekutuan Tanah Melayu dan kemudiannya Persekutuan Malaysia, Bangsa Malaysia ini haruslah secara menyeluruh :-

• Fasih bertutur di dalam Bahasa Kebangsaan. Bahkan Bahasa Malaysia menjadi bahasa ibunda seluruh Bangsa Malaysia di suatu hari kelak;

• Memahami dan menghormati adat-adat dan tatasusila orang Melayu dan kaum pribumi lain di Malaysia;

• Menghormati kedudukan Agama rasmi Malaysia iaitu Agama Islam sambil menikmati kebebasan beragama sesuai dengan peruntukan perlembagaan;

• Mempertutur bahasa warisan ibunda lain dan mengamalkan warisan budaya ibunda dengan cara yang sesuai dengan peruntukan Perlembagaan, iaitu di luar konteks urusan rasmi dan di amalkan secara peribadi oleh komuniti tersebut.

Konsep Bangsa Malaysia yang kami amati telah diperbincangkan dengan mendalam di wadah kami. Suatu penjelasan menyeluruh telah di huraikan di blog Demi Negara.

Titik permulaan dalam pembentukan Bangsa Malaysia tersebut terletak pada sistem pembelajaran negara kita. Sikap terhadap Bangsa Malaysia ini harus di bentuk dari peringkat asas. Justeru, Sistem Pembelajaran Malaysia haruslah di sesuaikan agar menjadi wadah utama dalam penerapan nilai-nilai Bangsa Malaysia tersebut di kalangan anak-anak kita bermula dari usia yang muda.


Dasar Sistem Pembelajaran Malaysia Di Masa Kini

Kami berpendapat, pembinaan suatu Bangsa Malaysia yang teguh bersatu dan jitu bersepadu tidak akan tercapai selagi adanya gejala Sekolah Vernakular (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan atau SJK) di Bumi Malaysia. Sekolah Vernakular tidak selaras dengan matlamat melahirkan Bangsa Malaysia berharmoni dan bersepadu yang berteraskan unsur-unsur nasionalisme yang sepatutnya. Malah ia telah menjadi penghalang utama keatas hasrat kerajaan membina masyarakat yang sehaluan bahasa, minda dan kebudayaan asas.

Kewujudan Sekolah Vernakular telah menimbulkan berbagai tanda tanya ke atas peranan dan status nya di masa kini. Ini termasuklah:-

• Sekolah Vernakular adalah bertentangan dengan status Bahasa Malaysia sebagai Bahasa Rasmi negara kita. Malah, Sekolah Vernakular nyata bercanggah dengan peruntukan Perlembagaan dimana Bahasa Malaysia diwajibkan untuk segala urusan rasmi, dan Sistem Pembelajaran adalah suatu urusan rasmi negara.

• Bahasa penghantar di SJKC ialah Mandarin, Bahasa Kebangsaan sebuah negara asing, iaitu Republik Rakyat China. Malah ia bukan bahasa asli mana-mana suku kaum Cina yang tinggal di negara ini. Bahasa penghantar SJKT pula adalah Tamil, bahasa rasmi negeri Tamil Nadu di India. Ini adalah suatu fenomena sosial yang amat ganjil dan tidak harus di benarkan di negara kita.

• Seperti termaktub dalam Perlembagaan Malaysia, Bahasa Kebangsaan wajib digunakan untuk segala urusan rasmi negara. Sistem Pembelajaran merupakan suatu urusan rasmi negara sepertimana di semua negara di dunia.

• Perkara 152(a) Perlembagaan Malaysia menyatakan :-

"No person shall be prohibited or prevented from using (otherwise than for official purposes), or from teaching or learning, any other language."

Fasal tersebut tidak memberi mandat kepada Kerajaan untuk membenarkan, apatah lagi memberi sokongan wang dan sebagainya, kepada mana-mana sekolah yang menggunakan bahasa selain dari Bahasa Kebangsaan kerana sistem pembelajaran adalah suatu urusan rasmi (“offical purpose").

• Dari segi “protection of the legitimate interest of the others” yang termaktub dalam Perlembagaan, "kepentingan sah masyarakat lain" merangkumi urusan peribadi masyarakat tersebut dan tidak termasuk hak untuk menggunakan bahasa penghantar lain bagi urusan pembelajaran di sekolah. Peruntukan dalam Perlembagaan Malaysia membolehkan pengajaran dan pertuturan bahasa lain secara peribadi di kalangan sesuatu masyarakat, dan bukan hingga ke tahap penggunaan bahasa lain secara berleluasa termasuk sebagai bahasa penghantar utama di sekolah.

• Sekolah Vernakular pada amnya mengandungi satu kaum sahaja dalam suasana pembelajaran yang tidak membayangkan arca dan kandungan masyarakat negara ini. Ini tidak sesuai dalam melahirkan suatu Bangsa Malaysia yang bersatu dan bersepadu. Murid Sekolah Vernakular wujud dalam suasana terpencil dari aliran am. Mereka menyerapkan nilai-nilai satu kaum sahaja, tidak bergaul dengan kaum-kaum lain, tidak dapat pengalaman berinteraksi, kurang memahami adat resam kaum lain dan susah menerima hakikat bahawa adat resam dan budaya kaum majoriti di negara ini perlu di fahami dan di hormati. Ini mengakibatkan pemikiran mereka terkongkong dan menjadi janggal dan mereka bermasalah menyesuaikan diri dalam masyarakat majmuk negara ini.

• Pengasingan sebahagian warganegara ke alam Sekolah Vernakular sejak umur yang senang di pengaruhi telah menjadi penghalang terbesar kepada kewujudan suatu Bangsa Malaysia yang bersatu di bawah satu bahasa, identiti dan pemikiran.

Tiga Bahasa Penghantar Tidak Sejajar dengan Perlembagaan dan Bertentangan dengan Amanat Rukunegara

Perkara 152 Perlembagaan Malaysia membenarkan pengajaran bahasa-bahasa selain dari Bahasa Kebangsaan untuk lain-lain komuniti di Malaysia. Tetapi kebebasan ini nyata terbatas kepada pembelajaran khusus bahasa tersebut sahaja dan bukan untuk ianya dijadikan bahasa penghantar bagi matapelajaran lain di Sistem Persekolahan negara Malaysia.

Kita tidak harus ada tiga sistem pembelajaran dalam tiga bahasa penghantar. Bangsa Malaysia yang bersatu dan bersepadu tidak mungkin lahir dari suasana sebegini. Keadaan tiga sistem pembelajaran ini tidak sejajar dan jelas bertentangan dengan semangat dan peruntukan perlembagaan, dan juga menyimpang dari matlamat utama Rukunegara, iaitu “mencapai perpaduan yang lebih erat di kalangan seluruh masyarakat nya.”

Keagungan Bahasa Malaysia sebagai Bahasa Kebangsaan dan Bahasa Rasmi negara ini mesti di pertahankan. Perkara yang tidak sejajar, menghalang atau menentang peruntukan bahasa dalam Perlembagaan adalah di sifatkan sebagai bercanggah dengan Perlembagaan atau “unconstitutional.”

Masalah-masalah yang timbul dari kewujudan Sekolah Vernakular banyak di perkatakan bukan sahaja di blog Demi Negara, malah di berbagai blog lain. Contoh hujah-hujah di alam siber yang mempertikai kewujudan Sekolah Vernakular di huraikan di lampiran bersama surat ini.

Berdasarkan kepada fakta dan pendapat yang terpapar di sini dan segala hujah yang dikemukakan di pautan-pautan berkenaan, kami dengan hormat nya meminta agar gejala Sekolah Vernakular ini di hapuskan secara total.

Kesemua Sekolah Vernakular yang ada sekarang harus diserapkan kedalam Sistem Sekolah Kebangsaan dimana peruntukkan secukupnya dibuat untuk menyediakan pembelajaran bahasa ibunda khusus untuk mana-mana murid yang memerlukannya.


Langkah susulan yang kami syorkan:-

Pengkajian Semula Sistem Pelajaran Negara oleh Kumpulan Bebas

Kami mencadangkan suatu kajian terperinci oleh kumpulan pengkaji bebas di adakan keatas fenomena Sekolah Vernakular ini. Kumpulan pengkaji bebas ini haruslah terdiri daripada individu-individu yang berkelayakan dan berpengalaman yang setimpal dan berkecuali dari politik (non-partisan) sepenuhnya demi menentukan integriti laporan yang akan dikeluarkan. Tokoh asing yang terkenal dan berpengalaman dalam kajian sebegitu boleh juga dijemput ke kumpulan pengkaji untuk meningkatkan prestasi dan kredibiliti kajian dan laporan tersebut.

Penggubalan semula Akta Pendidikan 1996

Akta Pendidikan 1996 tidak sejajar dengan matlamat pengwujudan Bangsa Malaysia seperti yang termaktub di dalam Perlembagaan. Akta tersebut yang membolehkan wujudnya sekolah vernakular haruslah dirombak agar ianya kembali kepada niat asal penubuhan Persekutuan Tanah Melayu. Akta tersebut berbunyi:-

"AND WHEREAS the above policy is to be executed through a national system of education which provides for the national language to be the main medium of instruction, a National Curriculum and common examinations; the education provided being varied and comprehensive in scope and which will satisfy the needs of the nation as well as promote national unity through cultural, social, economic and political development in accordance with the principles of Rukunegara."

Walaubagaimanapun, kewujudan sekolah vernakular mengabaikan objektif yang tertera di atas. Penggubalan semula Akta ini akan membolehkan rakyat Malaysia mengecapi suatu struktur pendidikan yang seragam melalui keperkasaan sistem sekolah kebangsaan.

Mata Pelajaran Sejarah Di Mestikan

Melihat betapa pentingnya generasi pelapis negara kita diserapkan dengan pengetahuan sejarah yang kukuh dan mencukupi, kami juga mencadangkan agar subjek Sejarah diwajibkan di semua sekolah di Malaysia. Anak muda yang Celik Sejarah akan memahami asal usul, arca dan konteks pembentukan negara Malaysia.

Ini termasuklah latarbelakang institusi Raja-Raja Melayu, perjuangan wira tanah air kita di zaman silam, peranan Orang Melayu dalam mencetus tamadun dan pembentukan negeri-negeri di Tanah Melayu sejak abad-abad awal selepas Masihi, kemasukan kaum-kaum lain ke Tanah Melayu, permuafakatan di antara kaum yang membawa kepada pembentukan Kontrak Sosial yang tersirat dalam Perlembagaan dan punca termaktubnya hak-hak dan keistimewaan Orang Melayu dalam Perlembagaan.

Masyarakat yang Celik Sejarah akan mencetuskan suasana yang menyemarakkan pengwujudan Bangsa Malaysia yang kita idamkan selama ini. Selagi tidak timbul Bangsa Malaysia ini, selagilah kita berterusan sebagai sebuah negara rojak yang dilanda berbagai gejala sosial yang tidak sihat dan berbahaya kepada keselamatan negara.

Penulisan Semula Buku-Buku Teks Sejarah

Kami juga mencadangkan supaya buku-buku teks Sejarah negara di kaji semula secara menyeluruh. Fakta-fakta sejarah yang lebih tepat dan terperinci harus dicatatkan oleh kumpulan cendiakawan yang terbukti kewibawaan dan integriti mereka. Penghuraian sejarah yang betul akan memainkan peranan sebagai pencetus kepada pembentukan suatu Bangsa Malaysia yang sehati dan sejiwa di Tanah Air kita yang bertuah ini.

Rumusan

Kewujudan Sekolah Vernakular adalah satu-satunya punca utama ketidakserasian dan ketegangan kaum di negara kita tercinta. Fenomena ini hampir tiada tolak bandingnya di dunia ini dan telah menjadi suatu barah yang kian menular dalam kancah kerapuhan masyarakat Malaysia. Jika gejala Sekolah Vernakular ini tidak dibendung, negara kita akan terus bergerak ke ambang kehancuran.

Dalam segi Perlembagaan Persekutuan Malaysia, Sekolah Vernakular jelas tiada tempatnya, bahkan bercanggah dengan fasal-fasal Perlembagaan dengan begitu ketara sekali. Percanggahan ini harus di bendung dan di perbetulkan secepat mungkin demi kestabilan dan keselamatan negara.

Kami pohon agar Y.A.B. Tan Sri memberi perhatian, pertimbangan dan penekanan yang sewajarnya keatas cadangan-cadangan yang dikemukakan di sini demi masa depan Bangsa dan Negara Malaysia tercinta. Kami berdoa agar tindakan yang sejajar dengan kepentingan perkara ini diambil oleh Y.A.B. Tan Sri dan langkah-langkah susulan dilaksanakan oleh kementerian Y.A.B. Tan Sri.


Sekian, terima kasih.


Yang Benar

KijangMas
Bagi Pihak Komuniti Blog Demi Negara

Demi Negara has also launched an online Petition Drive -- Kempen Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua -- to garner Malaysian public support for this initiative. Go to the petition here to express your patriotism. Get involved, tell your friends and loved ones. We must do something to arrest this divisive social cancer for the future of the Anak Bangsa Malaysia.

Losers' Luncheon and a 3-in-1 Malaysia

Met up with Robin at a kopitiam yesterday. Will post that most interesting conversation soon.

Meanwhile, KijangMas gatecrashed a Losers' Luncheon last month.

Chitchatted with the guy who couldn't help wanting to be the PM and the guy who needed help when he was the PM.

Just got this from the paparazzi:-

Nothing much happened at that makan, except that the guy to my right (yeah, in tie) devoured everything in sight and the guy on my left lost his appetite.

The MSM later "spun the scoop" into orbit with the report below. Hey Joceline, what's with the "roasted wild deer"?

Click to Enlarge

Oh, another thing. Our new Prime Minister is touting something called 1 Malaysia. But how come his blog is multilingual? Even got version in the national language of the People's Republic of China. Dalam Bahasa rasmi Tamil Nadu bila lagi?

Click to Enlarge

I didn't know we have voters up in Beijing and Dalian and Lanzhou?

Memanda Perdana Menteri, are you promoting 1 Malaysia or a 3-in-1 Malaysia?

In these early days, PM Najib Razak seems to project himself as a neo-liberal almost in the plasticky, superficial Zaid Ibrahim mold in his bid to appease and caress the sentiment of the non-Malays. To me this is an ill-advised stance and, if it persists, would lead to further degeneration of our social order. The undercurrents of discontent to this state of affairs among the Malay majority would be to the detriment of UMNO and the BN and ultimately the nation itself.

As it is, the non-Malays have berpaling tadah en masse to Pakatan. They have tasted the intoxicating nectar of power and it is beyond Najib or anyone else to turn them over to the BN in the foreseeable future. Whatever goodies and giveaways thrown at these people now would just be wasted trump cards earning nothing in return. And these concessions are politically almost impossible to retract or take back once they are dished out.

My advise to Najib and his team is to lay off these wayward non-Malays for now. Ignore and forget these hopelessly seduced bigots and chauvinists and let them tango and cha cha and joget to their hearts content with the Pakatan gang until the honeymoon ends in a self-destructing calamity of scandals, failed expectations and infighting that would mushroom as PRU13 inches closer.

Najib should instead focus his energy on rebuilding the Malay support base for UMNO, and work towards some semblance of "Malay Unity" with PAS within 24 months as PAS drifts away on the choppy waves from the unwieldy, erratic Pakatan ship.

Whether it cares to admit or not, UMNO's future as the political ruler of this land has become inexorably tied to PAS' political machinations and leadership intrigue. If the pragmatic nationalists prevail over the orthodox dogmatists in PAS' own internal powerplay, the party will "see the light" and distance itself from Pakatan. And this would profoundly impact Malaysia's political dynamics.

What does it take to induce this seismic shift in Malay politics?

This is the kind of poser PM Najib and his inner circle must contemplate and strategise, the focal point of his quest to forge a solid political base that would facilitate the pursuance of his agenda for national renewal. Hence, the PM should not waste precious time indulging in Mandarin blogs and embracing untenable concepts touting perpetual social variegation that would further propel this nation into a ruinous existence. Najib need not fall over backwards to portray an ill-conceived and unrealistic pseudo-liberalist persona to a group already seduced and poisoned by the Pakatan charlatans.

I'm also boggled by PM Najib's embrace of vernacular schools. This was first demonstrated when he was DPM during the KT By-elections with his RM50 million gift to the SJKCs. I also sense in him a lax attitude towards language. Yes, we all noticed that his 1 Malaysia blog comes in three languages including Mandarin. Many patriots sent me notes on this, and a gentleman even wrote a strongly worded e-mail to Najib (copied to me) complete with a link to my Racial Polarisation post. Couldn't Najib see the ravages on our social cohesion caused by this cancerous SJK anomaly? Is he that ill-informed, out of touch, blissfully ignorant? Another Sleepyhead in the making? Indeed, is he really well read? Or has he become too dependent on ill-conceived briefing papers and abridged analyses percolating from some obscure basement labyrinth in Putrajaya?

My concern here is the quality of advise Najib is getting. At the moment, albeit still very early days, and as mentioned, he seemed more concerned with garnering non-Malay support than anything else. What do you think is currently going through the minds of Malay Nationalists, the bedrock of UMNO's support across the land?

Yes, Najib's 1 Malaysia concept is still in its infancy and will need further calibration, but thus far I don't see any clear blueprint or roadmap for the forging of a real Anak Bangsa Malaysia as I have exhaustively expounded.

What is the socio-political basis of 1 Malaysia? Yes, beyond the catchy jingoism? Indeed, way before we shout catchy slogans and nifty buzzwords that mean nothing beyond the superficial glitter and noisy razzmatazz, we must first forge a solid ideological foundation, an irrepressible philosophy that makes 1 Malaysia a natural, long-overdue social blueprint that would be embraced by the Rakyat as a matter of rational imperative. And this foundation of nation-building must be able to withstand the test of logical inquisition and critical analysis and prevail and flourish as something so profound, so necessary, so timely in this phase of our nation's existence.

To do this, Najib and his team must revisit the primordial building blocks of our nationhood. They themselves must understand history and will need to communicate to the Rakyat how and why we became what we are today and what needs to be done to recalibrate the trajectory of our social evolution. Explain the flawed prescriptions of the first 51 years of nationhood, including the utter neglect and confusion of the past six years, that collectively created an untenable multilingual, multicultural, multi-identity and multi-everything milieu forged on a brittle palate of overlapping realities pulled apart by the incompatible aspirations and divergent expectations of a mutually-estranged populace. Then expound why we have no choice but to recalibrate our societal dynamics to a new paradigm of shared affinities underpinned by a common, pervasive national language, Bahasa Malaysia, and a socio-cultural mold based on the budaya and tatasusila of the original Orang Melayu essence of this nation.

This is the immediate challenge for the PM and his team.


And my message to the subversive historio-revisionists: ponder and contemplate with much-needed humility the statements below by the pioneering leaders of the minority communities. This one-third of the Malaysian Rakyat has today deviated from their aspired place in our society and has been the main obstacle to nation-building, due in part to their complete and utter ignorance of Malaysian history.

The minorities must be infused with a sense of responsibility (which comes with the Kerakyatan package) to help forge a civil, progressive society, a common, irrepressible Bangsa Malaysia yang memartabatkan Satu Bahasa Satu Negara dan berlandaskan Satu Bangsa Satu Negara.


Quote from a speech by MIC President and Works, Telecom and Posts Minister, V.T. Sambanthan in the Dewan Rakyat on June 1, 1965:-

… in 1955 we won the elections with a great majority. Then we obtained freedom in two years time. During this period, we had to discuss citizenship and various other things. Now what did the Malays do -- since we are speaking on racial lines -- what did the Malay leadership do? They had 88 percent of the electorate still with them. What did they do with citizenship? If we look around in Asia and East Asia, particularly, you will find that my race the Indian race, is not welcomed in Ceylon, is not welcomed in Burma.

Look at my brother Chinese race, it is not welcomed in Thailand, in Vietnam, in Cambodia, in all the other areas. What help do they get for citizenship in all these territories? In Burma, as we know, Indians have been send packing, in Ceylon they refused them citizenship and in Burma it is likewise. I know it, you know it. And yet in Malaya what happened? Here we found that the Malay leadership said, "We shall take them unto ourselves as brothers, we shall give them full opportunity to live in this country, we shall give them every opportunity to become citizens." And so, in 1957, for the whole year, we waived language qualifications, and tens of thousand of Indians, Chinese, Ceylonese and others became citizens ...

As I said, it has been my great good fortune to have been born in this country. Where else can you find a more charitable, a more polite, a more decent race than the Malay race? Where else can you get such politically decent treatment for any immigrant race? Where else in the history of the world? I ask you. These are the facts. Who are you to safeguard us? I am a 10 percent minority race here. But I am happy here.

(Source: Tan Sri Khalid Awang Osman, Malaysia - An Anthology, Vantage Press, New York, p. 60)

Quote of statement by Tan Siew Sin, MCA President and Finance Minister in a local daily titled, "Tun Tan Answers Critics on Special Previleges" dated April 30, 1969:-

The Malays, through UMNO, were generous enough to relax the citizenship laws of this country to such extent that within 12 months of independence, 90 percent of the non-Malays became citizens. This was different to the situation before Merdeka whereas 90 percent of the non-Malays were still non-citizens after nearly 100 years of colonial rule in the Malay States. In return for this major concession. the MCA and the MIC agreed to continue the policy of preserving the special position of the Malays while at the same time upholding the legitimate interest of other communities.

(Source: Tan Sri Khalid Awang Osman, Malaysia - An Anthology, Vantage Press, New York, pp.38-39)

So there you have it. In no uncertain terms. In the public record. Unequivocal. Edged for posterity.

Read and reread carefully the profound statements by V.T. Sambanthan and Tan Siew Sin. Need I say anymore? Still want to deny facts? Still want to rewrite history? Still think you owe the Melayu Tuan Tanahs nothing? You exist as Warganegaras with all kinds of Hak and Keistimewaan on this Bumi Tanah Melayu out of your own volition, the sheer briliance of your species, as a natural right bestowed by some higher being?

No.

Reread the two statements. Instill a sense of Keinsafan and Sikap Berterimakasih to the Orang Melayu for your incredible good fortune to be able to live here and partake in your cultural excesses to your heart’s content with little fear or restrictions and even to the detriment of the Melayu Tuan Tanahs themselves. A little Sedar Diri and appreciation of your Asal Usul and Tempat Dalam Masyarakat would go a long way towards the rehabilitation of your groupthink, to cleanse your souls of the inherent mala fide and degenerative inclinations, and provide a glimmer of hope, albeit excruciatingly faint, of your embrace of the tenets of the true Bangsa Malaysia concept that I have expounded many times.

