steadyaku47

Friday 21 January 2011

The Malays Divided?






The Malays are divided. All that unite them, religion, language and race are powerless against that which divides them: POLITICS. In the past the division between PAS and UMNO confronted the Malays. Father against son, brothers against brothers and even husbands against spouse were pulled apart by their support of one party against the other. Prayers were said in PAS and UMNO mosques led by politically inclined Imams. Friday prayers when all Muslims gathered together to say their prayers were occasion for political theatre. It was not Allah that wished them to do so – it was the leaders of PAS and UMNO  - mere humans who manipulated the Malay population to further their own political agenda. These politicians were oblivious to the harm they were doing to their own race. Politics overcame all other sensibilities.

And now this is happening not only in Kelantan and Trengganu or just in the rural areas –but more worrying all over Malaysia. And it is now BN and PR. It is one thing to use race and religion for political expedience, another to deliberately use it to cause the division of the Malays amongst themselve.

We now see Malays bent on intimidating not the other races but other Malays. We see Malays assembled within meters of each other hurling insults and threats of bodily harm at each other in the name of Politics. We see anger and hate in their eyes as the faced other Malays  - each so sure that their cause is the right cause.





At times we see Malay youths harassing the old, the strong harassing the weak. The men insulting the women and always it is the politicians who are there to maximize their gains from these confrontations of Malays against Malays. Nobody says anymore that this is not the way of the Malays. Nobody say anymore that there must be a better way for the Malays to settle their differences. Increasingly we accept that this is where politics have taken the Malays to.

It does not have to be this way. Yes in my writing I have been scathing in my comments on Malay leaders on both side of the divide – more so on UMNO side simply because there are more Malay Leaders within UMNO then in anywhere else. But these Malay leaders are fair game because they put themselves in the front line by their choice to be in public office just as I am fair game because of what I write in my blog.     

But the Malays are now used to confront each other. It signals a shift in the way things were. The politicians are desperate. They can no longer garner support by pitting the Malays against the other races. Now they throw the Malays against each other to gather votes for themselves.  But at what costs to the Malays?

We are beginning to see the breakdown of the cohesiveness that use to bind the Malays. Now it is them or us. BN or PR. Malays are being used to harm other Malays. The predominantly Malay PDRM are used indiscriminately by UMNO to move physically against other Malays who are aligned with the opposition. When will the predominantly Malay Army be called upon to do their worse on their own kind when push comes to shove. Memali will be a drop in the ocean when this time comes and May 13th purely a foot note in our history.

In all this I hold Malay politicians accountable. Malay politicians who are desperate enough to use race and religion just so they will hold on to power and all that power means to them. Not to serve the people but to serve themself.

We now talk about UMNO Warlords!

Warlords: A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil[1] control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war. Today, the word has a strong connotation that the person exercises far more power than his official title or rank (if any) legitimately permits

What does that say of us? We talk about the Tentera Jihad, Storm Trooper of Pemuda UMNO. Has the militarization of the Malays to serve political interest started? Or did it begin from the May 13th Riots of 1969 and have since been quietly developed by UMNO in readiness to serve its own purpose as and when required? And that need will most probably be in the aftermath of any UMNO loss in the 13th GE! These are worrying thoughts for all of us – Malays and the non-Malays.

And here is the chilling reality. UMNO loss in the 13th GE will be caused by the Malays themselves because only the Malays have the numbers to make that happens. So will the Malays be used against the Malays just so that UMNO will stay in power? Are we to see a cleansing of the Malays to leave only those Malays who are with UMNO?

These thoughts angers me. It should anger any Malays that believe that race and religion does have a part in our life – but not in politics and certainly not to be used to divide father and son, husband and wives and certainly not family against family just so that corrupt self-serving politicians can have their own way with us.

