Vernacular schools and national unity

There are people, mainly the Malays and Muslims who takes the view that there should only be 1 national schools. They claim that vernacular schools segregate races are a hindrance to national unity. But what are the real reasons for the minorities preferring to send their children to vernacular schools? And are they the reason for Malaysians disunity? What probably would happen if a teacher in the vernacular schools were to pray Hindu/Buddist/Taoist/Christian prayers before starting a class?

It should be valid to believe that the Malay/Muslims will start a huge hue and cry.

Let me take myself and my children to illustrate. I previously stayed at a different town/city from where I am staying currently. And there was a national school within short walking distance from my home then. So it is natural for me to send my child to that school. Not long after she enrolled, I went to observe the class she was in. And what did I see? I saw the teacher praying a Muslim prayer before she started the class. And almost 100% of the class was Malays and I assume Muslims.

And let us fast forward to the present. Why are the minority races not sending their children to the national schools preferring either to send them to the vernacular schools or if they can afford it, to the international schools? The NEP (New Economic Policy was meant to remove/reduce the imbalance between the races. When it was first introduced, the Malays were mostly staying in the rural areas and they were relatively poorer than the other races, especially the Chinese. The professions (Doctors/Lawyers/Accountants etc) were mostly non-Malays, non-Muslims. So I plus many of other Malaysians would support the NEP. But the NEP was supposed to be for a limited period and not a never ending perpetual policy.

And it is the views of many that the standards were purposely lowered to help the non-Malays move up the ladder. If that is true it would not be wrong to expect the standards to drop.

So many of the non-Malays now believe the standard of teaching has dropped tremendously in the national schools. They are also of the opinions that there is a drive to promote Islams. Plus many believe that discipline is stricter and standards are higher in the vernacular schools. Many also believe that students from the vernacular schools are more disciplined plus better in the Mathematics and sciences.

I believe the non-Muslims and I was told an increasing numbers of Malays are also sending their children to the vernacular schools especially the Chinese medium schools. Are these valid reasons for preferring the vernacular schools?

Alert from Invoke

Please abide strictly by this advisory by INVOKE.. I am in a few nearly 99% Malay groups and I read messages about their anger of non Malays posting messages against the Malay Rulers etc... Let us immediately refrain posting messages which may be turned v racial by evil minded malaysians.. PLEASE VIRAL THIS WARNING TO ALL NON MALAYS.. let the law take its course.. We have celebrated enough over the last few days.. ENOUGH PLEASE for the sake of maintaining our fragile unity in this country.. NO MORE POSTINGS ON THE POLITICAL SCENARIO IN THIS COUNTRY IMMEDIATELY

A message from Selina for Malay friends

This message from this lady Selina was from an email forward. Read and see if it tugs at your heart:

Selina, a former student of Ipoh Methodist Girls School, took a First Class Honours
degree in physics from Qxford and obtained a PhD in theoretical physics from the
same university.

After a stint with a US investment bank, she now opts to be a writer.

An open letter to my Malay friends

Selina Siak Chin Yoke
3:47PM Aug 31, 2012

August 31 is Malaysia’s Independence (Merdeka) Day. On this day 55 years ago, the Union Jack was lowered for the last time and a new country was born.

Malaysia. She was to be a powerful narrative for multiculturalism. A place where many races – Malay, Chinese, Indian, Eurasian, Orang Asli (native indigenous people) – would live together, work together as one, to move the country beyond the shadow of colonisation.

Malaysia remains a powerful idea. It’s one I believe in. But it has gone badly wrong. That’s why today, I’m writing this open letter to my Malay family and friends.

I believe Malaysia is fast reaching a crossroad; where it goes next will be determined by you, my dear Malay friends. And where Malaysia goes is important to the world – because it remains one of the more tolerant Muslim countries.

First though, I want to say a big thank you. On this Merdeka day, I want to thank you, my Malay family and friends and all fellow Malaysians of Malay descent, for your historic generosity.

Your ancestors welcomed mine when they arrived. You have shared the land with us, and this in turn gave us opportunities we wouldn’t have had in mainland China.

You provided us safe refuge from the turmoil of China. When I learnt what happened there in the past century, I am so grateful my ancestors left. And that they found shelter in the beautiful land now called Malaysia.

My Malay friends, your own ancestors came from other places. They knew what it was like to be strangers in a new country. They treated my ancestors with that gracious hospitality which I myself have experienced countless times. All this I acknowledge, and thank you for.

But now I need to move on to something else: why I left Malaysia, and why I won’t be returning any time soon.

You may already know that two out of 10 Malaysian graduates live outside Malaysia. This is an astonishing fact for a middle-income country like Malaysia. It was revealed in a detailed study on Malaysia’s brain drain, carried out by the World Bank.

My Malay family and friends, do you not care about this exodus of talent? This isn’t just an abstract number: in our family, half those of my generation live abroad. We are the graduates this World Bank report identifies. We compete happily in the world economy and have no need to return.

Perhaps, my Malay friends, you think the brain drain irrelevant, since most of the people who have left are of Chinese and Indian descent? Certainly, this is what many Malays think, as Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of Anwar Ibrahim, has alluded to.

“For me,” she says, “one Malaysian regardless of race, who has left the country…is a loss to us. They should be here celebrating, to improve the economy. I detest many people trying to singularly find out whether they are Malays, Chinese or Indians.”

My sentiments entirely. This fixation on race, race, race, in Malaysia is strangling the country. Yes, 88 per cent of the one million Malaysians estimated to be living abroad are of Chinese and Indian descent. So what? My Malay friends, I ask you: does our race matter more than the fact that we have taken our talents elsewhere?

Yet, should I expect anything else? How could any Malaysian not be fixated on race, when you, my Malay family and friends, are accorded ‘special’ rights solely because of your race and religion?

Imagine if the United States had given ‘special’ privileges to the Pilgrim fathers and mothers and their descendants. Special rights to land, schools, gold mines and everything else – all because they sailed first; yes, just imagine! This is exactly what your special rights equate to. If the US had adopted such a policy, do you think it would have turned into a magnet for talent and skills?

Tell anyone about a Malaysian university reserved for people with ‘special’ privileges based on race, and you will see the reaction. What? People stare in disbelief. You must be kidding!

I’m not. And there have been demonstrations against opening the institute up to other Malaysians. Yet, Malaysians are so used to these oddities that we don’t bat an eyelid. We no longer notice the strange ideas plaguing our country.

Your ‘special’ rights, my Malay family and friends, alienate me. They make me feel unwelcome, unwanted and second-class. They are why I left.

They are also why I won’t be back. Rights are a zero-sum game: for you to have more rights, others must necessarily have fewer. TalentCorp (the agency set up to attract Malaysians back) completely misses the point.

And when I see the culture of entitlement your ‘special’ privileges have led to, and the increasingly racist rhetoric this culture generates, I fear for Malaysia. Outrageous remarks are now commonplace, as former US ambassador John R. Malott outlined in his Feb 8, 2011, op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

Malaysia has once again been called Tanah Melayu (Malay Land). Malay Land was given airtime by none other than Mahathir Mohamed, former prime minister and rabble-rouser extraordinaire, who is himself from a family with Indian immigrants. Malay Land is more than just a name. His is a supremacist concept: a land for Malays, where Malays will be Lords, everyone else their subjects.

Some people say Mahathir no longer matters, but actually he does. I feel less welcome now in Malaysia than at any time in the past. The attitudes of Malay Land are creeping in, and Malay Land is completely the opposite of Malaysia. Malay Land excludes, while Malaysia embraces and includes – a country for all races.

My Malay family and friends, which is it you want: Malay Land, or Malaysia? You cannot have both; you must choose.

On this Merdeka Day, I urge you to think about that choice. Because you, my dear Malay friends, are the only people who can truly change the direction Malaysia takes. Know that we, your fellow-Malaysians who have voted with our feet, are rooting for Malaysia.

