Received the write-up below via e-mail from Hindraf. I’m reproducing it as is. However I’m adding bold emphasis to some salient points that deserve highlighting.
Just one comment to add though:
Hindraf is saying that Pakatan does not even have a national Indian leader to showcase. Well my friends, that’s your tragedy. ‘Indian’ is a taboo word, but they can replace it with what’s to them more acceptable, i.e. “hitam metalik”.
And DAP Aduns would prefer to record their children’s keturunan to be ‘Cina’ despite the father having an Indian name.
Plus even if Pakatan (i.e. DAP or PKR) did have an ethnic Indian leader of national stature, he would never agree to your description of himself being “a national [level] Indian leader”. Rather he’d confess himself be a Malaysian First leader equally for all Malaysians.
But if the candidate was Malay, like DAP Malay Great Hope Sakmongkol, DAP Malay “Opinion Leader” Hata Wahari or DAP Malay Young Talent Zairil Khir Johori, then the DAP man’s Malayness is sounded loudly to the clash of Chinese cymbals and gongs.
But no such drumroll for the Indian-ness of any candidate. In any case, you folks would already have known all this from Mano.
Behold, I managed to compile this photo gallery:
Got any wearing the pottu? Any taken in a Hindu setting? Sorry, I don’t recall coming across one. The Indian look tak lakulah untuk dijaja DAP. — Helen
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WHY NAJIB IS TRYING TO WOO THE INDIAN VOTE?
By Hindraf
It has been rather obvious that PM Najib has in recent months been seen to be trying to woo the Malaysian Indian population with several high profile public relation exercises. He has been attending Indian religious and cultural festivals, mostly making celebrity-style entrances into these functions to impress the Indians.
Joining Hindus during Thaipusam at Batu Caves as well as the national level Ponggal celebration organized by MIC, PPP, MMSP, IPF and Indian NGOs in Klang recently, Najib has been doing his level best to win over the Indian voters.
He has been promising to build Tamil schools, increasing matriculation seats of Indian children from 559 to 1,500; regular photos are appearing in local mainstream dailies showing some elderly Indians obtaining Malaysian citizenship’s etc.
As PR leaders seem to be only concentrating on the Malay and Chinese population, and increasingly not paying any attention to the Indian woes, Najib is seen feverishly trying to win back the BN’s traditional loyal supporters. Why is this so? Does Najib know something that the PR leaders are ignorant about?
In the last general elections, PR was the main beneficiary of the overwhelming seismic shift of the Indian voters away from BN. From a 72.4% share of the Indian votes that went to BN in the 2004 general elections, that number had shrunk to a measly 8.3% in the 2008 general elections. Meaning almost 88% of the Indians voted for PR (the remaining being spoilt votes).
Hindraf had been credited for the awakening of the Indians voting mindset to shift their loyalties to the opposition. However, ever since coming to power, PR has been focusing primarily on the Malays and Chinese population in particular, probably because they form the two largest ethnic compositions in Malaysia.
The Indians were subtly pushed out of PR’s radar of vision.
This phenomenon did not bring any good to the Indian community as they had lost a meaningful representation in the Federal government in the form of MIC and worse still they did not control the agenda of the PR either.
Hindraf was conveniently left out of the PR state governments and was not consulted even once regarding Indian issues even though it has been more than 4 years now since almost 100k Hindraf-inspired Malaysian Indians took to the streets to express their grouses.
No doubt PR has numerous Indian representatives to showcase but the very fact that hardcore, bread and butter issues that the Indian community are suffering from like statelessness, Tamil school neglect, land issues concerning squatters, Tamil schools, temples, cremation and burial grounds as well as their poor economic welfare were not addressed was proof that PR did not have Indian representation.
At the most PR was dealing with these issues on a piecemeal basis, quite similar to what MIC had been doing for umpteen years before. The “hamper/schoolbag giving – photo shoot” mentality still very much prevails. None of these issues were debated with any gusto in parliament.
Convenient excuses like we are not in Putrajaya yet, Indians are a minority so don’t ask for anything, don’t be a racist, if you’re not happy with us go back to MIC lah etc were flung at the slightest of convenience to subdue the Indian woes and demands.
At the recent PR national convention, it became very evident that PR did not even have a national Indian leader to project. Priority attention was reserved for the Malays and Chinese. ’Aminurlrasyid’ and ‘Teoh Beng Hock’ were national issues as compared to ‘Kugan’.
It is this vacuum that Najib is instinctively moving into to take advantage of, just as how Anwar Ibrahim capitalized on the Indian votes that fell on his lap with the Hindraf uprising in the last general elections.
The most important question that one should ask is why is Najib even bothered at all to woo the Indian vote if it is indeed so insignificant?
For years now, the national census has been portraying a progressive decline of the overall percentage of the Indians in this country as compared with all the other races.
1911 – 10.23%
1921 – 15.10%
1931 – 15.12%
1947 – 10.81%
1957 – 11.09%
1970 – 9.04%
1980 – 8.39%
1991 – 7.83%
2000 – 7.68%
2010 – 7.33%
This statistic has been used very shrewdly by politicians to continue to subdue any demands from the Indian community.
However on obtaining the ‘Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristics 2010’ book from the Department of Statistics and going through the numbers, a very interesting observation was made. If the statistics of the population based on age group from 20 and above (as it would show the voting eligibility age of 21 and above in year 2012) is used, the Indians is seen to comprise 7.82% of the total Malaysians.
If you were to remove the states of Kelantan, Pahang, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak and Trengganu, Indians who are age 21 and above would comprise 10.71% of the remaining states. The breakdown of these states are as follows:
Johor (stratum : Urban) 8.59%
Kedah (stratum: Urban) 10.89%
Negeri Sembilan (whole state) 15.55%
Negeri Sembilan (stratum: Urban) 18.03%
Perak (whole state) 12.69%
Perak (stratum: Urban) 15.07%
Penang (whole state) 10.45%
Penang (stratum: Urban) 11.13%
Selangor (whole state) 13.92%
Selangor (stratum: Urban) 14.07%
Kuala Lumpur 10.55%
Total number of Parliamentary seats in these states are 126.
