Since Najib Razak appears to consider ‘pendatang’ about as offensive as the ‘Nigger’-word, how about replacing it with ‘penjelma’ instead?
The PM posted in najibrazak.com today,
“In my speech at the launch of the Christian for Peace and Harmony (CPHM) movement, I stressed that the term ‘pendatang’ or migrants should never be used to refer to a Malaysian.
“Such divisive terms are misused to ignite and breed racial as well as religious conflict in the country. As Prime Minister, I will not allow such terms to cause segregation.
“I am an advocate of wasatiyyah or moderation in everything we do. All religions preach moderation but it is extremism that creates conflict rather than unify the multicultural society of the country.”
Take Johor for Jesus
One reader commented @ 2015/06/02 at 1:29 pm that I was taking the “non issue” of the ‘Take [xyz location] for Jesus‘ and making it “into a huge deal”.
The non-issue and small matter in Jeff’s eyes has elicited the intervention of the Johor exco for Housing and Local Government, the Menteri Besar and latest, from the Johor Crown Prince.
Take Johor for Jesus also drew 22 police reports. Not such a non-issue after all, eh?
BELOW: Which mountain in which state does Hannah have in mind?
Helen Ang 
“…the loveliest trick of the Devil is to persuade you that he does not exist!”
Looks like the evangelists/DAP snakes are borrowing from their friend’s playbook.
Ingatlah, Jesus Christ ada lah Raja segala orang Yahudi. Jadi apakah muslihat Cina seperti [deleted] mahu menakluki johor atas nama orang Yahudi?
Ini adalah penjajahan semula oleh orang Jesus Christ dari eropah dahulu yang didalangi oleh Pope.
Popo orang Itali mengaku dia adalah suara Tuhan di dunia dan mengerahkan semua Maharaja Eropah untuk mengambil tanah bangsa lain dan mengenai cukai seperti di Filipina kepada Raja Phillips.
Najib belajar di sekolah mubaligh Kristian St John. Tenguk, gua blajar kat St John dan gua masih Islam kata Najib.
Ya betul, tapi usaha mubaligh kristian itu telah berjaya apabila Najib mengembangkan ugama kristian dengan mengkayakan Cina Francis Yeoh yang kini menjadi pengembang Kristian di Malaysia.
Sekolah mubaligh itu adalah satu cara halus orang Kristian dari eropah meninfluence nativ di seluruh dunia. Ini menunjukan kebebalan Najib tak tahu politicak history. Sama mcm Mahathir, yang mengatakan Portugis Kristian menyerang Kesultanan Melayu kerana silap faham. muahaha..sebenarnya memang polisi Pope mengerahakan Raja Portugis menyerang dan menakluki dunia mengikut perjanjian dengan raja raja eropah.
Najib pun ada kata Melaka jatuh sebab pahlawan Melayu Melaka lawan pakai keris?!!
As I said before and repeat here, its RBA talking, not Hannah. As for Najib he is a liberal as what T M said. There is no pressure group for UMNO since kj is also self proclaimed liberal. Ibrahim is an opportunist person and he quickly grab the opportunity. Now when poeple abuse Islam who is going to scream? Mind you bloggers are faceless.
re: “As for Najib he is a liberal as what T M said.”
What a paradox of sad, missed opportunity. If only he could have had support from 90 percent of the Chinese, not only would he have abolished the ISA and Sedition Act, he would have liberalized the country in other aspects too.
Freedoms are good. Unfortunately the Dapster evangelistas don’t know how to handle and use liberties with responsibility. E.g. freedom of the Internet being misused to spread lies and mouth profanities.
If the freedoms had not been abused, the Umno divisions would not have been so adamantly against rescinding the Sedition Act. Najib could have pulled it off like how he repealed ISA.
tell me jeff what if some pakistani goes to US and decided to hold a mass gathering of muslims and ask Allah to take ownership of the land. I bet all those NSA, FBI, CIA or even the county police will gather round and enforcing the patriot act. terrorist accusing will spread out like fire from their media moghul. no jeff, you’re the one that is pathetic.
Well said H
Mengikut kamus dewan/kamus pelajar, perkataan pendatang bermaksud orang yang mendatang (tidak asli), immigran.