We are no traitors as 68 per cent of the Malaysians abroad who were surveyed by the World Bank expressed a strong sense of patriotism or attachment to Malaysia. I am among this 68 per cent. I may have been away for 33 years, but Malaysia continues to be in my dreams.

I left with regret, and I stay away with sadness. I hope Malaysia will prevail.

Forum on Media and Ethnicity: Overcoming the Challenges

*Forum on Media and Ethnicity: Overcoming the Challenges
Thursday June 30, 8-10pm*
*Hang Jebat on Level 6, Le Meridien KL Sentral*
Location map
* *

Ethnicity is so much part of the fabric of Malaysian society that it is hard
to understand events or people without using the ethnic lens. Post-2008,
media coverage of ethnic issues has come under even greater scrutiny given
how ethnicity has been instrumentalised much more than before by certain
segments of society – to the detriment of the nation.

Given this context, how should journalists cover events that have an ethnic
element? What are the challenges faced by journalists and what strategies do
they use to overcome these problems?

Although these issues have been explored in academia and by civil society,
little has been translated into a useful format for journalists.

To address this gap, CIJ has just published *Reporting on ‘Race’ &
Ethnicity: A Handbook for Malaysian Journalists* . This handbook comes at
such a timely juncture. It collates the ethical dilemmas and best practices
for reporting ethnicity culled from journalists who attended a series of
workshops conducted throughout Malaysia in early 2011, as well as available
material on the issue. To “launch” the handbook, CIJ will be conducting a
public forum to explore these challenges and more. Here are the details:

When: Thursday June 30

Where: Hang Jebat on Level 6, Le Meridien KL Sentral, 2 Jln Stesen Sentral.

Time: 8pm-10pm

Panelists: V. Anbalagan (NUJ General Secretary), Fathi Aris Omar (senior
journalist) and Dr Carmen Nge (academic and ethnicity trainer)

There will be an open discussion at the end, before supper is served.

For purposes of planning, please e-mail cijmalaysia@ gmail.com or call
03.4023.0772 during office hours to register your attendance. We look
forward to seeing you there!

Best wishes,

Centre for Independent Journalism Malaysia

Location Map

View Larger Map

Mariam Mokhtar and the Ugly Chinaman

I often enjoyed Mariam Moktar's writings as I consider she one of the more enlighted Malays who can see an issue from other's point of views. However this latest article of hers, The Ugly Chinaman I have to confess, irritated me to some extent, but not because I disagree with some of the points she raised. While I agree with Mariam about Chinaman's habit of spitting, more Chinaman don't spit in public than those who does plus some of other races spit in public too. Mariam also painted a picture of dishonest Chinaman businessmen, but don't she knows that there are many ethical Chinaman businessmen who consider their words as their bonds?

More. She wrote like all Chinaman are inconsiderate only acting when it is in their interest. She thus implied others like Malays, for example, often perform acts without thinking about gains for self. On this in general I would agree with her as from my experience during the period of riding a motorcycle, I have noticed usually the other motorcyclist who stop to help stranded motorcyclist are Malays.

However I would like to point Mariam to this recent article by Tay Tian Yan of the Malaysian Insider - What race are you?. In that article Tay wrote about a Chinaman Ong Kim Koon who stopped to help a Malay couple in an accident and in doing so sustained horrific injuries and died. So I would like to ask Mariam, would Kim Koon only act when it benefits him? So Mariam, are all Chinaman the same?

In short, I was irritated because she painted all Chinese with the same paintbrush without pointing out that there are exceptions. Had she done that, I would agree fully with Mariam's The Ugly Chinaman (article published here with kind permission of Malaysiakini, your source of real news:

---

The Ugly Chinaman

The Ugly Chinaman

Mariam Mokhtar
Apr 25, 11
2:27pm

10 friends can read this story for free

It is heartbreaking for Malaysians to see that the country is more fractured and divided than at any time in its history - Malays against Chinese, east Malaysians against peninsular Malaysians, Muslims against non-Muslims, and so on.
In the aftermath of the Sarawak election, the swing of votes to the opposition alarmed BN, but instead of looking in the mirror at itself, BN has again sought to blame others for its faults.
As is the norm after any election, it is the Chinese which BN conveniently picks on to 'explain' its poor showing in the voting pattern.
Why should we question the loyalty of the Chinese when BN should examine its own leadership, its policies and the way its conducts itself before, during and after an election?
No one is saying that the opposition is perfect or blameless, but BN has had 54 years of governance and many of the problems that we now face, like the poverty of the indigenous population of Sarawak and Sabah, the gap between the rich and the poor, the endemic corruption, the manner in which politicians see politics as a short-cut to riches, the polarisation of the various ethnic groups, are all because of BN's own policies.
Dictators and communists like North Korea, China or the former USSR are obsessed with controlling the press or shutting down newspapers because they do not want the truth to come out. Malaysia is the same.
Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad does not believe that the Chinese have abandoned BN. Even the DAP and MCA are drawn into the bitter wrangle, with its leaders pitting Chinese against Chinese.
The reason for all this Chinese carping and animosity of some Malays towards the Chinese was an article by Zaini Hassan, an editorial executive at Utusan Malaysia. He penned an article after the Sarawak state election and called for a “1Melayu, 1Bumi” movement to counter what he said was Chinese political unity.
It was almost a year ago when the same author blamed the Chinese for the BN receiving less than the expected number of votes from the Chinese community after the Hulu Selangor by-election. His article was “Orang Cina Malaysia, apa lagi yang anda mahu?(Chinese of Malaysia, what more do you want?)
Utusan, the Umno mouthpiece, reasoned that it was the Chinese which caused BN's share of the popular votes in Sarawak to slip from 63% to 55%, completely ignoring the fact that it wasn't only the Chinese that had rejected BN, but more indigenous voters including Malays, had also crossed over from BN to the opposition camp.
Questioning Chinese 'gratitude'
Perhaps we can examine why Utusan and Zaini feels it necessary to question Chinese 'gratitude' and loyalties.
Many have heard of the Ugly American or the Ugly Japanese. Whenever Zaini writes articles which are critical of the Chinese, he may be referring to the Ugly Chinaman which Bo Yang, a Chinese writer refers to in his book, 'The Ugly Chinaman and the Crisis of Chinese Culture'.
Not everyone is an angel and Malaysia is not short of the Ugly Malay either.
Nevertheless there are many facets of Ugly Chinese culture that Malaysians of all races say are typical of the Chinese. They say that spitting, talking loudly in public, bragging, their corrupting or corruptible influence, being secretive or tight-lipped especially with information, are all cultural traits which hail from the distant feudal past.
Another feature that is commonly mentioned is “dishonesty” and this is mostly to do with business dealings. The Ugly Chinaman does not do anything if he does not gain from the transaction. This means that the “trust” factor is questionable, for without trust, neither can there be honesty and truth. Utimately, these factors all have long-term implications in business.
There is also the obsession with money and so we have “No money, no talk”, or the other scourge associated with gambling.
All cultures, be it Malay, Chinese, Indian or western, have some good and some evil in them. Perhaps, Zaini is just concentrating on all that is bad about the Chinese. Of course, that would not be a fair synopsis of the Chinese character. But who said politics is a fair undertaking?
In addition to the spitting and being loud in public, the bad manners in the shops, and the rude, pushy behaviour, most (but not all) Chinese are apt to confuse patriotism and nationalism - most Chinese (especially the older Chinese) do not agree with other Chinese speaking ill of other Chinese. This clannish behaviour is very strong in the culture and is considered part of their “roots”.
Ethics inside the house, selfishness out of it
The Chinese kinship equates to being concerned with ethics inside the house, but reverting to selfishness, once out of it. This in stark contrast to the western culture where people care about people outside the house but are very cold towards their family.
No one is trying to defend the racist rants of Zaini or Utusan, but like the Ugly Malay, the Ugly Chinese could, with better education from schools and the outside world, try to be more considerate about people around them and be aware of their surroundings.
If the Chinese abandoned the Ugly Chinaman image, the ordinary Malaysian, especially the Malay, will find it difficult to accept what racists likes Zaini, or other extremists, have to say about the Chinese.
We want future generations to view Malaysia as a united country - no racism, discrimination, and selfishness. Only then will we be more objective, more open-minded, more advanced, more willing to accept criticisms and different points of views.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In 'real-speak', this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.