Again, go read the two statements and learn it by hard and repeat them to yourselves whenever you are inflicted by your peculiar primal urge to cause social mayhem and bedlam in my Tanah Air Tercinta.

To Hell With Politics !

What has happened to our beloved Tanah Air?

The make believe “Perak State Assembly” under a shade tree just about encapsulates the sorry state of Malaysian politics. We are truly a Basket Case now.

Who created all this mess?

Politicians!

Yes, the low-life degenerates eroding the very essence of our existence. We have endured ONE YEAR of hell courtesy of these instigators and subversives who really don’t care about this nation, our hope, our future.

Why should MY welfare, indeed the future of almost 28 million Rakyat Malaysia, be dependent on the whims and fancies, not to mention the grotesque character anomalies of these bunch of dysfunctional social outcasts and assorted psycho cases?

And I'm talking about BOTH sides of the political cesspool here.

We need to go back to the drawing board and take stock of what’s happening to us, to our society, to our nation amidst this unending, crippling political circus. Perhaps we should all be taught the basic protocol of politics, the rules of the game, on the need to get on with life after the election dust settles. Yes, KijangMas may come up with a guide for you dummies out there.

Anyway folks, take a good look at these politicians.

Look at the Pakatan flagbearers: Karpal "Lu Celaka" Singh; Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim; sneaky Unker Kit and his poker-faced son, Guan Eng; Nizar Ayam Steal the EmBee and his Ngeh-Nga TerNgaNga freakshow puppeteers; the sleazoid Tian Chua; the estate thug N. Gobalakrishnan; ….. ok, ok, cukup … apa? … ada lagi … the Ah Soh Brigade commandos, Fong Poh Kuan, Chong Eng, Teresa Kok …… oh Tuhan, I feel nauseated now …

Hey Loh Gwo Burne, why don’t you be useful for once and pass me the darn Mo Far Kor! Yup, Mo Far Kor, the miracle elixir for expectant mothers, sleepy mahjong kakis and nauseated bloggers.

So you think the Pakatan has a monopoly on the preposterous, ridiculous, outrageous and ludicrous? Think again …

Yup, what about the Barisan people? This bunch of incompetent infighting inconsequential ingrates got any hope of returning to their Golden Age where they were invulnerable, infallible, intelligent and inspiring? Yes? No?

Why not?

What? Look at their people as well? Ok, why don’t we let the picture do the talking:-

Ok, ok, cukup ….. I want my Mo Far Kor!

Anyway, what’s with the Barisan Nasional nowadays? What has Pak Lah done to these Wakil Rakyats and Pemimpins and Pembela Bangsas and Perwira Negaras? Why are they all so weak and clueless now? Yes, I know a fish rots from the head, but this is ridiculous. The Alpha Fish must have contaminated the entire container load, all of it, the bawal, selar, buntal, pari, tongkol, keli, lampan jawa and a sotong or two. Semua rosak. Bau busuk; jual tak laku. Kena buang jauh-jauh dalam laut.

The rot in Barisan triggered a socio-political fission chain-reaction of epic proportions and this culminated in the tsunami of PRU12, where the Barisan ikan busuks were swept away and buried by the debris of competing political forces. And from the ashes of this devastation rose a three-headed political beast known today as the Pakatan Rakyat.

Now you see? The Barisan created the Pakatan. Yes, if not for BN’s utter incompetence and the incorrigible and unelectable nature of many of its leaders and candidates, the Pakatan phenomenon would not have arisen. BN laid the groundwork for the spawning and propagation of this Pakatan freakshow.

Yeah, what’s up with the Pakatan?

You see, instead of using the people’s mandate in five states and a big chunk of the federal parliament for the betterment of the rakyat, Pakatan’s motley crew of oddballs and sleazoids and plain freakish lunatics went way off tangent and rewrote the playbook on nation-wrecking. Yup, when was the last time the DAP hate-mongers and their pathetic PAS and PKR stooges have said or done anything of substance about the economy, nation building, enhancing competitiveness, national cohesion, patriotism? Apart from their barrage of cheapshots, juvenile hecklings and seditious rhetoric, what have they done both in and out of parliament?

Look at these parties. DAP is courting self-destruction with its incessant provocations of the Malay Muslim majority; PKR, a platform for one man’s maniacal obsession to be the Prime Minister, is slowly imploding as we speak; and PAS has abandoned much of its Islamic rhetoric to remain bedfellows with the other two in a grotesque exhibition of hypocrisy -- that its hate for UMNO is more than its love for Islam and the Malays. The party’s stand on the fundamental tenets of Islam and the status and welfare of the Malays are sacrificed and obliterated from the party’s struggle just to appease their rabid, anti-Malay, anti-Islamist allies in DAP and PKR. Yes, what has gotten into the PAS people? These people hate UMNO so much that they don’t mind if their Bangsa dan Agama, not to mention their Raja-Raja Melayu are dragged through the mud and compromised and insulted by their fellow UMNO/BN haters, the chauvinist hoodlums of DAP and their PKR stooges.

Come to think of it, only the lone figure of Tan Seng Giaw exhibited a semblance of dignity and relevance to nation building among the Pakatan people. Maybe its due to his refined Kelantanese roots, a world away from the wretched tin-mining and rubber estate coolie mindset of his party compatriots on the West Coast, where their “struggle” is driven by a pervasive, pathological hatred against the Malays and the Malay essence of this nation.

Yes, I know, Pakatan will blame their ineffectiveness on the proverbial UMNO/BN bogeymen haunting their every move. But hey, this is politics lah! It’s a never ending game of power and influence over the ever-shifting mindset of the populace. If one cannot stand the heat, get the hell out and do something else lah. Fong Kui Lin sure look the part and would do well in the Bak Kut Teh business and Chong Eng will look very much at home in Pasar Borong Selayang. And I bet M. Kulasegaran can whip up a terrific pot of parapu to go with "Professor" P. Ramasamy’s parata in their future Roket Tumbang Curry House in Prai. And I’ll hire N. Gobalakrishnan in a heartbeat to be the Chief Hutang Collector for KijangMas’ now distressed loans to family and friends. As for my buddy and fellow Mo Far Kor junkie, Gwo Burne, he'll be better off running a Kedai Gambar for like-minded voyeurs.

Ok, what triggered this mayhem post PRU12?

Many factors.

Suffice to say that the pandemonium was fueled by the intoxicating first taste of power by the perpetual underdogs who suddenly rode the crest of the political tsunami induced by instigators leveraging on the rakyat’s total abhorrence of Pak Lah’s weak, uninspired and incompetent rule. But the single biggest divisive factor was the silly moves by Anwar Ibrahim in his obsessive quest to be the Perdana Menteri at all cost.

What is wrong with Brother Anwar anyway? Why this wholesale sellout of his Malay Muslim credentials just to scrape some support from the lunatic, extremist fringe of our society? And to add some comic relief to this sad picture, these anti-Malay lunatics actually think they are the “mainstream” -- oblivious to the reality of Malaysiana beyond their comfortable suburban habitats. These anti-Malays, inspired by the paranoiac fantasies of malignant narcissist Haris Ibrahim and his zealotrous disciples, now have the audacity to proclaim themselves as the Anak Bangsa Malaysia. Yeah, the Anak Bangsa Malaysia who will fight on the streets to uphold Kwangtung and Tamil Nadu lingua-cultural traits via the menace of the SRJK(C)s and SRJK(T)s and who themselves cannot and will not speak Bahasa Malaysia, let alone partake in or understand the Adat and Budaya of the necessary Orang Melayu backbone that would validate this Anak Bangsa Malaysia in the first place. I pray for these confused, pathetic souls.

So off goes Brother Anwar to join the noisy demos of the Hindraf racist buffoons; marching arm-in-arm with the Dong Jiao Zong subversives; and to instigate and irritate and concoct crisis after crisis after crisis by bringing to disrepute every single institution of Malaysian nationhood, including the democratic process and the position of our Raja-Raja Melayu. Yup, the gullible political novices among the suddenly-empowered non-Malay populace actually bought Brother Anwar’s deceptions – hook, line and sinker … and a kitchen sink or two. Veteran Anwaristas and Reformasi old hands chuckled at their teh tarik haunts as these RPK Junkies and Haris Zealots wasted tons of candles (and stupidly spewed CO2 to add to Global Warming) in their revelry over the sweet-sounding political fantasies wafting from the puckered lips of Brother Anwar. This opportunist charlatan led the non-Bahasa Malaysia speaking self-proclaimed Anak Bangsa Malaysia on their shuffle up the Yellow Brick Road to an UMNO-less Malaysian political utopia that was to emerge on 916. It was indeed a Mo Far Kor Moment to cherish, a kind of Malaysian Woodstock, an aberrative lovefest of rejoicing, hugging, burning of more CO2-spewing candles ……… podaaah!

Mana ada? Lu ingat “Malaysian Politics” is a Cartoon Network production ka? Living life in the make believe?

Anyway, 916 came and went.

Then another date.

Then another date.

Then another date.

Then ano ........ zzzzzzzzzz

Yup, even my Sang Harimau fell asleep .........

The nation was in suspended animation as Anwar plays out his drama to the detriment of 28 million people. Expect more theatrics from Brother Anwar, a man I used to support and admire but now reduced to a political scavenger eating out of the paws of DAP, Hindraf, Dong Jiao Gong and like-minded subversive, cancerous fringe of Mainstream Malaysiana.

Now, talking about Brother Anwar's lompat parti shenadigans, how can we forget the kejar-kejar to Taiwan comedy. Come on lah, if the political fate of our country was really dependent on the persuasive powers of Tian Chua and Elizabeth Wong plus Saifuddin Nasution, then that will mark the end of Malaysian Civilization as we know it! I laughed then and I laugh even louder now. Who in their right frame of mind would believe that 41 well-fed Barisan MPs would fall for the Tian Chua-Eli Wong seduction opera? Don’t look at me but the people who got seduced in Taipei was definitely NOT the BN vacationers!

Many folks have asked for my thoughts on the Perak Fiasco. Much has already been said and KijangMas is not keen to add to the pile. Suffice to say that this impasse is not going to be solved easily as long as the main actors relentlessly push the limits of the constitution at state and federal levels into the realms of terra incoqnita. But perhaps this is just what we all need. Test the robustness of our constitution that had gathered dust for over a half century. Get it out in the open. Let the rakyat see what desperate men and women are capable of doing -- on BOTH sides of the political divide. Oh, as in other terra incoqnita situations, don’t complain if surprises sprang from the dark abyss of the Neverland.

What about the Rakyat?

The rakyat, of course, will have a say as long as we subscribe to the ideals of democracy. Perakians must ultimately decide whether they want stability, where everyone can cari makan peacefully within our age old unwritten social norms OR anarchy, where every single institution of governance, from the political process to the civil service to law enforcement to the judiciary all the way to the Sultan himself are brought into disrepute.

Who gains and loses from all these? Nobody gains. Everyone has already lost.

Lessons learned?

Too many to expound here. Suffice to say that the Nizar Jamaluddin administration controlled by the NgehNga puppeteers was untenable due to its prickly, divisive agenda and marginalisation of the Malays, which form a 54% majority in the state.






From Day 1, the DAP-controlled Pakatan government acted like a one-term administration, grabbing whatever it could for its core constituents before its Cinderella clock struck midnight in PRU13. It so happened that UMNO/BN used the same lompat parti tactic touted by Anwar Ibrahim to hit back decisively, took the old clock and threw in another clock that struck midnight immediately, not in 3-4 years. Those shiny new Camrys morphed into pumpkins and it was game over long before the Pakatan gang had their bizarre make-believe State Assembly sitting under the shade tree.

Nizar and his Ngeh-Nga puppeteers forgot that Perak Darul Ridzuan is a Negeri Melayu di bawah Raja Melayu Berdaulat, a sovereign Malay state that forms part of the Federation of Malaysia. The Sultan is supreme. Oh, please lah don’t lecture me on your Ketuanan Rakyat fantasy. In the Malay socio-political realm, the Raja and the Rakyat are one and the same. To think that a PAS boneka controlled by the DAP dalangs could wedge himself between this unitary concept of “Kerajaan” is absurd. Listen you treasonous subversives, if your Raja has no confidence in your gang, for whatever reason, then too bad. You go. You git.

Say out loud the word “Kerajaan.” What’s the root word? Yes, “Raja.” What does this conjure? Yes, the Perak government is “of the Raja” (Ke-Raja-An) in a Kesultanan, the royal administration of a Kingdom. Who’s at the apex of this Kerajaan of the Kesultanan? Nizar? NgehNga? DAP? PAS? UMNO? PKR? Sivakumar?

It’s the Sultan, of course.

What happens when the Sultan has no more confidence (as promulgated in specific constitutional provisions) in a person to lead his Rakyat as the Menteri Besar of his Kingdom?

The out-of-favour person needs to take a hike. And don’t look back. Habis. Tamat kisah. That’s the way in any Negeri Melayu Beraja Berdaulat throughout the ages. And in recent times, Trengganu's Idris Jusoh and Perlis' Shahidan Kassim were purged once they were rejected by their respective Sultans. And they left with dignity and honour intact in accordance with our nation's ingrained Adat and Tatatertib Melayu. And the rakyat rejoice under the new Memandas chosen by these Rajas as everyone go back to their daily affairs.

But Perak?

Why must this state be different?

If anything, the Perak case is even more clearcut. Nizar lost support of the majority of the assemblymen. The Sultan used his constitutional prerogative to ask the leader of the new majority group to form a new keRajaan for the keSultanan in a constitutionally prescribed method his majesty thinks is best for his rakyat.

Game over for Nizar and we all go back to our lives.

But no. Nizar plays by different rules set by his DAP puppeteers, bereft of all the intrinsic Adat, Budaya and Tatatertib of the Orang Melayu essence of this Kesultanan Melayu. Under the telunjuk of this NgehNga of Tongkang Mali stock, Nizar chose to inkar the Sultan's perintah and then exhibited a disgusting pantomime of penderhakaan never before seen in a modern-day Malay Sultanate.

And hence we end up in this scrapheap.

Oh sure, these DAP anti-Melayus don’t mind the current derhaka circus. They don’t have even an iota of attachment or pride or respect of the Raja of the very Melayus they have dedicated their lives to oppose. That’s the no brainer part. But for Nizar’s PAS zealots to riot on the streets on behalf of the very anti-Melayus and anti-Muslims that are sworn to obliterate them boggles my mind.

As if all these bedlam are not enough, along came this swarthy V. Sivakumar fellow from Tronoh who threw in another spanner in the wheels of this runaway political trainwreck. This Wild-Eyed Aney could hardly articulate the specific provisions of the Perak constitution to reporters in his lintang pukang rendition of the English language. I’m sure he would have been able to express his points better in Bahasa Malaysia but the prevailing derhaka flavour of Pakatan’s persona, where all symbols of nationhood, including the Raja-Raja Melayu and Bahasa Malaysia must be contemptiously rejected, preempted that option. Yup, these are the very people Haris and his lunatics want to call the Anak Bangsa Malaysia. Incredible.

So what next for Perak?

Well, this is politics, a power game not for the faint hearted or emotional. Who knows what next is possible? Perhaps it boils down to the mantra of the stronger group wins, by hook or by crook.

Of course, ultimately "power" will need to be endorsed by the governed, Tuanku's rakyat, as well. So what is the rakyat's say in all this?

In PRU12, 871,736 Perakians went to the polls. 400,682 (46%) voted BN and 443,354 (51%) voted what became PR while the rest voted for independents or cast spoiled ballots.

Would this figure remain if snap elections were to be held today?

No. I repeat No.

Many non-Malays may remain in the Pakatan bucket after tasting the delights of "power." But many others have had their livelihoods destroyed by the incessant politicking coupled by the economic downturn, with no federal funds in sight when Perak was under Pakatan rule. The Chinese are, of course, practical people and, apart from an incorrigible racist hard core, many others would vote by their stomachs and wallets.

The Malay majority? How many will recast their ballots for PAS and PKR after seeing the policy decisions of the PR government and of course the penderhakaan to the Sultan? Assuming 70-80% of the non-Malays vote Pakatan, how many percent shift in the Malay votes from Pakatan to Barisan do you need to alter the total votes by the 3-5% needed to change the rakyat's verdict?

Who knows for sure. But victory in a snap election is not a done deal for Pakatan as claimed by the NgehNga gang in their bouts of foolish bravado.

I personally would like to see a snap election. Let the Rakyat decide. Lets see the preference this time of the Rakyat from the Malay heartland of Kerian, Larut Matang and Hulu Perak, the life long UMNO supporters who voted PAS and PKR in their contempt of Pak Lah's uninspiring leadership without understanding the repercussions.

If NgehNga and their puppet Nizar think its going to be a walkover this time, they are in for a rude shock indeed.

Now on Karpal Singh.

What else is there to say about this flagbearer of Malaysia’s failed social integration framework.

Sometimes I wonder why we take this senile dinosaur seriously. One day he berates Anwar, even beseeching the perpetual PM-in-Waiting to Bertaubat, to repent for all his political sins; and another day he provokes the other side; and the next day he accused UMNO Youth of sending him bullets, followed by his cussing in parliament.

Getting the SinghKing feeling ...?

This two-wheeled Emperor of Anarchy goes around threatening to sue a Sultan and menacingly utter “don’t push me” and “jangan cabar saya” and “jangan main-main dengan saya” to the whole world in an incessant series of foolish bravado. And when the inevitable happened – this time two bullets and a nasty note – who does he blame? UMNO of course. So what happened to the garang “jangan cabar saya” rhetoric? Nothing of course. It’s just empty rhetoric, just like the rest of his political soul mates. Oh yeah, bila sudah kena acah, apa kata this self-proclaimed Singh is King? Dia kata: "This is a serious threat and I want the Inspector-General of Police to provide protection for me and my family.” Pigidahh. You think the police got nothing better to do ahh? Why protect you? For democracy? For social justice? For nation building? To honour a patriot? To encourage other instigators? Sudah banyak-banyak bikin kacau, cabar orang, kurang ajar sama Melayu, hina Raja ….. lepas tu mintak di lindungi oleh Polis Di-Raja Malaysia!

Bizarre!

I wonder what does the spine-chilling “jangan main-main dengan saya” really mean? Yes, I’m curious because I take threats and counter-threats seriously. Does that mean this Singa can mobilise a bullock cart-load of Bhangra dancers (plus this act) to counter the noisy pendekars of UMNO Youth? See Karpal, again you are challenging people. You are baiting people. You want people to react to your rhetoric. What kind of parliamentarian is this? When was the last time Karpal spoke about the economy, about justice, about anything remotely progressive for the betterment of the rakyat? Its always saya, saya, saya, … “Jangan cabar saya”; “saya di ancam”; “jangan main-main dengan saya”; “saya mau perlindungan polis” … saya, saya, saya. Self-centered selfishness is the hallmark of this insult to democracy.

Oh, about the Celaka remark. Do we all really want to have a swearing competition? “Celaka” is nothing. You want the more definitive ones, the ones that would leave you frothing in the mouth with tail wagging between the wheels of your glorified wheelbarrow? Want to see my compendium of swear words for people like you? Want to hear a sampling of the rich lode of choice taunts and slurs that could be concocted in the context of a two-wheeled, foul mouthed arrogant closet Bhangra dancer?

Nahh, some people are just not worth it; let them live the last vestiges of their wretched life journey of hate, contempt and disdain amidst their own hell-on-earth cesspool of anger and fear.

Anyway, as if Dad’s antics were not enough, along came Gobind Singh Deo, the next-generation provocateur that will haunt us Malaysians for many years to come. This half-past six loyar had the audacity (… no, the utter stupidity) to suggest a directly-elected Prime Minister akin to the American, Indonesian or French system. Come on lah, we adopt the Westminster System lah Baii, where the Prime Minister is picked by the Head of State, the Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, from among members of the Dewan Rakyat that his majesty feels has the support of the majority of the Dewan.

What kind of cheap stunt is this?

See people, instigation and more instigation.

Of course, assuming this Karpal junior is not as stupid as he looks (the jury’s still out on that), then he is just being mischievious, a back-door way to hina the institution of the Kebawah Duli-Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja-Raja Melayu by pushing for the preemption of the role of the Malay rulers (as Malaysia’s rotating Head of State) in the selection of the Perdana Menteri as promulgated in the constitution. Is this the type of parliamentarian we need? The ones who swore to uphold the constitution and undivided loyalty to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong?

One more thing about the Pakatan people that makes me sick -- they just cannot and will not take responsibility for anything. Every misdeed, every self-destructing action, every self-incriminating excess are thrown into the all-purpose industrial strength “UMNO/BN fitnah bucket.” Every self-induced malady would be attributed to the elaborate, sophisticated political machinations of UMNO, the very people they dismissed as stupid, out-of-touch, lazy tongkat-dependent Malays on the verge of extinction on their own land.

Astonishing.

- You send your personal vehicle for servicing on tax payers’ money and gets investigated by the MACC, what do you do? Blame it on the all-purpose “UMNO/BN fitnah bucket.”

- You buy 46 cows on Selangor government-related company funds (yeah, I know, via a complex web of friendly partner and associated companies) and korban them for your parliamentary constituency not in Selangor but in KL, you get busted, and again you blame the all-purpose “UMNO/BN fitnah bucket.” In the meantime, your stuttering and bumbling team of anti-Malay racist greenhorns, UMNO rejects and long-lost ulamaks is fast transforming the nation's industral powerhouse into a banana statelet before our very eyes. Just look at the state of neglect permeating this formerly Golden State, in places like Rawang, Kajang, Ampang: potholes got bigger; roadside lalangs uncut; streetlights gone dead; vandalism, neglect and pilferage galore; and state employees gone rogue. Where are the election promises? What happened to the governance and efficiency? The Selangor Rakyat has gotten sick of silly "corporate moves" over their tanah, air, longkang and elektrik piled on the debacle over lembu korbans and kandang babis.

- You committed bigamy, couldn’t take the heat and left town and your Bukit Selambau constituents in a lurch, and yet again your party blame it on the all-purpose “UMNO/BN fitnah bucket.”

- You satiate your physiologic need with a purportedly married toyboy (and who knows who else) and have your tidur kangkang picture splashed in the blogosphere in an ugly lover’s spat, you cry wolf and .... yup, blame it on the all-purpose “UMNO/BN fitnah Bucket”!