Total number of Adun seats in these states are 311.
No doubt these values do not represent the exact figures of those who had registered to vote but it does however indeed give a reasonable clear overall picture of the potential impact of the Indian vote. In fact it is widely known that Indians comprise between 10-20% in 63 parliamentary and 130 Adun constituencies in Malaysia. Buntong has more than 40%, Kota Raja more than 30%, Kuala Selangor more than 23% etc.
The Indians are also noted to be a community that can get easily excitable. This excitement during elections fever can reverberate throughout the west coast of the peninsula.
In the last general elections, thousands of Indians wore green bandanas, carried PAS flags and were on the streets during elections day waving these flags in high spirits. This indeed gave a very strong moral support to PAS/PR. The coming general elections will see no such display as the Indians feel completely left out of the PR agenda.
There is also a strong Indian stateless Diaspora within Malaysia that some estimate number up to 450k. They do not fall into national census but they have close relatives that do. Their plight will carry a lot of weight in the outcome of the voting trend of the Indians.
Since independence the Malay votes have been shared almost equally between Umno and PAS give or take a few percent. In the last general elections the Malay popular vote that went to Umno was 35.5% and PAS/PKR 34.8%. That’s how close it has been.
This time around a big portion of the Chinese votes will be going to PR however their impact is going to be neutralized by the unfair tactics that BN will be employing namely postal votes. There are rumours that BN will be registering the Rela members as postal voters. There are also numerous accusations by the opposition that foreigners are being given citizenship in order to be registered as voters to neutralize PR areas.
Tainted electoral rolls, bias Election Commission, unfair mainstream media coverage, abuse of government machinery, election goodies, money politics are the many complaints by PR of BN. Rest assured, the upcoming general elections will be a no holds barred and some say dirtiest ever. Some chosen candidates may even not turn up at all on nomination day.
Sabah and Sarawak candidates will just follow the victors of peninsular Malaysia.
No doubt the Malays being the majority, PR cannot afford to neglect them, however though, as was seen in the 1999 general elections where Anwar’s reformasi campaign only concentrated on the Malays predominantly and yet was successful in the polls goes to show that no particular race in Malaysia can be afforded to be overlooked.
That certainly would include the Indians too. If at all PR fails to do as well as they did in 2008 in the next general elections, then in their post mortem analysis thereafter, they will know where they went wrong.
Related:
Helen Ang 
Helen,
I got to say that you nailed it !
The Indian leaders in Pakatan, especially DAP, almost apologetic of being Indian. In fact the Penang DCM2 had actually told Indians that he’s a leader for all races and not for Indians so the Indians cannot expect too much from him. This is rather ironic since if he’s not an Indian, he wouldn’t even be the DCM2 in the first place. After all he was brought/parachuted into DAP for his outspoken views on Indian issues and been a loud supporter of Hindraf.
Other leaders in DAP and PKR are Indian elites who have no connection with the Indian grassroots. People like Karpal, Surentiran, Gobind, Kula, Charles Santiago, Sivarasa, Xavier Jayakumar, etc are all rich Indians who hardly can connect with the poor Indians and the issues they face. Perhaps only Manika the PKR MP for Kapar and Dr S. Jeyakumar (PSM) can be said to be a grassroots MP. Many of these folks can’t even converse in Tamil.
On the otherhand, the MPs and ADUNs from MIC tend to be from working class background. So when it comes to articulating Indian issues and connecting with Tamil masses, there is no way PR leaders can compete with MIC folks. It would be a non -starter as the senior PR leaders can’t even debate in Tamil. To make matters worse, there is an intense competition within PR on who is gonna be the chief among the Indian leaders. At one point of time, Dr Rama was leading the race but after KBP issue he lost him credibility completely and the fact that LGE uses him as doormat did not help. Then it was Xavier Jeyakumar, but he too quickly fell away as he couldn’t speak Tamil well or represent the mainly Hindu Tamils. That he lost PKR VP race hardly helped.
So, now we have the situation where there are a lot of Indians (no pun intended) and no chief among PR Indian leaders. On the other hand, MIC have some good leaders and with Najib’s solid backing they have new found confidence.
I don’t really have much regards for Hindraf’s approach as I feel they are as racist as they accuse others of. While I undnerstand
some of their points, it is their emotional and irrational approach that puts me off. But I do feel they are better off staying nuetral.
As for Pakatan, it would be interesting if they would even put up with the same number of Indians in the next GE. I guess, they won’t. I believe in many areas where there are Indians as incumbant, there is an intense lobbying for non Indians candidates. So I predict there will be less Indian candidates or they will be moved to other seats which are unwinnable.
Dah kebanyakan orang Cina dan Melayu taknak bantuan kerajaan BN, baik berbuat baik dengan orang yang nak dengan kita. Lagipun tu kan duit bantuan daripada hasil rakyat bayar cukai (konon… berapa sen sangatlah rakyat bayar cukai kalau bukan hasil tarikan pelabur2 luar dan minyak). Kalau orang India suka dengan bantuan dan lebih keistimewaan yang diberikan kerajaan, why not terima sahaja. Lagipun PM pun takkan memberi kepada orang yang tidak sudi. Tapi ramai Melayu dan Cina sekarang dah bongkak. Mentang2 rasa lebih bijak sikit, mula la semua orang buat tak betul. Yang jadi mangsa sapa? Orang India kat Kg. Buah Pala, peneroka Felda, orang serambi Mekah (tapi mereka tak kisah sebab dalam Islam hidup bersederhana lebih baik), orang Kg. Baru, dsb. Yang menjadi mangsa adalah orang2 kampung. Bukan nak cakp orang kampung tak bijak, tapi kalau buat penyelidikan jurang orang kg. dgn bandar ni tinggi. Terpulang kepada anda untuk menilai.
Kalau DAP, taknak duit bantuan RM500 sebab mereka percaya boleh dapat banyak lagi atau tidak mahu ambil sebab takut kena income tax.