Perkasa using unethical recruitment (and who is providing financial support?

Perkasa has hit upon an unethical method of recruiting members from among the youth and they seem to have the both the support of the authorities as well as finance.

At their so called “Malaysian Woodstock”, visitors are encouraged to apply for membership of MUSC Motorsports, but what the applicants are unaware of is that that includes an automatic application for membership of Perkasa.

Further, the cost for organizing the event is said to be substantial. So who is financing them?

Abdul Sulaiman (PUTRA) solution to the Malay Problem

AB Sulaiman deemed a liberal Malay says the Malay problem is the Malaysia Problem. To solve Malaysia's problems, the Malay problem had to be solved. And what is his prescription for the Malay problem?

1. Secularization of the Malay mind
2. Restoration of basic human rights to the peoples of Malaysia

Will that ever happen? Religion is not subject to rational thinking and it is mostly take it or leave it. The current ruling regime will never restore basic human rights willingly. Will it happen in Malaysia. Let's hope that at least a significant portion of the Malay population will give what AB Sulaiman some serious thoughts.

Article below courtesy of Malaysiakini: Malay problem root of nation's problem:

Malay problem root of nation's problemAB Sulaiman

COMMENT About a year and a bit ago, the Old Boys' Association of the Royal Military College otherwise known as 'Old Putras' organised an evening of discourse.
The forum noted that the Malaysian people were fragmented, the economy at a virtual standstill, and democracy eroded by dictatorship, returning feudalism, and theocracy. Those present wanted to analyse the degeneration and like good citizens we were to come up with some solutions.

It was then that one speaker, Mohd Dahan if I remember correctly, who stood up to say, “Solve the Malay problem, and you solve the country's problem.” Now we are in the first month of the second decade of the 21st century, the ring of truth in his statement still prevails.

But at this time, 53 years after independence and 10 years to becoming a high-income country, it appears we are still embedded deep in a long list of unsolved national problems, with many getting worse than before.

Here are but some of them: A restive and fragmented population, high migration rate, poor rate of growth, broken public institutions like education and the judiciary, high crime rate, degenerating personal and public morality, price increases, inflation, and a generally authoritative, intimidating and arrogant government. Our comparative indices with other countries like in areas of transparency, human rights, education, are all on the downward swing.

And corruption, the perennial social cancer, taking place at the highest possible level, involving amounts that would make Carlos Slim (currently the richest man in the world according to Forbes) and Bill Gates almost poor by comparison.

Hope lies eternal, so let's see whether we can try to solve at least some of the national problems, by first solving some Malay problems, for this coming year.

But first, what exactly is the 'Malay problem'?

Unable to break the inertia

My observation of this matter stemmed from the collective Malay lack of knowledge and of modern technical skills and thereby negatively reflected in the country's wealth distribution scenario.

In 1957 the record books indicated that Malay economic involvement was no more than at a paltry 2 percent. This is not good at all as viewed and agreed on by the founding fathers and every meaningful citizen of whatever ethnic background.

Since then the Malays have been given all opportunities to be more fruitfully involved in the country's economic activities. In 1970, a name was given to this ground-breaking exercise known as social engineering under the New Economic Policy.

Lavishly-funded government policies and programmes were introduced to even the playing field for Malay incursion into the national economy.

But try as they might, the Malays could not manage to break the inertia and achieve any planning targets. (Please spare me the need to repeat even some of the details for they have been pretty well and regularly documented by proponents, supporters and critics alike.)

This was to me the first time the Malay problem surfaced. It's that the perception that Malay economic backwardness (and 'problem') is solely economic in its cause and could largely be solved under the NEP.

In fact its architect, Abdul Razak Hussein (right), asked for 20 years for the project implementation; surely thinking that this period was enough to see the Malay through.

Sadly, history has indicated there has been a fundamental flaw in this presumption. In reality, his economic ineptitude being one, but far more is his psychological or mental deficiency.

Psychological or mental? Yes. He has this innate inability to realise that upon independence the country was morphing progressively into a new era: From old to new, rural to urban, agrarian to manufacturing, ancient to modern. From a life aligned with nature and the natural featured by myth, magic, miracle and mystery, to one surrounded and led by technical principles and science. It was an era of change.

Change requires a few mental subtleties. First there must be awareness or consciousness of the advent of change, and second, it requires a willingness to adapt to it. Without these two, any change is but a natural progression. The mind must therefore be equipped to be conscious and be aware of change. This is what the Malay did not have.

Ketuanan Melayu

History tells us that the Malay has not been able to produce the thinking faculty to recognise the coming of change to begin with. Hardly surprising therefore for him to show an inability to adapt at the appropriate time. He has no ability to accept and adapt to change.

So this is to me the root of the 'Malay problem'.

This inability to change again to me reflects the inner features and characteristics of Malay thinking:

i) It is ethnocentric: it believes in the superiority of its own type over all other types.

ii) It is non-scientific: it believes in not yet ascertained truth and in non-provable ones.

iii) It is quick in denial.

iv) It is not aware of its mistakes.

They would produce the following end-product or behaviour patterns:

v) The Malay is a superior race.

vi) Islam is the one and only religion that gets approval from God Almighty.

vii) These are irrefutable truths.

viii) Anyone denying the above is a traitor to the race and an apostate to religion.

Items (i) to (iv) indicate that the Malay is racially conscious and highly religion bound. Items (v) to (viii) reveal his racism and religious tendencies. They in turn at least partially explain the favourite Malay ideology 'untuk agama, bangsa dan negara'.

They have also been personified by the ketuanan Melayu entity, and giving rise to the Perkasa movement.

Doubters to this contention might wish to counter check: Are ketuanan Melayu and Perkasa not ethnocentric? They are for championing 'Malay rights' when the constitution says it's only Malay 'special privileges'.

They are also non-scientific for championing Islam, or at least the government-approved version of Islam: Sunni sect, Imam Shafie line, and until recently, Islam Hadhari variety.

Who then are ketuanan Melayu members? To me, the ketuanan Melayu entity comprises those who generally harbour the eight features just mentioned above. As individuals they are:

i) The ruling party members, especially Umno leaders;

ii) The civil servants running the government machinery;

iii) The officers and personnel running government agencies like the police, military, customs, immigration, etc.;

iv) The ulama whose job is to protect and propagate Islam;

v) Political chiefs aspiring to get to the top of the party ladder.

It's eerie to think the obvious - that this list would net almost the entire educated, urban, middle class, Malay population. And they are the embodiment of the Malay problem!

In other words, the root, core, essence of the Malay problem is the Malay collective culture!

Shameful performance

How has this collective culture been performing as the top leaders and managers of the country? Well, unless I am grossly wrong, you can't create something good out of something rotten. Ketuanan Melayu (i.e. racism and religious fundamentalism) to me is something definitely rotten. So Malay supremacy has been able to create in the last decade or so the following:

a) Bending the laws to suit Malay interests. In this case the constitution has been amended a record 40 times (with 650 individual amendments) since 1957. Compare this with the US that has amended its constitution about 27 times since its founding. Or, Singapore, four times. Racism is institutionalised in this country!

b) Breaking the thin line between Syariah and civil laws. The supremacy of the constitution has been eroded.

c. Breaking down of institutions like the check and balance features of democratic governance. Democracy is all but dead. Have the periodic general elections, and that's it, democracy is observed. Whatever happens in between is another matter altogether.

d) The flagrant use of lies, deceit, hooliganism on the part of the ruling elite against its own people. There is this massive breaking down of individual and public morality.

