Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Malays in Singapore.":
"The Malays in Singapore" is a direct response to Tuan HH's "Takkan Melayu Hilang Di Dunia". In the latter's article, Tuan's inspiration came from his recent visit to Singapore.
Anon 10:30 makes some salient points since Singapore is predominately Chinese and neutral on matters pertaining to the Muslim faith like proselytizing unless it disrupts public harmony.
However, if Singapore is so "restrictive" to Malays and to the Muslim faith, then they have a choice to immigrate to Malaysia where there is so much freedom. However, do we see them rushing over in droves?
Secondly, I personally find that Singapore Inc. encourages more technocrats & bureaucrats than entrepreneurs. How many super tycoons are there in Singapore even among the Chinese? However, holding high positions, many have become millionaires. Again, Singaporeans don't go around shouting their wealth especially if they are commanding high salaries and working for big conglomerates.
Whereas, we are daily bombarded in the newspapers in regards to the "orang baru kaya" in Malaysia through government hand me downs (eg. NFC, Iskandar Project dll). Does the failed NEP give Malays a sense of meritocracy? Sure, there are many Malay millionaires (& genuine hard working, honest business people) in Malaysia but are you one of them? A small percentage are millionaires and a smaller among them by true hard work, not through freebies.
In Singapore, I haven't seen a Malay family still living in an attap house, their children without education and running around without shoes. After 50 years, the Malays have been left behind and the wealth gap among them is still very wide.
Besides talking about the Malay Dilemma we should be talking about the Malaysia Dilemma. Malaysia does not just exist for the Malays. Barring the "pendatangs", we must account for our social responsibilities to the Orang Asli, Sabahans & Sarawakians unless we call for a breakaway of these states, if the Malays cannot accept the fact of the Malayan Union. Again, it has been established that even the Melanaus, Bajaus & Sulus do not consider themselves to be Malay but are proud of their own ethnicity.
What rights do we have when we are bombarded by proselyting propaganda on a daily basis? The dakwah movement is very strong in the interiors of Sabah & Sarawak. Very little headway is made because these missionaries cannot face the hardships - travel into the interior for days by boat & trekking, living among the people (who rear dogs & pigs under and in the long houses), eating the food (haram), minum tuak (as a gesture of hospitality) dll. So for every Lina Joy we have 10 more cases on the other side of the spectrum involving Chinese, Indian, Iban & Kadazan families.
Lastly, we would advise Anon to travel overseas and interact with Malays living out of the country. A majority silently do not wish to return and be shackled by the visible & invisible walls of restrictions. Please do not think that this is some non-Malay propaganda to psycho the Malays. Many quietly express their views when they feel "safe" to share them openly.
If these cultural wars & divides continue to be used for political expediency on all sides, then Malaysians will be the greatest losers. We will only be left with a fragmented society where suspicions will be cast against others. Malay will also be against Malay and the cracks will be more difficult to heal. In many ways, the British would have accomplished their mission – to divide and rule.
TR
Posted by Anonymous to steadyaku47 at Wednesday, December 28, 2011 3:16:00 PM GMT+10:30
"The Malays in Singapore" is a direct response to Tuan HH's "Takkan Melayu Hilang Di Dunia". In the latter's article, Tuan's inspiration came from his recent visit to Singapore.
Anon 10:30 makes some salient points since Singapore is predominately Chinese and neutral on matters pertaining to the Muslim faith like proselytizing unless it disrupts public harmony.
However, if Singapore is so "restrictive" to Malays and to the Muslim faith, then they have a choice to immigrate to Malaysia where there is so much freedom. However, do we see them rushing over in droves?
Secondly, I personally find that Singapore Inc. encourages more technocrats & bureaucrats than entrepreneurs. How many super tycoons are there in Singapore even among the Chinese? However, holding high positions, many have become millionaires. Again, Singaporeans don't go around shouting their wealth especially if they are commanding high salaries and working for big conglomerates.
Whereas, we are daily bombarded in the newspapers in regards to the "orang baru kaya" in Malaysia through government hand me downs (eg. NFC, Iskandar Project dll). Does the failed NEP give Malays a sense of meritocracy? Sure, there are many Malay millionaires (& genuine hard working, honest business people) in Malaysia but are you one of them? A small percentage are millionaires and a smaller among them by true hard work, not through freebies.
In Singapore, I haven't seen a Malay family still living in an attap house, their children without education and running around without shoes. After 50 years, the Malays have been left behind and the wealth gap among them is still very wide.
Besides talking about the Malay Dilemma we should be talking about the Malaysia Dilemma. Malaysia does not just exist for the Malays. Barring the "pendatangs", we must account for our social responsibilities to the Orang Asli, Sabahans & Sarawakians unless we call for a breakaway of these states, if the Malays cannot accept the fact of the Malayan Union. Again, it has been established that even the Melanaus, Bajaus & Sulus do not consider themselves to be Malay but are proud of their own ethnicity.