Kalau PAS, suruh isteri atau anak sulung pergi isi borang dan ambil lepas tu cakap duit RM500 duit haram, tidak jelas sumbernya. Tapi before this TGNA ada cakap, “Ore bui ambik, tapi bilo pakoh, pakoh Pas!”
Kalau PKR plak, ambik jer, orang dah bagi. Orang bukan tau kita Pas atau UMNO. Melayu jugak kan?
Ini bukan rekaan, ini betul2 berlaku. Mungkin bukan semua tapi mungkin separuh macam tu.
p/s: I bet HINDRAF already comes to their senses.
Sesetengah orang Melayu sekarang rasa diri mereka dah terlalu pandai, dah ada duit sikit- terus menyombong. Konon tak perlu bantuan kerajaan. Mereka ni yang ada bisnes ke- dapat kontrak kerajaan masa dulu, ada petrol station atau kaya dari multilevel marketing- amway ke, herbalife ke etc, etc. Kalau selidik sikit, depa ni mesti dari UITm, UKM, UM, MRSM ke dan lain-lain. Kalau tak mereka pun, ibu bapa mereka. Semua produk NEP. Kalau tak, mungkin takda peluang masuk Universiti. Sekarang semua nak tolak NEP. Semua in denial. Masing2 perasan mereka kaya daripada zaman datuk nenek mereka tanpa pertolongan sesiapa. Berapa kerat Melayu yang memang kaya dari dulu. Sudah lah.Jangan lupa diri Melayu oi. Tak kena gaya!
Interesting point of view, of the Malaysian political yo-yo scene.:)
Helen, Hope in desperation is very akin to these days commentors in alternative media. HINDRAF was and is the desperation that turns into a force when there is no option without the typical Malaysian malady that is used to side track poor and real issues faced by malaysian Indian minorities as oppose to some wayang kulit by both UMNO & PR.Only time will tell as a cause for humanity minus the politciking will never fail just like how HINDRAF galvanized GE12. How our fellow Malaysians educate themselves is entirely up to them with their new found freedom of speech that had neglected this particul;ar community for the last 55 years. Whether one supports UMNO/PR is not the issue as they are politicians to feed their own agenda,but I think we should support anything that is a malaysian cause as it is quite obvious for all of us that the malaysian Indian issues always get neglected as there is nobody else is there for them except for HINDRAF unless when election comes about. It is okay to be Malay, Chinese, Indian and lain-lain. I don’t think we need 1 malaysia or malaysia first slogan to remind us what Malaysians amongst us can be for respecting each other for their own beliefs and religion whilst ensuring no segment of our own multicutural Malaysian community lack basic humanity and rights to prosper in Malaysia for the politicans need. HINDRAF is a reminder on the reality of one major segment of the community in Malaysia that suffers not a syok sendiri agenda to appease political masters.
Reminds me of a slogan. If it is a Malay problem, it is a national problem; if it is a Chinese problem, it is an economical problem; if it is an Indian problem…what problem?
The problem with Hindraf is, as I had stated before, it is disunited. Even Uthaya and his brother are also not aligned and their relationship can be described as “uncomfortable”.
In fact of the original Hindraf 5, this group is also divided and not even on talking terms, even since the days when they were guests at Hilton Kamunting. Some of them have gone on forming NGOs and have rather different agenda and directions. Only Uthaya seems to have stuck to the original aim while Waytha seems to be lobbying for some posts with PR by trying to work out some collaborative “arrangements”. The real founders of Hindraf have moved on long ago.
In meantime, the issues that Hindraf fought for no longer have the same resonance with the Indians. The main issue of temple demolitions and body-snatching are no longer have the same emotive appeal among the Indian electorate.
It was obvious that Pakatan was taking Hindraf for a ride, something that I had warned before the GE. But some of their leaders refused to see the reality, their reason blinded by pure emotion.
Hindraf will not get any symphaties, whether it is BN or PR as long as they maintain their irrational and aggresive stance using provocative words like “ethnic cleasing” and “Malay Muslim mobs”,etc.
I also don’t think there is much substance to Hindraf’s claim about Indian poor. No doubt there are Indian poor, but the number of non Indian poor are even larger. The average Indian income is much larger than the Malay, Iban, Kadazan, Orang Asli, etc communities. Of the Indian population, only around 20% can be considered as poor. That’s why I disagree on paying special attention to Indian poor. The focus should be all poor people irrespective of race.
I have been to Sabah and Sarawak and some interior parts in Peninsular where there is abject poverty.
It is ridiculous to claim that poverty drives Indian to crime, as this is unsupported by data. What about the poor people of other races ? Why aren’t they resorting to crime ?
I have done some social work on Indian youths and I can tell that the real reason for crime and other social problem is parenting and cultural issues.
I primarily disagree with Hindraf because they think all Indians issues are due to external factors. I tend to think that there are a lot the community need to change internally. But to Hindraf the system is at fault, not the community.They tend to defend unworthy people like criminals, just because they are Indians.
Of course the Indians need help from the govt but that should be as a part of helping all poor Malaysians, not just Indian poor alone.
Correct, Uthaya is the true torchbearer of Hindraf.
Of the 5 held under ISA, the Uthaya camp claims that one of them is an SB mole.
The average Indian income is pulled up by – as Dr M likes to assert – the Indians who are well-to-do [doctors, specialist consultants & lawyers]. However as you yourself have commented earlier about the Indian rich (pollies) who can’t speak Tamil, some have no kinship nor empathy for the Indian grassroots.
As for programmes helping the poor best to be race-blind, if this had been so – one example is the Felda programme only for Malays – there’d have been no need for Hindraf to be born in the first place.
re: “What about the poor people of other races ? Why aren’t they resorting to crime?”, my reply is what about the Chinese triad recruitment targets & as one concrete case, Yong Vui Kong – the Sabah youth on S’pore’s death row.
Agree with you that in “Sabah and Sarawak and some interior parts in Peninsular [M’sia] where there is abject poverty”. These poverty-stricken people are ‘bumiputera’.