There are countless thousands of others.

We come back to Dahan's wisdom. Now that we have re-acquainted ourselves with the Malay problem, how do we go about solving it?

This is no easy task for the obstacles are enormous. On the one side we have a people under the ketuanan Melayu ambit digging deep into the fortress of race and religion and not at all ashamed to use the political power available at its disposal. To the Malay, the saying that the ends justify the means is enshrined in gold.

The government and ketuanan Melayu are not about to let go easily. They are deep in the quagmire of lies, deceit, corruption, even sin and criminality. Only by them staying in power will they be able to prevent the law from taking its course.

On the other side we have the 21st century world demanding a 21st century open and flexible mind. Some of them are: Technical ability, professionalism, openness, honesty, fairness, justice, morality, transparency, responsibility, accountability and integrity.

Solutions

Whatever programme we have to solve the Malay problem, two elements must be present: The secularisation of the Malay mind and the restoration of basic human rights to the peoples of Malaysia.

It has to be repeated that it won't be easy.

But hope against hope, the government must restore power to the people; the ulama must come to terms with universal realities. Civil servants too should reorient their thinking to serve the people rather than the politicians.

And the people, the average Malay down the road, must come to realise that the world is not an oyster, that individualism is the key to any personal or national development.

How can all these be achieved? Thinking influences behaviour - the ketuanan Melayu Malay mind must change from its ethnocentricity and non-scientific features to one of openness, fairness, rationality and respect for other men.

Develop the sense of the individual in him. Secularise Malay thinking. Open his closed mind. Go for secular education. Teach philosophy in schools. Do not teach children about religion until they are able to think for themselves.

Do anything to make the Malay more receptive for change. Then perhaps we can begin to solve the Malay problem, in 2011 and onwards.

AB SULAIMAN is an observer of human traits and foibles, especially within the context of religion and culture. As a liberal, he marvels at the way orthodoxy fights to maintain its credibility in a devilishly fast-changing world. He hopes to provide some understanding to the issues at hand and wherever possible, suggest some solutions. He holds a Bachelor in Social Sciences (Leicester, UK) and a Diploma in Public Administration, Universiti Malaya.

Article 153 - Islam, Muslims, bumiputeras, non-Muslims

Aizuddin Danian argued that Article 153 of the Malaysia Constitution that provides special privilages to bumiputers creates unfairness and is unislamic. I would believe so. However, as a non-Muslim and a non-bumiputera, what I am keenly interested in is whether similar discriminations and unfairness against non-Muslims in an Islamic state exist. There is some preliminary discussion of that issue in my earlier post on Should non-Muslims in Malaysia have a say regarding Malaysia becoming an Islamic state? at a time when I may not have an in-depth understanding of the issue yet. However, let us see what Aizuddin regarding bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras. Check back later to see if there is any further development:

Article 153 -- is it un-Islamic?
By Aizuddin Danian on September 20, 2010 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Share |

Malaysia's official religion, according to Article 3 of its Constitution, is Islam. That doesn't make Malaysia a Muslim nation; there is a find line between a theological state and a secular one. We've yet to make that cross over.

Having said this, it came to mind whether there are any articles in our beloved Constitution that are un-Islamic, in particular Article 153.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, but subject to the provisions of Article 40 and of this Article, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall exercise his functions under this Constitution and federal law in such manner as may be necessary to safeguard the special provision of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and to ensure the reservation for Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak of such proportion as he may deem reasonable of positions in the public service (other than the public service of a State) and of scholarships, exhibitions and other similar educational or training privileges or special facilities given or accorded by the Federal Government and, when any permit or licence for the operation of any trade or business is required by federal law, then, subject to the provisions of that law and this Article, of such permits and licences.

When you think about a Muslim Government in current times, you have to compare it against the Muslim Government of the Prophet Muhammad's time, namely his administration of Muslims and non-Muslims while he was alive.

Muslims are told to take the Prophet as an example (his sunnah); while the Holy Quran often speaks in parables, the actions of the Prophet are how Muslims for all time should interpret as manifestations of what the Holy Quran prescribes in practice. For example, the Holy Quran mentions that Muslims must pray, but it doesn't teach us how to pray. The Prophet's daily prayers are the sample of how these prayers should be performed.

What about the Prophet's political sunnah?

The basis i'm dealing from is the social contract the Prophet signed and ratified with the people of Medina called, the "Medinah Charter". Some say that the Charter is one of the first of its kind, the first ever written state constitution.

The document itself, signed in 622, is an excellent socio-political compromise. The Prophet Muhammad had to get away from the religious persecution of Mecca, and the people of Medina, due to conflict between the native communities of Khazraj and Aws, needed a peace-maker. It was a match literally made in heaven -- the Prophet brought Islam and peace to the Khazraj and Aws by being the one person both sides could trust, and the Prophet was provided a base from which Islam could grow and flourish in the region.

There are key articles in the Charter that can be, taken into context, contradictory to the Constitution of Malaysia, particularly Article 153 which promises a "special position" to the indigenous Malays (Bumiputeras).

Therefore, the thesis is: Malaysia is a Muslim nation. However, its constitution is not in accordance to the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad. Does that make the Malaysian constitution (parts of it) un-Islamic?
Article 16 of the Medina Charter:

Those Jews who follow the Believers will be helped and will be treated with equality.

Article 17:

No Jew will be wronged for being a Jew.

Article 19:

The peace of the Believers (of the State of Madinah) cannot be divided. (it is either peace or war for all. It cannot be that a part of the population is at war with the outsiders and a part is at peace).

Article 30:

The Jews of Bani Awf will be treated as one community with the Believers. The Jews have their religion. This will also apply to their freedmen. The exception will be those who act unjustly and sinfully. By so doing they wrong themselves and their families.

The example in this document set by the Prophet is molded on several principles:

Loyalty will be rewarded, treachery will be punished.
The minorities of the community (the Jews) are equal in rights to the majority from the point of view of the State.
Those that need help will be given help, regardless of their belief.

Let's transplant these principles into our locality:

Loyalty will be rewarded -- the modern day equivalent is citizenship and nationality. If you profess to be a Malaysian, that means you are loyal to your country. No distinction is made to your ethnicity, race or origin. If you are loyal (i.e. a citizen), then you will rewarded by the State. In 622, "protection" was the reward. In 2010, "equal opportunity" should be the reward -- its the only real protection we have against the ills of socio-economic hardship.

The minorities have equal rights to the majority -- this is where the Prophet Muhammad was at least 6 centuries ahead of his time; even the venerated Magna Carta does not protect the rights of all its people equally. If people like Ibrahim Ali and the ultra Malays have their way, then the Prophet Muhammad will be at least 1,500 years ahead of us.

Those in need will be helped, regardless of their belief -- race is the new religion. In 622, the Prophet laid the framework for religious equality: the State will help you if you are in need (and if you are loyal), the State will be "blind" to your religion when dispensing this aid. Fast forward to the 21st Century, and at least where Malaysia is concerned, is seems that there are many in our society who believe that "help" should be dispensed based on your race. If you're a Bumiputera, then "more" help should be made available to you.

The crux of the argument is that the resources of the country will always be limited. To put it simply, there will always be only 100 cows to give away. While it may make sense to give a guarantee that 60% of the population will always have preference to 30 of those cows, this creates a vacuum where the herd has effectively become much smaller: after the "majority tax" the nation only really has 70 cows left to give away.

Considering the fact that these 70 cows need to be distributed evenly, its very possible that they won't be enough to feed everyone. What do you say to the starving people who couldn't get one of the 70 cows? Sorry, we know you're in need, but we've already reserved those 30 other cows, you can't have them (we'll give them to that other fellow instead, who may not need the cow to begin with but happens to be part of the privileged group).

The Prophet Muhammad was a pretty smart man. He knew that the Muslims needed the Jews, Christians and idol worshipers of Medina, just as much as they needed his unique peacekeeping talents.

