Young Malaysians not “delusional”; have souls and aspirations

I refer to the lengthy 3,000-word opinion piece by Singapore’s Ambassador-at-large, Bilahari Kausikan entitled “Malaysia is undergoing a systemic change that has profound consequences for Singapore” dated 6 October 2015 published in The Singapore Straits Times.

Mr Bilahari wrote in his analytical piece, referring to the overwhelming anti-establishment sentiment of the Chinese community and the turnout at the recent Bersih4 rally, that

It is my impression that many young Malaysian Chinese have forgotten the lessons of May 13, 1969. They naively believe that the system built around the principle of Malay dominance can be changed. That may be why they abandoned MCA for the DAP. They are delusional. Malay dominance will be defended by any means.

In fact, he even warned that the likely outcome of the above will be “even less space for non-Muslims”.

The top Singapore diplomat could not have gotten it more wrong.

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When National Schools Cultivates Schism and Seggregation

I am a proud product of a Malaysian national school and continues to harbour romantic notions of how the school was able to bring various races of different religions together under a single roof.

However today, such thoughts are mere nostalgic reminiscenes of days long past.  Instead of bringing Malaysians together, the national schools have become the ironic reason, directly and indirectly for our young to be seggregated by race and religion.

There are two key reasons why the non-Malays of this country, particularly the Chinese community has chosen to shun the national schools today.  This will include parents who have gone through the national school system, who often don’t even speak a word of Chinese besides their own name.

The first and perhaps the most dominant reason is the drastic decline in the quality of teaching at the national schools.  Parents who can’t afford private schools would prefer to send their children to the Chinese vernacular schools to ensure that they receive an education of sufficient rigour and quality.  National test results have proven that the Chinese vernacular schools outperform the national schools significantly.

However, the quality of education isn’t the only factor.  No parents would want to send their children to a school where their child will be seggregated and discriminated against, by teachers, schoolmates and the school administration.

Malaysians are up in arms over the news reports yesterday of photographs which have emerged online allegedly showing non-Muslim students of a primary school being made to eat in a shower room during fasting month.  The pictures show students of SK Seri Pristina in Sungai Buloh sitting around tables set up in the school’s changing or shower room.

The school authorities have made the students eat in the makeshift dining room, located next to the toilets.  No food is believed to be served in the canteen, which is said to be closed during Ramadan.

Although the Ministry of Education has “pledged” action on this matter, the above while extreme in its nature, is certainly not the first case, nor will it be expected to be the last.  Over the past few years, we have read many such reports, including a principal in Kedah telling off the Chinese pupils for being insensitive towards their Muslim peers by eating in the school compound during Ramadan and telling them to “balik Cina”.

There were equally ridiculous cases of cheerleading teams being disbanded, decrees for lion dance without drums during Chinese New Year as well as blanket bans on Christian fellowship groups.  And certainly, if one were to pay a visit to practically any national school today during the month of Ramadan, non-Muslim students are seggregated in secluded corners during recess, to “respect” their Muslim peers.

Even during normal months, students in many schools are seggregated so as not to contaminate Muslim food and utensils.  What’s more, many students have in the past complained that they were forced to take Arabic or attend Islamic classes despite being non-Muslims.

Is this the “respect” that our national education system seeks to cultivate?  Shouldn’t it be such that while non-Muslims understand and give respect to Muslims who are fasting, Muslims should equally understand and respect non-Muslim who are not?

The “transformation” of our national schools into such religious hardline schools has major negative ramifications for the country’s future.  Not only are non-Malays extremely deterred from sending their children to these national schools, those who do – both Malays and non-Malays – will be scarred for life.

The non-Malays who attend these schools, such as SK Sri Pristina above, will see the entire country’s system as biased against non-Malays and they will forever be discriminated as unworthy second class citizens.  The Malay students who attend these schools will on the other hand deem it is right and proper to subject other races, religions and cultures to their own beliefs and practices.

If the BN Government is serious about making the national schools, the school of choice for Malaysians and the grounds to breed national unity, then some very drastic reforms need to take place.

We call on the Ministry of Education to mete out swift and severe punishment to the school authorities who had the audacity to come up with policies demeaning our Malaysian children in SK Sri Pristina.  More importantly, we call upon the Ministry to come out of strict guidelines on these matters in our schools.  For example, non-Muslim students must be allowed to eat in school canteens during fasting month, and the canteen must be operated instead of being closed.  The failure to even come up with, and enforce such guidelines would only mean that the Ministry is granting tacit approvals for such actions, and will almost certainly make racial polarisation in Malaysia an irreversible process.