Is the PM seriously saying that the Cina and Indians are not of immigrant stock? That they are part and parcel of the nusantara sejak berzaman? Can we totally ignore that they, who are part and parcel of this land, do not all speak the language of the local?
So is the PM asking Dewan Bahasa to revamp and remove the word pendatang from Kamus Dewan itself? Or does he think that pendatang only refers to pendatang tanpa izin? Masalah juga jika Melayu sendiri tak berapa pandai bahasa melayu.
Did you notice that he trotted out the allegation that it’s “divisive” as well to use the pendatang term?
Some Umno minders must really keep him away from Wong Chun Wai (J-Star editorial’s signature phrase: “hate-spewing, divisive, race-obsessed ignoramuses”) and now Rev. Wong Kim Kong. They must be the ones foaming at the mouth to hear the word.
Really, my suggestion is made in all earnestness.
DO NOT ALLOW THIS SLIMY REVEREND ACCESS TO THE PM, PLEASE! Beware the fate of Tzar Nicholas who was under the spell of Rasputin – the glib-tongued priest.
Has Tun Dr Mahathir ever espoused the “pendatang” word in his numerous speeches, books and Internet posts?
Has he advocated categorising Malaysians as “pendatangs” and “non-pendatangs”?
And you misread history about what triggered the Bolshevik revolution and the downfall of the Tsar in Russia. Maybe you should dust off the history tomes in your library!
What has Tun got to do with the price of fish in this discussion thread? You all throw everything and the kitchen sink.
Orangkampung
Always a pleasure to borrow from Helen’s vocabulary.
Those who insist the word pendatang is all innocent and holds no degrading connotation is just doing a BKT.
While I agree forefathers of the Chinese and Indians are ‘immigrant stock'[sic], it is hardly apt to use the word on their offsprings born on this land.
Know what, to be technically precise, try anak-cucu pendatang.
But then it’s such a long word and it sorta lacks the mocking edginess of the P word.. Minus the edge, it does not hurt. If it doesn’t hurt, then what is the point, eh?
‘Those who insist the word pendatang is all innocent and holds no degrading connotation is just doing a BKT’
Seriously? Baca kamus DBP tak kau ni?
‘Know what, to be technically precise, try anak-cucu pendatang.’
Kita bukan kata anak cucu pendatang HARAM maa. BEZA TU!
Abihlah, one bangang PM bawa dia punya ‘Melayu Tatau’ flock masuk gaung!
Projek Mencinakan Malaysia ke ni, so the Malays kena tukar pemahaman Bahasa Melayu just because some pendatangs does not want to belajar bahasa motherland? Pening nih?!
Islam1st
Quote: Kita bukan kata anak cucu pendatang HARAM maa. BEZA TU!
Exactly my point.
Anak cucu pendatang is the accurate depiction of the Malaysian Chinese and Indian demography. It is not offensive.
The P word seems to be the current go-to mock word widely utilized by certain quarters in their losing rhetoric battles against the Chinese and Indians. Followed by, though not necessarily, ‘balik China, balik India.’
Cheers
HH answer this
TV Shows means
a) Rancangan TV
b) Persembahan TV
You can’t tell me you are a true Malaysia and in the same breadth tell me you don’t understand what I’m saying to you in Malay. Then when we say “Orang Nepal yang baru sampai pun tahu cakap melayu”, you then turn around and say ” we are not pendatang. You are racist for calling us pendatang.” That has always been my observation of when the pendatang issue crops up.
To a malay the “P word”, as you phrase it, would refer to p*k* or p*nt*t, which would be curse words. The word Pendatang does not carry any slurs. The word pendatang is commonly use in pendatang asing tanpa izin or pendatang haram because the issue of immigrants is not something that the malays continuously discuss. However it is a subject that is usually brought up by the dapsters.
But because of your poor understanding of malay, you choose to interpret the word in tems of its usage in the phrase PATI. The word pendatang is not meant to mock but is a way to refer to immigrants, that is all.
Orangkampung
In the universe of acceptable duplicitous intimations, you guys seriously owe Alvin Tan an apology.
Bak- meat
Kut- bones
Teh- tea
Nowhere in his controversial buka puasa greetings mentioned any pork.
re: “Nowhere in his controversial buka puasa greetings mentioned any pork.”
But any Chinese would know it is pork and nothing else but pork.