Yes, UMNO/BN is somehow to blame in Eli Wong’s gory bedroom misadventure. You people have the audacity to smear others just to preserve your own skins, no matter the repercussions to the nation. THIS is what makes me sick. And Brother Anwar makes a political martyr out of Eli Wong. A martyr and a “victim.”

Victim?

For Tuhan’s sake, do you know who the real victim is? Eli Wong? This elusive Hilmi Malek?

No.

If this Hilmi fella is married as reported in the media, then the real victim is his wife lah stupid! Yes, Hilmi’s wife is the real victim here. Don’t you think that the hijab-clad PKR and PAS kakaks and makciks that huddled behind and listened to Eli Wong’s unabashed affirmation of her sexuality in her press conference should be comforting Hilmi's wife instead? Bizarre. If their husbands do the same thing to them, would they appreciate the wholehearted support given by political apparatchiks like them to the randy "other woman" ?

Sick!

Gwo Burne, more Mo Far Kor please …..

I detest people who don’t take responsibility for their own misadventures. Politicians who incessantly blame others are NOT leadership material. And true to form, these Pakatan people has no semblance of governance in any of the five states, with near-anarchy in at least two. Forget the Negeris, Pakatan couldn’t even govern itself. And imagine our Negara di tadbir by these people?

But would the Barisan make any difference? Again, look at the motley crew of characters led (or rather un-led) by a clueless Pak Lah, the Prime Minister who had long ago lost the plot. What about Najib Razak? Can he exorcist the disastrous lemah, lembik, kaku persona of Pak Lah from the Prime Ministership? Does he has what it takes to reenergise UMNO and whip up the Barisan into a cohesive political force able to conclusively sweep the bumbling Pakatan from the corridors of power come PRU13? Yes? No? Or has he morphed into another Pak Lah, a distracted weakling further debilitated by the bizarre cast of infighting, unelectable long-written off characters hollowing-out UMNO and Barisan from within?

What can we the Rakyat do?

Should the rakyat allow these characters on both sides of the political divide to continue with their antics and lead us further into the socio-political and economic abyss?

Where did these characters come from anyway? What is their true agenda? What is their role in the overall picture of nation building and the institution of checks and balances in the Malaysian political process? Where did our political system go wrong to allow such people access to our esteemed political institutions and political processes?

As of now, these collective insult to governance and leadership, not to mention ethics and morality, are leading their contingents of megalomaniacal misfits, opportunists, confidence tricksters and outright perverts in a nation-wrecking demolition derby of unprecedented proportions anywhere on earth.

Maybe when the dust settles, we may welcome some sort of assertive rule by a nationalist leader who will reset the trajectory of our nation. One thing is certain, this country cannot sustain this present state of chaos and semi-anarchy much longer.

Social implosion is not good for health and the pursuit of happiness.

What is the end game? You tell me. But the rakyat will bear the brunt of the cost -- the social and economic cost -- for many years to come.

Those in power must focus on administering the 13 states and the nation as mandated by the people and affirmed by the respective rulers and the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.

We the Rakyat demand a stop to this bizarre politicking. The circus must end NOW.

Let’s go back to work and improve our livelihoods and communities in these challenging times.

"Oh Tuhan, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz ...?"

What’s all the hoopla about a Catholic publication in this country wanting to use the word “Allah” to signify the Christian God in its Bahasa Malaysia section? This "Allah" connotation would ostensibly extend to Bahasa Malaysia Bibles and at mass and prayer sessions conducted in the National Language.

Why this sudden urge to write, read, converse and preach in Bahasa Malaysia? How come the very people who couldn’t even give you the time of day or simple street directions in the National Language suddenly fight tooth and nail to use the word “Allah” in Bahasa Malaysia Christian publications and Bibles that they themselves will never read, let alone comprehend?

Who would be the end-user of these Malay Bibles? Uncle Ignatius Lourdesamy down the street? What about his extended family who all grew up speaking and reading and writing English (and perhaps some Tamil though they may not admit it) and whose only exposure to Bahasa Malaysia was at school and in filling various borangs and permohonans at the pejabat kerajaan? You truly believe these Christian Anglophiles would be reciting their holy scriptures in Malay? Praising "Allah" and the Son of "Allah" in a language synonymous with Malay hegemony and stuffy government bureaucracy?

“Allah" is the Arabic word for The God, not just any God, and is thought to derive from the prefix al ("the") and the generic ilah ("god"). Hence, the La ilaha il Allah ("There is no god but Allah") in the first half of the Islamic Shahada. What about Arabic Bibles? Do Christian Arabs use "Allah" in their scriptures? Sure, Arab language Catholic, Coptic and Orthodox scriptures indeed use the term "Allah." But the issue here is not about usage of "Allah" in Arabic Bibles. It is about Christian literature written in Bahasa Malaysia, yes Malay, Melayu, the Bahasa Kebangsaan. And this is about the Malay Bible, the Kitab Injil Melayu.

Shouldn't the Malay language Bible carry a Malay name for this Christian God in view of the unequivocal fact that the Arabic "Allah" has always been regarded as The God of the Muslim majority in this country, not necesssarily in other countries, but in this nation of ours? O.k., what then is the generic word for "God" in Bahasa Malaysia? "Allah"? No, as mentioned, that's Arabic for The God. Would Hindus and Buddhists and Sikhs and Taoists and various traditional faiths dotting our hinterland also regard "Allah" as their God or supreme deity? No. They have their own Gods with their own God-names since antiquity. O.k., then why should some Christian denominations in this country demand the right to use "Allah" in their Malay literature? Isn't there a more accurate generic Malay term for this Christian deity to match the generic English term "God"? Yeah, how do you express a non-Islamic "God" in Malay?

Is this the issue?

Is this what the masalah is all about?

You know why this became a masalah?

Because you church people are largely language retards when it comes to Bahasa Malaysia. Your vocabulary of 200 words couldn't possibly fathom the lexiconical dexterity of our National Language, and with your lazy, cincai and typical tidak apa way to problem solving, you just curi and hantam whatever fits your needs -- in this case equating my Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala to your own deity and holy beings.

Listen, the generic word for "God" in Bahasa Malaysia is “Tuhan.”

Yes Tuhan. Repeat after me: TU-HAN. No not TIU, its TU. Again, TU-HAN.

Cannot be that hard lah. No "r" or "d" or "sh" to twist your short tongue.

You can partake in your Tuhan to your heart's content now. You can pooja as much of this Tuhan as you want, and can knot parables of sons and virgin mothers and assorted miracles for this Tuhan of yours. I can live with that. No issue. In the name of God ... oops I mean, Tuhan, lets all now be productive at work/business and get on with our lives.

So it's settled then. Hallelujah! Praise the ....... errr "Tuhan." Yes. Hallelujah. Praise the Tuhan! Janis Joplin's cult song would now be, "Oh Tuhan, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz ....?" I like.

"Like this cannot maaa. Like this where got one ..."

Huh? Apa? Tak setuju?

No deal? Tak puas hati? Some of you still not satisfied?

You still want my "Allah"?

"Tuhan" not good enough for your supreme being and son?

Still want your day in court? Still want to be an agent for turmoil and conflict in this country?

Hey, I thought the generic Malay "Tuhan" was the perfect literal translation of the generic English “God”? “Oh my God” would then be “Ya Tuhan” to the Christian Bahasa Malaysia speakers. "Son of God" would be the Anak of this generic Tuhan. Do you really believe "Anak Allah" would make sense, especially to the Malays and Borneo natives that you plan to Christianise?

Why this insistence on "Allah"?

Would the religious experience of Malaysian Christians be less profound if my Allah is not used in your Malay scriptures? Is this a case of God-envy then? You have Malay-envy, NEP-envy, National Language-envy ... and now you are afflicted by a case of God-envy.

Ok, ok, if you really must worship a supreme being you want to call "Allah" to the extent of going to court for this holy privilege and creating a ruckus for the world to see, KijangMas has a solution for your troubled soul. Become Muslims lah! Duhh!

Yeah, you can then face Allah in prayer five times a day and praise and glorify Allah the Merciful and the Compassionate every moment of your mortal existence on this Bumi. Heck, throw in some cultural affinities (on top of your language conversion since you all have seen the holy light and longed for prayers in Malay), you could even be called Bumiputras in your MyCard, and we will be one big happy family, sharing the Tuhan-given social privileges, free money, discounts, tongkats and all. This marks the end of our Racial Polarisation. Alhamdulillah!

"No way la dey!"

Apa? Also don't want? Masih tak setuju?

Still want to go to court? Haiya, why you fellas like to go to court ah? I thought you people don't trust our justice system? Bias lah, tipu lah, berat sebelah lah. So why still want to go to the Mahkamah? To make a mockery of the issue? To purposely subject my Tanah Air to ridicule in the world press? That I don't like.

Listen up, why don't we do something better than a "bias" Malaysian Mahkamah can do for you. Yes, we go to your ultimate Mahkamah. No, not the Queen of England lah dey. Itu sudah subcon to the “England Trained Barrister” fruitcakes of Hindraf. We can do better than that. We go straight to Vatican City. Yes, the Holy See, the abode of the Pope. Happy now? We shall petition Pope Benedict XVI for the Catholic Church to use “Allah” in reference to your God in every bible on this planet, irrespective of language. So not just the Malay version will use "Allah." The English, Spanish, French, Russian, Swahili, Patagonian, Hottentot and Inuit version will use "Allah" as well. Brilliant ah? Don’t thank me. Thank your fellow concerned citizens here.

You think this is a joke? Do you know that similar thoughts had been expressed by no less than a Roman Catholic Bishop in the Netherlands? Yes, Bishop Martinus Muskens of the Dutch diocese of Breda proposed that people of all faiths refer to God as “Allah” to foster understanding. He said: “Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn't we all say that from now on we will name God Allah?” So what are you waiting for Ignatius Lourdesamy and Ezekiel Tan? Sign the petition!

Ok? Kau tim?

Apa? Tak mau? Tak boleh?

Oh I see, you want "Allah" only in the Malay Bibles but not in the English, Mandarin or Tamil versions? So you can pick and choose your God's name as you like, depending on your target audience? Hmm, how so flexible, so convenient, ........ so sly and cunning.

In that case, I think a dialogue with you people would be futile.

Perhaps it's time for the TRUTH.

Want the truth? Mau tau betul punya cerita?

Folks, you know the REAL reason these zealots are demanding a Bahasa Malaysia Bible complete with the Arabic “Allah”?

For the Malaysian Christians out there?

Really?

For the types that do their best to mimic what they perceive as “Christian” culture and symbolisms such as the American/Western concocted Santa Claus and reindeer and Christmas Tree and milky white cherubs (anyway, why can’t cherubs be like this and also contemplate this) and happy little elves running around? The types that take pride in their English, the language of their holy scriptures? The type that either refuse or unable to string a simple Bahasa Malaysia sentence? The type that would only use the Malay language, pidgin style, to reprimand their maids and gardeners and to cuss the traffic cop on the street after dishing out RM50 in order to cheat the nation of RM300?

So suddenly these people underwent a Spiritual Linguistic Awakening, a lighting bolt that gave them the irresistible urge to pray together in their gerejas in glorious Bahasa Malaysia, in the Malay language that they hitherto abhor and oppose? Hallelujah!!! Praise the Tuhan!

Podaaaah!!!




Yup, ini semua tipu. Ini semua drama. Ini semua niat tak baik, loyar burok kata mala fide.

You really want to know why we now face groups of zealots bent on inundating our Tanah Air with Malay Injils at all costs, no matter the social repercussions? Betul mau tahu?

Not yet. Tunggu dulu.

Let’s work towards the answer with another question.

Who would likely read a publication, any publication, written in Bahasa Malaysia, in the Malay language?

The Archbishop and his army of priests and nuns?

The current congregation?

Devotees such as Teresa Kok and Charles Santiago and Irene Fernandez?

My old neighbour Maximillian Dominic Putucheary, the Johnny Walker connoisseur who claimed he is more English than the Englishmen?

What about your typical Joshua Nathaniel Luke Ying Siew Heng, the type that carries several garbage bags full of grievances against his “Malay oppressors” who finds solace in his English-language hymns at his Sunday church service up an SS2 PJ shophouse? Huh? Joshua Ying here also has a sudden urge to praise "Allah's" glories in Bahasa Malaysia as well?

Betul ka?

No!

O.k. now the TRUTH …….

They want the Bible to be in Bahasa Malaysia – in Malay – because they want to REACH OUT to the Melayus. Yes, they want the Melayus to be "saved", to be loved, to hear the word of their “Allah.”

Why is this happening now? Why this sudden push to print Malay bibles complete with “Allah” as the Christian God?

Christianity reached our shores with the Portuguese 500 years ago, and throughout the ages (until now) we have never heard of anyone seriously demanding a Malay Bible (at least not publicly) or groups of Christian devotees tenaciously insisting on denoting their God as “Allah.”

Yeah, why now? Why so insistent? For who? Demanded by who?

You want to know?

Actually, this is part of a long-term plan, a global agenda, towards the Christianisation of the World. The Malay Archipelago holds one of the biggest chunks of non-Christians around, what these zealots call the Unreached Peoples. Scriptures in the lingua franca of these people would be a crucial enabler to brainwash and convert them. Adopting the word “Allah” for their deity would be the coup de grace. Why? These missionaries would then be able to run circles and spin fables around this cetakrompak “Allah” in their scam to confuse and deceive the Malays.

How extensive is this movement? How about huge, no make it humongous, perhaps even gargantuan. See a sampling here, here and here. See how the Malays of Malaysia (and Singapore, Patani and Indonesia) are identified and profiled, complete with geographic range and a summary of their culture, lifestyle and spiritual disposition? Wow, these people know more about the Malays than most Malays themselves! The Malays are now prepped and primed for a spiritual invasion of the zealotrous kind. And marvel at their colour-coordinated Global Religious Battlefield Map reminiscent of some Hollywood sci-fi flick?

Oh yes, these foreigners are zealots all right. I spent a considerable chunk of my life in the U.S. over the past two-plus decades and have witnessed first hand the excesses spawned by religious zealotry. Yup, the likes of Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, and my favourites Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. These multi-millionaire swindlers live a lifestyle akin to Hollywood, pop and sports stars. Their slick fund-raising circus on TV would make the WWF look like child's play, what with instant miracle cures (one push on the forehead and you're cured, saved by the Tuhan) and toll-free numbers to send your life savings. Of course, many of these swindlers were later either discredited or jailed for their never ending scandals.

These intolerant zealots and TV (and now cyber) charlatans tag non-believers as the Unreached Peoples. In their gaudy tuxedos with eyes shut and teeth clenched and fist pumping, they claim direct unfettered access to God (Broadband-ready Tuhan ka?), and proclaim that this God wants them to reach out to the huge Unreached masses (meaning huge lucrative untapped markets) in Asia. Yes, these well-funded zealots will descend on us Unreached Peoples via their army of local collaborators in a multi-pronged assault of love and prayers and ......... if all else fail, legal action di Mahkamah Tinggi.

Get my point? Mau lagi? Cukup dah?

Many here surprised? Angry? Outraged? Sad?

For some, got this shifty feeling of being busted? Exposed? Motif sudah di telanjangkan?

Ok, now maybe we should ask "so what if these zealots want to Kristiankan the Melayus?"

Would the Malays buy it? They are that gullible? Nahh, not likely. Islam is self-evident, an all-encompassing way-of-life that makes more sense the more you unlock its beauty and simplicity.

But is that the point?

No.

The point is: why this need, this persistent tenacious need to use the word “Allah” to connotate this Biblical deity, as if the whole foundation of the Christian faith in Malaysia would collapse without it? How come the generic Malay "Tuhan" is not good enough, although "God" itself is the generic English word for supreme deity. What about other languages? Do they have a specific personal name for God or is it generic as well? Let's see. In German it is Gott; in French Dieu; in Croatian Bog; in Spanish Dios; in Swedish Gud; in Italian Dio; and in Russian Бог. Yup, all generic, a connotation, not a personal name, for a supreme being in their respective languages. So why must some Christian denomination in this country insist on using the Arabic word for The God to connotate the Christian supreme being in a Malay language Bible? Yeah, why use the Arab name in a Malay language scripture? Why not use the Spanish Dios? Or the French Dieu? Why this proclivity, this inherent desire, a burning need, to use the Arabic "Allah" in a Malay Bible although the Malay generic word for such deities would be the perfectly understandable and infinitely more accurate Tuhan?

All these sound fishy and ridiculous? I know. In fact, this is plain, unadulterated bullshit and hogwash of Biblical proportions, the biggest scam since antediluvian times.

My message to these zealots: Stop It! Leave the Malays alone. You go convert some other Unreached Peoples. In fact, there are enough pagans, atheists and sinners in the Western World itself to keep you people occupied till the end of time.

To the Malaysian collaborators, repent! Shame on you people! Enough of the lies and deceptions. No more putar belit of nomenclatures and connotations in your pathetic sandiwara of deceit and treachery. Stop lying through your crooked teeth about your sudden patriotic love for Bahasa Malaysia, of the sudden, inexplicable need to hear the Word of your deity uttered in a language that you had collectively abhorred and denigraded for the past half century.

For Tuhan's sake, enough!

The KT By-Election: A quasi-national plebiscite on Pak Lah or Najib ... or just a local Oghang Teganung affair?

Was the KT by-election a people’s plebiscite on Pak Lah?

Was the loss the final validation of Pak Lah’s inability to lead and inspire a disillusioned and embittered populace, the lame duck PM who could not draw, let alone mesmerize, the rakyat towards the BN coalition in spite of the boundless resources – media, economic, logistical, administrative, statutory – at the coalition’s disposal?

Adooi ..... apa lagi depa mau?

Or was it a referendum on Najib?

Was KT an indicator of Najib’s inability to lead and enthuse the rakyat, in spite of the avalanche of pork barrel projects at his disposal under the glossy façade of the ECER? Does Najib have what it takes? Is he really leadership material? Some say he has the charisma of a soggy popiah and is not a natural orator. I don't know about charismatic springrolls, but he does seem to mimic the primal call of a constipated tapir on stage, with his tendency to embellish his speeches with an irritating, whining sound.

Would you buy a Used Car from this man? Yeah, why not?

Leadership and oratory deficiencies notwithstanding, was KT really determined by Pak Lah or Najib?

Or perhaps, KT was won through the sheer brilliance of the Pakatan Rakyat, led by their whizkid strategists from the West Coast that must have mesmerised the Oghang Teganung and swept KT into the PR fold in a monsoonal wave of political awakening and social enlightenment?

Betul ka?

No lahh! Don't take too seriously that band of chest-thumping Pakatan pongidae masquerading as political messiahs and social guardians in their little syiok sendiri bubbles of impians amidst the kayangan of cyberspace.

So folks what then was THE catalyst of the PAS/PR victory?

a) The KT rakyat’s rejection of Pak Lah? No.

b) The KT rakyat’s rebuke of Najib? No.

c) The KT rakyat’s embrace of the ideals of the Pakatan Rakyat underpinned by a giddy non-Malay speaking Malaysian Malaysia paradigm? No way, José.

d) All of the above? No. Perhaps bits of (a) and a morsel of (b).

e) None of the above? Yes, this is closer to the truth.


Many might say, hey KijangMas, I thought this is a Pakatan victory, and was aided by the slick and sophisticated Pakatan bigwigs from Ipoh Timur, Bagan, Batu, Seputeh and Permatang Pauh?

Listen up, the KT result was NOT determined by the Pakatan people. In fact, PAS won in spite of Pakatan’s contamination of that party’s agenda, mission and cohesiveness.

Really ahh?

Yup, actually the West Coast Pakatan people gave themselves way too much credit for the PAS victory. In fact, collectively, the West Coast Pakatan people were even more irrelevant to the KT constituents than the West Coast Barisan people. Do you think the KT man-in-the-street gives a hoot about what Kit Siang, Guan Eng, Tian Chua and Teresa Kok have to say? Of course not. Do you think Brother Anwar is a factor? Nope. Not a chance. What about the “formidable” platoon of Pakatan bloggers who descended on KT to mingle with and seduce the Cina Teganung? Were the likes of Zorro, RPK and the malignant narcissist Haris Ibrahim and their kuncus effective in influencing their much-loved ethnic-Chinese voters which make up a one-tenth fraction of the constituents? Nope. In fact, the ever practical Cina Teganung showed increased support for BN this time around. These Pakatan cyber-pongidaes hence failed miserably in their Pujuk Cina Teganung mission.

Who and what then determined the PAS/PR victory?






Local factors. Yup, local Oghang Teganung factors.

This was just a local by-election that was inflated as a national happening by a clueless UMNO/BN and a delusional PR. In fact, this was not a BN vs. PR battle. This was not a Najib vs. Anwar beauty pageant. Of course it was never an irrelevant MCA vs an inconsequential DAP war either. Most importantly, KT was not a quasi referendum on Najib, as the increasingly bizarre Pakatan zealots would like the world to believe.

The KT by-election was nothing more than a pertarungan between an Oghang Teganung vs. another Oghang Teganung to win the hearts and minds, the hati sanubari, of the Ghakyak Kualaa Teganung. The issues were localised, grassroots, parochial, endemic, indeed, far removed from Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur.

Ok, so what happened?

Quick and dirty forensics:-

The LOCAL KT Oghang Teganung somehow finds UMNO/BN candidate Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh a non-palatable offering. I persistently got feedback from my Trengganu friends that Wan Farid is not a likable chap, somewhat aloof and unapproachable. How much this is true I don’t know. Perhaps it came with his old job as Pak Lah’s political secretary and key gatekeeper. Perhaps he had to stave off and thwart the myriad of hangers on and courtiers hovering around Pak Lah in search of quick contracts to sub to others. He could well be a fine gentleman. Maybe yes, maybe no. But it is the perception -- the gambaran -- that counts. And my own gambaran of him is not too flattering. He somehow gives me flashbacks of a stern and békéng ketua kerani at a typical Pejabat Tanah, the type that would ignore you for five minutes and then stare at you as if you had just committed a capital crime because you interrupted his reading of Kosmo or URTV.

Békéng dang gedébang weii !
"Nok kabo bui, diaa petong mung dengang alu lesong baghu bekok cobbong ..."
"Marketable" to the Oghang Kualaa Teganung?

The PAS gentleman, Abdul Wahid Endut, somehow came across as a more approachable character. He is the archetypal Pok Chu who wiles away the afternoon to Main Haji under the tree at KT’s ubiquitous alfresco kedai kopis.