What rights do we have when we are bombarded by proselyting propaganda on a daily basis? The dakwah movement is very strong in the interiors of Sabah & Sarawak. Very little headway is made because these missionaries cannot face the hardships - travel into the interior for days by boat & trekking, living among the people (who rear dogs & pigs under and in the long houses), eating the food (haram), minum tuak (as a gesture of hospitality) dll. So for every Lina Joy we have 10 more cases on the other side of the spectrum involving Chinese, Indian, Iban & Kadazan families.
Lastly, we would advise Anon to travel overseas and interact with Malays living out of the country. A majority silently do not wish to return and be shackled by the visible & invisible walls of restrictions. Please do not think that this is some non-Malay propaganda to psycho the Malays. Many quietly express their views when they feel "safe" to share them openly.
If these cultural wars & divides continue to be used for political expediency on all sides, then Malaysians will be the greatest losers. We will only be left with a fragmented society where suspicions will be cast against others. Malay will also be against Malay and the cracks will be more difficult to heal. In many ways, the British would have accomplished their mission – to divide and rule.
TR
Posted by Anonymous to steadyaku47 at Wednesday, December 28, 2011 3:16:00 PM GMT+10:30
to tell the truth, I don't care a damn about the Malays in Singapore. Firstly, theyn are ignorant about who they are. From my limited knowledge on the Malays in Singapore, the % of real Malays ie those from the Peninsular is small, mainly from Melaka, Kelantan and those who used to work for KTM plus the ex servicemen who served the British forces. Other than these, the other socalled "Malays" are those of teh Indo origin ie Boyan, Bugis,Javanese etc. They make the majority. Others are the decendents of the Arabs and Indian Muslims who came from India. The later don't classify under the Malay catergory. Thbus if you ask me what % does the ori Malays in Singapore I would say 1-2% only. Then , why are you so uptight about the Malays in Singapore? I am a proud Malay of Malaysian origin. That the bottom line.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the Cultural History of the world the Superior Culture always absorbs the Inferior Culture. What do mean by Superior culture. When you do what is right you want to tell the whole world. But when you do what is wrong, say in matrimonial matters, you do not want even tell your wife. Please search your souls.
ReplyDeleteExcuse me friend,
ReplyDeleteJust to let u know I am living overseas (which means no voting comes pru13) yes, living abroad has brought to mine a whole new perspective as to what Msia is in the eyes of foreigners from other countries while most of the Malaysians (especially the ones on the pembangkang side such as yourself thought lowly off or maybe it is only in my head or is it because the power that be is not in your hand? Which is which?
Where is this visible and invisible restrictions that prevent us Malaysians from returning and work in Malaysia? We are not like the Indonesians or the Phil pines where they drove in the thousands overseas because they cannot 'cari makan' and Have their families starving in their own
country. We are here not because Msia is in a bad state, we are here because the opportunity arise to gain the experience and high life of an expats which means we can go and return to Msia in anytime and whatever dates we choose to (our embassy even hold talks to explain on the government policy to attract msians proffesional back to Msia) so which msians expats view are you talking about? Unless of course if you are in trouble like Raja Petra or PI
Of course as you mentioned, Singapore was a viable country in terms of administrations or business and not restrictive towards Islam and the malays which is why like Msia they have mix races living together but to what extend? By the way I am still curios, are there any Malay millionaire in Singapore if not as many chinesse millionaire here in malaysia? Which simply applied that in Msia no matter what races you are, if you work and toiled hard and found the right formula even if you have to scam your way through than everybody can be a millionaire.
A reporter friend doing research on the Singapore malays recently, frequent questions asked by their youth was "how to and can I migrate to Msia?" so what do you think that means? If everybody was to follow your advise and migrate at their will, than the world will be at peace because i would like to suggest for the gays to go back to their fatherland of Greece, the Spore malays can just go to Msia or brunei in exchange with the msians chineese and the Indians now wasnt that an awesome ideas, but that's not the way the cookies crumble my friend nor the world resolve around what's going on your head, in reality
wherever you are born, raised, study, married, working nor wherever you might later go before eventually dies, that is where your qada and qadar is be it whatever races you are, so take it or leave it as you may so if you can't migrate to other places, then it is time to stop stabbing the malays at the back like what the pembangkang are doing and start
contributing to help malaysian of all races live in peace.
adios....
We must thank Praha2 for his/her views. Let us start with where we ended last. The cultural wars and divide is cutting deeper than anyone anticipates. Although politicians think they can control the racial card, they are trying to ride hydra’s back, not knowing that the beast we try to control will eventually consume us. Malaysians are starting to be vocal (in comparison to immediate post May 13) and this hurt among the ethics groups are deepening to a point it may never heal or even explode beyond repair. There is a “no holds bar” gusto in attacking one’s race bordering on racism & intolerance. To make matters worse, religion is thrown into the mix. To the non-Malay, sometimes criticizing the Malay-Muslim paradigm seems intelligent and smart – the smart aleck thing to do (added with vulgarity). However, because in Malaysia (unlike Singapore), the Malay-Muslim issue is intertwined and interdependent.