__________________________________________________
Explanation for the benefit of non-Chinese readers.
“Bak” is the default generic meat to Chinese, understood as pork just like daging is understood by Malays to be beef, i.e. Satay Daging is lembu, whereas other meats would be named specifically – Satay Ayam, Satay Kambing, Satay Arnab, Satay Rusa.
________________________________________________________________________
Are you saying, HH, that the Malays understand the word “pendatang” as a taunt in the same way that Chinese implicitly understand the word ‘bak’ vis-a-vis Alvin’s taunt?
Quote: Are you saying, HH, that the Malays understand the word “pendatang” as a taunt in the same way that Chinese implicitly understand the word ‘bak’ vis-a-vis Alvin’s taunt?
My comment is a reply to orangkampung’s assertion …
Quote orangkampung: “The word Pendatang does not carry any slurs. The word pendatang is commonly use in pendatang asing tanpa izin or pendatang haram because the issue of immigrants is not something that the malays continuously discuss.”
The PM had specifically pointed out “…I stressed that the term ‘pendatang’ or migrants should never be used to refer to a Malaysian.”
The keyword is ‘never be used to refer to a Malaysian”.
Fellow Malaysians.
All these given excuses about the word being used to refer to the pendatang asing, haram etc are just mendacious. In what context would the P word meaning pendatang asing/haram be used on a fellow citizen then?
Helen you asked why the pendatang word is so offensive or something to that effect, it is offensive because it denotes a certain class division within Malaysians. Some are penduduks, others, forever pendatangs.
An old uncle (deceased now) once told me the difference. If you are a pendatang/migrant, you come to take. To reap from the country. Penduduk/Inhabitants on the other hand, contributes.
What is your POV? Do you accept orangkampung’s explanation as it is or do you find elements of BKT?
(1) Your old Uncle’s description is fair enough. Emigrants will leave, like hopping from here to Tasmania (if she had successfully gotten her PR). Malays tend to stay. Even that Malay activist charged for sedition who sought asylum in Sweden – he’s hankering for home.
When the Malays read the comments in the social media, the tons and tons saying how happy they are to be in some Western country right now and good riddance to Malaysia, then quite naturally they will believe that the Chinese are not here for keeps but always on the lookout for greener pastures.
(2) Depending on whether we can blend in or not – we might never be able to avoid identification with our forefather’s place of origin.
Let’s take John Kerry. European Jew but his pendatangness not as evident as Obama. Madeleine Albright, born Marie Jana Korbelová in Czechoslovakia, being white wouldn’t get as many people curious and wondering about where her ancestors came from compared to, say, Connie Chung.
i.e. the whites can be immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Poland etc. but they can just get subsumed in a general ‘white’ without the genealogy being an issue. For the blacks, it’s inescapable that most landed in America during the slave era and they were shipped from Africa.
Obama has no hang-up being identified as the first “black” president even though he’s technically biracial. Hannah Yeoh, on the other, is like berserk about ethnic cleansing her Chinese ancestry (calling people “racist! racist! racist!” if they’re ethnicity-conscious) and let’s not talk about the fiasco of her older daughter not being registered as an “Indian”.
I think the way they are shrieking about Bangsa “Anak Malaysia” only makes the ‘pendatang’ issue more prominent rather than the other way around.
(3) orang kampung – if she says that she does not consider “pendatang” a slur word, then I believe her.
Off hand, I may not be able to pin down examples to illustrate to you but in my interactions with Malays, there is something to what she says. i.e. we have a different perspective and emphasis.
One example, I personally was skeptical of Felixia Yeap’s sincerity in Islam. But the majority of my Malay readers took her interest in good faith.
Sometimes we think the Malays are thinking/saying something but they’re not, whereas at other times, they sindir halus at us but we may not realise. Unless we’re deep in the environment/climate, we may not know. Kelantan/Terengganu Chinese will be able to read the situation better.
Ridhuan Tee, methinks, has a good ear for the Malay ground. But since the Firsters do not like to hear, they shoot him.
re: “Unless we’re deep in the environment/climate, we may not know.”
A better word
Unless we’re deep in the (Malay) SOCIAL MILIEU, we may not know.