As if Wan Farid’s demeanour is not bad enough, Najib had to contend with another LOCAL issue: the antics of Trengganu’s notoriously fractious UMNO divisions. Why should Idris Jusoh’s gang support a candidate whose victory would further strengthen Ahmad Said’s stranglehold on the state and its sputtering faucet of monetised black gold? Do you really think Idris Jusoh’s gang would assist to glorify and validate Ahmad Said’s leadership of Trengganu UMNO? Indeed, news of Wan Farid’s loss was met with shrills of delight in an explosion of schadenfreude orgy among many quarters in Trengganu UMNO itself.

Oh, for good measure throw in Dr. Mahathir’s ominous death knell (with his not so subtle statement: “The choice of the candidate is really very bad because people see him as a proxy to be used if Najib becomes prime minister”) and UMNO’s chances effectively dissipated into the monsoonal waves of KT’s seafront. Any contributory role by Pakatan here? Mana ada si pongidae?

Astonishingly, on top of the local negative sentiment and to complete the UMNO self-immolation, Najib inexplicably went to town to woo the miniscule non-Malay minorities with goodies and handouts totally irrelevant to the KT people. Why should KT – an almost 90% Malay majority seat – trigger an avalanche of unsolicited freebies to the ethnic-Chinese, including an unprecedented RM50 million to fund the SRJK(C)s across the nation via direct handouts to their school boards? Why focus on the 10% when the battle should have been fought over the almost 90% Malay constituents? Was UMNO foolishly reacting to PR’s aggrandizement of the “Chinese votes” while the restless Malays were ignored? Who actually advised Najib and the UMNO people? Which think tank? Can tanks think? Who said the KT non-Malays would be the decisive factor? Who installed these people as “Kingmakers”? While UMNO/BN fall over themselves to win the hearts and wallets of these supreme kingmakers, the real constituents, the almost 90% Malay majority, were reduced to irrelevant pawns forced fed a stale diet of tired party lines and grandiose Mat Jenin projects in half-hearted, incoherent ceramahs.

Najib’s embrace of the SRJK(C)s effectively alienated the Malay nationalists who would have naturally gravitated towards UMNO, even if Wan Farid was not too palatable, and this further exacerbated the situation on the ground. Interestingly, the DAP totoks in cohorts with PAS created less impact on the PAS supporters because they were certified Chinese chauvinists (and an irrelevant freakshow) anyway, hence nothing new to the KT Malay voters.

Let this be a lesson to UMNO/BN. By-elections are won and lost on LOCAL issues, LOCAL personalities, LOCAL grievances, LOCAL sentiments. Grandiose corridors and stupendous initiatives mean nothing if your candidate is not acceptable to the constituents.

AND let this also be a lesson to the West Coast Pakatan people. PAS won this seat due to UMNO's folly and IN SPITE of YOUR presence. Remember, most of the seats you procured in PRU12 were lost by the BN and NOT won by you people. We all know now that any non-BN pongidae would have won most of those seats, as testified by their presence in parliament and the various Dewan Undangan Negeris today. Likewise, KT was handed to PAS in a residual manifestation of UMNO/BN's political sado-masochism in these last vestiges of Pak Lah's tutelage. Will there be more freebies for you people after March 2009? Don't hold your breath, and watch where you swing between the impian vines of your hutan kayangan, lest you join the ranks of other endangered pongidaes.

Finally, I recall an oldish Teganung idiom. All one need in life is:-

- Nasik sepinggangg
- Kopi secawangg
- Ghokok sebatangg
- Sedawe e’ ...

... and may I add, a Wakil Rakyat who is a regular guy who does not remind one of the stern ketua kerani at the local Pejabat Tanah.

At last, someone with the testicular fortitude

Finally, a politician with the guts and the watak keperwiraan – the testicular fortitude – to address head-on and stand his ground on the issue of vernacular schools, the throbbing cancerous tumour that has been the single biggest obstacle to Malaysia’s social cohesion and the main impediment to the creation of a Bangsa Malaysia speaking in one voice, Bahasa Malaysia, guided by the budaya and tatatertib of the Orang Melayu.

Kudos to Mukhriz Mahathir!

This vernacular school menace must be expeditiously and decisively obliterated from our Tanah Air Tercinta. A society that allows, indeed sanctions, such a prickly, divisive ethno-sociological anomaly – after over a half century of Merdeka – does not deserve the privilege of nationhood. If we think we are a people worthy of our own Negara Merdeka under the Panji-Panji Raja-Raja Melayu Berdaulat, we must then take swift and decisive action to annihilate this societal outrage that has become a clear threat to our socio-political stability, to the development of a cohesive Bangsa Malaysia and, indeed, to our national security and integrity of Bumi Malaysia.

The Malaysian nation cannot support a system that produces functional illiterates molded in the linguistic and cultural forms of alien nations far from the shores of our Tanah Air. Many of these SRJK lost souls drop out upon entering the national high school system due to their sheer inability to adapt to the mainstream Bahasa Malaysia-centric curriculum. Many will become lifelong socio-economic burdens as these social outcasts ultimately percolate into the underground economy to eke out a wretched existence on the fringes of criminality. They also add to the social roadblock towards effective nation-building and in the formation of a cohesive, productive Anak Bangsa Malaysia.

The SRJK(C) and (T) produce kids who are more insular, more parochial and less receptive to socio-cultural diversity. From my own direct interaction with these products of vernacular schooling, I find them not only below par in Bahasa Malaysia BUT also grossly deficient in English as well. Hence, they are handicapped in the national language and the international language of commerce – a double whammy the vast majority will never be able to overcome.

These functional illiterates end up as a cheap source of semi-indentured labour in the motor workshops, auto accessory shops, in the building trades, sleazy unisex salons, become cetak rompak aficionados, stalk shopping malls to harass shoppers with a myriad of worthless gizmos and, in the case of many if not most Tamil-educated Indians, become low wage general workers, lorry drivers and assorted hired hands for the towkays.

The anti-Malay chauvinist politicians will then turn around and blame the NEP and Ketuanan Melayu for this socio-economic malady of their own concoction, further unraveling the last vestiges of social cohesion we may have in our Tanah Air Tercinta.

I often wonder, where is this vast trove of “superior” products of the Chinese and Tamil schools? Where are these people who purportedly benefit from superior education compared to the government schools?

Where?

Rakyat Malaysia yang cintakan Negara dan yang mahu membina sebuah Bangsa Malaysia yang Seia, Sehati dan Sejiwa harus berganding bahu dan mengembeling tenaga untuk membanteras sehabisan-habisan gejala sekolah vernakular yang telah menjadi sarang dan punca berbagai masalah sosial Tanah Air tercinta kita. Inilah langkah pertama dalam perjuangan kita untuk membentuk sebuah Bangsa Malaysia yang berbahasa Malaysia dan berpandu kepada budaya dan tatatertib Melayu di Bumi Malaysia tercinta ini.

Satu Bangsa, Satu Bahasa, Satu Negara bukan lah laungan retorik semata-mata. Inilah teras pertiwi dan teraju segala falsafah yang akan menjamin kedaulatan, ketahanan dan keutuhan Negara Malaysia tercinta dalam menghadapi berbagai cabaran sosio-ekonomi dan politik dalaman dan luaran yang kian semakin rancak bergelora.

Hasil Sekolah Vernakular

After 51 years of Merdeka?
A banner protesting Ahmad Ismail’s “Cina Pendatang” remark written in …… Mandarin …… the national language of the People’s Republic of China, an alien foreign language (even to ethnic-Chinese Malaysians) that led Ahmad Ismail to view them as “Pendatangs” in the first place.

The inherently contradictory and indefensibly dichotomous position of the Chinese chauvinists in their defense of vernacular schooling 51 years after Merdeka are endless. There exist no single logical argument that supports the continuation of the archaic colonial-era Chinese and Tamil school streams in a sovereign nation such as Malaysia, where Bahasa Malaysia is the sole national language and constitutionally supreme over any other language or dialect. Indeed, no other language is mentioned by name in the Malaysian Federal Constitution.

Anything that threatens the constitutional supremacy of Bahasa Malaysia – and vernacular schools are the most blatant example – must be vigorously curtailed and abolished. The greater public good – in this case, a single unifying language for the Federation – by definition must prevail over ancillary cultural rights of assorted sub-groups and descendants of the immigrant races, collectively defined as “other communities” in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

“Malay” is mentioned 54 times in the Federal Constitution. “Natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak” are also mentioned many times, often in tandem with “Malay.” There exists no specific reference to a “Chinese” or “Indian” or “Punjabi” or “Eurasian” or any other ethnic group. These non-Malays and non-Borneo natives are lumped as “other communities,” the residual populace of the Federation. Hence, Article 153, by design and implication, specifically differentiates the “Malays” and the “Natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak” from the “other communities.”

Article 153 of the Federal Constitution in the same breath mentions the "legitimate interests" of the "other communities."

"Legitimate” is the key word when we talk about the “legitimate interests” of the “other communities.” Indeed, the “legitimate” in the “legitimate interests” of the “other communities” are subordinate to the larger national interests of the Federation. In terms of National Language policy, the “legitimate interests” of the "other communities" must necessarily be subordinated to the supremacy of Bahasa Malaysia (a larger national interest) and these "legitimate interests" should never be an impediment to the development and propagation of the National Language among the citizens of the Federation.

Vernacular schools are clearly impediments to the development and propagation of our National Language among our citizens. Hence, their very constitutionality can be reviewed and debated in the context of propagating the larger national interest and social integrity of the Federation of Malaysia.

In a nutshell, the qualifying term “legitimate” in the "legitimate interests" of the "other communities" implies the non-absolute nature of the “interests” of Malaysia’s “other communities.” In terms of language and cultural "rights" of the non-Malays and non-Borneo natives of the Federation, the determination of what is "legitimate" in the "legitimate interests" of these "other communities" must be conducted against the backdrop of a larger, all pervasive national interest and public good for the Federation. The Federal Constitution hence clearly implies that the "right" of the non-Malay, non-Borneo native populace is non-absolute and subordinated to the rights of the general populace and to the public good. "Mother tongue" language usage and vernacular schooling are no exceptions.

I must reiterate that the "Malays" and the "Natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak" are constitutionally distinct from the "other communities." Sorry, we are not the same under the Malaysian Federal Constitution. This was how the Federation of Malaysia was forged amidst the polygot of former Malay States under British protection, British colonies and settlements. To question the distinct status of the "Malays" and the "Natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak" is tantamount to a repudiation of the fundamental tenets of the nation of Malaysia itself. In other words, treasonous.

Hence, for contemporary opportunistic anti-Malay politicians to cast the “Malay” and other “Natives” in the same light as the so-called “other communities” and then to demand kesamarataan among these two groups – including a parallel National vs. Vernacular school system – are not only unconstitutional, but also seditious, delusional, mischievous and self-destructive and, indeed, a pathetic indication of their utter ignorance of the socio-demographic blueprint of the Malaysian Federal Constitution that was forged in the context of Malay compromises and giveaways to the desperate, stateless pendatangs and their descendants.

Mukhriz Mahathir is absolutely correct and Demi Negara lauds his position.

At a time where "Malay Rights" and every single instrument of Malaysian nationhood are being brought into disrepute by the anti-Malay reactionary forces currently infesting and contaminating our Tanah Air, it is time for all patriotic Anak-Anak Bangsa Malaysia to rise and question the many social anomalies and maladies propagated by these same treasonous reactionary forces that have effectively short-circuited our nation building process. Vernacular schooling is the most prominent of these social ailments.

Lets discuss. I want to hear intelligent arguments. State your case logically and share your thoughts and experiences.

Racial Polarisation and the Forging of Bangsa Malaysia

We Kelantanese are not amenable to beating around bushes. We are not a pantun and seloka society. And we do not partake in gurindam and puisi to express our thoughts. We are simpler, more straightforward, more robust, with a clarity of thought and tenacity of purpose reflective of our history and existence as a frontline state against T’ai Buddhist expansionism. Our other half, the old Malay kingdom of Patani, was overrun and annexed in 1902, and today three million Malays there simmer under Thai occupation. Kelantan extricated itself in the nick of time in 1909. Otherwise, KijangMas would be posting as ศรกนกกระจง from กรุงเทพมหานคร.

Our 1,500 year history (from the era of the Ch’ih-tu and Langkasuka kingdoms) are dotted with epic battles for survival, with Kelantan-Patani warriors recorded in the historical annals of Burma, Siam, Cambodia, Champa, Vietnam and all the way down the Malay Peninsula and across to Java, Makasar and beyond. We are a martial race. Our survival as a people throughout 600 years of T’ai aggression was dependent on our capacity to meet these attacks head on, blow for blow, though at times we were outnumbered 5 to 1 on the battlefield. We couldn’t afford to beat around bushes and circumvent issues and hope the problems will go away. No, we face issues head on, albeit with political finesse and diplomatic panache only an old, socially cohesive race could muster.

Our Wayang Kulit invariably ends with epic battles transcending the bumi and kayangan between powerful forces of good and evil, where the Sri Rama ultimately prevails over a thoroughly vanquished enemy. Our stories are conclusive. Nothing is left to conjecture and interpretations, as in the case of convoluted cerpens. And this conclusiveness shaped our mindset -- as the children of the Sri Rama.

We are hardy, tenacious and self-reliant. That’s why the Kelantan-Patani tribe are found everywhere on earth, from California to London to Makkah and beyond. We are not amenable to self-pity or indulge in a fatalistic disposition. Traditionally, we did not partake in these luxuries as our collective energies were focused on the ceaseless invasions from the north. The weak and the unindustrious are long gone, having perished in battles and leaving no progenies to perpetuate their inadequacies. We couldn’t relate to the guilt and sadness-laden dramas and cerekaramas dished out by the West Coast Malay, what I term the Riau Malay. We view things as they are, although we say things with refined subtlety reflective of our old civilization. We hardly raise our voices. We don’t use hand gestures as props. We say what we need to say softly but assuredly in our idiom-rich vocabulary. And we mean what we say.

On this basis, I will address the issue of our country’s sick ailment – Racial Polarisation – in the way it should be addressed – with the frankness and granularity only a child of the Sri Rama could expound.

-----------------

Why all this fuss about racism?

Malaysia is, by definition, a “racist” country. Yes. Stop kidding ourselves. We are all racists. In fact, Racism defines the dynamics of Malaysia’s socio-political framework. Our nation was forged via an incoherent rendition of pragmatic ethnocentrism that has been in a state of perpetual disequilibrium ever since. Indeed, this is the only country on earth in this day and age where racial distinction is institutionalized and, in a perverse legitimization of this incongruity, touted as a plus factor.

At every opportunity, the Rakyat are reminded of their “race” and place in the “multiracial” and “multicultural” milieu, with pervasive reinforcement literally from cradle to grave.

The authorities further affirmed this racial consciousness by proclaiming:

in glitzy tourism promotions, where distinctly different individuals dressed in “national” costumes of the Malay states, various Borneo tribes, Southern China, Tamil Nadu, Portugal and the Punjab somehow revel in a celebration of ethno-cultural diversity in this “host” land known as Malaysia.

The tombstone in the Tourism Malaysia portal says it all:-

In the heart of Asia lies a land of many cultures, wonders and attractions. With a sparkling and lively melting pot of races and religious (sic) where Malays, Chinese, Indians and the many ethnic groups of Sabah and Sarawak live together in peace and harmony, Malaysia is truly a country that epitomises Asia.

Such a diversity of ethnic groups inevitably features a large number of spoken languages. The official local language is Bahasa Melayu, but then English is widely spoken as are a number of Chinese dialects. Various other languages are spoken and East Malaysia features several other indigenous languages.

With such obvious diversity, it is remarkable that racial tension is not a constant problem but clearly the gentleness and tolerance of the local population contributes to a real spirit of peace and harmony.


Who wrote this … I’m sorry to say … mythology?

Some White kid at Saatchi & Saatchi New York? What “melting pot of races and religions” are we talking here? How about “boiling cauldron of intolerant racists and zealots”? Why are we presented like some kind of multicoloured, multiphonic happy, cuddly little socio-artifacts in some fantasy vacationland?!

Tell the truth la!

Long-winded corporate adverts to mark Merdeka, Hari Raya and assorted ethno-religious festivities are also littered with more fantasized scenarios of a multiracial, multicultural, multireligious and multi-whatever populace co-habitating tolerantly while celebrating their glorious diversity in a utopian land of opportunity for all.

Mana ada?

Again, we beat around the bush, ignore the inconvenient truth, and kid ourselves with snazzy ads. And the longer we deceive ourselves with this multiracial fantasy, the harder it takes to build a cohesive, unified nation.

We Malaysians have lived in this fairytale for too long, and this blissful fantasy is now crumbling under the very weight of its own ludicrousness. Nobody really believed in this cosmopolitan utopia set against the backdrop of our complex ethnocentrist and messy social milieu.

As a start, we do not even have a proper common LANGUAGE. What is there to share if we can hardly communicate our mutual hopes and aspirations, with the linguistic connection between the racial divide bridged only via gross dilution of syntax and context, and with our true feelings often lost in translation somewhere.

Let me be frank here and express my thoughts in this quasi-common, compromised language of the masses:-

Mana ada ini macam lain tempat? Mana boleh lu cakap lain bahasa, gua cakap lain bahasa, itu orang pun cakap lain bahasa? Mana boleh semua orang keras kepala mau cakap sendiri punya bahasa? Ini negara Malaysia, kita kena cakap Bahasa Malaysia. Apasal susah sangat? Lu pergi Jepun lu kena cakap Jepun. Lu pergi China lu kena cakap Mandarin. Lu pergi England lu kena cakap Inggeris. Lu pergi Rusia lu kena cakap Rusia. Kita sama-sama duduk Malaysia lu tak mau cakap Bahasa Malaysia? Kenapa? Malaysia “special case” ka? Siapa cakap? Siapa bikin ini macam? Dalam semua-semua Negara dalam ini dunia, apasal Malaysia kena jadi “special case”? Untuk siapa? Lu atau gua?

Feel better now? Yes and No?

Never mind. Swallow that bitter pill, defy your tribal instinct to either revel or resist and read on.

Sadly, but you have to be a “racist” in Malaysia because Malaysia is touted as a “multiracial” country. There must be a perverted, kafkaesque logic in there somewhere. But it’s beyond me. From primary school, our children are implored to live harmoniously among the various “races” in our “multiracial” country. Racial awareness is hence institutionalized at a very young, impressionable age. This racial distinction is further reinforced by petty racial profiling and prejudices in media programming and commercial adverts.

By the time our children enter the Sekolah Menegah, they are already supra-ethnocentrists and intolerant of other races and this fact is for all to see in our segregated urban playgrounds and street corners. And by college-going age, these Racist Beings are already beyond redemption, spoiling for a fight at the sight of other racists of other ethnic groups. Why should we wonder then that our universities are hyper-polarised along ethnic lines, where the animosity among the dominant Malays and the ethnic minorities are so palpable, so granular.

We are somehow told to “take pride” of our “multi-racial, multi-cultural” country, as if this is a preferred trait in achieving cohesive statehood. Of course it is not the case. The constant reminding of our “multi-racial, multi-cultural” essence breeds further explicit consciousness of our “race,” and this has now permeated every facet of our lives 24/7. Should we then wonder why we have all become so utterly Racists? This hyper-ethnocentrism inevitably propagates further ethno-chauvinist tendencies, as each “race” outdo one another to stamp their racial identity in a grotesque manifestation of tribalism gone mad. Now imagine when this ethnic belligerence flare across a permutation of 40 ethnic, tribal and assorted suku kaums.

Even sports are caught up in this crippling racial imbroglio. Pay TV operator, Astro, somehow deemed it cute and proper to spin short promo clips of Malaysian Olympians talking in their “mother” tongues. Lee Chong Wei and other ethnic-Chinese Malaysian athletes uttered their hopes in Mandarin, likewise others spoke in Tamil and English. Only ethnic-Malay Olympians spoke in Bahasa Malaysia, as if the National Language has been relegated to be on par with the other languages and only applicable to the Malays. I’m sure many of us would be interested in Lee Chong Wei’s aspirations. But we will never know because he is speaking in the national language of China and not even the Hokkien or Cantonese of his household! So in effect, barely a fifth of Malaysians knew what the heck Lee Chong Wei and the ethnic-Chinese Malaysian Olympians were saying and seven percent or less could comprehend the Tamil utterances of the ethnic–Tamil athletes. Hence, is it really a wonder why Lee Chong Wei’s endeavour to Olympic Silver was not followed with the passion of the past by the nation and hardly celebrated upon his triumphal return? Why no open top motorcade processions in the kampungs di setiap pelusuk tanah air, like the 1992 Thomas Cup heroes? Because Mandarin-speaking Chong Wei was not regarded as “one of us” by the ubiquitous Malay masses out there?

What was Astro trying to prove?

I think it is scandalous. I’m sure no nation on earth would even contemplate staging this misguided, divisive charade. Have we ever heard Arnold Schwarzenegger utter anything in German? And he is not even American-born, having migrated from Austria. How about French footballer Robert Pirés talking Portuguese on French TV just because his parents were Portuguese immigrants? Or German soccer stars Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski speaking their "native" Polish on German TV? What about President Nicholas Sarkozy, a first generation Frenchman of Hungarian and Greek Jewish parentage? Any Hungarian or Greek pride in this diminutive man? Of course not. He is totally assimilated and is today the epitomy of Frenchness and leader of the Francophone World.

Where would Barrack Obama be if he insisted on conversing in his father’s native Swahili? Well, he wouldn’t be the U.S. president-elect for sure. The governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, is the son of Indian immigrants. Do you think he got elected for his Hindi oratory skills in Cajun Country?

And here you have 3rd-4th generation Malaysians uttering messages for our Bangsa Malaysia TV audience in the national language of China and main language of India’s Tamil Nadu state.

Astro falls under what ministry? Mana Shabery Cheek? What about the MCMC? Or is this under Shaziman Mansor’s ministry? I would like someone up there to ask Astro’s Ralph Marshall and Rohana Rozhan why they deem this stunt as proper in the context of Malaysian nation building? Or have they outsourced their programming to a bunch of foreigners totally devoid of our national aspirations in their attempt to be creatively cute to justify their exorbitant fees?

At this rate, our march towards national integration under a singular, cohesive identity is bleak indeed.

Events such as the Olympics, where our athletes are supposed to represent the country as a cohesive, united nationalistic Malaysian Race -- as uttered in our battle hymn, “Satu Bangsa, Satu Negara, Malaysia Berjaya” – would require complete cohesion with a sense of shared destiny, not a patchwork of variegated ethnic groups, tribes and suku kaums whose only affinity with one another is their mutual contempt and suspicion.