It shows that when Umno uses stats as the righteous basis to claim bigger quotas for the bumiputera poor, they’re taking advantage of the real bumiputera poverty to enable Cows-in-Condo Malay assist programmes.
on “to Hindraf the system is at fault, not the community. They tend to defend unworthy people like criminals, just because they are Indians”, I agree with Hindraf that the system is faulty.
I have more sympathy for people (Indians) who cannot beat the punishing system in the way that some (more enterprising Chinese) have been able to overcome the roadblocks erected by this system.
on “They tend to defend unworthy people like criminals, just because they are Indians”, my response: Suspects are not criminals until convicted in court. And Hindraf has to do it b’cos nobody else will.
These people at the bottom of the barrel are unfortunately ‘invisible’ & we (you & me) are in agreement, at least, on the fact that the DAP brand of politics makes the poor Indians even more worse off.
I like your last paragraph a lot…I wholeheartly agree…DAP’s brand of meritocracy will certainly make the Indian poor poorer.
Glad there are introspective people like Calvin.
However, one cannot dismiss the importance of the business elite in influencing the political discourse.
There are many Indian business leaders. Haven’t they been approached to lend a hand?
If the Indian business community can endorse a competent leader, then things can get going.
Also, I really thought that Idris Jala could have been the one to champion the issues related to the Orang Asli in Sarawak/Sabah. Or is he just interested in helping his party and his Kelabit tribe??
You are right Overseas Bumi. This is what I had been arguing all along. That Indian rich have abandoned the Indian poor. I think one of the most admirable traits among the Chinese is their willingness to network and help their community especially those who are less well to do. This is one of the things that makes the Chinese so successful as a whole.
I am also in awe of their strong support of Chinese schools and the importance given to these schools.
I believe in the concept that the role of the govt is in providing opportunities and skills/ education. It is up to the individual to grab the opportunity to enhance her/himself.
I just cannot understand why my fellow Indians keep complaining about discrimination and lack of opportunities when a Bangla and Indon working in Malaysia for a few years able to drive cars and buy houses. This is a humiliations to Indian community. I am also puzzled why they can support thousands of temples but hardly ever support Tamil schools.
I can’t understand the Indian rich who would not help the community despite getting successful on Indian quota. Worse still some of these elites actively move away from their Indian roots.
I am from an estate background and have seen the reality on the ground via my personal experience and social work.
The problem is that Hindraf blames the system and do not ask the Indians to be self reliant or improve themselves. I have seen Hindraf defending notorious kidnappers, killers and robbers. What kind of message are they sending by defending these people ?
Look at Gandhi ! He is known as the great reformer. His message is self improvement. No community in the history of human ever progressed without self realization and improvement.Any society that blamed others for their situation and waited for help, only perished.
I do believe that there is sufficient opportunies exist for most Malaysian Indians to progress.
Those who are really in need should be helped, but so are other Malaysians.
The problem is that most (if not all) business men have to be properly incentivized.
Ananda Krishnan appears to be selling off his portfolios in the power and satellite businesses. I noticed that most companies bidding for his assets are foreign entities.
I hate to say it, but when Ananda was controlled by the top crony, Mahathir, there was an incentive for him to ensure his businesses benefitted the locals, especially Indians. This was because Mahathir would probably encourage him (I can’t say for sure) to invest locally so that Mahathir could indirectly influence the Indian community for their vote.
But now, with the rhetoric against ‘crony capitalism’ it would be politically dangerous for Najib or any other politicians to appear close to former Mahathir cronies.
So, Ananda has little incentive to invest locally.
Businessmen got to the top by being ruthless. Yes, they’d probably sell their own mothers if they could.
Only politicians can keep these business men in-line. Crony capitalism works if the cronies are kept on a short leash. Who’s keeping an eye on Syed Mokhtar and Mydin Mohamed Ali ? DAP, of course!
Did any of you notice who was behind the rhetoric against Gardenia issue? Bernas, ONE of the suppliers of Gardenia, is mainly owned by Syed Mokhtar.
Who criticised them —
http://reocities.com/tokyo/3399/bul891.html
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/08/19/pakatan-vows-to-end-rice-monopoly/
DAP is always setting the agenda.
And how about the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia. Who was behind the criticism against their products? That DAP guy with buck teeth. Nurul was there only as the clueless malay girl in tudung, keen on a photo-op.
But why isn’t DAP watching over Ananda’s business deals??
I mentioned this before, NEP helped close gaps, protecting the Malays while Chinese prosper, (yes there are many super rich malays who gain what not their rights and many do well because of their hardwork, but we are talking about ordinary Malaysians) and ordinary Indians and lain lain are not getting what they should be getting. Many Indians fresh graduates are deem fit to only work in call centers. I remembered meeting one hiring managers who said that for this position we want mostly Chinese, some Malays and Indian if can no lah…
I am in support of race relation law, especially if it can protect ordinary Malaysian, with emphasize on employment. That will help solve a lot of problems.
But then again the Indians should go demand more, nobody will say that it is racist, only the Malays cannot demand for anything… :-)
It’s important to have the right kind of rich people. If the rich Malays were to spend more of their money in Malaysia, buy from Malay businesses and hire malay managers to run their businesses, then we would certainly see greater equity.
Rosmah and “Dr” M Bakri Musa continue to make purchases from foreign owned retail outlets. Their money won’t trickle down to the general malay population.
At the very least, people like Tony Fernandez seems to hire more Indians. This helps his community. I fly Air Asia often, and I am proud that they have diverse work force.
Actually Indian rich like Tony and Ananda are in fact examples of more responsible Indians who do their part in helping their community in providing help and job opportunities. But at the same time, these people do not discriminate against other races. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of some of the DAP-supporting tycoons who seem to be only hiring people of the same race.
Ha3… terbaik… ^^
I totally agree with u.
If u will paid more if u r chinese and for Malay and Indian they will take their time to evaluate whether they are chinese enough to get the same amount.
Ha3…
Looking at the percentages of the Indian population in each state and in Malaysia as a whole, and compare that to the number of Indian MPs and ADUNs in our govt, both Federal and States, I would say that the Malaysian Indians are over represented in the govt. and yet the Indians are still not satisfied. What more do you Indians want?