‘Sometimes we think the Malays are thinking/saying something but they’re not, whereas at other times, they sindir halus at us but we may not realise. Unless we’re deep in the environment/climate, we may not know. Kelantan/Terengganu Chinese will be able to read the situation better.
Ridhuan Tee, methinks, has a good ear for the Malay ground. But since the Firsters do not like to hear, they shoot him.’
With that Helen, you are getting there. HH on the other hand have a long-long way ‘home’.
‘All these given excuses about the word being used to refer to the pendatang asing, haram etc are just mendacious.’
HH, you want to ABU, you punya pasal!
Tapi don’t expect the Malays tu tukar budaya wholesale, just because some Cinas does not speak the bahasa motherland. We can all be Shila Amzah or A Mei or we?
‘We can all be Shila Amzah or A Mei or we?’
We can’t all be…
Islam1st
Quote: Right. And the Malays to tukar budaya and speaks Mandarin instead. So now ‘pendatang’ word is a no-no. What else is coming?
Geez, no one is asking the Malays to tukar budaya and speak Mandarin…. unless you berhasrat jadi singer kat China like Shila.
Islam1st
Quote: We cant all be Shila or A Mei…
So I take it you are now in agreement the Chinese and Indians have the right to retain their unique identity without the mandate for assimilation?
Thumbs up.
Right. And the Malays to tukar budaya and speaks Mandarin instead. So now ‘pendatang’ word is a no-no. What else is coming?
You guys are doing the ‘Apa lagi Cina mahu?’ very well indeed. Well done and be proud the next round the Malays start stating the obvious.
I surely don’t. In fact you owe me one for that BKT remark. I know for a fact that BKT is pork base. You know why? Because I used to work in a multiracial office. Once a month, my Chinese coworkers go for BKT somewhere in PJ and they will tell me the day before that I’ll be on my own for lunch since they are going for BKT. Obviously my coworkers were much better people than Alvin.
Mungkin ramai tak faham Bahasa Kebangsaan, terlalu official.
Elok pakai bahasa pasar aje la.
What about dari keturunan pengmali, atau pengmai?
Pendatang can mean newcomers why this najib said the words a divisive kot dia dah tersalah sebut bangsawan bugis disamakan pulak dengan yang lain-lain tak saperti TDM kau orang kata lah apa yang kau orang suka dia tetap mengatakan he is a Malay inilah contoh seseorang itu as a statesman
“Racial integration a reason for Spore’s success: Obama” (Singapore Business Times http://www.business times.com.sg)
According to the report in the Singapore paper “Singapore has been successful in part because it has “been able to bring together people who may look different, but (who) all think of themselves as part of Singapore”, said US President Barack Obama on Monday in Washington, DC”.
“That has to be a strength, not a weakness. But that requires leadership and government being true to those principles” (Obama speaking to 75 emerging leaders aged 18 to 35 from Asean, as part of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative).
“Mr Obama praised Singapore’s ability to integrate its various races. He added that such racial integration has been linked to Singapore’s success as an “incredible economic engine””.
Obama: “The one thing I know is that countries that divide themselves on racial or religious lines – they do not succeed…. Each country is different, but there are some rules if you look at development patterns around the world that are pretty consistent, and those are two pretty good rules: Don’t divide yourself on religious and ethnic lines and racial lines, and don’t discriminate against women. If you do those two things, you are not guaranteed success but at least you’re not guaranteed failure”.
Sounds pretty unequivocal to me.
Of course the Isma intelligentsia may see it differently, but they are already blinkered in their attitude to “crusader mat salleh” nations.
It will be interesting to see who lands up on the right side of history. Maybe not those who lodged the 22 police reports….
re: “Mr Obama praised Singapore’s ability to integrate its various races.”
S’pore abolished Chinese schools.
S’pore closed down Nanyang University.
S’pore mandated mixed housing areas.
S’pore took the City Harvest Church to court.
S’pore jailed its evangelistas who tried to proselytize to Malays.
If Pakatan is in Singapore, tak celuih penjara.
‘It will be interesting to see who lands up on the right side of history. Maybe not those who lodged the 22 police reports….’
You ni laughable la Rithmatist. Apasal, cium buntot LKY lama sangat ke, sampai tak tahu bezakan bau busuk taik dengan busuk kentot ke?