We Malays do not need to be united to fight the other races. We Malays do not need to be united for Ketuanan Melayu. And the Malays certainly do not need to be united to have a Malay dominated government in Malaysia. These days the Malays need to be united if we are to be a force for change for ourselves and more critically for our country. The Malays are numerically the dominant race in Malaysia and in being so we owe a responsibility to ourselves and to the others that live here to bring into the government some decency and accountability. We have a responsibility to keep those bastards in government honest. Only by doing so can the Malays ensure that our country be better not only for themselves but for all who chose to call this home.

So for those Malays who are with BN or PR you must think. Political division does not require you to intimidate, harass or threaten another Malay. It does not require you to abandon friendship or families. Like all things in life, take politics in moderation and take politics for what it is – a part of life.  Leave it at the doorstep when you come home or to be with friend. Leave politics alone when others who are with you wants to converse about life, family and the weather. Until our politicians lift their game leave politics where it deserves to be…in the gutter!

16 comments:

  1. Dato Paglima Hussein, you are indeed a TOWERING Malaysia! Such a great & factual article.

    Personally I feel POLITICS & RELIGION should NOT Mixed.

    It is the craftiness of the EVIL Politicians to keep harping on Race & Religion for their own SELFISH Motives. Divide & Rule.

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  2. HH, I can smell your Bugis warrior blood. Are you a descendant of the five Bugis prince? Our PM Najib is also a Bugis but he is not like you. RPK is also a Bugis...and he is more warlike.. it chills me a bit. As bro Don said: "Your blog rocks".

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  3. What is the primary intention behind the constant use of the phrase "Malay unity"? That a united position on everything is good? That the all-knowing leaders are founts of wisdom? That "decocracy and human rights don't jive with "Asian values" or "Islamic values"?

    Everywhere, democracy has morphed into a ruthless farce for politicians and their patrons. For countries like Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, the politicalicans had the exta race card to play.

    Being aligned to the powers that be allows you to get away with absolutely anything while claiming the high moral ground, including
    (a) the wildest homicidal tendencies - see http://www.alternet.org/media/149496/fox_news%3A_the_no._1_name_in_murder_fantasies/?page=entire
    or (b) theft on a global scale. Ask yourself where all the money "lost" in the recent Great Western Recession went, why the goverments concerned allow their bailout-money to be used to pay bonuses of 10s of billions, and where the profits to repay the bailouts came from when the Western economies were still crippled.

    The only power ordinary people have over this insanity is their diluted vote, limited dissent, whistle-blowing (often at a high price) and how they spend some of their money.

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  4. I fail to understand the emphasis that you have place on Malay UNITY. There should be no relevance on this issue. What is paramount is the unity of Malaysians. But here, you are just engineering the importance of malay unity in expense of Malaysian UNITY. MALAY is not a race. This is just a word. It is a political definition. SO please, stay on track for Malaysian UNITY.

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  5. The Malay problem is written in history. It will prevail now and continue in the future. Malay unity is a fantasy. It will never happen...

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  6. Malay unity? For what purposes? Will Malay unity solve the Mat rempit menace today? Will it solve the growing joblessness among Malay youth? Will it solve the cases of baby dumping among malay youths? Will it solve the corruption and abuse of power involving the predominantly Malay civil service?

    Was Malay Disunity the cause of these problems in the first place? Then how will Malay unity solve them?

    Malay leaders need to really think hard about the reason for the slow and steady decline of their society. Unfortunately, the majority of Malay 'leaders' are only bent on empty rhetoric of Ketuanan Melayu and Malay special rights as the solution to all their ills.

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  7. Katdog is so right. There is a social problem amongst the Malays but nobody wants to address it for fear of offending a 'religous leader' or whoever. Malay parents these days are so full of themselves that they cannot accept it if others were to 'tegur' their children eventhough their children. These children will grow up to be spoilt, uncontrollable and hence, you get among other problems, Mat Rempits who are beyond redemption, disrespectful to the general public, including the law.