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1Malaysia Or 1Race-1Religion?

Housing & Local Government’s Minister’s Defence of Ibrahim Ali’s Bible-burning call proves there is no 1Malaysia, but only Malaysia for 1Race and 1Religion

For those who are familiar with the antics of Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Member of Parliament for Kota Belud and new Housing and Local Government Minister, he will be the first in the House to stand up and concoct a reason to defend “why the chicken cross the road?”

However his latest response as to why Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali's urging to burn bibles containing the word ‘Allah’ cannot be compared with the present case against the sex bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee for insulting Muslims certainly takes the cake.

Datuk Rahman Dahlan argued that Ibrahim’s remark was merely to “correct the error of printing the said bibles”, and hence “burning them was the proper thing to do” just as Muslims burn copies of the Quran that have misprints.

He further added that "what Ibrahim Ali said was normal”, but has been “twisted”.

No right-thinking Malaysian would believe the explanation that Ibrahim’s fiery and emotional remark was just an innocent and virtuous attempt to “correct the error of printing” in the bibles.  And even in the unlikely earth-shattering event that it was, that is no defence against the current Sedition Act.

For example in the landmark case of Public Prosecutor v Mark Koding, Justice Azmi Kamaruddin in the course of his judgment said: “... It is immaterial whether the accused intention or motive was honourable or evil when making the speech” when finding the latter guilty of sedition.  All the judge has to do is to see whether the words are likely to create disaffection against the government, the ruler or the people.

What Datuk Rahman Dahlan has done is to defend the indefensible attempt by the right-wing Perkasa leader, Ibrahim Ali in his attempt to incite Malays and Muslims in the country to burn the holy books of Christians.

However, in the case of the bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee, better known as “Alvivi”, who probably thought it was “funny” to ridicule fasting Muslims, “justice” was meted out before those charged has an opportunity to defend themselves.

Make no mistake, those found guilty must be punished accordingly and the acts of insulting another’s religion is not acceptable.  However, in the case of Alvivi, they have been denied bail on the basis that “both accused had a tendency to upload pictures that could arouse public outrage”, making them guilty before their defence is called.

The clear-cut double-standards in Malaysian prosecution system proves the hypocrisy of “1Malaysia”, a slogan preached by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself.  It also makes a mockery of our Federal Constitution which provides that all Malaysians are equal before the law.

The fact that Ibrahim Ali who the open and defiant call for bibles to be burnt was not only left uncharged, but also now defended by the UMNO Minister, while summary punishment was meted out to the blogging duo who carried out the tasteless prank confirms that the Federal Government practices not “1Malaysia” but Malaysia for 1Race and 1Religion.

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Malaysian Chinese are not Concerned with the Race of the Prime Minister

The misplaced tirade against the Chinese in Malaysia, whether intentional or otherwise, continues with the new Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim latest salvo published in Sinchew Daily yesterday.

He said that if the Chinese Malaysians who have been indoctrinated with “extreme racism” by the DAP can ditch their “racist mindset”, he “believes that Malaysia would one day have a prime minister of Chinese ethnicity”.

He was quoted to say “(You) cannot lead the people if (you) believe too much in racial power. If one day the Chinese could get rid of this mindset, Malaysia could also have a Chinese as prime minister”.

This statement is not only an uncalled for attempt to insult Malaysian Chinese as racists, it is a clear cut attempt to insinuate that Malaysian Chinese are a power-crazy and greedy community whose ultimate goal is to take over the Prime Ministership of this country.  It is part of UMNO’s continued attempt to divide the nation by having the Malay community remain completely frightful of the fairy-tale eventuality of losing political power.

Taking leaf from the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, Datuk Seri Shahidan even accused the Chinese of not participating “in activities organised by the government, but chose to be involved in the illegal street rallies held by the opposition”.

It clearly shows that to these UMNO leaders, any support given Pakatan Rakyat as an alternative to Barisan Nasional will be deemed “racist” in nature, even if the support is given to fight the blatant racism of parties like UMNO.

When Malays vote overwhelmingly for UMNO in the past, it is never “racism”. When Chinese voted for MCA in the past, that can’t be racism.  However, when Malays increased their support for Pakatan Rakyat candidates in the same election, Dr Mahathir accused DAP of spreading “propaganda” that influenced educated Malays.  And when the Chinese voted strongly for Pakatan Rakyat, that according to UMNO, is proof of Chinese “racism”. That is complete and utter gibberish coming from UMNO leaders.