Let me ask this question that I know is in the minds of the majority of Malaysians.

Why must Malaysia be compelled to account for every race, ethnic group and suku kaums under her flag in everything we do? Even in the sports teams we assemble? In tourism promotions? In government and corporate events?

Come on lah. This is a COUNTRY, not a loose association of races and tribes; not a collection of connoisseurs of foreign languages and costumes languishing in self-contained cocoons; not a tenuous conglomeration of estrange peoples.

This is not a half-way-house, a transit point – a rumah tumpangan -- for people to languish prior to their resettlement in their ultimate countries of choice one or two centuries after the arrival of their forefathers to these shores. Citizens of our blessed land must have a sense of permanence in this country. Citizenship and permanence go hand in hand. And these come with obligations. It is our obligation as permanent citizens of this country to strive for unity under a common Bangsa Malaysia identity underpinned by a common language, Bahasa Malaysia.

I've travelled far and wide and lived in many countries. Every country I've visited possess a strong sense of nationhood, a solid identity, a national philosophy, a national character. Of course, many are multi-ethnic as well, but their societies are forged by common values, a shared history, and a collective vision underpinned by a common dominant language. But sadly NOT in our beloved Malaysia. We have become a nation of ethnic ghettos and enclaves, a patchwork of estrange peoples languishing in a tense, stressful and simmering land.

This is NOT how you build a nation. There must a base of shared values and socio-cultural norms and a sense of shared destiny. Of course, we may be of different origins, but we cannot go forward as a nation via divergent, distinct paths in language, education, social norms and aspirations.

The Federation of Malaysia was not designed to host a collection of mini Kwangtungs, mini Tamil Nadus, mini Keralas and mini Punjabs superimposed on a flailing Malay canvas. And now we have to contend with an embryonic mini Surabaya, mini Kathmandu, mini Dakar, mini Saigon and mini Yangon, and soon mini Lagos and mini Nairobi.

Is this really tenable? Enough of this stupidity. Cukup lah!

If this model works, then nation states would be obsolete across the world. But human society does not evolve nor function this way. There must be conformity. There must be cohesion. There must be singularity of purpose that transcends parochial sentiments.

The 51-year Malaysian experiment to loosely weld a polygot of multiracial, multicultural, multi-whatever existence has been an utter failure. At this rate, we'll be a failed state, destroyed by the Rabid Racists and Anarchists with no real affinity to this land.

Countries have rules, countries have norms, countries have solid underlying bases that define their nationhood. And a common unifying language is always the cornerstone of this foundation. Plus a set of values, a national philosophy. Yes, we have the Rukunegara. Now, say the five tenets out loud to yourselves. Say it out loud in perfect, assertive Bahasa Malaysia. Can you or can’t you? If you can, bravo. Your stint at the Sekolah Kebangsaan was not in vain. If you can’t, take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Now you know what a confused, stateless pathetic loser looks like?

O.k., what does the Rukunegara really mean? Remember the fifth tenet, Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan? Have Malaysians exhibited sufficient kesopanan lately? How come being sopan (the antithesis of biadap and kurang ajar) seemed an excruciatingly elusive trait among many of us? Can we even comprehend the meaning of Keluhuran Perlembagaan? Or do we think it is chic, an in-thing, to bring into disrepute everything under our perlembagaan? See what happen to our lives when we have no common national ideology, national philosophy, national agenda, no sense of shared destiny and when we lack the necessary profound respect of our Negara and appreciation of our Rukunegara.

What happened to our cohesive, triumphal sports teams? Remember our football and hockey teams of the sixties, seventies and eighties? And our Thomas Cup winners of 1992? Recall how cohesive they were and how patriotic we were then? Remember our 1975 World Cup hockey team? We almost made it to the final if not for two heartbreak goals by ultimate champions India. Yes, we were perched on top of the world. Remember our Bangsa Malaysia hockey team of that period? Khairuddin Zainal the rock in goal, skipper Sri Shanmuganathan marshalling the defense with authority, and Poon Fook Loke the bane of opposing defenses. They were Anak Malaysia, they were Bangsa Malaysia, they were our Pasukan Kebangsaan! What’s the state of Malaysian hockey now? We cannot even make the cut to a crowded 12 team field in the Beijing Olympics. What happened to the Foo Keat Songs, Sarjit Singhs and M. Mahendrans of Malaysian hockey? How come Malays now dominate our hockey scene? Do we have to blame this on the NEP as well? I don’t recall any 70% quota on national representation? Has our Kementerian Belia dan Sukan given much thought on this phenomena? Is Ismail Ahmad Sabri a sportsman to begin with? At least Azalina Othman Said looked the part, with taekwando black belt, girlfriend and all.

Hockey was the domain of Tamil and Punjabi Malaysians. How come the offpsrings of the Sri Shans and the Sarjits don’t partake in hockey anymore? Perhaps that may explain this uneasy restlessness, a hopeless sense of having nothing to look forward to so pervasive in our Indian brothers. Is this one reason they are now so easily mobilised to fight for a cause they don’t quite understand and to take to the streets in large numbers just for the heck of it? Is this a way to dispense their unused youthful energy and to search for the elusive Indian Malaysian heroes and role models? Did the selfish racists of Hindraf took advantage and filled this gap? Have Waythamoorthy and Uthayakumar become the new Sri Shans and M. Mahendrans, the much-need perwiras for the Indian Malaysians, albeit for a twisted, divisive cause?

Now, how about football?

Did we view our football legends, Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun, R. Arumugam and Santokh Singh, through race-tinted lenses? Of course not. They were members of the Bangsa Malaysia team that reigned supreme in Asia, even won the Bronze at the 1974 Teheran Asian Games and qualified for the 1972 and 1980 Olympics. Remember when Malaysian football dominated Southeast Asia and was superior to South Korea, Japan and the West Asian teams that are today regular attendees in World Cups?

Can we recall Chin Aun, Arumugam and Santokh talking on TV in any other language but Bahasa Malaysia? Of course not. They were proud members of Bangsa Malaysia, confidently speaking in one voice. Chin Aun – the Babaesque Malacca native -- was the unquestioned skipper, leader and libero for a decade. He was the Towkay. Remember? Would we ever have another ethnic-Chinese captain of the Malaysian football team? Heck no. Forget that question. Let’s make it simpler. Can anyone name one ethnic-Chinese player in our current pasukan kebangsaan? No? Remember when we had Chow Chee Keong or Lim Fung Kee or Wong Kam Fook in goal; Chin Aun in defense; Wong Choon Wah the midfield general; and Yip Chee Keong in attack – all on the same field for Malaysia at the same time? Later came the likes of Lim Chuan Chin, Ong Yu Tiang, James Wong, Wong Hung Nung, Lee Kin Hong, Chow Siew Yai, Khan Hung Meng, Tang Siew Seng and Lim Teong Kim. These were fantastic players, many good enough to pursue professional careers in foreign lands.

What happened since? The 21-member Malaysian team in the recent Merdeka Cup consists of 20 Malays and a lone ethnic-Tamil reserve. The ethnic-Chinese are nowhere to be seen.

Indeed, the Chinese have somehow stopped playing football as our playgrounds and football fields become segregated by ethnicity and language – a direct fallout of the segregation of schools. Football is an overwhelmingly Malay sport now, with a sprinkling of “kampung Tamils” to spice up the proceedings with their penchant for theatrics and overdribblings. In the glory years of the seventies, the multi-ethnic crowd at Merdeka Stadium would rally and root voraciously for our pasukan kebangsaan and heckle the opponent in Bahasa Malaysia, spiced with a potpourri of pidgin Malay street slang in banter. The Ahmads of Kg. Baru, the Ah Mengs of Pudu and the Krishnans of Brickfields would jump on their seats and hugged one another at the sight of yet another blistering Mokhtar Dahari goal set up by Choon Wah’s sublime cross. We were a cohesive group of 45,000 screaming and laughing members of Bangsa Malaysia at Merdeka Stadium. On many occasions, I was there as a member of this Bangsa Malaysia. I can vividly recall our 1977 KL SEA Games Dream Team that trashed then-Burma 9-1 and overpowered Thailand 2-0 in the final. In fact, I can still utter their names as they are etched in the collective memories of my generation.

Heck, I’ll say it now as they deserved to be remembered for posterity. This team of seven Malays (Jamal Nasir, Yahaya Jusoh, Abdah Alif, Shukor Salleh, Bakri Ibni, Isa Bakar and Mokhtar Dahari), two ethnic-Chinese (Soh Chin Aun and James Wong), an ethnic-Tamil (R. Arumugam) a Punjabi Sikh (Santokh Singh) and a Sarawak Dayak substitute (James Yaakub) were the embodiment of the Malaysian Race, the Bangsa Malaysia. These were the idols of Malaysian sports fans across the land. The Malaysian football team was our team, the Bangsa Malaysia team. At the neighbourhood padang, my gang took turns to mimic Arumugam in goal and Chin Aun as the libero and, of course, SuperMokh, Mokhtar Dahari. My buddy, Ow Chak Yoon would mimic the RTM running commentary as the rest of us scurry after the tattered football; his impersonation of Zulkarnaen Hassan in ecstasy over a Malaysian goal was uncanny, surreal, and reverberates in my ears whenever I look at old faded photographs of my classmates. Oh yes, every ethnic-Chinese in my Standard Six class wanted to be Mokhtar Dahari on the field. I always imagined I was the great Chin Aun, elegantly caressing the ball with imperious presence in the Malaysian backline. Race was never an issue. These football legends belonged to all of us Bangsa Malaysia, speaking in one voice, striving for the same goal.

Three decades later, our sports teams have degenerated into a collection of Mandarin, Tamil and English- and Manglish-speaking individuals, with Bahasa Malaysia uttered only by the Malays, and even that in mutually-unintelligible Kelantanese, Kedahan and assorted Borneo dialects. No wonder we have become minnows in team sports, where team mates could hardly communicate, let alone strategise. Our football team is now ranked 160 by FIFA, sandwiched between such powerhouses as Lesotho and St. Lucia. Where the heck is St. Lucia? Our hockey team has all but dissipated under the astroturf. Our badminton team is a shambles.

These are just a small sampling of the price we all pay for our lack of national unity, lack of national identity, lack of national cohesion.

I think it is utterly Scandalous. Kita semua sudah gila ka?

Is our fragmented social existence a tenable long-term proposition, not just in sports but in our daily affairs as a sovereign nation under one flag?

No.

Is the people to blame? Do you blame the kucing when your lauk kena curi on the dinner table?

No.

The government is the biggest culprit of all. Since the Pak Lah era, we are constantly bombarded by decrees reminding us that kita adalah negara berbilang bangsa and these various bangsas must hidup bersama dalam suasana harmoni dan aman damai sejahtera. Again, I sense a high degree of idiotic oxymoronist irony here. First the populace are incessantly reminded that they are different from one another. Then they are told to live together in peace and harmony. Hence, a confused populace are asked to co-exist amidst their distinctions. The human mind – indeed, the instinct of every creature created by God -- doesn’t work this way. We naturally search for commonalities, affinities and comfort zones of socio-cultural familiarity. We don't embrace alien cultures as a natural behaviourial trait. And these very distinctions are constantly unearthed and embellished by a government that concurrently implore us to unite. See the dichotomy? The utter contradiction? Why the need to constantly remind the people of their ethnic specificities? Why the need to reaffirm everyone’s ancestry and their mutual distinction, knowing full well that these elements are the very impediments to social cohesion?

How can the people unite when they are constantly reminded of their differences and encouraged to affirm their race in everything they do? Even the long-integrated groups such as the Malaccan and Penang Babas and Nyonyas have relapsed to being Chinese with a vengeance. Their refined 500-year culture, a truly Malaysian heritage, has been obliterated by their mimicry of the more recent arrivals and the culture of the Hong Kongers and mainland Chinese. That’s an irreplaceable heritage dissipating right in our midst and we are doing nothing about it.

This quest for diversity has become ridiculous. It’s just stupid! Bodoh!!!

Our neighbours Thailand and Indonesia are actually ethnically more heterogeneous than ourselves. But can you find a Thai tourism brochure promoting the country’s “multiracial” Chao Phraya T’ai, Krung Thep Chinese, Patani Malay, Mon, Khmer, Lao, Isaan, Lanna T’ai, Korat T’ai, Hilltribes and Sea Gypsy populace? No. They are all “Thais,” a new race concocted by Field Marshall Phibun Songkhram via his 1938 Thai Ratthaniyom decree where, under threat of severe penalties, every one of these ethnic groups must speak Thai (based on the Bangkok Siamese dialect), act Thai, be Thai and assume Thai names living in a unitary Ratcha Anachak Thai (ราชอาณาจักรไทย) guided by the principles of Chad Sassana Pramahakasat (Nation, Religion, the King).

What about Indonesia, with hundreds of ethnic groups, languages and cultures? Do Indonesian travel brochures utter: “Come to the land where the (… try to utter this out loud in one breath …) Javanese, Sundanese, Maduran, Minang, Malay, Achehnese, Batak, Buginese, Moluccan, Dayak, Balinese, Baweanese, Bengkuluan, Sumbawan, Torajan, Papuan, … ad nauseam live happily ever after.” Of course not. They are all proud Indonesians. Period.

But aren’t we a glorious melting pot of races and cultures and languages and ways of life and philosophies living together in splendid harmony?

No. Sorry but no.

There is no racial harmony in Malaysia. A state of “Harmony” exists only when you have cohesion, a coalescence of dynamic forces in a singular trajectory towards a common goal. Do we have this in Malaysia after 51 years of nationhood? No. Enough of this dondang sayang beating around the bush approach to the problem.

Listen, “melting pot of races and religions” and “living together in peace and harmony” are mutually exclusive sociological conditions. The Homo sapiens sapiens – yes, lu dan gua – are social animals that are mentally calibrated to function optimally in a cohesive group defined by shared affinities. This later gave rise to tribes and races and nation-states of common societies. This is basic human nature. And when you fight human nature -- when you force feed these tribes on a diet of “living together in peace and harmony” with other tribes -- you will take the “human” out of the human and he/she will revert back to his/her basic animalistic instinct – the primal need to not only survive but to prevail and thrive at the expense of others. When all Malaysians are driven and dominated by this intrinsic primal instinct to survive and thrive at the expense of "the others," we then become a train wreck-in-waiting, hurtling uncontrollably into the crevasse of national anarchy and ruin.

If our multiracial, multi-everything prescription works, then nation states would be obsolete and the planet would be one big happy family, where the Germans and Spanish and Russians exist in a seamless polity; where the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese bow to the same flag of their amalgamated multicultural motherland; where the Persians, Kurds, Arabs and Turks ……. no? Of course not.

No. The point is: Every nation encapsulate a dominant, pervasive socio-cultural essence, a singular identity that defines their populace. A collage of distinct ethno-cultural groups co-existing precariously on a brittle platform of Muhibbah-by-convenience do not make a nation. We must, therefore, go back to the basics of nationhood. We must have a national identity, driven by a common national language and a set of common values etched in stone. We must extinguish the differentiations that alienated ourselves and that gave rise to the primal instinct to survive amidst competing tribes.

Why so susah one?

We already have Bahasa Malaysia and the Rukunegara. Mau apa lagi? Why so difficult? Mau wang ka? 10 sen for every Bahasa Malaysia word uttered in public? Do we need to be bribed or threatened to do what is essentially our obligation as citizens of this country? This is an outrage. What kind of people have some of us turned into? Sick little calculative hostile selfish monsters?

We don’t have to look far to find a tenable model of nationhood. Look at Kelantan. The Kelantanese populace – predominantly and overwhelmingly ethnic-Malays with a small but industrious ethnic-Chinese community as well as the Orang Asli and a smattering of T’ais -- regard themselves as Oghé Kelaté, cohesively united by a common, inclusive and pervasive Kelantanese dialect, outlook, self-image and culinary preference, where ethnicities are blurred by a strong sense of “Kelantan-ness.” A Kelantanese Malay would be more at home with his ethnic-Chinese compatriot than with a fellow Malay from, say, Perak or Johor. Likewise for the Kelantanese Chinese.

But this is not the case for the rest of the country.

Why? What went wrong?

In the West Coast states, many of the “Malays” themselves are descendants of fairly recent Nusantara migrants with minimal affinity to the land beyond the navigable riverbanks. Add to the cauldron the descendants of ethnic-Chinese mining coolies, Tamil labourers, Sikh policemen, Siamese itinerant farmers, and an eclectic sprinkling of Portuguese creoles and mestizos plus the myriad of Borneo suku kaums -- all of whom are pursuing an intolerant ethnocentric stance – and we, indeed, have a combustible pot of social anarchy and mayhem. This curdling cauldron, lacking in a unifying national identity or a sense of a common stake, is fast dismantling our sense of nationhood, a process that may be complete when it boils over at any moment.

The peculiar government strategy of reinforcing each and every ethnic group as unique in this country – further exacerbated by rabidly chauvinistic ethnic-based political parties appealing to the ever growing radical fringe of their communities – is breaking our national cohesiveness. We have reached a point where the races live in their own distinct parallel universe oblivious to the existence of the other groups unless out of sheer necessity, in which case their Worlds collide in a calamity of intolerance, contempt, suspicion and incompatibility.

Is this really a tenable model of nationhood? What is a “nation” anyway? Let me ask, can a nation survive when significant segments of its citizens steadfastly subscribe to the linguistic and cultural identity of other nations, hence creating pesky little embedded nations within a nation?

The plain vanilla Matnor, Kok Leong and Ragu plus the odd Kuldeep Singh that were my playmates on the bumpy primary school field of Section 11, PJ in the early 1970s, have now morphed into intolerant, barely recognizable ethno-chauvinist monstrosities curdling with anger and belligerence, waiting to “pounce” at the first sign of “Racism” by other ethnic groups while oblivious to the fact that they themselves are the uber racists.

Enough talk. How do Malaysia break out of this self-induced socio-toxicity?

Well, racism will be obliterated from the Malaysian consciousness only if Malaysia evolves into a homogeneous society defined by nationality, the proverbial and oft-quoted Bangsa Malaysia, the Malaysian race.

What then is the Malaysian race?

What language should a Malaysian speak?

What culture and mannerisms?

What shared values and philosophies?

What inner-consciousness?

What sense of shared identity?

What sense of shared destiny?


These are questions that must be addressed by our national leadership, taking into account the aspirations of the majority of the populace. Didn’t the Duli-Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja-Raja Melayu envisioned a federation of Malay states yang di bentuk dalam arca Melayu, underpinned by adat-adat Melayu, speaking in one voice in Bahasa Melayu? While the rights of minorities and naturalised immigrants to practise their dialects and cultures within their own communities are safeguarded, it was never meant to be a national affair, to be perched on par with the Budaya Melayu berlandaskan Bahasa Melayu dan Agama Islam. No. The language, culture, image, norms, indeed, the national identity of Malaya is predominantly Melayu, and with the formation of Malaysia, incorporate the native cultures of the Borneo states as well. This stance must be enforced vigorously.

Start by enlightening the populace of this national identity framework. And refrain from blindly projecting non-native costumes and cultures from far away lands in our tourism promotional media. As for non-Malay and non-Borneo Bumiputra culture, recognise only what came together with the immigrants from China and India. What they carry on their backs upon arrival in Tanah Melayu would be recognised and they can partake in it in the privacy of their own communities. BUT, it is NOT our nation's duty -- by any stretch of either the imagination or the Constitution -- to go searching for "Chinese" and "Indian" cultural relics and costumes and dances in the original motherlands of these naturalised pendatangs and their descendants. Itu sudah lebih. Sudah tidak masuk akal. No Malaysian citizen should be in the business of importing cultural forms of foreign nations into our Tanah Air and "passing them off" as part of our Malaysian heritage. That is treachery of the highest order. Arnold Swarzenegger has not gone back to Austria to bring his ancestral yodeling music form to Kah-lifornia. And Louisiana's Bobby Jindal is more American than the Americans, not more Indian than the Indians as in some cases among Indian Malaysians.

Now lets talk about language – the single-most crucial determinant of national identity and mindset. Bahasa Malaysia, our one and only national language which will form the foundation of our quest to forge a sustainable Bangsa Malaysia identity ......

But wait, do I sense some resistance here? Why? You flaunt your Malaysian citizenship as a matter of hak and you use this hak to the hilt even to the detriment of others BUT you despise all tenets of Malaysian nationhood, not least Bahasa Malaysia as the single, unifying language? So you want HAK without the TANGGUNGJAWAB? Is this part of the Social Contract forged by our founding fathers? I'll be a rich man indeed if I can have such an unconscionable contract in my business affairs.

Why shouldn’t this new Bangsa Malaysia speak Bahasa Malaysia, the national language of Malaysia as enshrined in the Constitution, as the primary language at home, work and play? Why not? Why the reluctance, even abhorrence to do so among some? Remember the line in the stirring patriotic song: “… Satu Bangsa, Satu Bahasa, Malaysia Berjaya.” This was penned in the early 1960s. What happened since? Over 40 years on and a considerable chunk of Malaysians refuse to learn to speak or even acknowledge Bahasa Malaysia as the language of Malaysia, as the single common factor that can bind us as a “race,” as the fundamental platform to nurture and propagate common values underpinning our vision of a Bangsa Malaysia. After 51 years of statehood, many third and fourth generation Malaysians speak Bahasa Malaysia not much better than the Bangla and Nepali migrant workers, at times even worst. And a great many others refuse to utter a single word, almost as a perverse form of protest over nothing.

Indeed, the attitude of many ethnic-Chinese and Indian citizens of Malaysia towards the country’s sole national language, Bahasa Malaysia, is appalling and bordering on the scandalous. I lived in California for the greater part of a decade and had prolonged business stays in Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and many other countries. Without exception, immigrants to these countries took great pains to conform, to assimilate, and to blend into the generic social landscape, lest they’ll be abused and ridiculed. By the next generation, they will be totally immersed in the socio-cultural norm of the host nation. In the U.S., first generation immigrants like Intel’s Andy Grove (real name András István Gróf, a Hungarian émigré); ex-Secretaries of State, Henry Kissinger (Heinz Alfred Kissinger, a German Jew), Zbigniew Brzezinski (Polish-born), and Madeline Albright (Marie Jana Körbel, a Czech-born); Martina Navratilova (Czech-born tennis icon); Arnold Swarzenegger (the Austrian-born actor and now California governor); and Ang Lee (Taiwan-born film producer/director) quickly adopted English and conform to American social norms. Their offsprings would be totally Americanised and indistinguishable from other Americans in terms of language, outlook and mannerisms. Well, look at Barrack Obama, son of a Kenyan father. Do we see him having a tantrum and insisting on Swahili road signs in America? Of course not. Could he have won the American presidency against all odds if he speaks English at the level that most Malaysian Chinese and Indians speak Bahasa Malaysia? Of course not. He'll be run out of town back to Nairobi or Mombasa.