Pemerhati, you are correct Indians are over-represented. In fact for the first time ever, PR has more Indian reps than BN as many of MIC/Gerakan’s candidates lost in the last GE.
The problem is not the qty but quality. The leaders that PR has for example, many of them merely toe their party lines and do not help the community at all. Penang DCM2 Prof Rama is an excellent example. Before the GE, he was such a fighter for Tamil rights but after the GE, despite being the DCM2 couldn’t stop KBP being razed to ground in his own state. He’s more like a Deputy Chief Clerk than a DCM2 as he has to bow down to DAP’s Ketuanan Cina and the Chairman Lim’s iron fist,
Many Indians realise now that punishing MIC in the GE was a mistake as the PR reps are Indian only in their IC and many do not even speak any Indian language or understand their problems. They just used their ethnicity as a ticket to riches and power, riding on the Hindraf’s fame.
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“the PR reps are Indian only in their IC”, not even that (ethnicity recorded) if the Hasnah Yeops and Ng Wei Aiks have their way. — Helen
Dear Helen
What do you do in your free time when you’re not stirring shit for your bosses dumno? What will you do after the next elections? By the way, your command of the Malay language is cringe worthy.
Sshsn, in our free time we stir the shit for your new found freedom for the holy righteous anglicized DAP. Any complaint or are you going to accuse me to be racist? it is easy to deal with so called ineffective intellectual fools (as they have nothing to contribute as long it fits their own agenda) but to deal with a fool itself in a literary sense is an effort. So how? Okaylah i make an effort as Malaysian, if it means anyhting for you for as usual we are are caught up with whether it is One malaysian or Malaysian First. Eiher way we are screwed as you know better and that is why we need this blog to find an avenue to lepas our frustration for how ineffective we have been. Don’t bother responding to me as i can only make it more miserable for you for how messed up you are.
New York? You sound as though you’re from Jinjang…Before you get on the high horse…if you can that is, get your head out of your blinkered arse and wake up to reality…The Malaysia we knew has been fucked by the goverment of 50 years..and people like Helen continue to perpetuate that…So before you think of making things miserable for anyone..please fuck off.
Fed,
If Malaysia has been fucked for 50 years then why haven’t you fucked off yet?
What’s stopping you? It is your sense or patriotism (bwahahaha!) or your typical opportunistic and parasitic trait?
You really think we give a fuck about your whining and since its been 50 years I presume your father has been feeding you with the same shit hence we now have a 2nd generation turdbrain spewing the same shit.
Cowards like you are a dime a dozen especially in your hometown jinjang and we shall put you to where you belong.
And its not in this country.
Now please do fuck off.
pardon my french, helen. I have no patience for such losers.
Dear Helen,
Have you ever considered that we should all strive towards needs-based rather race-based solving of poverty, crime, educational needs, etc. Otherwise, it is BN again
Interesting comment. This was similarly a point of debate between Uthayakumar & Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj (Sg Siput-PSM) before. Read here.
Needs based sounds good in theory but the M’sian situation is that we have Article 153, we have UiTM, MRSM etc, we have a Malay bureaucracy & civil servants bent on carrying out their duties according to a certain way that is not written in the procedures — the NRD illegitimate baby reg. being one example.
Uthaya’s fav grouse is that there is no Indian-majority constituency in the whole country whereas the Ibans, Kadazans, etc each have their own ethnic majority seat. Yet the Indians are a pivotal minority matching the Borneo natives (counting by major tribe) in numbers.
Therefore the Aduns or MPs do not prioritise Indian issues. In fact, they shy away from being associated with Indians b’cos someone who’s Indian & raising Indian issues is accused of being “racist”. Or ‘someone’ who has a dark-skinned husband prefers to pander to Malays.
So these Aduns & MPs in their politicking will pitch themselves as being Malaysian. Thus Indians are neglected as unfashionable. e.g. there’s more publicity for Seksualiti Merdeka-LGBT than there is for Indian poverty as a rights demand.
Do I think Indian issues need urgent attention? My answer is Yes. They have to be prioritized, just like the Aborigines in Australia need more urgent attention that the whites or those of other European descent (Greeks, Poles) or those of Asian descent (Koreans, Vietnamese, etc)
I don’t believe a one-size fits all solution, or that an ideal theory – needs based – can be a blanket fix-it. The NEP was raced-based, not needs base, and hence landed the Indians where they are today. Therefore an Indian-attentioned plan is merely remedying the inadvertent ‘damage’ caused by the affirmative action programmes that resulted in the Indians falling between two stools.
If I could cast a vote on this, I would without any qualms back a bid made by Uthaya for political office for the purpose of working on & resolving Indian issues.
Additionally, the Indians unlike the Malays, the Orang Asli and the natives of Sabah & S’wak do not have land.
See Penyokong Ketuanan’s comment in this thread (I’ve copypasted the relevant paragraph):
After the estates & plantations were broken up, the Indians not only lost their jobs but also their living quarters provided for by their employers in the rubber & palm oil sector. As urban squatters, Indians do not have the safety net that Malays or natives have with land & houses in the kampung. Some don’t even have identity papers.
Sorry for the late reply. Your points have been noted, but my contention still remains…. when are we going to move away from “only Indians can help Indians ( ala S. Velu), Malays for Malays, Chinese for Chinese and so on”? ( And agreed, other than some sympathy from Pas, the rest of Pakatan seems to be less-colour-blind than BN despite all their hype about multi-racialism)
The Indian poor should be helped by the Govt ( Federal/ State) in terms of job/business/education opportunities because they need it and not because they are Indian, and those who aid them should be anyone and not just Indian mandores. As for some of the comments about Indian opposition leaders not being fit to represent Indians because they lack sufficient fluency in Tamil, my English-educated, “multi-racial”,elitist response is that these leaders priorities are elsewhere: an end to the mis-rule by BN and the rescue of this country
Why do Firsters thump their hollow chest proclaiming it’s a virtue to be “colour-blind”? (which in any case they’re not)
Can you name me a single non-Indian politician who has taken up Indian issues with some degree of commitment?