UMNO leaders like Tun Dr Mahathir and Datuk Seri Shahidan perpetuate the above lies because they believe that the only way to maintain UMNO’s control of in the country and to share the wealth of the nation only with the politically connected elite, is by demonising the non-Malay community with artificial claims of “racism”, even if the claims are themselves racist.

UMNO leaders fear a Malaysia where Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Dayaks and other minority communities become united to fight cronyism and corruption among the ruling BN elite. Hence the desperate need to use all racist means keep Malaysia divided by race and religion.

The DAP never campaigned on a “Chinese” political power platform.  We never campaigned against Malay political interests.  If we did, Malaysians can be assured that such campaign speeches will be televised and condemned widely in all broadcast and print media as “proof” of DAP racism.  Instead, throughout our election campaigns, our leaders harped only on the singular point of creating a country that is free from corruption and cronyism, where the nation’s wealth can be shared among all Malaysians, and not just those who are politically connected.

For the Chinese community, they have no interest whatsoever in seeing a Chinese installed as a Prime Minister of Malaysia.  They don’t care if the Prime Minister of the country is a Malay, Indian, Kadazan or Iban, as long as he is a Prime Minister for all Malaysians and not just for a select group of cronies or race.

The Chinese community did not give their votes to PAS because PAS is a Chinese party.  They certainly did not pick Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as their preferred choice of Prime Minister because he is a Chinese.  They picked him because they see him as Malaysian first, who will fight abuse of power and prioritise the interest of the poor and disadvantaged, regardless of race, religion or creed.

UMNO Ministers and leaders will need to learn that the only way to stop the inevitability of losing their grip on power in Malaysia is to adopt the “Malaysian first” principle as espoused in their own “1Malaysia” slogan.  Their continued racist bent of their political platform will end all hopes of BN ever recovering from their election losses in 2008 and 2013.

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PM Must Prove He Wil Stop Racism

Instead of a “national reconciliation” pronounced by the Prime Minister on the night of election, what we are witnessing today is the “national aggravation” of race-relations by all UMNO and BN-related machinery, particularly the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia and Umno’s team of bloggers and cyber-troopers.

The situation, with absolutely no restraint from UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself, is spiralling out of control, worsening race-relations to its lowest ebb in recent decades.

Utusan Malaysia takes a completely racist position when defending UMNO over BN’s worst ever electoral performance in history, placing the blame squarely and entirely on the Chinese community.  The newspaper kicked off its tirade with the inflammatory headline “Apa lagi Cina mau?”.  It has since on a daily basis, inundated its readers with racist quotes from UMNO and NGO leaders chiding the Chinese for being ingrates such as the quote from Dr Mahathir who claimed that “the Chinese has rejected the Malays’ hand of friendship”.

Utusan Malaysia has gone one to attack the CEO of AirAsiaX, Azran Othman who had gone on record to say “I am Malaysian. I am anti-racism. I am disgusted by Utusan’s editorial stance.”  Utusan Malaysia now accuses Azran of being “anti-Malay”, “having forgotten his roots” and an ingrate towards presumably Umno and Utusan, for contributing for his achievements today.  It has become shocking how those who stand against racism are being vilified in the mainstream media owned by Umno and Barisan Nasional.

Now the Umno-owned media are playing up the call to boycott “Chinese-owned” goods and services by Umno bloggers, cyber-troopers and Umno-linked NGOs.  Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia (PPIM) for example, had recently called for consumers to boycott or at the very least buy goods sold by Chinese companies last.

While the new Domestic Trade, Consumerism and Cooperatives Minister, Datuk Hasan Malek has stated that the Government will not endorse such a call, he has at the same time said that it is these organisations’ right to make the boycott call as it is a free country.  Such a lame response to a racist attempt to divide the nation certainly leaves much to be desired.  It is certainly true that people can choose to be racist, but it is the moral duty of the Government to demonstrate leadership by discouraging and rebuking such racist actions and causes.

Pakatan Rakyat call upon all Malaysians to not only frown upon racist calls – whether to boycott “Chinese” goods, or to discriminate against “Malay” companies – but to stand up against racism because regardless of whether the goods were produced by Chinese or Malays or Indians, we are all Malaysians.