It’s the same closer to home. Thailand is case in point. In the 1930s, ethnic-Chinese make up over 30% of then-Siam’s population. They were vigorously assimilated under Field Marshal Phibun Songkhram’s Thai Ratthaniyom (Thai Customs) Decree of 1938, where their ethnicity was abolished; anyone speaking Chinese in public would be smacked by a 10-ft bamboo stick by the Thai Culture Police; Chinese schools and newspapers were closed; chopsticks were banned; and the Chinese were compelled to adopt Thai names. Within one generation, the Chinese of Thailand was totally assimilated into Thai society to the point where Thais with Chinese blood will today argue with you to the death to prove that they are “Thai” and not Chinese. Ex-PMs Taksin Shinawatra, Chuan Leekpai, Banharn Silpa-Archa and Thanin Kraivichen are all of Chinese origin. But they are true Thais to the core, with no knowledge of the Chinese language or much awareness of their Chinese heritage. Indonesia of course undertook the same process. Batavia in the 1800s was one big Chinatown governed by the Dutch. Nowadays, those claiming “Tiongkok” ancestry number only about 2-3% of the Indonesian population, with the rest totally assimilated into the huge pool of humanity. All assumed Indonesian names. Some years back, when I was in a meeting with senior officials of an Indonesian conglomerate, I made the mistake of asking one of their VPs whether he was Chinese. This very Chinese looking guy (a sort of Ong Tee Keat-look alike) rose up, banged the table and proclaimed: “Ia bapak, memang nenek moyang saya orang Tionghua. Tapi saya anak Indonesia sejati. Jika perlu, Darah saya akan di jadikan warna merah buat bendera Republik Indonesia tercinta!” He went on to mumble some choice words in Javanese with his pribumi colleagues. Myself and the Malaysian team were flabbergasted!

But back home in our Tanah Air, I just don’t understand how these born and bred full-blooded Malaysians carrying MyCards that proudly proclaim their status as Warganegaras speak Bahasa Malaysia like they just arrived off the tongkang from Fukien or Tamil Nadu. Some refused to utter a single word, almost as a sign of protest and silent disobedience. I don’t think I’ve ever heard parliamentarian Loh Gwo Burne or squash star Nicol David or F-1 dropout Alex Yoong or business magnate Tony Fernandes utter a decent sentence in Bahasa Malaysia on TV. So why cry foul when simpleton politicians like Ahmad Ismail label the non-Malays pendatangs? How could he (or myself and others) differentiate these non-Bahasa Malaysia speaking descendants of pendatangs from the more recent pendatangs, who admirably would quickly grasp the National Language out of sheer necessity and a sense of praticality unclouded by blind chauvinism stoked by selfish politicians?

Why this social aberration almost umatched anywhere else on earth?

Is it because Bahasa Malaysia is actually Bahasa Melayu, the Malay language? Does this imply that some Malaysians are disputing the status of Bahasa Malaysia as Malaysia’s national language and lingua franca on account of it being the language of the ethnic-Malays? Has the “Racist” card reared its ugly head again? Who’s the “racist” now? Do we then have to adopt a neutral language, a colonial language such as English, or perhaps concoct a Malaysian Esperanto as the national language just to appease these “Racists”? Do we need to go to such great lengths just because a segment of our populace are actually “Racists” and would not accept Bahasa Malaysia as the country’s unifying national language and lingua franca even as they go around shouting “Malaysian Malaysia” to their constituents? What Malaysian Malaysia creature are we talking about here? A Malaysian Malaysia speaking the language of British Malaya? A Mandarin-speaking Malaysian Malaysia? A Tamil-speaking Malaysian Malaysia? A Malaysian Malaysia of Pasar Borong Selayang pidgin Malay speakers?

Who are the “Racists” now?

Sorry, but no nation state will survive long without a single unifying language, without a classless ubiquitous lingua franca for the masses. The English language united America’s “hordes of huddled masses” into productive citizens that built a Superpower although Americans of British Ancestry account for less than a third of the population. English also shaped a prosperous Australia. Spanish and Portuguese formed the cohesive basis for the heterogeneous and hybridized nations of Latin America. On the other hand, when two or more languages compete for supremacy, trouble looms. Canada’s Quebec reels from the divisive impasse between her French and English speakers, with font sizes of bilingual signboards becoming political tools of chauvinists and bigots. Multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural Yugoslavia is now history, dismembered by a devastating civil war marked by unimaginable ethnic-based atrocities. Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese and Tamils are irreconcilable and the Hutus and Tutsis of Rwanda co-exist in a state of impending calamity.

We Malaysians must choose the correct path towards nation building in light of these incontrovertible precedents.

I must say that opponents of Bahasa Malaysia are nothing more than ignorant chauvinists and bigots. They cannot comprehend the historical and socio-political significance of the language in the region far beyond the borders of Malaysia. Malay (where Bahasa Malaysia came from) has for over a millennium been the unquestioned lingua franca of the Nusantara, the Malay Archipelago, of which the modern nation of Malaysia is but a fragment. In fact, Bahasa Melayu in its earliest written form matched the embryonic Khmer script in terms of antiquity and predated Javanese, Burmese, Thai and most other major languages of the region, with the first documented Malay language inscription dating back to 683 AD found on a stele at Kedukan Bukit near Palembang. That’s over 1,300 years ago. So don’t be fooled by slick anti-Malay propagandists who claim Bahasa Melayu/Malaysia is a young language unsuitable for a globalised world, whatever that jargon means.

From Aceh to Patani to the Sulu Sea, from Jakarta to Surabaya to the Lesser Sunda Islands, from Pontianak to Brunei to Mindanao, from Makassar to Manado to Ambon and to the furthest eastern reaches of the Spice Islands, Bahasa Melayu is the language of commerce, literature and administration. Evey port of call will invariably have a variant of Malay – Melayu Betawi, Melayu Makassar, Melayu Manado, Melayu Kuching, Melayu Palembang, Melayu Medan, Melayu Bengkulu, Melayu Patani, Melayu Ambon, Melayu Kupang, Melayu Singgora, Melayu Lampung, Melayu Brunei, Melayu Banjarmasin, Melayu Langkat and Melayu Asahan although the inhabitants of many of these polities are not ethnic-Malays. The Malay language was the unifying factor of the Nusantara. And today, one can go to Aceh and Patani and the Sulu archipelago and to Manado to Timor and all the way to the darkest jungles of Indonesian Papua – a region wider than Europe or North America -- and will still be able to communicate in a common Malay tongue. Such is the influence of the language.

Remember, trade and political treaties between the European maritime powers and the myriad of polities from Ayutthaya/Siam to the Nusantara kingdoms to Taiwan were mostly in Malay. Indeed, all the hikayats of the region, from the Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai (1390) of Aceh to the Taj al-Salatin (1600s) and the Hikayat Patani (1600s) to the Tuhfat al-Nafis (1800s) are all in Malay, although the native tongues of their places of origin are hardly intelligible to the average Johor-Riau Malay speaker of that era.

It is, hence, not surprising that the nation of Indonesia, where ethnic-Malays are dwarfed by the Javanese and Sundanese and many other pribumis, adopted Malay as the basis for “Bahasa Indonesia” or the “Indonesian Language.” The landmark Sumpah Pemuda declaration of the guiding principles of Indonesian nationhood on October 28, 1928 by young nationalists proclaimed Malay as Bahasa Indonesia, the Bahasa Persatuan or language of unity for the then Dutch East Indies. Imagine if chauvinist elements insisted on Baso Jawo as the national language of Indonesia? That sprawling nation might not even exist today.

Indeed, the adoption of a single dominant language, the Malay language, has been the most important unifying factor among Indonesia’s 300-odd race, tribes and suku-kaums of 235 million strewn over 17,500 islands. Bahasa Indonesia is also the element that gave the ethnic-Chinese Indonesians equal footing with their pribumi countrymen, where they have no linguistic handicap and no sense of interactive inferiority in their daily affairs. Indeed, it is impossible to differentiate the pribumis and the Tionghua, ethnic-Chinese Indonesians, on account of language or accent, a phenomenon matched in the Malaysian context only in Kelantan and the old Baba community in Malacca.

But for the rest of Malaysia? No. The chauvinist, self-centered and short-sighted political leaders of the ethnic minorities have made language a captive of their drive to steadfastly maintain their communities’ ethnic and cultural specificities, thus reducing this segment of Malaysian society into hostile and belligerent little communal islands and enclaves in a Malay ocean. They view Bahasa Malaysia as the language of the Malays. And since hatred for the Malays is a key component of their chauvinism and bigotry, indeed the relevance and very survival of their political parties, it has become necessary to hate and disown the National Language as well. Yes, the better-educated among them would argue for the importance of English as the international language of commerce and education, but in actual fact these racists are bent on elevating other foreign languages – including Mandarin, the national language of China and not the native language of the ethnic-Chinese citizens of Malaysia – to countervail the status of Bahasa Malaysia in this country. The provocative decision by the DAP government of Penang to erect multilingual signages in that state is a manifestation of this divisive racist agenda. Try this stunt anywhere else on earth and see what happens.

Listen people, this is Malaysia where the national language is Bahasa Malaysia. You know deep down that being Mandarin- or Tamil-literate, combined with a weak grasp of the National Language, would create handicaps in your life here, and would further dilute your sense of belonging to this nation. But no. Your minds have been programmed by chauvinist politicians and community bigots to reinforce your ethnic and linguistic identity that you know would be to your own detriment. So why complain when the inevitable happens, when you feel “foreign” in the country of your birth? Could Chinese, Indian or for that matter Malay immigrants to the U.S., Britain or Australia insist on having their own vernacular education in the host country and expect to progress in subsequent professional and economic endeavours? Of course not. It would be stupid as they would be out of the system, indeed, ostracized by the host society. But why do this in Malaysia? And to expect a different reaction, an alternative result and no adverse repercussion is absurd.

As long as the minority races of this country refuse to play ball with the majority -- beginning with an honest effort to master the National Language; to comprehend and respect the dominant culture and norms; to recognise the key instruments and manifestations of nationhood -- they will never be truly accepted as a part of this nation. The number of generations here is not important. What they have become is the key factor. This is Natural Justice, the Law of the Jungle if you will. This is the case for any nation on earth, and Malaysia is no exception.

As a nation, as part of the Satu Bangsa, Satu Bahasa and Satu Bangsa, Satu Negara mantras of the early 1960s, we need to relook at our nation building approach. We need to recalibrate the trajectory of our sense of nationhood, to prevent our nation from hurtling into the black hole of destruction.

After 51 years of nationhood, the nation’s leadership must not beat around anymore bushes. We have ran out of bushes to beat. We must seriously arrest the degenerative decline right now. Begin by stop highlighting our racial differences. Stop saying we are a multiracial, multicultural, multireligious nation. Stop reminding ourselves to be tolerant of other races, and to live harmoniously in our multiracial society. Stop talking race at every turn. Indeed, ban racial and ethnic classification and identification! We are Bangsa Malaysia, we speak Bahasa Malaysia. But remember, the Arca of this Bangsa Malaysia is the Orang Melayu, the founding fathers of the nation states dotting this Tanah Melayu plus the pribumis of the Borneo states. This unequivocal identity shall be the solid foundation of our nationhood.

Fundamentally, a member of the Bangsa Malaysia should speak the national language of the Federation, Bahasa Malaysia, fluently and as a primary language; be fully versed with adat-adat and tatasusila orang Melayu and other Bumiputras of the Federation; demonstrates respect and deference to Islam as the official religion of the Federation and exhibit traits and mannerisms acceptable to the Malays and other Bumiputras. Non-Malay members of this Bangsa Malaysia may speak in their own dialects in private and may practise their own cultures and religions in the private confines of their community. Also, Budaya Malaysia is based on the budaya of the Malays and other Bumiputras of the Federation – in their various representations.

And the Education System is based on a single, unified Sekolah Kebangsaan system with Bahasa Malaysia as the primary language of instruction.

Later, upon satisfactory cohesion and amalgamation of the Malaysian populace into a truly united Bangsa Malaysia, then by law, ALL references to race and ethnicity in our daily activities should be forbidden.

When will we achieve this raceless paradigm? It is in the hands of each and every one of us. The sooner we embrace the above prescriptions, the sooner we will forge this Bangsa Malaysia.

Yes, the journey towards cohesive nationhood for the Bangsa Malaysia would be perilous indeed. It is not easy to unravel a half-century of segregation and differentiation. But we need to start now. We need to sow the seeds of unity and social cohesion for the next generation.

Only when we have a truly unified Bangsa Malaysia speaking in one language, amenable to Malaysian cultural norms, and with a cohesive Malaysian mindset will we as a nation be able to look beyond the NEP, beyond Malay privileges, beyond safeguarding Malay Rights as we are now all anak Bangsa Malaysia in the arca of the Malays and other Bumiputras of this blessed land.

Measures must be conceived and implemented to forge this Bangsa Malaysia society. Perhaps more assertive measures must be implemented. We cannot, as a proud sovereign nation, go on like this. We just cannot.

Lets discuss this openly, from our hearts, for the love of our Tanah Air tercinta.

Demi Negara's Blog Jester of the Week is ...

ALI RUSTAM

Yes, the winner of the inaugural award is Ali Rustam, the Chief Minister of Malacca.

Tahniah YAB Dato' Seri.

Citation:-

For single-handedly liberalising the rarefied Malaysian institution of the Datukship with his awarding of the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka which brings the title "Datuk" to Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan ostensibly in recognition of this actor's jasa, pengorbanan dan keperwiraan -- deed, sacrifice and gallantry -- in his service to the historical state of Malacca.


Enough has been said about this in the blogosphere. Talk is cheap. KijangMas will not add to the pile. Instead, I propose a hearty pile of:-

Congratulations Ali Rustam !

Bhadai Ho! Yang Berbahagia Datuk Shahrukh Khan. Bhadai Ho!

A Datukship is, of course, just one of the seven must-have items in the Malaysian Neo-VVVIP Survival Kit. This kit consists of (in no particular order):-

- A Datukship
A few years ago, the really cékai VVVIP-wannabes would secure "Dato’ Mindanao" awards from the "Sultan of Mindanao" of the southern Philippines. This has died down after some unflattering media exposure. Quite timely indeed. Otherwise we would have been inundated with Datuks from other extinct Malay kingdoms of the Nusantara – Dato’ Patani, Dato’ Singgora, Dato’ Ligor, Dato’ Setul, Dato’ Palembang, Dato’ Jambi and so on.

- A phony Ph.D. from a diploma mill
Usually off a mailbox somewhere in a sleazy part of my occasional hometown, Los Angeles. Hint: Beware of politicians with "Dr." prefixes mysteriously obtained at late middle-age. Go through the UMNO candidates list for Supreme Council posts and above and spot the LA-mailbox University alumnis. Well, I guess "Dato' Seri Dr." adds some much-needed credibility to these assorted jesters and broker-angins.

- A luxury sedan or MPV
Recon pun bolehlah. But heavy tinting is de rigueur.

- A single digit number plate
Numbers "1" and "8" are out of the question, so many would settle for a "4" or a "5." The more cékai VVVIP-wannabes would get an "11" and then affix the digits one millimeter apart to create the illusion of a number "1" when viewed from afar. Personally, I would go for "6967" – it sounds good when said aloud in Cantonese with a mouthful of Ngan Yin groundnuts.

- A "Power" Crest
... mounted near the number plate. The bigger the better. It doesn’t matter if the jawi script stands for Persatuan Bekas Perajurit Perang Congo or Ahli JKKK Kubang Sepat, Pasir Mas. Lagi besar lagi bagus beb.

- A Trophy Maid
Yes, a trophy maid. Trophy wives are now passé -- they are high maintenance and inevitably get old, fat and ugly and are non-exchangeable or returnable. Trophy maids are just like the recon luxury cars or the phony Ph.Ds or the meaningless car crests – obtainable for a determined price and replaceable, plus can cook and wash too. It has become fashionable nowadays for these Datuks to utter, "Oh itu orang gaji I. Bukan bini I. Kenapa? Cun kan?"

- Golf Clubs in the boot/trunk
... although the last time they actually “played golf” was when they whacked the neighbourhood stray with the 9 iron.


Anything else in the Malaysian Neo-VVVIP Survival Kit?

In Conversation with Robin (A Serial on Malaysiana) ………

I have regular chats with a casual non-Malay friend whenever I can. I will call him Robin.

Robin is a typical 40-something middle-class ethnic-Chinese citizen of Malaysia. Born in Penang. Studied in Australia on a PaMa scholarship. Worked there as an auditor for a decade and returned to Malaysia to work in a smallish MNC in Subang Jaya. His wife is in advertising. They have no kids. He was a product of Chinese vernacular schooling, but his preferred home language is English.

He has never uttered a proper word of Bahasa Malaysia in all the years I’ve known him, although I know he is sufficiently conversant in our national language when I “caught” him in a mobile phone conversation with an IRB officer on some tax issues (it went something like: "… ya Puan, saya sudah isi semua punca pendapatan saya di dalam borang B …") a few years ago.

He was a BN-type fellow until a couple of years ago when his views became more “radical” and he became more opinionated on issues a typical ethnic-Chinese Malaysian would hitherto never touched, at least not publicly, and especially not in the presence of a Malay. His views are essentially a repackaged a la carte smorgasbord of typical ethnic-Chinese grievances littering the blogosphere.

I will relate these views and my conversation with Robin in an occasional serial in this blog.

The subject today is police corruption, a classic grievance of the ethnic-Chinese and a main topic in NameWee’s Negarakuku racist garbage.

Robin told me that the Chinese are victimised by the (Malay) police, with regular RM50 kopi money expropriated from them at every opportunity. He went on and on about these injustice and parasitic affliction reflective of the Malay “tongkat” culture.

I finally decided to engage Robin, to dissect and synthesize the core logic of this Chinese urban legend.

So I asked him:-

- When the traffic cop pulled him over, he must have broken the law – speeding, illegal U-Turn, entering a no-entry zone. Robin admitted that much, protesting that he had to cut queues and drive fast to be at work on time after the notorious Subang crawl.

- I said that the fine is typically RM300. He agreed.

- I told Robin that he could always accept the ticket and pay the full fine. But no, he decided to bribe the cop RM50.

- I told him that this is not extortion or expropriation. I don’t recall any story of Malay traffic cops getting RM50 from ethnic-Chinese motorists at gunpoint. Robin voluntarily gave the RM50 to settle the issue – in his own words, to Kau Tim. See, Kau Tim -- to selesai the easy way out -- has become part of the Malaysian vocab, courtesy of our ethnic-Chinese citizens.

- I told Robin that I regard traffic policemen -- irrespective of ethnicity -- who take bribes as crooks and lowlifes that must be weeded out of our society.

- But I also told Robin that he was the bigger crook, in fact by a factor of six. You see, Robin bribed the Malay policeman RM50 in order to cheat the nation of RM300 in uncollected revenues. Multiply this by potentially thousands of transactions per day and thats a pretty hefty amount of revenues foregone. No wonder Robin can splash on many of life's comforts while bribing his way through the fast lane of the Rat Race.

- I told Robin, I’ve never bribed a policeman in my life. When I get pulled over for speeding, two possibilities ensued: The policeman either gives me a verbal warning which I accept quietly; or the policeman gives me a speeding ticket, which again I accept quietly. No money asked, no money offered, no money given. I told Robin of my rule of thumb when I get pulled over anywhere on earth: When the cop starts to write a ticket, just shut the fxxk up. Game’s over at the street level. In fact, when it comes to the LAPD, you better not twitch lest Officer Tweedledumb might suddenly discharge his Glock 22 .40 caliber in your pretty face.

- Within the 30-day compound period, I would make my way to the district traffic police headquarters to plead for a reduction in the compound, and usually the RM300 goes down to RM80. I duly go to the counter, pay the compound, take my receipt, and continue with my life. That is part of life lah! Same thing anywhere on this planet.

- Bottom line: I broke a traffic code, I got busted, I faced it like a man. I saved RM220 legally. The country gets RM80 in revenue.

Robin interjected, “Haiyaa like that susahlah. Where got time? I need to earn a living maah. Just pay-off the cop lah.”

Come again ….? What is wrong with this picture? Can you see the disconnect here?

Who’s fault was it again?

The Malay policeman? The “repressive” law? UMNO people? PAS people? Dr. M? Khir Toyo? The “country”? Global Warming?

I interjected: “Or maybe, Robin, it was just tiny little infinitessimal …….. YOU!!” Yes -- Lu. Engkau. Hang. Awok. Mung!

YOU are THE factor that crippled the system. Your quest to cari lubang keluar without paying your true dues induced this breakdown. But would Robin admit to this fact hanging out like Dog’s Balls for all to see? Of course not.

To the ethnic-Chinese of Malaysia, they are beyond reproach. They are the embodiment of the perfect being. This state of kesempurnaan is tampered only by the thick undergrowth of Malay mediocrity that curtails the Chinese quest for wealth and fortune. Thats their standard issue gospel from the time Robin entered Standard One at the SRJK(C). Amen. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah.

I said ........ Podaah!

You Chinese are crippled by "thick undergrowth" alright ……. by the thick poisonous weeds of your own make-believe ethno-chauvinist propaganda. You have become a race of whiners. You complain about everything in this blessed land called Malaysia. You view yourselves as a race that has done and can do no wrong. You hate the police, but you use the police and ask for police protection. You condemn the law, but you use the same law to sue people. You tell the world that Malaysia is undemocratic, but you partake in the democratic process like an addiction.

You have become a race of contradictionists living in ambiguity underpinned by a dichotomous existence. In other words, you are a confused lot.

But what do you do?

You blame it all on the Malay majority.

See, our ethnic-Chinese citizens view the World from their Chinese-tinted glasses, where they are always betul while the Malays, the government, the laws, the constitution, indeed, the country are always salah.

Lets go back to Robin’s case:-

They break the law – by speeding.

They break the law – by bribing the policeman.

They break the law – by depriving the nation of this “social revenue.”

They break the law …. again … by speeding away in disgust after the payoff.

and

They break the law -- by spewing seditious spins to the above stories for all the world to read.

But

They think they are the victims.

They are persecuted.

They are discriminated.

The Malays need their duit kopi to survive.