So you reject the “Malays for Malays, Chinese for Chinese …” business. Well, who do you see the DAP politicians as being “for”?
“The Indian poor should be helped by the Govt” — obviously
“helped by (Federal/ State) govts in terms of job/business/education opportunities” — obviously
If it had been happening, the Indians wouldn’t need to take to the streets on 25 Nov 2007, would they?
“because they need it and not because they are Indian” — check the Yayasan S’gor scholarship disbursement / see whether any govt, be it federal or state, actually thinks that our “fellow Malaysians” (I mustn’t describe them as Indian or else DAP will call me “racist”) really need help
“and those who aid them should be anyone and not just Indian mandores” — err like who?
About putting “an end to the mis-rule by BN and [effecting] the rescue of this country”, keluar mulut buaya masuk mulut harimau.
What i was proposing as a ” Firster” with anyone getting help from anyone when deserving and not based on ethnicity is what I dream of seeing in the future and not what had happened in the past. We should be striving for the former and not perpetuating the latter. Indian/orang Asli/ Dayak/ anybody else issues should be solved as anti-poverty/ anti-illiteracy/ welfare issues. Irene Fernandez helps abused women and victims of human traficking – but she doesnt exclude Indians becos she’s scared to be seen as a rascist, the same for Dr Jayakumar and Surendran. As for keluar mulut buaya masuk mulut harimau, all i can say is belum cuba belum tahu, and any case, what is your alternative? Con’t with BN and hope they would change and sincerely help the Indians? I am all eyes if you have an alternative
You’re laying out a hypothesis but the reality on the ground is a different matter when it comes to “anyone getting help from anyone”. For example, we (you & I) would not be able to apply for any help from Baitulmal or several of the other state aid programmes that only assist Muslims or Malays.
This is the exclusionary system that entraps poor Indians & a fact of life with us in the country. Since you’ve not provided me with the name of any non-Indian politician who’s concerned with Indian issues, and coupled with Malaysian First politicians who will distance themselves from Indian issues because they’re ‘Indian’ (reverse psychology, even more self-conscious about helping Indians as “Indian issues are racist”), then the marginalised community who are in dire straits now will very soon be doomed.
I do not want to see a class of helots where all the garbage collectors, road sweepers, building cleaners and menial workers are Indian!
The crime & prison plus “death in custody” & police shooting statistics are already sounding the red alert while you people (middle-class Bangsar M’sians) sing kumbayah & fearfully light candles & pray.
Have we heard anyone from Pakatan challenging the system? Emphatically ‘No’. Article 153 will be with us for decades if not centuries to come. Funnily enough, it’s not the DAP Chinese who will subvert NEP but the liberal Malays like Khairy & Zaid who, while not directly challenging the FedCon, are willing to allow a loosening of the quotas in practise.
Or like how Khalid Ibrahim suggested opening UiTM a crack but sadly got the door slammed in his face. Read the latest.
While I don’t believe that Umno – aside from its present carrots and candy sweeteners disbursed by Najib – are serious in reforming their relations with the Indian community, I see Pakatan as making the Indian lot become even worse. Read the Hindraf analyses.
Dr Jeyakumar and his PSM are a different kettle of fish. I believe they’re genuine & if I were in a PSM area they most certainly have my vote but they’re only a small party. Plus they’re majority Indians albeit extremely scrupulous to stress their ‘class struggle’ approach.
But in any case, PSM has wisely decided NOT to be a part of Pakatan — a decision I hope they’ll stick with.
Hindraf will not side with BN in the next GE, that’s for sure. However, if they do not side Pakatan (a possibility), then their abstention is to teach Pakatan a painful lesson.
Dunno about your social circle but the Indians I’ve spoken are ambivalent and on the verge of turning away from Pakatan (no love lost) only that they’re still more disaffected with BN. Others are just plain disgusted with the opposition & I don’t blame them one bit.
The ballot box will speak better. Pakatan’s track record the past 4 years has been patchy & does not inspire confidence in me. Try asking any Indian who they think is more racist — the Chinese or the Malay? <>
“Have we heard anyone from Pakatan challenging the system?”
Define challenging, and how challenging the system could be a solution.
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Ask DAP to define change too, and how their Jom Ubah could be a solution or better for us.
Challenging vs LGE entrenching the status quo, see here. — Helen
I’m not sure how much more specific I can be. I am asking a pretty straight-forward question, it seem not much of an answer from you yet, but that is okay, i first thought you have a solution in mind when you brought up A153.
Make no mistake about it, the Indian poor must be helped like all other poor must. Substantial allocations of shares of newly listed public companies were made to MIC-owned Maika Holdings meant for the Indians during Tun Dr Mahathir’s time but there were reports of improper chanelling of the proceeds – just as there were of irregularities in UMNO-owned investment companies. DS Najib’s scheme of helping the suburban poor also includes the Indians many of whom have migrated to the towns for several reasons, including the break up of estates and plantations.
But there must not be any challenging of Article 153 that provides for the Special Position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak. It is seditious to do so. It is protected under the Sedition Act. While we may not have heard anyone specific from Pakatan Rakyat challenging the system, there have been comments indicating a lack of favour for Article 153. I wish to say emphatically that 153 shall be with us for ever. Even if there is a military take over of political power like in Fiji, I believe the Constitution will be restored with 153 remaining intact. That Article was embedded in the Constitution because “The Malay Special Position has been there since day one,” as stated by the British Secretary (Minister) for Colonial Affairs in the British Parliament when debating the Malaya Independence Bill in 1956. Those interested in the details may check the Hansard of the British Parliament.
The British have said that the Malay Rulers (their functions and responsibilities form a large part of Article 153) have been in the land called Tanah Melayu since their first contact with this country. They sought permission to establish trading posts – which no doubt turned into bloody imperialist scheming and colonization – from the Malay Sultans since the days of Queen Victoria in England. They have always respected the institution of the Malay Rulers. While they ruled as colonial masters, the sovereign positions of the Malay Rulers were left intact – they were treated with respect, protocol and decorum, “consulted”, “advised” and whatever trappings of colonial formalities there were at that time. But note that the British did not even grant citizenship to the immigrants, recognizing that that was the sovereign right of the Malay Rulers.