ReplyDeleteFirst, race must never mix with religion and vice verse. We must work with building for the “common good” or “nation building.” We cannot get rid of the Chinese & Indians even if we wanted too. For those who can, the numbers will slowly “seep” out or trickle out. There will not be a mass exodus as some hope for. But the sword cuts both ways – many Malays who are already tired of the situation will also “seep” out with others. The present situation is also affecting Malays that seek a better future for themselves or their offspring.
Why we brought up Singapore Malays is in response to Anon 10:30 in a previous article. Yes, the Singapore Malays may not count to Praha2 but there are many Malays that argue for “Ketuanan Melayu” especially for the PPSMI issue. The major crux of the argument is the “lingua franca” of the grandeur united Malay archipelago (including Indonesia etc.) is the “rights” for the use of Malay language. Non-Malays do not dispute this matter (ie. use of Bahasa Malaysia or Kebangsaan) in Malaysia. This was agreed upon by the Founding Fathers at Merdeka and accepted by Sabah & Sarawak. Till today, our Malay friends in Singapore will use the term Bahasa Melayu since they are not part of the “union” for it is the given language of Malays in Singapore. However, Bahasa Indonesia to so distinct from Bahasa Melayu (due to the evolving of languages) that such homogenous arguments are no longer relevant.
The co-relation between Malays in Singapore & Malaysia is simple (not simplified). Like the relationship between Hong Kong & their relatives in Guangdong province. Prior to the economic boom of the 90’s onward in China, relatives in China welcomed the Hong Kong relatives, especially when they bore gifts & money. Today, their China cousins are much richer and in fact worried that Hong Kong relatives who come to visit will ask for money. Praha2may mock me because we think we are superior. Yes, Anon 10:30 seems to think that his Singapore cousins are worst off under LKY. Are they? They visit their friends & relatives, stay a few days, enjoy life & food in Malaysia but will they immigrate here? What are they really thinking of their cousins across the border? Yes, they may resent certain aspects of Singapore life or rule but will they throw that away to cross over? The point is…. Why not?? We may now call them arrogant and even looking down on Malays in Malaysia like every chauvinistic Singaporean. (By the way, your racial mix of Singaporeans sounds like Malaysian Malays too. Many Bugis in Sarawak married to Malays. Soon there will be African, Farsi, Pakistani included etc). Yes, even my Chinese friends in Singapore think I’m a Hill Billy from the Big Malaysian village. Ignorant arrogance? But there are so many Malaysians in top positions in Singapore (even in the cabinet) proving that we are not less equal outside of Malaysia.
Continued... TR
Our argument is very simple. The Malays must accept that there are certain ethnic groups on par with them who were welcomed (arguable required unless today told that they can secede from Malaysia) into the “union” – the Sabahans and Sarawakians. The Orang Asli are proto-Malays and existed prior to the Malays. If Chinese and Indians are considered to be “second class” (for the sake of this argument), then consider the rights of the other Bumiputras. So, our national agenda must be inclusive of the East Malaysians and Orang Asli.
ReplyDeleteHaving read The Malay Dilemma by Dr. M several times, I totally agree with his views. However, we can see that it’s applications in today’s Malaysia is so eschewed from his seminal thoughts – as in the case of NFC, Iskandar Project, the misuse of zakat funds etc. Today, the Malay dilemma is quickly evolving to be the Malaysian dilemma. If the Malays 1) do not recognized (their place in the sun) who they are in the global universe as an ethnic group 2) the leadership role they play in leading Malaysians in good governance, inter-racial harmony, economic independence 3) bring Malaysia to a 2nd or even 1st world status etc…. then who will?
If a non-Malay says something… we are labeled as anti-Malay (questioning Ketuanan Melayu), anti-Muslim, pro-Communist (I am not in favour of DAP, have never voted for them but rather spoil my vote due to a lack of a better choice – there is no such “devil or deep blue sea” option for me), pariah, Christian mubaligh etc. These are easy slurs to avoid the issues or to protect oneself of our own shortcomings. Red herrings of the real social and political issues.
The trouble is there is an ever present struggle for power for the hearts and minds of the Malays for political ownership from every side. Gajah sama gajah lawan, si pelanduk di tengah menjadi mangsa. We are not politically naive and believe that the opposition is not altruistic and have the welfare of the people at heart. Praha2, you are proud to be a Malaysian Malay. We are also proud to be part of this nation. A settled Malay agenda will mean a settled Malaysian agenda – we need not unleash hydra on the scape goats (played by people who only have the sole agenda to rule, rape and reap and not uplift this nation to greater heights). There is a middle path – a third choice… to choose for Malaysia & Malaysians. I for one support good Malay rule and governance, Malays who will lead this nation in harmony and prosperity. But respect must not be forced but earned through good example and leadership.
Tuan HH, terima kasih untuk memberi peluang & ruangan ini untuk memberi padangan mengenai isu yang memcabarkan Malaysia setakat ini. Hidup Malaysia! Hidup Rakyat Malaysia! Merdeka untuk Malaysia Baru!!
TR
This discussion is very focused on the topic and I’m satisfied with the researched material as is is authentic and unbiased.
ReplyDelete