They think they are model citizens and above even an iota of criticism lest they will throw tantrums that reverberate across the world with shrills of "help us world, the Malays are repressing us, we got no rights."

In other words, they are the new untouchables of Malaysia – hypersensitive, hyperprotective, hyperdemanding, hyperselfish, hyper-ethnocentric, hyper-chauvinist .......... yeah, and jump queue at the Hypermarket as well!

Question: is this mindset sustainable? Is this the kind of people our founding fathers envisioned as Malaysian citizens? What actually went wrong?

Well, since the non-Malays nowadays take pride in their frankness and think there are no sacred cows in our complex socio-political framework, I will be frank as well. When the Duli-Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja-Raja Melayu agreed to the wholesale dishing out of Malayan citizenships -- even inexplicably waiving Bahasa Melayu proficiency tests -- to a million and a half unwanted, abandoned stateless Chinese (and Indians) in 1957, could the Duli-Duli Tuanku have envisioned that the descendants of these desperate huddled masses would after 51 years become an unintegrated community of lawbreakers; a community infested by crooks and thieves and counterfeiters and pimps; a community that not only tidak terhutang budi to the Duli-Duli Tuanku for the precious kewarganegaraan, but now had the audacity to challenge every single tenet of Duli Tuanku's instruments of nationhood, not least the Bahasa Malaysia and Adat-Adat Melayu and the keris and the songkok and the sacred principle of Negara Dalam Arca Melayu held dear by Duli-Duli Tuanku.

Should we treat these pathological lawbreakers leniently? Give more muka and perhaps a piece of our peha on top of all the tanah, bukit, balak, pasir, sungai, and timah that they have siphoned away for the past abad or so? Do we need to kumpul and cuci anymore sampah, sisa, hampas and habuk in the bumi gersang and padang jarak padang tekukur left in their wake?

They deserve to be viewed as equal partners in nationbuilding? Heck, they don’t even recognise or comprehend the fundamental tenets of nationhood of our Tanah Air Tercinta.

What then?

You tell me ……..

MT's Propaganda War on Najib ... at the Expense of Hinduism

I stumbled upon this story by the Malaysian Insider on the latest antics of the Rabid anti-Malay Racist on Malaysia Today.

The increasingly desperate racist psychopaths and weirdos of MT have now set a new standard in sleaze reporting. Go to MT ( posting entitled "Oh Guruji, ke mana kau pergi?" posted on 16 October 2008 10:37) and see for yourselves. The profiling of these nut cases in my recent RPK/MT posts, indeed, was no exaggeration.

This well-financed anti-Malay propaganda machine posted a doctored picture of Najib Razak dressed in Hindu ceremonial garb performing a public Hindu religious rite. The obscenity-laden narrative accompanying the picture is unusually vitriolic – a personal, bitter and unadulterated manifestation of unbridled dendam -- even by the low standards of this cyber trainwreck-in-waiting. The accompanying rantings by the usual MT Junkies matched the vile article, and their blind belief in the authenticity of the picture reflect the level (or lack) of intellect among these cultists.

Many of us are not exactly card-carrying members of the Najib-Rosmah Fan Club. And KijangMas counts himself as a fierce Najib critic (due partly to Najib's exasperating reluctance to hasten Pak Lah's departure and his insulting innuendos against my countrymen in PRU12 with his infamous "Kelantan Munduuuuur" speech, which contributed to BN/UMNO's crushing defeat to PAS), but to doctor a photo of him, a Muslim (or any Muslim for that matter), performing a Hindu religious rite is a blatant act of fitnah beyond the limit of human decency. We are well into Tian Chua's territory here.

I just want to ask: where are the Idealists? Where are these self-righteous "intellectuals"
-- the likes of Malik Imtiaz, Haris Ibrahim, Azly Rahman and Bakri Musa -- who often shout for human decency, ethno-religious tolerance, fair play and high moral standards in their rambling syiok sendiri articles prominently displayed on MT? Where? These Malay/Muslim Apologists -- tagged "good Malays" by the chauvinist devils infesting the MT cesspool -- are nowhere to be seen even as a bunch of freakish Chinese extremists cut, paste, mutilate and denigrade the image of a fellow Malay Muslim.

On top of the insult to a Malay Muslim, these MT crooks also brought a Hindu religious ceremony into disrepute by stirring Malay Muslim passions against the Hindu minority. These spinmeisters look down on Hindus and used Hinduism as the key element of their plot to denigrade Najib, as if Hinduism is something "bad" and shouldn't be associated with anybody, least of all a Malay politician -- a spin meant to ruffle Malay Muslim sentiments at the expense of Indians and Hindus.

You Indian Hindus out there, wake up! Can't you see the MT Chinese extremists are insulting your religion, by equating your religious rites as "bad" and, hence, using it to cast Najib in a "bad light"? Can't you see you are being used by these psychopaths who cast aspersions on Najib at the expense of your faith? You Hindraf sympathisers, I can't understand why you are joining the MT chorus in this instance when your religion is dragged in the mud with Najib? Mainstream Malaysians just don't get it. What was your struggle for then? Cannot be for the Hindu faith ....?

Again, where are the bombastic literary discourses by MT's "good Malays" to condemn this seditious insult to a fellow Muslim and to Hinduism? And there is not even a whimper from Din Merican, the
self-appointed guardian of the blogosphere perennially haunted by hired hands and cyber propagandists, i.e., his own shadow. What would you call this Din? O.k. for you? Just because it was spewed by your side? You spineless hypocrite!

Anyway, I don’t think I will hold my breath and wait for Din Merican (the self-declared “Professor of Global Strategy” at Pol Pot College) to spew another copy-and-paste job with a “See what we are up against: Doctored Pictures” banner blazing in his DAP/PKR-financed blog. Why won't he say something against this fitnah? Why should he? He himself is part of this propaganda machine, indeed, an unrepentant penyangak of the perosak bangsa variety.

Demi Negara challenge the following Malay/Muslim Apologists -- Azly Rahman, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Bakri Musa, Harris Ibrahim, Karim Raslan, Wan Hamidi Hamid, Zaid Ibrahim, Tunku Aziz Ibrahim as well as the Apologist of the Malay Apologists, Din Merican, to condemn this act of slander and defamation on a fellow Muslim in no uncertain terms. Yeah, you all may not like Najib -- and KijangMas as mentioned has reservations on Najib's ability to judge people -- but I thought you people are guided by principles of human decency transcending politics? Make your stand now and show us your ability to do what's right for the sake of the nation we share, demi negara tercinta.

But I doubt any of you will take action. You cannot alienate your fan base right?

Your inaction reveals to the world your true colours, as nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites and unprincipled opportunists hiding behind a plasticky façade of intellectualism in need of validation from the non-Malays and the international media to overcome your deep sense of inferiority, your inherent need "to belong" in the midst of others.

Watch out for the Demi Negara Blog Jester of the Week award !

And the winner is . . . . . .

This award is given to a public figure who in the past week has singularly embodied everything that's wrong with our society. This is non-partisan. No sacred cows here.

Demi Negara has identified the inaugural award recipient, with the blogosphere coronation stage prepared and "trophy" requisitioned.

But give us your own choice anyway. And state why.

Remember, this award is for a personality in the news this week for the wrong reasons.

The RPK-MT Postscript

My posting on the mystique of Raja Petra Kamarudin and his Malaysia Today SoPo portal apparently stirred a hornet's nest of sorts in the blogosphere. I find the varied reactions across the Malaysian political continuum rather enlightening and thought provoking.

(Note: Go to the Comments section of the Unraveling the RPK Mystique post below for the readers’ feedback).

The Malaysia Today zealots – I call them the MT Junkies -- were understandably distressed. Perhaps they were outraged by the "audacity" of the post, especially the “profiling” of their flock into five rambling cyber-tribes. They also condemn the sacrilegious act of debunking the many myths of RPK and MT, and view this as a desecration of the iridescent image of their infallible, sacrosanct cyber-deity.

This impertinence, indeed, this outrage, ruffled the MT flock. A big dosa had been committed. How dare of Demi Negara to insult their idol, their hope, their saviour, their shining light to the path of political enlightenment! Whoaa, whoaa, …. take it easy disciples. Sit!

I think these MT Junkies should sober up and read this before this dewa-nization mania gets out of hand. I’m a keen student of political history, and I know that personality cults invariably lead to troubling conclusions – for both dewa and congregation.

Let me just say that I have nothing against RPK. In fact, I acknowledge his early contribution to the struggle for justice and press freedom. His many exposé over the years made compelling reading and encouraged critical thinking among ordinary Malaysians. I was an early fan and revel in his epic David and Goliath skirmishes with the state. He was the quintessential hero of the common folk. But the flavour of RPK’s struggle changed through the years, from a popular movement for all Malaysians to a sick, anti-Malay, anti-Islam lair infested with anonymous racists, chauvinists, psychopaths and sickos. A core group of not more than 30 junkies began to dominate the postings and -- without the necessary Malay and Islamic counterpoints (these were moderated away wholesale as mentioned in my RPK Mystique post) -- terminally infected MT with racist hate, contempt and vengeance almost unrivaled in any of the world's major SoPo portals.

RPK’s rather noble intentions were hijacked and re-synthesized by these dark elements of our fragmented society. This was facilitated by RPK’s ongoing feud with his UMNO adversaries, where RPK gradually equate legitimate dissenting Malay points of view as “UMNO Cybertrooper propaganda” and hence not to be given the light of day on MT. Conversely, posts blatantly insulting to Malays and Islam – but under the guise of anti-UMNO, anti-UMNOputras, anti-NEP – were allowed and these snowballed into an orgiastic fiesta of one-sided Malay-bashing. The anti-Malay rhetoric puked time and again by these racists and bigots typically revolve around the penchant of the Malays (tagged as “UMNOputras” of course) to be corrupted, lazy, stupid, ignorant, weak, foolhardy, and totally dependent on canes and crutches provided by the “UMNO government,” lest they will shrivel and collapse under the weight of their own pathetic beings.

Wow …. betul ka? Lu olang pecaya suma ini ka?

Lu ingat gua olang tutuk lumah cakap ini macam ka:-

"Ibu, ibu … I feel sooooo weak and helpless. I’m a Malay you know. Where are my crutches? Gimme my tongkat. Has the gomen credited my free money into my ASB account? Aduuh, the dividen only 45% this year ka? I need the free money to put the RM100 booking fee on the rumah I'm getting at 30% discount paid by my 110% gomen loan. Oh ya, has the free baja, free diesel, free perahu and free kain pullicat arrived? I'm selling them to Ah Seng for this month's wang segera to pay the bunga of last month's hutang to Tamboopillay."

As P. Ramlee would say: "Pigidahh!" "Kepala hotak bejambol" (no, that's Ahmad Nisfu's line).

Anyway, in the world of the MT Junkies, anything achieved by the Malay is attributed to the NEP. The failure of a not-so-smart non-Malay (yes, actually stupid non-Malays do exist in large numbers) is also blamed on the NEP. Supersmart, hardworking and succesful Malays are brushed aside as the “children of the NEP.”

The NEP became the iconic three-letter catch-all to explain away Malay success and non-Malay failure.

Isn’t life simple and dandy?

Q: “Ah Chong, why are you hustling all day and not earning an honest living?” A: NEP mahhh.
Q: “Muthu, why don’t you go to school and learn a marketable skill?” A: NEP lah dey.
Q: “Guys, I saw Ali in his new Honda Accord, nice ahh?” A: Haiya, he got it thru NEP lah. You donno ahh?”

Now, who is into slick propaganda? Is it UMNO or is it MT and their phantom benefactors? You tell me.

The shrills of ecstasy and noisy one-upmanship among the MT Junkies in their Malay- and Islam-bashing euphoria jump in your face as you chillingly forage down the Comment sections and wonder how on earth would a Malay like RPK allow these thrash-talk on his own race? To spite his UMNO enemies perhaps? Many of these same junkies spew comments on MT 18-20 hours a day, perhaps reflective of their wretched, maladjusted existence. I’m convinced many would kill themselves if MT pulls the plug as MT is their life, a reason to exist, a sole source of empowerment, their conduit of hate. Go check the comments and you’ll understand.

In a nutshell, RPK’s tolerance of these malcontents and misfits underpinned the gist of my critique. Again, RPK per se is not the issue – and my post is clear on that – but his inability to rein in these racist elements ruined the fundamentals of his struggles and aspirations in the eyes of the vast majority of Malays and by extension Malaysians.

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I must, however, thank the Malaysia Today flock for their comments and feedbacks. The Rabid Racists and MT Junkies came out in full force with their racist and bigoted remarks and astonishing perversions of reality so indicative of psychopantic cultists through the annals of history. This confirmed my thesis on this group. These trolls challenged this blog not to moderate their hate messages. Well, Demi Negara will open the floodgates the moment MT and other racist, anti-Malay, anti-Islam sites remove comment moderation on THEIR sites as well. We Malaysians look forward to reading the 500-600 daily comments sent by Malays that gets “moderated away” by MT (in the words of RPK no less).

The antics of the MT junkies validated all the tenets of my quick and dirty profiling of their lot. Their rabid racist attitude and pathological hatred towards this country’s Malay majority and official Islamic faith were in full bloom in their energetic feedbacks.

Excellent.

My hypothesis expounded in the Unraveling the RPK Mystique post was correct. Again, their whole hearted participation is appreciated. Thanks again people. Kam Sia. Toh Cheh. Nandri.

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I wrote a lengthy piece in the Comments section of the Unraveling the RPK Mystique post regarding the peculiar action of an MT Psychopant (this is a more advanced form of “Junkie”) named Din Merican.

This gentleman copied-and-pasted my post to his blog, complete with a cryptic Orwellian warning:-

“Fellow Malaysians, this is what we are up against, hired writers/apologists for a discredited regime.”

Bravo Deano!

This was promptly planted in MT, which then triggered a significant increase in traffic to this blog. Now, that's what I call a trickle down, double-scoop Friedmanian multiplier effect. Thanks Din. Couldn't do it without ya. You’re an excellent collaborator. Ha ha ha.

Anyway, my piece on Din Merican’s antics in the Comments section deserves a post by itself. So here goes (refined/enhanced for clarity):-

I would like to thank Din Merican for spreading my thoughts to netizens across the land and beyond. It’s not common to have your ENTIRE 3,700-word posting – warts and all -- copied and pasted lock-stock-and-barrel by an established blogging old hand like Din Merican. Thanks again buddy. You made my day.

But I must say that your exuberance to disseminate my piece should not be smothered by your emotional need to “belong” -- your desire to be part of the scene.

What am I talking about?

Well, Din Merican – apart from piggybacking on my post (yeah, I heard it’s a good tactic to divert traffic without investing your own grey matter) – cunningly INSERTED HIS NAME (and for some reason “Farish Noor”) into my paragraph on the “Idealists.” See here (I highlight Din’s insertion -- “Din Merican, Farish Noor” – in blue):-

“The thought leaders of this small but influential group include fellow bloggers Dr. Azly Rahman, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Din Merican, Farish Noor, Dr. Bakri Musa, Harris Ibrahim, as well as writers Karim Raslan, Wan Hamidi Hamid and politicians, Zaid Ibrahim and Tunku Aziz Ibrahim.”

Hmm, what do you call this act? It’s not censorship because you “cut-away” or blank-out content when you censor. Is there a term for unauthorised, cheap shot add-ons?

In geology, there is a term called “accretion,” where terranes (small land masses) get sutured to larger continental blocks over time. Maybe this is a case of “blog post accretion” Din Merican style. This abomination of basic ethics must have something to do with Din Merican’s “need to belong,” perhaps his delusional perception of relevance in the blogosphere, hence, the act of inserting his own name in a perceived prestigious list for all to see. Apparently, Din’s a laughing stock at Rocky’s blog when this was highlighted by someone (no, not me. I was busy fishing) yesterday.

Anyway, if I do get the chance to meet Din, I would utter: Hey Din, apa dah jadi kat hangpa ni? Apasai dok ciplak post aku dan selit nama hang dalam cerita aku. Aku khabak kat ‘Nuar baru hang tau ….nanti sampai Pak Sheikh pusin kepala dok kata “ayoyo si Deano nih, betui kah?” Nampak gaya nya hang kena lah banyak ilék ilék kat Boss hang Ahad nih di Kg. Baru .... Aku pikiaq lebih baik hang pi cuti aja kat rumah hang di Phnom Penh tuh. Nanti tak sedap dengaq orang dok ngumpat pasai hang ni …

O.k., o.k., ... I do empathize with my old buddy Din’s inherent need to be perceived as a peer of a “select group” ….. on a list that I created while ... ahemm ... pontificating in the throne room, yeah the loo. Geeez, talk about being vain, Deano baby.

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Anyway, beyond this mind boggling self-promotion, Din Merican somehow saw a hidden hand, in fact a PAYMASTER, behind my blog. To quote him (don’t worry, I won’t insert my name into his writing):-

“It reminds me of the heydays of the Cold War when the CIA used novelists, academics and journalists to spread the word. Stalin and Hitler too did the same thing when they temporarily held the reins of power.”

Wow! Holy whatchamacallit! I’m honoured. Danke Schoen. Большое Спасибо.

What is this guy thinkin’? Remember the adage, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”? I guess the iblis must be working overtime in Din’s case.

Din, please come for Raya at my Yalta dacha and my Berghof villa next week. Ketupat and borsch is good. Oh, check out Olga’s lemang sprinkled with beluga caviar. Certainly will give your Nasi Kandaaq a run for its money, yeah the Rubles and Reichsmarks and Renmimbis.

I’ll be quoting your gem of a preamble that you wrote in your blog on top of my posting (that you copied-added your name-and-pasted) in a future book entitled “Confessions of a SoPo Blogger.”

In one fell swoop of your keyboard, I’m now a suspected novelist, academic and journalist. Thank you sir. I guess I’m now in your Deepavali (oops, I mean Hari Raya) A-List now uhh? Wow, I’m now an “Elite”. An Orang Ternama. The multiple “Vs” in the IP.

But again, maybe I’m just a simple paddy farmer in Kelantan with a Darjah Enam education who somehow reads a lot and can write reasonably well in Bahasa Malaysia and English? You never know, do you?

Isn’t it interesting how one simple analysis of a sacred cyber-deity would result in being tagged a hired hand on par with the “novelists, academics and journalists” lapdogs of the CIA, Stalin and Hitler!

A simple blog posting pun sudah menggelabah ka? I cannot imagine how these guys would react to a real national crisis if they are ever in power. Is Din Merican a benchmark of the caliber of Pakatan Rakyat’s technocrats? Now we should all be worried. Lazy lanuns bearing rusty kerises on crutches on one end vs. jittery paranoiac vain conspiracy theorists on the other on a sewage-laden political battlefield of fools and village idiots!

Hey, my uncle Ku Li may have a chance after all! But Ayah Li, do you really want to clear all this mess? I think sipping piña coladas and dozing off to the croonings of Frank Sinatra at your Palm Manor verandah is a better proposition.

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I think it is intriguing that Din Merican and the MT junkies equate critical writing with paid literary servitude. Well, as the saying goes, it takes a whore to know one. We know who Din Merican's ultimate paymaster is, right? It's o.k. people. He needs to cari makan as well. That is his rezeki.

But with all due respect and humility, I don't think anyone can afford me, let alone dictate and direct yours truly without great risk to their spiritual and physical well-being. Being the closet UMNO man that he is, Din is giving too much credit to the UMNO people. RPK said (well, since his “word” is gospel, I will believe him here) that the “UMNO Cyber Troopers” under the tutelage of Azalina Othman Said and Norza Zakaria are each paid a princely sum of RM2,750 per month. Sorry sir, I can make many times that sum in a day in my line of business, and this is not “due to the NEP” crap that you MT rabid racists hurl at Malays all the time.

Do you honestly think Azalina and Norza have the intellect, patience and tenacity to search, screen, hire, brief, strategise, monitor and pay a “novelist, academic and journalist” (in Din’s words) to partake in a cyberwar with racist anti-Malay sites like MT? I don’t want to sound like a typical rabid MT anti-Malay racist here, but seriously I don’t think their IQs exceed their bodyweight … in kilos. Thanks for the thought all the same.

Many of the MT junkies theorised that this blog owner may not even be a Malay, perhaps because the "quality" of the analysis and writing would be beyond the mental faculties of the Malay. Well, I guess Malays have IQs of less than 50 (as posted by someone on MT yesterday) and couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time, right? See what I meant when I refer to these scums as Rabid Racists? So now Din Merican and gang will need to reconcile the enigma of a non-Malay (yes, one of YOU guys) on the PAYROLL of the dreaded ruling Oligarchs masquerading as a Malay to attack his fellow non-Malays. Now that’s one heck of a putar belit of a plot! More of the nasi kandaaq variety I would guess and beyond my simple straightforward Kelantanese mind. What literature have you people been reading? Something from the Pol Pot College of Deception where Din is purportedly (in his CV) a “Visiting Professor of Global Strategy”? Astonishing!

Anyway folks, I value reactions like Din Merican’s. It gives us an indication of the thought processes of the competing forces of Malaysian politics. Indeed, my future posts may also trigger perhaps even more rabid reactions from the BN/UMNO pahlawans, panglimas, laksamanas and perwiras, with keris and machetes in hand to silence this “paid writer from the Din Merican camp.”

Interesting …….. Din Merican may then have to do a sequel styled: “This is what we are up against: Double Agents.” And for your sequel, please feel free to copy-and-paste my other postings. Be sure to state your source (that’s me lah) clearly. BUT please lah, don’t lah add YOUR NAME in my writings. Bloggers must have ethics too.

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See, beyond your constipated verbiage and giddy rhetoric, you are all the same – whether you’re UMNO, PKR, DAP, PAS, Gerakan, MCA, MIC, SAPP, Kimma, ……… Hindraf, ……… ABC, AEIOU, Yabadabadoo, …… lu orang semua sama la!

You all emerged from the same cesspool of hate and intolerance and delusional aspirations and are actually more alike than you think. The only difference is that you slithered up different slopes of the cesspool, inbred and evolved into mutually-hating organisms. Throw in a couple of self-appointed cyber messiahs and demigods, coupled with a lameduck sleepyhead and some lanuns and a chameleon of a Confidence Trickster and you have the current potpourri of Malaysian politics.

Din Merican went on: “… there are people who are willing to sell their integrity for money and promise of favors.”

Yeah, I agree Din. How much they pay you? C’mon tell us lah. Nak hidup right?