In fact, Article 153 on the Special Position of the Malays (it covered the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak on the formation of Malaysia) formed one part of what has been referred to as the Social Contract, the other part being the non-Malays getting citizenship. That which they did not have and were stateless in this country for over 100 years even during the entire British colonial rule. It took quite a lot of doing and over many years for the Malay Rulers and political leaders representing the Malays to agree – note also that the Malays protested to a number of British proposals and the Malayan Union proposed by the British colonialists was even thrown out, entirely due to opposition by the Malays.
Really, the Malays did not get anything new as even the British said, “the Malay Special Position has always been there since day one”. The Malays merely got that fact enshrined in the Constituion. For that, no one can question or try to touch Article 153. That’s one of the reasons why it is protected by the Sedition Act. There’ll be a blood bath if any party wants to even touch it. Let’s be very clear about it. And stay clear from discussing it.
We may, however, talk about the other part of the Social Contract. What gratitude is there from the non-Malays for that. What two-way streets do we find in dealings among the communities that fomed independent Malaya, and now Malaysia. How reasonable are those who got citizenship right in terms of accepting Article 153, NEP, in terms of co-operation, even assistance, in leveling the playing field. MCA President Tun Tan Siew Sin had said in Parliament that “The Malays are genereous enough”. He was echoed by the MIC President at that time. The Malays had in fact been generous enough twice – agreeing to citizenship for the non-Malays at independence and relaxing the rules for issue of citizenship certificates after independence. The “generous enough” statements can also be verified by the Hansard of the Malaysian Parliament.
But are the DAP, and others who subscribe to the DAP line of politics, appreciative of the fact that the Malay Rulers and the Malays as represented by their leaders who spoke with the British since 1946, through to the throwing out of the Malayan Union in 1948, all the years of negotiations for “self government” and finally for independence in 1957, did take a long time and a lot of persuading and arm twisting, but, although the US government sent back to China shiploads of the Chinese Trans-Continental Railway tracks and the California Gold Rush workers, and even passed the Chinese Exclusion Act banning the Chinese from permanent stay in the US, the Malays finally did agree on giving citizenship to the immigrants in hen Malaya.
And there should not be any unhappy connotation attachéd to the word “pendatang” except that it was, like so many other things, politicized, largely by the DAP and their cohorts.
Good analysis: “the British did not even grant citizenship to the immigrants, recognizing that that was the sovereign right of the Malay Rulers” & “the Malays did not get anything new as even the British said, ‘the Malay Special Position has always been there since day one’, The Malays merely got that fact enshrined in the Constitution.”
But don’t you think we should move forward from that time when citizenship was granted? [Sidenote: The Straits Settlement Chinese (Penang, Malacca, i.e. the states without Sultan) were granted Malayan citizenship by the British outside of “the trade-off” informing the rest of the Chinese citizenship application in the other peninsula states].
Successful multiracial societies (US, Australia, S’pore) today do not make it a point of law to discriminate against minorities, i.e. based on ethnicity but instead their laws grant protection to the minorities to avert discrimination.
I’ve no doubt that M’sia could do a Fiji if it wanted to but is that prospering thy neighbour (i.e. if the Indians there prospered, they would bring up Fiji economically & the indigenous Fijians would have a share in that prosperity). After all, [China &] India are two superpowers and booming, i.e. surpassing the white economies.
If this tak sama rata position is not addressed, the resentment of the restive minority population will worsen from what we’re looking at today.
A brass tack question for you: Do you wish the Article 153 clause on discretionary quotas under the Agong’s purview (introduced in the amendment made to the FedCon after May 13) to be kept forever also, just like how you think that the special position must be retained till kingdom come?
And do you regard Ridhuan Tee as Melayu, and how do you feel if more and more Chinese were to turn themselves into Hasnah Yeops in order to become Special Position citizens?
For so long as there does not evidently and clearly exist a truly united and cohesive Bangsa Malaysia based fully on the Constitution of the country and so long as there is no leveling of the playing field for the Malays and the Bumiputeras, who form the vast majority of the population, to participate in the economic and other aspects of life in this country in an equitable manner, the situation in this country will remain “fluid”. No real unity, no social cohesion.
And the Bangsa Malaysia referred to above is not the DAP kind, but one where respect for and living by the Constitution is clearly the primary determining factor, where loyalty to the country is beyond question. The whole rigmarole of the language of the country being Bahasa Malaysia (Article 152), One-School system, the religion of the country being Islam (fully justified even just by the fact that about 60% of the population is Muslims), etc. Non acceptance or respect of these does not a Bangsa Malaysia make.
I strongly diasagree with the statement that it’s not the DAP Chinese who will subvert NEP, because the slogan Malaysian Malaysia that DAP hogged since its inception has been subversive to Article 153 and the NEP – wanting sama rata without acknowledging loudly and clearly the Special Position of the Malays and the Bumis of Sabah and Sarawak does subvert that Special Position. I agree fully with what Tun Dr Mahathir said, that there can be no sama rata because of the Special Position.
The so-called “liberal Malays” have been called “pseudo-liberals” or “imitation liberals” because no Malay is liberal if he does not see the need for leveling the playing field for long-term peace and harmony in this country. The few like Khairy & Zaid who, having got wealth under the NEP, forgot their own kind, do not think of others after them, including their kith and kin, and later generations who have not tasted the fruits of NEP. Can they tell the percentage of those Malays who receive biasiswa compared to those who don’t? What other benefits those “who don’t receive biasiswa” get from the NEP? As kampong folks, labourers, clerks and factory hands, can they even get low cost Bumi housing lot allocations? How many LC housing units are built in the country to day? In Selangor and Penang, for example.