The Malays of Malaysia need the Chinese, Indians and others, and vice versa. Its a symbiotic relation that only works when we're all equally vested and equally rewarded. While the early years of statehood required Article 153 (just like we required the Reid Commission to write our Constitution for us), i think the time has come that we use our own words to determine our own fate.

The sunnah of the prophet has shown us that equality and fairplay are the basic twin peaks of nation building. While i won't go so far as to say the likes of Article 153 in the Malaysian Constitution, PERKASA and the ultra Malay are un-Islamic for ignoring the sunnah of the Prophet, sometimes you just have to realize that the proof is in the pudding.

Related articles
Ibrahim Ali - intellectually bankrupt (aizuddindanian.com)
Am i racist? (aizuddindanian.com)
The Gini co-efficient is only half the story for Malaysia (aizuddindanian.com)
This is the sort of thing that inflames Muslims (aizuddindanian.com)

Categories: Perspectives
Tags: article 153, malaysia, racism
1 Comments
By timothy au on September 20, 2010 6:21 PM
Prophet Muhammad is an honorable man, those from perkasa and barisan national can't even be compare to His Highness shit!shit!shit!

Source: Article 153 -- is it un-Islamic?

Malaysian non-Muslims Ask, Will We Ever Belong?

An article in The Malaysian Insider, A ‘browning’ of Islam in America? — C.M. Naim referred to another article in the New York Times American Muslims Ask, Will We Ever Belong? which in turned inspired this post - Will we (non-Malays and non-Muslims Malaysians) ever belong?

At a talk by Haris Ibrahim at Church of Divine Mercy, What does it mean to be a Malaysian, the audience were asked a question that goes something like this: "Would you accept being second class citizen?"

There were various responses and one of them was "for a limited period yes but not forever" which promted Haris to ask why?

Well here is the answer. Malaya and subsequently Malaysia a few decades ago had a population which had a large majority Malays (and orang asli and then Sarawak natives) which were poor and not well represented in the middle class and the professional classes.

A country with a large section of population in poverty struggling hard just to survive will not be a stable community and any reasonable person would support some kind of affirmative action to lift them up. But is such efforts morphed into "ketuanan Melayu" or Malay Supremacy plus end up extrapolated to infinity (forever), which would willingly accept for it would extend into their descendents right down till eternity.

So the question, will we the non-Malays and non-Muslim ever belong?

Namewee's Siapa bikin Malaysia Kaya

Here is Namewee's rebuttal to Siti Inshah Mansor the racist Headmistress who asked Chinese to go back to China and referred to Indians as dogs:



You may also wants to read Namewee, O Namewee, when will you ever learn? by Lim Sue Goan.

Ibrahim Ali Perkasa Sarawak leave Malaysia

Since Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa and other racists like him is so fond of telling other to leave Malaysia, why not Ibrahim Ali also ask SARAWAK the state, to leave the Federation of Malaysia since Sarawak was "not grateful" (wonder grateful for what? For robbing Sarawakians of timber and oil and only return a paltry percentage? For disturbing their racial harmony? etc. etc.) Read what one commentator said at Malaysiakini: Bribery no longer work for BN

Kumara Ibrahim: Ibrahim Ali, please state that the Sarawakians are ungrateful and Sarawak should get out of Malaysia, let this be seconded by Dr Mahathir Mohamad. With Perkasa's panel of brilliant economic and financial strategists, coupled with Mahathir's know-how, we do not need Sarawak's petrol money.

Ibrahim Ali Perkasa gambling company shares

Ibrahim Ali, the king frog who started PERKASA was reported to own shares of a gambling company Ascot Sports company together with Vincent Tan. If true, it brings into question his stature as a Malay rights and Islam activist for Muslims gambling is haram (forbidden) to Muslims.

According to Malaysiakini: PKR MP: 'Malay warrior' Ibrahim Ali owns shares in gambling company, Ibrahim Ali simply shrug his shoulders when this matter was brought up at the Parliament during the debate on the Royal Address

Nasir Safar: Tay Tian Yan's grandma did not come to Malaysia to sell her body

Nasir Safar said Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese women came to Malaysia to sell their bodies. Does he know that to insult one's mother or grandmother is one of the biggest insult especially to the Chinese? What is he trying to do? Trying to arouse the Chinese to take up arms?

Fortunately Malaysians now are more matured. If it is up to us moderate Malaysians, May 13 will not recur unless it is started by those UMNO goons.

Here is a nice piece from Sin Chew's Tay Tian Yan about how her grandma came to Malaya now Malaysia and not only made good for herself as well as her descendents, but helped numerous Malays neighbours:

Here is what she wrote:

In any culture, it is a big taboo to insult a person's mother.

You can call people any name you like, and perhaps, a large-minded person will just see you off as a jerk or a fool, and will not make a big fuss over it.

But in no way can you ever insult his mother, or his grandmother.

And this is particularly serious in the Chinese culture.

Both mum and granny are sacred beings not to be encroached upon or desecrated.

Nasir Safar said Chinese women came to Malaysia to sell their bodies (jual tubuh).

You have blasphemed the mothers and grandmothers of some six million Chinese Malaysians, Nasir.

Our grannies did NOT come here to sell their bodies!

With their pure souls, youthfulness and vitality, they established their homes here and had made significant contributions towards nation-building.

What would become of this country if not for these grannies?

Including my own grandma, Madam Liu Qian, a person I respect the most in my entire life.

She was a foot-bound woman from Mainland China. When my grandpa came to Malaya, she stayed back at the ancestral village in Fujian province to take care of my father.

When the life of my grandpa became more stable later, he went back to China in order to bring her here along with my father.

I'm here to tell you that my granny, along with the grannies of other six million Chinese Malaysians, sailed across the oceans here not to sell their bodies!

With her bound feet, granny came here to support a family. And when the Japanese troops rolled over Malaya, she led the family to safety.

When the situation became more stable later, she negotiated with the Japs to get a licence to do business, and had been able to expand her business when the Brits returned.

She treated her Malay and Indian neighbours as her own compatriots, and would prepare a whole stack of angpaos on the first day of every Chinese New Year to distribute to the Malay and Indian kids queuing up in front of our house.

She leased out a small plot of land for a Chinese primary school, but had not in decades asked for the return of the land.

Every year on 31 August, she would try to find a national flag and hang it up high on a very long pole in front of our house.

She landed on Malaya, and treated this place her own country.

She had not had another home or country since.

When she passed away, many Malay makcik came to our house and sobbed over her passing.

With her unparalleled wisdom, hard work, morality and determination, she spent her entire life in a very respectful manner.

No one can ever insult her and accuse that she had come here to sell her body!

My granny, like the grannies of many other people, was a truly great woman.

From Malaya to Malaysia, they were scattered in every family and every corner of this country.

From the rubber-tapping workers in the estates, to the excavators in the tin mines, they were the most hardworking and exceptional women anywhere in the world.

During those darkest years, they displayed the most glorious side of humanity.

They sacrificed their youths and lives, so that you and I, along with our homes and nation, can come into being.

Even though they might no longer be around today, they still live deep inside our hearts, and support us morally.