Seriously, your observation is interesting. Can you please give us bloggers a feeler on these paymasters willing to buy our “integrity for money and promise of favors.” Are these “favors” in the form of “sedekah” of China hookers shuffled to my back seat at the Simpang Pulai rest area? Sorry lah, my Ferrari 430 Scuderia has no back seat and only a midget no bigger than Norza can fit into my gizmo-laden passenger seat. Or do you provide dwarf hookers as well? Nahh. But I'm partial to Snow White though. You can partake in Dopey and Grumpy if you want. But Sleepy's booked. I heard in Putrajaya until March 2009.

Pick your choice Deano. Snow White’s mine.
Sleepy’s assigned to Sri Perdana until March 2009. The rest available.

There are a lot of starving bloggers holed up in dingy cybercafés out there. Spread the rubles around lah Din. I’m sure the largesse has piled up now, with one paid hand already out-of-service and a few more getting their wings clipped. Geez, these Nazis and Stalinists and CIA bosses give me the creeps.

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For purveyors of Free Speech and Freedom of Expression, please read Din Merican’s “warning” carefully. Tolerance for competing views are not his forté. Anyone that makes sense but goes against the grain of his thinking, he will call them “paid hands” and such. So what else is new in our country? Remember my cesspool story above. Yup, Din Merican himself is a living embodiment of the intolerant cesspool organism that he opposes so much.

Comments on my RPK Mystique post in other racist, anti-Malay blogs have been lively as well. Some are calling for this blog owner to be held under the ISA once the PR takes over. See people, my theory's right again. They are all from the same cesspool, irrespective of party. They want to abolish the ISA to get RPK and the Hindraf 5 out, but they still want the ISA to lock up people who have different opinions to theirs. Hypocrites!

The intolerance to dissenting views is much higher among these MT junkies than anywhere else in the real or cyber-world. They fight for Free Speech, Freedom to Demonstrate, Freedom of Assembly ... for themselves and their kind ... BUT they'll be the first to stifle dissent, to want to lock-up people, to insult, suppress and sabotage alternative voices. Well, try sending a pro-Malay, pro-Islamic piece on MT and see what happens. Nothing happens. Someone called "jebatmustdie" (it's that popular blogger I presumed) commented on Din Merican's blog no less that all of his "balance views" sent to MT never got posted, in effect moderated to the trash heap of intolerance and injustice.

Finally, Din Merican said: “There is so much gubberish (sic), like this one for example, out in cyberspace, print media and the air waves, that we need to be careful.”

I don’t quite understand this “need to be careful.” But many Malaysians are now just about had it with the malicious lies and bigotry that clutter our cyberspace. We won’t allow the rantings and racist attacks and utter bigotry go unchecked. Since these chauvinists and misguided souls deemed it fit to “moderate away” competing reactions to their rantings in their blogs, others have no choice but to create their own platform to express their thoughts.

This is just the beginning. You ain't seen nothin' yet. The silent majority had been exceedingly patient and tolerant these past few years. But not anymore. We will regain the sanity and recalibrate the social decorum of our blessed Tanah Air Tercinta. No more biadap, no more kurang ajar, no more naik kepala, no more tak mengenang budi, no more tak sedar diri ... none of these. The anarchy and socio-political decadence of the Sleepyhead Era is over. We will regain the maruah of our Negara, Nusa and Bangsa. Let there be no doubt.

In a way, Din Merican is right. The pengkhianat, the penyangak, the pembelot, the penderhaka, the pemusnah bangsa and the perosak negara do "need to be careful.” Mainstream Malaysiana -- of all races and creeds -- will reclaim our blessed land from these divisive forces of evil as epitomised by the wretched racist slimeballs and lowlifes oozing in the cesspool of Malaysia Today and other filthy anti-Malay, anti-Islam racist blogs and portals. There will be no more sheltered cocoon for the Rabid Racists on MT to spew their hatred and prejudices.

To the MT Junkies and other pengkhianats and penderhakas, that's life. You dish out your venom, you'll get more potent antidotes in return. You play with fire, you'll get burnt. That's life people.

Unraveling the RPK Mystique

Much has been said about the ISA detention of Raja Petra Kamarudin. Over the past decade, the 58 year old has emerged from obscurity to become a sort of cult figure for some Malaysians, and his detention has become a cause célèbre for “the quest for justice and inequality.” RPK is also perceived by many to be some sort of figurehead and rallying point in their opposition to the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional coalition that has governed the country since Merdeka 51 years ago.

Who are these RPK supporters?

Do they truly represent the Malaysian social milieu? Well, they themselves certainly feel that way. A browse through RPK's Malaysia Today portal would give that impression. The lively postings allude to a sense of inevitability in the socio-political evolution of this country, where some sort of People's Power movement, indeed an alternative irresistible political force, would sweep through Putrajaya to obliterate and replace the current ruling oligarchs with an "enlightened" administration driven by the mantra of Ketuanan Rakyat.

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Is this really an accurate sketch in the complex Malaysian socio-political canvas? Do these people -- the posters, lurkers, trolls and bots inhabiting the Malaysia Today cyber-habitat -- really represent the conscience and aspirations and, indeed, the essence of the Malaysian people, a compelling sampling of the changing socio-dynamics permeating our nation?

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Not really.

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Who are these people then?

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Malaysia Today is a typical SoPo portal, an aggregator of third party newsfeeds and blog postings, spiced with some original articles by RPK himself prior to his ISA detention. The Malaysia Today Webmaster (RPK in the past, and now his close associates since his detention) would "moderate" incoming readers' comments to ensure congruence to the portal's political sentiment. RPK himself said that daily he had to delete 500-600 comments sent by Malays, which he termed the "UMNO Cyber Troopers." This effectively skewed Malaysia Today into a supra cyber platform for non-Malays to spew their bigotry and chauvinism while sheltered from Malay reactions.

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Typical of other SoPo blogs and portals, the site is frequented by the usual suspects, namely political gossip junkies in need of their daily "fix" of sensational revelations and maladies of the ongoing Malaysian political telenovela. The human tendency to revel in a schadenfreude orgy was satiated by RPK's rich pipeline of sensational "scoops" as well as his series of "True Stories" of our historical past, including a revisionist portrayal of the May 13 Incident, a version much more palatable to his predominantly non-Malay audience.

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Visitors to his portal may not necessarily share RPK's ideology or the anti-Malay, anti BN/UMNO flavour of the content. Many just want to read alternative viewpoints to supplement the less-than-credible spin spewed by the mainstream media. Some visitors may, indeed, be RPK's many enemies, wanting to check out his latest antics. Yet others are just curious.

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Out of this pool, a smallish group ultimately immersed themselves into the Malaysia Today cyber-habitat, became hyperactive posters, and evolved into "MT junkies," glued to the site for hours on end, alienating themselves from the realities of Main Street Malaysia and oblivious to the constantly shifting socio-political undercurrents that define Malaysian politics. These MT junkies -- overwhelmingly non-Malay -- actually believed their own postings, facilitated by the total lack of competing Malay viewpoints as these were "moderated away" by Malaysia Today's Webmasters. The MT junkies reinforce this make-believe empowerment by incessantly regurgitating the same points of view, essentially preaching-to-the-converted, in their comments to every new Malaysia Today story.

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The propensity of Malaysia Today to block comments from Malays (RPK's "UMNO Cyber Troopers") that would countervail the bigoted viewpoints of the Chinese chauvinists and Hindraf sympathizers contributed to this false sense of empowerment among the non-Malays.
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The unbridled spiral of prejudice and contempt -- in a make-believe cocoon devoid of the voice of the Malay majority -- fueled an irrational exuberance among the MT junkies over a perceived "inevitable" change in the Malaysian political landscape, where the non-Malays (in the guise of DAP's Malaysian Malaysia stance shrouded by the Ketuanan Rakyat mantra of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition) would have the major grip on political power in this country while the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional coalition would collapse and dissipate into thin air.

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This RPK chap, a likable personality with a free-spirited, bohemian streak, was gradually emboldened by the ceaseless cheerleadings and promptings of the MT junkies. Ever more sensational stories were churned but these could not satiate the hungry hordes. RPK then did the ultimate – he himself became the story, starring in his own improbable sinetron radiating from the keyboard of his PC.

With RPK in the starring role, who needs third party revelations? He is the story! He can craft his own play and act in his own drama. He has reached the nirvana of SoPo blogging. Quite predictably, hits on Malaysia Today hit the roof, giving chedet.com a run for its money. RPK was now on par with Dr. Mahathir Mohamad! Nobody gets larger than that in Malaysia. Pak Lah, Najib Razak and even Anwar Ibrahim were reduced to supporting cast and bit players in the eyes of the MT junkies. A sense of invulnerability descended upon the Malaysia Today cyber-habitat and the mystique of RPK’s infallibility permeated his congregation.

But again, who are this flock of adherents that contributed to the deification of RPK in the cyber universe?

Here’s a quick and dirty classification:-

Groupie Gang I: The Idealists
These are the believers of a new, utopian Malaysia devoid of racial, religious and class conflict; a land of plenty for all; a just, corrupt-free nation of civil, law abiding citizens united in a celebration of cosmopolitan multiculturalism. The thought leaders of this small but influential group include fellow bloggers Dr. Azly Rahman, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Dr. Bakri Musa, Harris Ibrahim, as well as writers Karim Raslan, Wan Hamidi Hamid and politicians, Zaid Ibrahim and Tunku Aziz Ibrahim. The Idealists, albeit for different reasons and motivations, advocate either the abolishment or a revamp of the NEP, demonise Ketuanan Melayu, and view BN/UMNO as an obsolete post-Colonial relic quivering through the final vestiges of its existence. The elegant intellectual discourse spewed by the Idealists, usually revolving around the need for social justice, meritocracy and more “progressive” Malay attitudes are well received by the predominantly non-Malay MT junkies as this would entail the dismantling of perceived Malay-centric policy legacies built over the years by BN/UMNO. The non-Malay MT junkies usually refer to this group in their comment postings as the “good Malays.” Articles and blog postings by these "good Malays" are prominently displayed in Malaysia Today and their Chinese and Indian-friendly comments are approved by the gatekeeper, giving the casual Malaysia Today reader the false impression of a softening Malay stance amidst the perceived newfound political clout of the non-Malays in this "new" post-318 Tsunami political landscape.

Groupie Gang II: The Anwaristas
This collection of visitors and posters view Malaysia Today as a convenient platform to spew their venom against anything that had to do with BN/UMNO, more so the likes of Pak Lah, Najib Razak and Hamid Albar. The nucleus of the Anwaristas’ gene pool can be traced back to Anwar’s ABIM and Reformasi days. Many are ex-hardcore UMNO cadres purged from the party in the aftermath of Anwar Ibrahim’s battle royale with Dr. M. These are essentially closet UMNO people – in attitude and mindset – the “have nots” in the intra-Malay competition for patronage and privileges. Beyond a common enemy in a Pak Lah/Najib-led UMNO, they have no affinities to Groupie Gangs I, IV and V and do not partake in commenting except to glorify Anwar Ibrahim and to ridicule the key UMNO personalities.

Groupie Gang III: The PAS Malays
These are predominantly PAS members, with some PKR supporters among the lot. They view UMNO as their ideological foes and tolerate the other RPK Groupies (for now) in their bigger quest to win the Hearts and Minds of the Malay masses. This group makes up a small minority in the English-centric Malaysia Today Cyber Habitat and many have filtered away amidst the strident criticisms on Islam by the portal and the comments sent by the anti-Malay MT junkies.

Groupie Gang IV: The Rabid Anti-Malay Racists
These are the bread-and-butter of Malaysia Today and form the majority of the posters. Their posts and comments say it all. Everything in Malaysia is linked back to their hatred of the Malays. These are the ethnic-Chinese chauvinists, Hindraf sympathizers and assorted hangers-on who suffer from an overwhelming sense of alienation in this country. They equate every symbol and instrument of Malaysian statehood – from Bahasa Malaysia to the Negaraku to the Rukunegara to the Songkok to the Jalur Gemilang and, of course, the Keris – to the Malays and hence not worthy of their respect and deference. This attitude spawned a deep-seated hollowness permeating their souls as they languish in a land whose essence run contrary to their aspirations. Hence, every post emanating from this Group would revolve around their revulsion of and paranoiac vengeance towards the Malays. Of course, when like-minded posts coalesced in the Malaysia Today cyber-habitat, an explosion of Malayphobia saturates the portal. And with the Malay voice effectively moderated-away by the Webmaster, this racist mania continues unchecked and unchallenged. The venom and ferocity of the attacks are matched only by the “spin” applied to various issues by authors and articles allied to their non-Malay agenda. Of course, to appease the Anwaristas and the PAS and PKR Malays, these Rabid Racists would replace “Malay” with the term UMNOputra or Mat Rempit or just plain beruks, but the message to the casual reader is clear: They hate Malays, and all the maladies of this country can be traced back to the Malays. Their own kind – the “repressed, smart hard working people” – are portrayed as a Superlative group, held in check only by the smothering political grasp of the Malays (oops, no … by the “UMNO people”) crawling in their subsidised tongkats and crutches.

Groupie Gang V: The RPK Cultists
To this group -- mostly young, impressionable non-Malays with their first intoxicating taste of politics – RPK is a demigod, a messiah sent by the Gods to rid Malaysia of the bad guys, to single-handedly rescue Malaysia from all the maladies caused by these people. Yes, all these and then some in one fell swoop of his …. errrr ….. keyboard! The cultists elevate RPK to a Supreme Being-like persona, a larger than life sage whose every word is the gospel truth, who’s every action is holy, and whose every pronouncement must be followed. Utterances of “my RPK,” “our RPK,” “I love RPK,” “RPK our hero,” “RPK wants” and “RPK says” began to percolate in readers’ postings and comments on Malaysia Today. I get blurry images of Jim Jones, Idi Amin and Kim Il Sung as I forage through the thick undergrowth of readers’ homage to RPK in Malaysia Today. And you know what? I think RPK actually gradually believed in this burgeoning personality cult and began to suffer lapses of self-grandiosity as manifested in his later posts and articles.

So what happened when RPK got banished to Kamunting? What happened to his hordes of supporters, the people who would join him arm-in-arm in a fight to the death with the ruling oligarchs? Where are the untold millions that would march to Kamunting to tear down the walls and hand-pluck RPK from the grasp of the baddies? Where? A hundred people in Anti-ISA and Free RPK t-shirts assembling at the entrance of the Kamunting camp or a couple of hundred people holding a candlelight vigil at Dataran Merdeka just don’t cut it.

Is this the real Malaysia? Is this group of affluent predominantly non-Malay urbanites a true sampling of the Malaysian population, representing the sentiment of the rakyat? These people may be nothing more than a like-minded interest-group with deep-rooted animosity towards the Malays, egged on by partisan politicians naturally at loggerheads with their BN/UMNO rivals.

What about the on-line petition drive to free RPK? How many actually signed up?

A sampling of the Free RPK Petition

Does this list represent Malaysia’s demographic mix, a necessary condition to “transform the nation” from Perlis to Johor to Kelantan to Sabah into a different Ketuanan Rakyat paradigm? After discounting the meaningless prank names such as “Father of Najis,” “Death 666,” “Johnny Doe” (in the above sample), as well as the non-citizen residents and foreigners signing from afar, how many people actually signed up? How many legitimate citizens actually walked the talk and signed the petition? 10,000? 30,000? 100,000? These are peanuts compared to the purported millions of hits charted daily by Malaysia Today.

Assuming 100,000 Malaysians actually signed the petition, this would represent less than four-tenth of one percent or 0.0036 of Malaysia’s 27.5 million people, or one out of every 275 Malaysians. It means, 274 out of 275 Malaysians don’t really care. Is this four-tenth of one percent the Critical Mass sufficient to revolutionise the Malaysian political landscape, the people with the mandate to dismantle this country’s socio-economic-political equilibrium?

No.

These people are just a smallish cyber-community not at all representative of the Malaysian ethno-cultural milieu. But isn’t Malaysia Today the voice of the people?

What people?

Any blogger will admit that the number of "hits" do not translate into number of people. A Malaysia Today junkie might reload the portal 20-30 times a day just to access the stories. Also, not more than 30 hard core junkies post 90% of the comments. Go check the site. It’s obvious that a small group of hyperactive adherents account for a large amount of postings, hence, essentially preaching their political gospel to themselves in an affliction which may be termed “inbred blog postings syndrome.”

Again, where are the Malays? Where is Mainstream Malaysiana that would change the country? The writings on the banners allude to a predominantly ethnic-Chinese grouping. What does this say? Why are the Malay majority not taken in to RPK and the ideals of Malaysia Today?

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The vast majority of RPK’s supporters are just armchair quarterbacks and fair weather cheerleaders and people with nothing better to do who essentially outsourced and sub-con their political activism to this poor chap from the airconditioned comfort of their homes and offices, from their cosy beds and plush sofas, cybercafés and chic gourmet coffee joints. They are not even representative of the country, in terms of demographics, dispersion and political inclination. These junkies are more akin to the lunatic fringe than to the mainstream of Malaysian society. Who are these people? The content and nature of their postings revealed an English-literate motley crew of private college kids, bored pensioners, the unemployed, the under-employed white collar salarymen, the disenfranchised and a handful of professionals -- all with chips on their shoulders. There is also a good sprinkling of expats and foreigners posting from faraway places (146 countries according to RPK in the clip above). Plus a fair bit of ex-Malaysians with axes to grind and some kiasu Singaporeans.

Hardly forming the vanguard of the Malaysian Rakyat.

Yes, RPK (and poor Marina and kids) were conned by these people. These cyber-opportunists outsourced and sub-con their politicking to him while they cheer him from the comfort of their cosy homes and plush offices. Many seemed to ignore that RPK is a real human being, a late middle-aged man with a wife and many children. A man with responsibilities, hopes, fears, aspirations and vulnerabilities like the rest of us. These parasites and blood suckers ruined his life and unnecessarily estranged his family from mainstream Malaysia.

RPK himself is not really a grave threat to national security. His incoherent rantings and pathological animosity towards BN/UMNO and prominent UMNO personalities are old news. RPK is a known loud-mouth, a prickly irritant with a penchant for the dramatic. For many, his revelations and cyber activism are no more than pure entertainment, melodramatic political gossip on par with TV3’s obnoxious Melodi and a much needed comic relief from the socio-political quagmire of the past 3-4 years under Pak Lah’s disastrous watch.

But RPK’s real fault lies in his propagation of Malaysia Today as a cyber platform for assorted bigoted and racist characters to spew their venom against the Malays and, in more than one instance, to ridicule Islam. His personal vendetta against the UMNO Cyber Troopers (purportedly led by Azalina Othman Said and Norza Zakaria according to RPK in the clip above) degenerated into an almost blanket deletion of pro-Malay comments, hence rendering the portal into a one-sided anti-Malay arena in the uniquely Malaysian game of race-tinged politics.

Indeed, MT Junkies (the Rabid Anti-Malay Racists and RPK Cultists mentioned above) are the bigger threats to national security. These racists, bigots and cyber-misfits hide behind their anonymity to flood Malaysia Today with venomous racist postings, instigating hatred for the Malay majority, ridiculing Islam, and spewing seditious spins to various national issues.

This was the real threat and his refusal to curtail this threat finally nailed RPK.

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My advise to RPK, Marina Lee and family: take a few steps back and view the bigger picture, the real landscape out there. What exactly is your struggle? Justice? For whom and where? The Penans, Dusuns, Senois and Semangs deep in our rainforests? Kedah paddy farmers? Trengganu fisherfolk? The ordinary civil servant or private sector clerk? The hardworking Pasar Malam vendors? The labourers in our plantations? The trishaw/beca man (yes, we still have them)? The hard core urban poor? Who? Where? Why aren’t they outraged by your ISA detention? We don’t see them take to the streets in Kota Bharu or Sarikei or Lahad Datu to demand your release. Most have never heard of you! Aung San Su Kyi you are not. Nor are you a Nelson Mandela or a Xanana Gusmão.

You are just a political tool for some selfish interests, for the elitists far removed from the grassroots and the ordinary man.

RPK doesn’t really speak for the real Malaysians out there, for the 27.5 million people from Langkawi to Besut to Batu Pahat to Kemaman to Santubong to Miri to Ranau to Semporna. RPK hardly exists in the consciousness of these masses. No, RPK speak only for the small lunatic fringe of our society -- the affluent, private art school on daddy’s-money set (bottom below) and the rabid anti-Malay Chinese chauvinist (with Marina, top below) and Hindraf Indian racists languishing in the deep murky crevasses of the cyber world. RPK and his ideals do not represent the sentiment of the vast majority of Malaysians.

Pics: delCapo.wordpress

RPK, Marina Lee and their kids were used by the nameless parasites lurking in cyberspace These anonymous characters embody the worst of human traits; they got something for nothing. Oh yes, they got their schadenfreude fix all right when the going was good. They have chewed the sweet fruits plucked by RPK, and spit out the pits to be picked up by Marina and her kids. The long lonely trips to Kamunting, the endless court dates, the deprivation of a husband and father, the despair and helplessness – will all be borne by Marina Lee and family.

Finally, where is Anwar Ibrahim? What is his stand on RPK’s detention? RPK gave his life, metaphorically speaking, to uphold Anwar’s “ideals.” RPK bet the ranch on Anwar becoming PM on 916 and came out a loser, a pathetic flat broke loser. Has Anwar and gang even addressed the RPK ISA issue? Indeed, his silence is deafening. What about Lim Kit Siang? Once Teresa Kok and the Sin Chew reporter got out, Unker Kit Siang has disappeared as well. What about PAS? Do you think either the old ulamas or the younger Islamist cadres have anything in common with RPK? Do you think they like RPK? Did RPK and his MT junkies pushed for the release of Nik Adli, Tuan Guru Nik Aziz’s son, who was under ISA detention for many years? I don't recall any Ah Sohs, Ah Mois, Leng Chais and Uncles bearing "Free Nik Adli" t-shirts in front of the Kamunting camp. Actually, you MT junkies would not recognize Nik Adli even if he walked right past your smug faces. And you expect PAS to sympathise with RPK? You expect PAS to fight for RPK amidst Malaysia Today’s anti-Islamic postings and its readers’ rabid rantings against Islam?

In a nutshell, do you think the Pakatan Rakyat gives a hoot about RPK? No. He was a useful tool. But he was also a disposable tool. RPK is no use to them now. Indeed, he is now a distraction . They want to govern the nation. They have no time for this old chap. To them, RPK is just a lost soul who threw too many dices in his own little crapshoot. Their focus is on 27.5 million men and women. Not one guy who spoke and wrote too much. And they won’t glorify, deify or make a martyr out of RPK either. That’s alre