And Khalid Ibrahim suggested opening UiTM simply out of his selfish interest in getting votes and has no justification considering the 23% Chinese have
(a) their own institutions of higher learning
(b) have so much donations for building educational facilities from Chinese millionaires that UTAR refused RM30 million donation last year
(c) the Chinese dominate the professional jobs in the country
(d) with so much money, they could afford to hire people with experience and contacts who travelled the world to persuade, and succeeded, in getting many universities abroad to accept Chinese students with Chinese High School UEC (Chua Soil Lek himself announced this at their previous party convention)
(e) the Chinese have a system of helping the less fortunate among them via the many clan associations and business guilds.
Sometimes one wonders if there’ll ever be a limit to their wants. Considering that any country’s budget is never limitless, the unjustified or excessive wants of any community will be at the expense of the deserving ones.
Note that all the above arguments do not negate the wish for a united and cohesive Bangsa Malaysia. In fact, it is the opposite. The premise for a united and mutually respectful, less envious and no-excessive-jealousy Bangsa Malaysia is a level playing field. It must be, it has to be. An Army marches on its stomach. A community progresses on its economic well being.
Indeed, the ballot box will speak better. Agree that Pakatan’s track record the past 4 years has been patchy, even dismal, and does not inspire confidence in me at all. And on the word “racist”, the element that distinguishes it in the dictionary definition is being “antagonistic” towards others. I’m afraid I have to point out that the DAP’s so-called Malaysian Malaysia is antagonistic towards the the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak. Wanting sama rata without acknowledging fully their Special Position does subvert that Special Position. And that is antagonistic, hence, racist.
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The crux of the matter, like you’ve correctly encapsulated: “I agree fully with what Tun Dr Mahathir said, that there can be no sama rata because of the Special Position.” I hope you & others will pin down DAP & make them clarify how their Bangsa M’sia & M’sian First squares with 153. B’cos I’m sick & tired of their honey-coated Hannah bullshit.– Helen
Helen at 11:26 am,
The Straits Settlements Chinese were granted British Overseas Citizenship which was valid until several years ago – 1-2 years ago some fellows from Penang etc absconed the country and tore their passports upon reaching UK under the stupid advice of better chances of getting UK permanent stay after discarding Malaysian citizenship and resorting to the British Overseas citizenship status. They were refused entry and languished in Immigration airport detention centres. Those denouncing Malaysian citizenship and handing over their passports at the Malaysian High Commission were also refused permanent stay, passportless, demonstrated on the streets (how daring and gangster-like) and were hounded by the British authorities after that.
Moving forward must be on the basis of recognition of the circumstances of the granting of citizenship, such that the Social Contract is honoured and the Constitution is fully respected. Then we can expect reasonableness – patut – among all Malaysian citizens. The Malays have this culture of patut such that historically even the way they did “business” (berdagang = barter trading) was based purely on patut, no timbang, no harga, no ambik untung. Patut has become pervasive in the Malay mentality, the older generation Chinese are aware of that and get quite offended when the word is used against them. The Malays often grinned painfully or grimaced in dismay when they keep seeing tidak patut, and occasionally exploded. Accepting Bahasa Malaysia, the status of Islam as the official religion and the Malay and Bumiputera Secial Position would to them be patut. It’s been agreed by the representatives of practically all the communities in the country, agreed in Parliament.
Success in multiracial societies is relative. While the British PM David Cameron’s statement “Multi-culturalism is dead” was said to refer to Al Qaeda elements, they also refer to the clearly distinctive habits of promoting their own culture in the Chinatowns of practically all major cities in the world, complete with secret societies, thugs and gangsters. Indeed, the British Police started running after the criminals and lesser offenders in their Chinatowns not long after Cameron’s statement.
Particularly in view of the fact that the Special Position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras has been entrenched in the Constitution under the Social Contract, the quid pro quo of which was the granting of citizenship to the non Malays, if “this tak sama rata position” is questioned and harped upon in an insensitive manner, the results will be disastrous. You see, questioning of the Special Position will lead to counter-questioning of the citizenship right and it’ll not be good for anybody. No united and cohesive Bangsa Malaysia can emerge and there’ll be no lasting peace in this country. Let’s avoid those.
In answer to your question, I personally wish the Article 153 clause on discretionary quotas under the Agong’s purview (introduced in the amendment made to the FedCon after May 13 race riots – the root causes of which have been the huge disparity in the economic and educational situation between the Chinese and the Malay communities) to be kept until there is a level playing field and a truly united and cohesive Bangsa Malaysia has been established. When that happens, we should even discard the word race in official documents except where medically or legally required, and each and every citizen proudly calls himself/ herself Malaysian.
Now when ethinicity is still playing in the minds of practically everybody, I’ll answer your question about Ridhuan Tee and the Hannah Yeops by saying that, all those who qualify, by the Constitutional definition of a Malay, can claim and be regarded as Malays. RT doesn’t even claim to be a Malay although he qualifies as one – (a) habitually speaks the Malay language (b) practices the Islamic religion and (c) practices the Malay way of life – he is married to a Malay. Note that RT displays on his blog Home Page that he is of the Chinese race. But I and most Malays/ Muslims cannot accept those who pretend to be Malays/ Muslims yet not habitually speaking the Malay language, of the Islamic religion and not practicing the Malay way of life. Those wearing Malay/ Muslim dresses and quoting Qur’anic and Hadith verses out of genuine and sincere liking for and interest in them are acceptable, those doing so for the purpose of getting votes are deplorable and abominable. I am aware that the DAP fellas are getting into the habit of doing the latter.
Frankly I don’t even know who Hannah Yeo or Hasnah Yeop really is. I try to avoid news about those who cause stress – the medical websites I read tell readers that, to avoid stress, avoid those who cause stresses, though I cannot do that totally else I become quite ignorant. I remember seeing photos of a woman not wearing a tudung in a mosque, in a sarong split at the legs, standing on or near the spot where the Imam sujud (places his head on the floor when praying) and the presumably PAS-inclined Imam agape listening to what propaganda she must have uttered. I detest those who use Islam for the purposes of politics and still wonder why they allowed a political party registered under the name of Islam.
Hahaha! Good one Helen.