Not only the country's laws will come after you, Nasir, you still owe our grannies a sincere apology. (By TAY TIAN YAN/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily

Source: Sin Chew: Granny was not here to sell her body

Najib's aide to resign over 'racist' remarks

Just look at how low the credibility of Najib and gang. Just read the comments left at this Malaysiakini article: Najib's aide to resign over racist remarks:

1 - 25 of 42 comments

by DPG - 36 minutes ago
He must have been another product of BTN. After decades of bainwashing by BTN, this is second nature to him, i.e. calling non-Malays as pendatangs, and this time it's even worse, accusing the Chinese here of prostituting themselves. But on second thoughts, he was referring to MCA and Gerakan who have selling their souls and bodies to UMNO. Have we ever heard of MCA and Gerakan protesting against UMNO's racist policies, apartheid? No, these two component parties allowed UMNO to do as it wished and even allowed UMNO run wild in its discriminatory and racist policies. Asking Najib to take action against him? Ha, remember, BTN is under the PM's department and BTN still exists to run amok with its racist rantings! 1Malaysia!! Who is going to believe you, Najib.

by Z - 37 minutes ago
Najib's special officer Nasir Safar is a disgrace. It is sickening that a person holding public office in the PM's department can stoop so low and bloody hell got the guts to say that the Indians are beggars and chinese women came for flesh trades in public event. It shows the rotten state affairs in the PM's office and events behind the scene. It is a sign of institutionliazed racism. Are we too late? I am sick with this. The least the PM can do is to sack him and charge him under sedition.

by NV - 40 minutes ago
Nasir is an alien who is a barbarian of highest order. He is not only uncivilised but also failed tremendously as a Malaysian. As such his citizenship should be revoked and let him live in this country as beggar. In fact he should be classified as human being of lowest order.

by J - 40 minutes ago
He will resign? Najib, u should be the one saying sorry man...Nasir should BE SACKED!! not resign..resign means he meant what he say but not admitting fault. Damm insulting...chinese come here 'jual tubuh'? if I m u, i take a gun and shoot my own head right now man ...if chinese or indians say this???die lo, the so called origin malaysians go kuku...wanna show the 'keris' and all those shits lo............what a crap

by n - 50 minutes ago
He should be detained for sedition under the ISA...so what if he resign ? He can afford it.

by T - 50 minutes ago
People have been put in ISA and charged under the sedition act for less. Can we have the video on his presentation on YouTube so that we can decide for ourselves what Najib's 1Malaysia is all about?

by cc - 51 minutes ago
GUYS, I URGED TO MAKE MASSIVE POLICE REPORT. SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM.

by NLMX - 51 minutes ago
"Nasir never intended to make any derogatory remarks." Yeah, right. We may be beggars and selling our bodies but at least we have more honor than the UMNO fascists.

by DSK - 56 minutes ago
Nasir will be laughing his way all the way to the bank,he will be soon appointed as some CEO of some GLC ,so my Indian brethren plz dont let Najib and Umno fool you.This is just a drama to hoodwink the Indians because they know the Indians are very soft at heart and easily forgive plus they also know how the DAP govt in Penang and the PKR govt in Selangor are taking the Indians for a ride using their mandores like Ramasamy n Xavier by throwing smaller sized peanuts than those thrown by UMNO for 52 yrs at the poor indians.

by r - an hour ago
just open your eyes people, the PM's aide is not even on board on the 1malaysia concept. not only that he is against the concept of Malaysian. what the fish does he means they are coming from those days to now? and chinese women come to sell their bodies, you mean before that no one was selling their bodies??? Now my friend, your boss is going to China and India to look for business and asking them to come and invest in Malaysia. this is my last straw, i'll do all I can to campaign for PR.

by YSH - an hour ago
There are too many racists in the government. To begin with, we demand that the continued appointment of all BTN instructors be reviewed and reassessed to wipe out all the racists NOW.

by DSK - an hour ago
My friends esp the malaysian indians,plz for god's sake dont buy this lie.This appears to me as pre-planned.Means Najib,tells him to humiliate the Indians n Chinese,knowing very well these 2 communities will protest then he will come in n pecat him and look like a true leader in the eyes of the indians whose support he is trying very hard to win back as Najib knows the chinese have abandoned him.Najib also is aware of the facts that the Indians can be king makers in a couple of constituencies held by PR now.This is the prize PR gonna pay for their arrogance and for alienating the honest Ponnusamy brothers who have lost their careers, family love n freedom.My sincere advise to my Malaysian indian brethren,I know many of us feel being shortchanged by PR who failed to keep up their pre election promises esp the way they treated the KG Buah Pala folks,let god handle that sin they committed.But plz dont vote for UMNO or MIC,its better u dont vote at all for anyone as both sides dont deserve

by M - an hour ago
Come on Rakayat.You cannot be so easily fooled by the sandiwara played for you to gain back non Malay votes. That Nasir guy will be amply rewarded for being made a scape goat. No doubts about it

by L - an hour ago
Nasir Safar, the special officer to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, to resign? Over alleged degoratory remarks made against alleged "pendatangs"? It is either he did or he did not! Remarks heard by many and yet the PM's office talks about "alleged" remarks? And this Nasir is willing to apologise for these "alleged" remarks? How noble. Should his boss be holding himself responsible next?

by Ls - an hour ago
Great, another racist UMNO moron comes out of his closet, spewing UMNO excreta that it is the other races which are to be blamed for UMNO's woes, electoral or simply for their lack of class and quality. I just hope the UMNO agents who masquerade as state security apparatus arrest the right people this time for sedition or breach of internal security. The last racist UMNO moron called Ahmad Ismail who did that in Penang caused a reporter to be detained under ISA after the Malaysian police applied their brains to the situation.

by MR - 2 hours ago
I believe there are alway some Nasir Safar among us. Racist in nature and given slightess opportunity will speak his mind. This country cannot afford to have people like Nasir Safar in high places regardless of their race and religion. Therefore it is important for our government to make it illegal to be racist. Such people should be condemned otherwise this country will never be peaceful. Look at US, there are still racist around. But look what the politicians did. When someone uttet racist statement which is not eveyn 10% of those spoken by Nasir Safar, the whole country including the politicians and media will condemn that person. Over in Malaysia, it is the reverse. It was the politicians and media who instigate racial disharmony. When are we going to learn that we need each other to move forward.

by lchc - 2 hours ago
Wow... one just don't become a special officer to PM by just waltzing into the PM's office and get the job. It has to come with strong recommendation or some personal linkages with some big guns including PM himself. I am just dying to know what area of specialty was he in charge among the many special officers and advisers in PM's office. Being a highly paid job, I am sure he wasn't there just to carry PM's briefcase or to tell PM the time of day.

by RR - 2 hours ago
I don't think action that has been taken against Dato Nasir is adequate, considering his utter disregard of the contribution Chinese and Indian for the country.He was bombarding the chinese and Indians with derogatory words such as 'pendatang,beggars,pedagang tubuh etc.He has gut to say that he will revoke the citizenship of the people who demand too much.It is only proper he is charged for 'sedition' and nothing less.If the PM wants the rakyat to believe his 1 Malaysia concept, then this is the only thing for him to do.

by L - 2 hours ago
Will he be charged for sedition, Hishamuddin? Resigning must not save him from the long arms of law. He has to face the music. UMNO men have been getting away with seditious statements while the opposition were simply charged or investigated for simple words like asking the police to cease investigation on so and so.

by iy - 2 hours ago
test

by M - 2 hours ago
charge him for seditious if you really a leader of 1Malaysia.

by n - 2 hours ago
Are you resigning from the entire post you helding,including your ADUN?YOU are not fit to be public servant.RACIST!

by UKP - 2 hours ago
If he spoke as alleged, this could be the kind of discussion that is carried out in the PM's office and he was just a mere mouthpiece, who "sort of of unwittingly spoke out of line". If this is not official speak , how then would a mere aide mouth such rubbish and change history.... Resignation is not the answer. ACTION as befits others in the same boat should be meted out, fair and square with no excuses forthcoming. It will seem more sincere if this is spearheaded by our PM, not demanded by others. I hope I can count on our esteemed and fair PM to do what is fair and just in keeping with his 1Malaysia slogan. OR is it just a catchword to be used only for elections...By you changing history, History cannot be changed. It remains as always, just that some of you are in denial.

by T1M - 2 hours ago
he can revoke indian and Chinese citizenship and give it to indonesian.