Obama cakap pasal some pendatangs whom does not want to speak the language of the land la brader. Want separate schools for their youngs etc. Try again next time yer!
Screw Hannah Yeoh and her backhanded, HYPOCRITICAL, manipulative, selfish way of life. All in all she’s just a pretty (used to be pretty) faced airheaded diva who expects people to worship her and the ground she walks on.
“Since Najib Razak appears to consider ‘pendatang’ about as offensive as the ‘Nigger’-word, how about replacing it with ‘penjelma’ instead?”
Okey-dokey, I’m fine to be addressed as “penjelma” as long as it’s not “penceroboh”, “penumpang” or something else. At least it carries the “spiritual”connotation to some people, ha!
I think ‘penjelma’ is a good compromise. There’s a certain elan to it.
But seriously, is ‘pendatang’ all that upsetting for you? I don’t like “chink” and “chingkie”. These are the obvious racial slurs.
Why do some people go ape shit over “pendatang”? Is it the word inherently or it is the sentiment? It’s the sentiment is “anti”, we can – through the force of social sanction – make even an innocuous word, like say “fruit”, carry a ‘sting’.
Obviously, the root problem is the segregation of Malay, Chinese and Tamil school systems. The “pendatangs” have yet to “menjelma” into the interated Malaysian personality.
Chris
What is the definition of your ‘Malaysian personality’?
Is it based on the promises of the Constitution or something more?
I am most interested in hearing your version.
Cheers
I suppose the primary and secondary school years of every Malaysian child are formative of his/her learning experiences and correspondingly contributes to the development of personal character and the acculturalization of personality
Chris
I am generally in agreement with you.
But what about the subsequent years following our tertiary education? Do you opined religion has its impact /hindrance on the social fraternization between races?
Many consider the formative school years as the precursor to social harmony between the races. While I don’t discount the early years, I feel many refuse to acknowledge the divisiveness and biases we experience after our sojourn into society that ultimately shape us.
Any comments?
Cheers
Come on HH,
I’ve seen how you chaps like to compare this society to that of progressive Singapore. They’ve abandoned segregated vernacular schooling for 30 years. Why do you see an absence of brazen racial politicking over there? It’s because the majority of Singaporeans have grown up sharing experiences and communicating in a common language medium over several decades.
Alright, you can argue for Maths and Science to be taught n English over here – I wholly support this effort for the sake of equipping the nation to integrate into the world community – but which educationist could deny the social importance of having a quality mainstream schooling for all our children?
Having implemented a standard national curriculum for all schools, then give to the Chinese and the Tamils what else they would do for their own linguistic and cultural communities.
Perhaps we would be surprised by the kind of students such integrated schools would turn out. So much racial bickering would have been nullified because the citizenry would have studied, laughed and cried while growing up together in more wholistic cultural spaces.
but y i rarely see the guys here laugh n cry togather with lge n hannah? only curse n rant?
Why are you equating two hypocritical misfits – Papa & Mama Dapster – with the schooling system?
There you go …. we should have come to common terms a long time ago.
All this bickering in public cyberspace today should have been “child’s play” years ago for all those concerned – and unresolved social issues would have a more equitable and ready platform. Do you understand? You have to start the initiative today to reap the untold benefits years later from now.
Huh? Dah terlari topik kut?
Anyway, I want to share this. A family member is in the under-21 state sports team. The head coach is Chinese, who speaks malay really well. The team is 2/3 malay and 1/3 Chinese. Amongst themselves they speak Malay/English with a sprinkling of Cantonese. They curse really well in the three languages.
When you look at them practice together, go for games, you can see the togetherness, the closeness between them. There is real camaraderie. There is no racial tension. They do not even speak in racial terms.
Now if you can throw these kids together from preschool, imagine how much less racial you’ll get in the later years.
Terima kasih lah Orang Kampung
Chris
Appreciate your input.
Obama has said, “I identify as African-American — that’s how I’m treated and that’s how I’m viewed. I’m proud of it.”
Just cannot understand why many are so eager to hide their ancestors place of origins? Ada apa2 sejarah yang tak elok ke sebelum mereka datang sini? Kenapa sensitif sangat ni?
re: “Just cannot understand why many are so eager to hide their ancestors place of origins?”
I agree with you Rina.
When such people are so much in denial, you really how to look for the prawn behind the rock.