Unlike the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who likes to keep his “elegant silence”, Pakatan Rakyat leaders will not hesitate to condemn attempts to divide the country through racism or religious bigotry.  We have proven that in the recently concluded General Election, Malaysians of all races have increased their support for Pakatan Rakyat, and not only the Chinese and we have called for the results not to be racialised.

Hence we call upon the Prime Minister to demonstrate his sincerity in “1Malaysia” by breaking his silence and condemn the racist developments in the country before his reign becomes recorded in history as the one which caused Malaysians to be the most racially divided.

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Zahid Hamidi's Contempt of Malaysian Voters

Newly appointed Home Minister and UMNO Vice-President is doing his very best to block and jeopardise any possibility of Najib’s so-called “national reconciliation”

In a shocking article published in Utusan Malaysia, completely unbecoming of a Home Affairs Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi tells Malaysians who are not happy with the outcome of the 13th General Election to migrate somewhere else with an electoral system which suits their fancies.

In the article, he said that

Jika golongan ini mahu menerima pakai list system atau single transferable vote seperti mana yang digunakan oleh negara-negara republik, sepatutnya mereka berhijrah ke negara-negara berkenaan untuk mempraktikkan kepercayaan politik mereka.

Dato’ Seri Zahid gave the excuse that Malaysia has inherited the first-past-the-post system from the United Kingdom, which is also utilised in many Commonwealth states.

Malaysia mewarisi sistem politik daripada United Kingdom dan kebanyakan negara Komanwel juga menggunakan sistem first past the post yang mana parti-parti politik yang bertanding di kawasan pilihan raya memilih hanya seorang wakil bagi setiap kawasan pengundian yang mengambil kira prinsip undi majoriti mudah.

Therefore he argued that despite Pakatan Rakyat achieving 51.78% of the popular vote, our adopted system allows for a party or coalition with lower popular vote to win the elections.

Dato’ Seri Zahid fails in his argument on 2 separate counts.  Firstly, while the first-past-the-post system does indeed grant disproportionate allocations of seats relative to the percentage popular vote, our electoral boundaries have been excessively corrupted over the past decades.  The gap between the constituencies with the least number of voters such as Putrajaya (15,791) and Padang Rengas (28,518) and those with the biggest population such as Kapar (144,159) and Serdang (133,139) goes to prove that our electoral system is manipulated to give the ruling Barisan Nasional an unfair advantage.  One will not find such ridiculous discrepancies between constituencies in other advanced first-past-the-post democracies such as United Kingdom or Australia.

The evidence is also clear in the fact that the average size of a constituency which Pakatan Rakyat candidates won had 77,655 voters compared to only 46,510 voters for a typical BN constituency.

Secondly, the fact that we have an imperfect electoral system in place is exactly the reason why the people are speaking up and expressing their disappointment and anger at the system.  It is the reason why hundreds of thousands of Malaysians have gathered in various cities over the past week to demand a better electoral system, be it a fairer distribution of voters in all constituencies or a thoroughly revamped proportional representation system, or a mixture of both as practiced in certain other advanced democracies.  It is the right of ordinary Malaysians to demand free and fair elections.

Dato’ Seri Zahid in his article is in effect denying these Malaysians their rights for a system which will better able to reflect the wishes of the citizens of the country.  Such arrogance and contempt by the newly appointed Home Minister and the current UMNO vice-president points to the fact that UMNO-BN has no desire at all to seek “national reconciliation” post the 13th General Election.

His comments also points to the hypocrisy of the new UMNO-BN government which the Prime Minister has promised to be inclusive and “transformative”.  It is the same arrogance and hypocrisy which has caused BN to lose its 2/3 majority in 2008 and the popular vote in 2013.  Such arrogance and hypocrisy will only lead to one inevitable result in the next general election, that is the rakyat will vote overwhelmingly for Pakatan Rakyat to ensure that no amount of cheating and gerrymandering will stop the tidal wave from sinking the BN party.

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Najib Shows He Is Not Malaysian First

Bernama reported that the Prime Minister said that “the 13th general election is not an ordinary election. Instead, it will determine the survival of the Malays.”

He used the threat of “the survival of the Malays” to threaten Malays into supporting Barisan Nasional.  The Umno president said “Malays should realise that as the backbone of the Barisan Nasional (BN), Umno would be able to continue the struggle of the Malays and Islam.”

The above statements proved that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak failed as a Prime Minister for all Malaysians, especially as the nation celebrates the 49th anniversary of Malaysia Day today.