by AT - 2 hours ago
What utter rubish is the unintentional remark. A racist is a racist. The remarks is so seditious especially revoking CITIZENSHIP STATUS that he has to be charged under the ISA LAW. Double Standard expected from UMNO/BN. If any oppositiopn or ordinary peiople says the same remarks they will be detained under the ISA. What has M done and are t.... CA and MIC, Gerakan (KTK)
==============================

by Ls - 2 hours ago
Great, another racist UMNO moron comes out of his closet, spewing UMNO excreta that it is the other races which are to be blamed for UMNO's woes, electoral or simply for their lack of class and quality. I just hope the UMNO agents who masquerade as state security apparatus arrest the right people this time for sedition or breach of internal security. The last racist UMNO moron called Ahmad Ismail who did that in Penang caused a reporter to be detained under ISA after the Malaysian police applied their brains to the situation.

by MR - 2 hours ago
I believe there are alway some Nasir Safar among us. Racist in nature and given slightess opportunity will speak his mind. This country cannot afford to have people like Nasir Safar in high places regardless of their race and religion. Therefore it is important for our government to make it illegal to be racist. Such people should be condemned otherwise this country will never be peaceful. Look at US, there are still racist around. But look what the politicians did. When someone uttet racist statement which is not eveyn 10% of those spoken by Nasir Safar, the whole country including the politicians and media will condemn that person. Over in Malaysia, it is the reverse. It was the politicians and media who instigate racial disharmony. When are we going to learn that we need each other to move forward.

by lcc - 2 hours ago
Wow... one just don't become a special officer to PM by just waltzing into the PM's office and get the job. It has to come with strong recommendation or some personal linkages with some big guns including PM himself. I am just dying to know what area of specialty was he in charge among the many special officers and advisers in PM's office. Being a highly paid job, I am sure he wasn't there just to carry PM's briefcase or to tell PM the time of day.

by Raghavan Raman - 2 hours ago
I don't think action that has been taken against Dato Nasir is adequate, considering his utter disregard of the contribution Chinese and Indian for the country.He was bombarding the chinese and Indians with derogatory words such as 'pendatang,beggars,pedagang tubuh etc.He has gut to say that he will revoke the citizenship of the people who demand too much.It is only proper he is charged for 'sedition' and nothing less.If the PM wants the rakyat to believe his 1 Malaysia concept, then this is the only thing for him to do.

by Louis - 2 hours ago
Will he be charged for sedition, Hishamuddin? Resigning must not save him from the long arms of law. He has to face the music. UMNO men have been getting away with seditious statements while the opposition were simply charged or investigated for simple words like asking the police to cease investigation on so and so.

by iy - 2 hours ago
test

by M - 2 hours ago
charge him for seditious if you really a leader of 1Malaysia.

by n - 2 hours ago
Are you resigning from the entire post you helding,including your ADUN?YOU are not fit to be public servant.RACIST!

by UKP - 2 hours ago
If he spoke as alleged, this could be the kind of discussion that is carried out in the PM's office and he was just a mere mouthpiece, who "sort of of unwittingly spoke out of line". If this is not official speak , how then would a mere aide mouth such rubbish and change history.... Resignation is not the answer. ACTION as befits others in the same boat should be meted out, fair and square with no excuses forthcoming. It will seem more sincere if this is spearheaded by our PM, not demanded by others. I hope I can count on our esteemed and fair PM to do what is fair and just in keeping with his 1Malaysia slogan. OR is it just a catchword to be used only for elections...By you changing history, History cannot be changed. It remains as always, just that some of you are in denial.

by T1M - 2 hours ago
he can revoke indian and Chinese citizenship and give it to indonesian.

by AT - 2 hours ago
What utter rubish is the unintentional remark. A racist is a racist. The remarks is so seditious especially revoking CITIZENSHIP STATUS that he has to be charged under the ISA LAW. Double Standard expected from UMNO/BN. If any oppositiopn or ordinary peiople says the same remarks they will be detained under the ISA. What has MCA and MIC, Gerakan (KTK) done and are they going to press that Nasir be detained under ISA.

by JQ - 2 hours ago
We still have not heard from Ong Tee Keat or Chua Soi Lek or that loser, Liow. All their mothers and mothers' mothers were insulted, yet they keep silent! This is MCA for you! Lapdogs licking the UMNO spit from the floor. And yet, we still have members in MCA taking these insults, swallowing the spittum of UMNO and selling out their mother's dignity.

by js - 2 hours ago
You look at his face, he looks like an orang utan. So what you expect an animal like him, brains at the asshole. He is a keturunan orang utan but call the Chinese and Indians as pendatang. Dei Po Da

by JQ - 2 hours ago
So, after uttering seditious statements, racist bigots like Nasir (and even some suspected of homicide) just have to resign? No ISA? No Sedition Act charges against him? And yet DSAI is facing a 2nd trumped-up charge on sodomy? No need to resign-lah. This is the typical formula of UMNO sh*t-stirring. We the RAKYAT need to sack them, the whole bloody lot of them. It may take 2 years for us to wait patiently but sack them we must at GE13. For some of us this authority and power to sack UMNO and BN lapdogs may come sooner than GE13. For our Perakian brethren, especially our Chinese brethren there, you may have the pleasure far sooner then the rest of us. May the peace of Allah be with you as you make the decision to sack UMNO and BN.

by l - 2 hours ago
Yeah, tomorrow we'll see all the goons from PEKIDA, PERKASA, PROWARIS, PEWARIS, GPMS, GAPEMA and all the other UMNO linked NGO's including the cow-heads demonstrating and supporting this racist to the hilt and demanding that he be reinstated.

by h - 3 hours ago
Saya yang mengikut perintah? product of 1Malaysia's 1BTN?

by LWq - 3 hours ago
"... Nasir never intended to make any derogatory remarks. He spoke at length on the contributions made by all races in developing the country.' Just as I predicted in the earlier post...He bosses will go into denial mode and protect him. If what he said about the Chinese and Indians was not derogatory I don't know what other racist remarks would qualify. He should be punished and not allowed to get off so lightly by merely 'resigning'. What is not revealed is he will be redeployed elsewhere to propagate his bigotry with the tacit blessings of UMNO bigwigs. Just wait and see. UMNO's tactics are predictable.. they have run off innovative dirty tricks when you have so much sh** to cover every now and then.

by TK - 3 hours ago
"... Nasir never intended to make any derogatory remarks. Out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaketh.

by GA - 3 hours ago
PM would probably be offering his special officer a job elsewhere and away from the public eye just to shut his ' seditious ' mouth !

by B - 3 hours ago
Very unbecoming of malays and I would expect more to come.Malays feel threatened,insecure to say the least and have resorted to comments as such.Did they not study moral,civic for a start.They have been too protected by the govt andevery seems to on a plate.Now look!do not even know how to speak in public.At the end of the day they just say they did not mean it.They have made that cut and it seems deliberate to hurt others.1Malaysia is a long way believe me and 1Malaysia is still not clearly spelt.Ask people around what is 1Malaysia.Thrie answer varies and no one can tell which one is correct.Time is runnung out and you will not make this a reality b'cos GE is here.Too many Questions unanswered and esp non malays are feeling very insecure.Why do we have Singapore & Brunei having better economy than us Malaysian.Look at their currency for a start.Also they do not have much land.We have, name it resources-timber,oil,gas,palm-oil,tin,rubber,why are we so poor? DISGUSTED

by r - 3 hours ago
and what were these goons doing when every other leader out there was frothing in the mouth and screaming about ketuanan Melayu all this while??? not even a squeak from these people. There is a whole batallion forming lead by a frog in Perkasa endorsed by your former boss, why the $#$@ are you silent about that. u only jump at small fishes is it.

by w - 3 hours ago
And after his resignation - will he be appointed as an Ambassador or CEO or GLC or will he become private contractor ? Anyway, so much for !Malaysia when your own right hand man doesn't know what is correct and wrong.

by m - 3 hours ago
he may be promoted to some other position later when everything dies down

by l - 3 hours ago
Good riddance to shitty rubbish. Just make sure he does not end up as some ambassador somewhere.

by G - 3 hours ago
this is just the tip of the iceberg, of the many political workers of najibs working out their muscle on the 2 faces of 1malaysia.


by n - 3 hours ago
I was wondering, under what circumstances will the goverment execute the Sedition Act. And under what circumtances will a person be labelled racist?

by KO - 3 hours ago
Now, Nasir Safar has resigned. But the PM has lost face due to this incident. So, I have doubts that this will be the end of the controversy. If the online media continue to report public criticism over Nasir's remarks, they will be blamed for 'misquoting the PM aide' and 'fanning disharmony'.

by SS - 3 hours ago
Resign only? No sedition ? he is the mouthpiece n thinking of 1MALAY BN..he is jus a bloody sacrificial lamb of racist umNO . Just by asking him to resign umNO think that we the rakyat believed that umNO has or is changing. We are no bloody fools..