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  8. "race" was never divided. due to greed, power and self interest, the so call "barisan nasional", especially bn umno have manipulated, and brainwashed many of their unthinkable supporters and some of us. minda diaorang dikunci and ditanam dengan isu isu perkauman yang sebenarnya tidak berlaku di zaman tunku. they're the "divider creator" that have truly destroy the harmony and beautiful country of ours for their own personal gain.
    "race" is just a word to differentiate us. so as "religion". yet, darah kita semuanya semerah. why can't those ppl just open their mind a little and look at that point of view, and work together as truly one malaysian!

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  9. Pak Hussein,
    What's so great about race?.. All are human race. We should focus on instilling the good values such as being compassionate, and living in a harmony, overpowering evil and corruptions.
    We should make our nation a better place to live...and not making our Evil corrupted leader Super filthy rich !

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  10. There is an even more insidious practice by the umno warlord. They have a systematic campaign of maligning and bringing into disrepute anyone who is a bit vocal and critical of them aided by the sb.

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  11. The root of the current problem is only one. It is called Najib Razak. Remove this problem Malaysia will be back on track.

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  12. You sometimes write good pieces but this definitely not one of them. You are now living in Australia? You are a Malay? Where are your roots from? Indonesia, Thailand, China, India or Orang Asli? Like so many mentioned, what is so great about being Malay? Is that what should be the binding element? Are you a Muslim? Your name sure suggests that you are a Muslim....or have you forgotten that? In my humble opinion, I suggest that you study the Holy Quran. That should be binding element for Malays & not the Malay race!Are you one of Ibrahim Ali's(Perkosa) followers who is pro ketuanan Melayu?
    Being a good Muslim would be a good example for even non Malays to admire & respect....and not a good malay.

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  13. Dear Pak Hussein

    Thanx for a great article and how right you are, today its the malay newspapers and politician that are creating hatred among the malays.

    This trend if unchecked could go a long way to create more chaos in the country. In a country where the cops and judiciary is already tainted with the hand of the goverment controlling its every move, now the malays are being made a tool by the UMNO warlords to further their hidden agenda....may allh save our beloved country from people like this.....

    wassalam

    ben

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  14. Malay Unity!? What utter nonsence. Malaysian UNITY is the only path for us.

    This time, I must disagree with you. You must have lost the plot or you are showing your true colour, just like the Anas Zubedy. Just another socalled Malaysian and when you scratch the surface you find a non entity. You people will never learn. Sad. Never mind. Soon the likes of you will come to your senses and I hope it wont be too late.

    sang kancil

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  15. How can Malays ever be united when they trace their ancestral origin to differing countries?????? Some tracing their origin as far as Turkey (e.g. Kerismuddin), Yemen (Keturunan Syeds & Keturunan Sheikh), Egypt (Astronaut Almasrie). So tell me where in the Holy Quran can you find the word 'Malay'??? In case you haven't really read the Holy Quran, the only bangsa that Allah SWT speaks to is the Bani Israel!!!

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  16. After reading your post and the comments posted on it makes me thing that the term 'Malay unity' is disfavored by some quarters in Malaysia. They prefer the term 'Malaysian unity' instead. According to them the latter term is more appropriate in the content of Malaysia. But I thing crystallizes from this. They are afraid of the term 'Malay unity' as it is a potent force which in the past defeated even the likes of British and ended its colonization era in Tanah Malayu. How can you talk about Malaysian unity when we all know for a fact that Malay consumers do not even good a good bargain when doing business with Chinese sellers as opposed to their Chinese counterparts (in whatever business). That is not Malaysian Unity either. In fact it is a discrimination act. Don't say that you propagate Malaysian unity but by action you are doing something that is totally opposite.

    As for those who feel that our unity should be based on Islam. It is what Malay unity encompasses. Because some of the UMNO leaders are seen as non-practicing Muslims, it sends a signal that Malay Unity is not related to Islam. That is a blatant ignorance. Islam and Malay are the same entity. That is the religion of most Malays believe in. Either they practice or not is another story. However I do feel that the term 'Malay Unity' is rather misleading as such I would propose we use the term 'Muslim Malays Unity'.

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