1 Malaysia big fat joke - racialist remark at 1 Malaysia seminar

Najib Abdul Razak's 1 Malaysia is turning out to be a big fat joke and I think this special officer of Najb, Nasir Safar's stinging remark at a '1 Malaysia' seminar is the final nail in its coffin.

According to Malaysiakini, Nasir Safar labelled the Indians and Chinese as pendatang (immigrants). Not only that, he threatened to revoke anyone who make a lot of noise about the 12-subject cap (maximum) for the SPM (Sijil Pepereksaan Malaysia or Malaysia Examination Certificate).

At least the previously cowardly MCA (Malaysia Chinese Association) and MIC (Malaysia Indian Congress) this time walked of the seminar to protest Nasir's unwarranted remarks.

Let's us see if that Pink Lips (Najib's nickname) has anything to say about this incident.

Ridhuan Tee and bumiputera wannabe

photos of idiot courtesy of Malasiakini

Want to know what Malaysians including Malaysians of Malay origin thinks of this arsehole Malay wannabe? Read the comments by Malaysians in Helen Ang's Malasiakini: Ridhuan Tee and bumiputera wannabe (commentators' names changed for privacy):

by TF - 3 hours ago
There's still the pig shit in his blood afterall his lineage is Chinese. Dr? MY FOOT! Pariah is more apt......Pariah Tea!

by P.DAP - 3 hours ago
All one needs to do to win over the Malays is to convert to Islam, have a Malay name, start speaking impeccable Malay and act according to their customs and walla! one can be one of them. But what the Malays forget is that these kind of individuals will do the same if some other race is in power. Therefore simply put, they are nothing but opportunist. If the Malays support this kind of individuals, who are just too shy to admit their roots, then it will be a detriment to the advancement of the Malays because all it would take for the non is to convert and he can then even become the PM because he would then have that ever so important "bin" in his name. Just think of what would happen to the Malays if the Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Nepalis, Africans and all other who are not of Malay race do the same? The malays will eventually go back to square one " iaitu balik ke dalam belunggu penjajah". That is the reason why Malaysia is a haven to many but as usual we the locals don't realize it.

by A - 3 hours ago
I am an educationist and its a sheer pity that learned people like Dr. Tee giving a biased comment about race and religion. When I was trained to be a educationist, my lecturers were malays as well as non malays and in each lectures, we were reminded that our duty as an educator is to impart knowledge without any reference to colour or religion. Here we have a "PhD scholar" uttering nothing but garbage. And not only that, he is kicking the very ladder he came into the world - that is as a chinese. Perhaps in Malaysia we can accept criticisms levelled against the non muslims but not the other way round. And interestingly, in my years as an educator, I always find the converts barking more of their conversations be it among the muslims or the christians. Perhaps Dr.Tee will be applauded among the Malays but you are still a chinese by birth. May Allah guide and show you the rightful path of spreading harmony and tolerance among the humans. Grow up Dr.Tee.

by PHCH - 4 hours ago
一脸的奴才相，狗嘴吐不出象牙的狗奴才。

by LTW - 5 hours ago
Who is this Ridhuan Tee ? Why need to care what he says or writes ?

by w - 5 hours ago
[Chinese boys and girls have become inseparable from the economic functions of pirated DVD trading....] With better-than-DVD high definition pirated movies which can be easily downloaded and exchanged among friends and the proliferation of cheap high density hard disks, even this will not longer be true if it had not already happened.

by d - 5 hours ago
This sick guy obvious is an extremist !

by tired - 5 hours ago
u said "the special position of the Malay is respected". a one-liner on this important aspect of the discussion is barely sufficient. why don't u elaborate on this special position vis-a-vis the constitution, in what way it is being respected and whether the non-malays are aware that the malays have some certain rights. this is important because some malays think this special position is being threatened by non-malays who are pushing for equality.

by Y - 5 hours ago
Ridhuan Tee has to be more Malay than a Malay to be accepted as "one of them". He doesn't grasp the concept of being "one of us". Us, as in Malaysians. But frankly, he is deluded to think that Malays accept him. He's being used as a pawn in the overall scheme of things. Just that he's not aware of it yet.

by T - 5 hours ago
This guy Ridhuan will make the perfect mascot for Najib's 1 Malaysia campaign for he represents all the hypocrisy, ignorance, delusion and arrogance associated with this farce camouflaged as a vision to unite Malaysians.

by T - 5 hours ago
This guy (I can't even mention his name) is full venoms and he's an educationalist? God help our children. He seems to think that being Chinese is a disease or something, forgetting that he's one. What a despicable character, trying to kiss the Malays' feet like they needed him. Malays should steer clear of characters like him. He will only bring them bad karma and his gutter.

by k - 6 hours ago
Terms like Ketuanan Melayu, Malay special rights, Bumiputra and social contract are unknown at independence and not found in the constitution. They were invented by Umno politicians in the 1980's to justify their racist implementation of the NEP. With the shrinking non-Malay population there will be another classification in future - Umnoputra - to distinguish bumiputras who are more privileged than others.

Mariam Mokhtar - a true Malaysian Malay

Mariam's article is actually titled A day in the life of an ordinary Malaysian — Mariam Mokhtar and is a nice complement to the post Indians helped made Malaysian great both of which I believe are response to those Malays screaming for Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) and calling non-Malay Malaysians second class citizens by Malays themself. I just wished there are more Malays like that as it will make us feel more at home here in Malaysia.

You should pop over to A day in the life of an ordinary Malaysian — Mariam Mokhtar to see how non-Malays have contributed to the life in Malaysia. Mariam described how many of services provided to her family were by non-Malays and gives a feel of how Muhibah should be.

Nazri Abdul Aziz now a good man?

I used to consider Nazri Abdul Aziz, a dim wit who have a habit of making ridiculous statements and who as a lawyer and politician don't know the meaning of separation of power (he as defacto Minister of Law in the said that he is then Chief Justice, Tan Sri Ahmad Fairuz's Minister (separation of power demands the Judiciary should be independent of the Executive means Nazri cannot be boss (Minister) of Ahmad Fairuz).

However, Nazri now seem to be talking sense when he said "Malay supremacy, which is feudalistic in nature and not in line with uniting all the races as Malaysians" (Nazri lashes out at Malay supremacy advocates and lashed out at Malays and groups that scream Malay Supremacy, saying for political mileage and self interest.

Come on Nazri, more of the same (talking sense) please.

Ahmad Ismail to be arrest under ISA for his protection?

Malaysia Insider reported Ahmad Ismail to face sedition charge? because of the allegedly seditious words Ahmad Ismail uttered at an election campaign for the Permatang Pauh by-election. He allegedly said that Chinese were immigrants and squatters and therefore could not expect to have equal rights as the Malays. His comments were reported by Sin Chew Daily and led to the arrest under ISA of the reporter Tan Hoon Cheng "for her protection" (Syed Hamid Albar, Home Minister's most ridiculous statement). I just wonder if Ahmad Ismail would be arrested under ISA for his protection?