At the start of Dato’ Seri Najib’s premiership, he has made the “1Malaysia” slogan the cornerstone of his entire administration, which he defined as “every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second and where the principles of 1Malaysia are woven into the economic, political and social fabric of society” in the Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

However his exhortation to the Malays proved that the Prime Minister is more than willing to play the racial card to protect BN’s hold on power.  He has shown that he speaks not as the Prime Minister for all Malaysians, but an instigator of continued racial division in the country.

Dato’ Seri Najib’s speech also exposed the fact that like his Deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, they see themselves as “Malays first”, and not “Malaysians First” as defined in the GTP.  Tan Sri Muhyiddin had said in 2009 “How can I say I’m Malaysian first and Malay second? All the Malays will shun me and say that it is not proper.”

As we celebrate both our independence from our colonial masters on 31st August and formation of Malaysia on 16th September, a Prime Minister for all Malaysians should be extolling the virtues of a united nation regardless of race, religion, class or geography.  However, what we have is a Prime Minister who tells the Malay community that they are being attacked and threatened by the other races in the country.

It is hence not a surprise that Dato’ Seri Najib never reprimanded Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s public declaration that he is “Malay first” despite the clear contradiction to the 1Malaysia definition in the GTP. It is not a surprise because they both see themselves as “Malay first” and not Malaysian First.

This also shows that Najib’s “1Malaysia” is pretty on the outside, but empty on the inside.  The whole “1Malaysia” campaign is to present a false picture of Malaysian First, with no sincere leadership or intent build a truly Malaysian First country.

The Prime Minister’s position blots our 49th anniversary celebration of Malaysia Day and it raises the question as to why, after 49 years of nationhood, we are unable to elect a Prime Minister who puts the interest of all Malaysians, above that of a person’s race.  We can only hope that the Malay community will not be so easily threatened by Dato’ Seri Najib and will, together with all other Malaysians, pick a government that will be fair to all its citizens regardless of race, religion, class and geography in the next general election.

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Najid Dares Not Defend "1Malaysia"

Najib is proving to be the lamest Prime Minister in Malaysia’s history - he has neither the political will nor courage to even defend his own policies when it is repudiated by his Deputy

At the Malaysian Student Leaders’ Summit yesterday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak exposed himself as a weak leader with no political conviction and neither political will nor political courage when he refused to defend his “1Malaysia” policy as defined in the Government Transformation Plan (GTP) policy document.

The GTP developed by PEMANDU in the Prime Ministers’ office had defined 1Malaysia as a “nation where every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second”.

However, the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had twice reiterated in 2009 that he is “Malay first” for “he would be shunned by all the Malays if he were to say that he is a Malaysian first”.

Despite “1Malaysia” being made the cornerstone of this administration, Najib had refused to openly declare himself a “Malaysian first” or commit to its definition when asked by a student at the Summit. Instead, he dodged the question by giving answer that would have left the students in no doubt that the man before them is no leader. Najib said that he does not “want to respond in a way that will divide me from my deputy. In Malaysia, that can be very dangerous”

He further added that “it does not matter what you say, just as long as you follow (the 1 Malaysia concept)”. It certainly doesn’t take 600 of our brightest young minds at the forum to tell the Prime Minister that you can’t follow a concept that is neither here nor there, and can’t even be defined properly.

Najib’s refusal to declare support for his “Malaysian first” policy clearly demonstrates that he has no personal conviction of his “1Malaysia” clarion call. In addition, despite the seeming importance of the policy to achieve a united and harmonious multi-racial Malaysia, he is willing to sacrifice “1Malaysia” for political expediency.

Instead of demonstrating leadership and conviction by standing firm on his “principles” and demanding that his Ministers support his cause, Najib has chosen to mollycoddle his Deputy, as the latter disagrees with him.

In the past, we have repeatedly witnessed former Deputy Prime Ministers openly declaring their loyalty and undying support for the then Prime Ministers. What we are seeing now today is the complete reverse, where the Prime Minister is doing his utmost to avoid displeasing his Deputy, even at the expense of his most important policy linchpin.

It raises the question as whether Najib’s position as the Umno president is so “very dangerous” that he has to march to Muhyiddin’s beat, with the latter firmly in the driver’s seat.

If the Prime Minister himself does not even dare to stand firm on his convictions, and has no political will and courage to ensure that his entire administration, including his own Deputy fall in line with his Malaysian first policy, how does he even expect ordinary Malaysians to believe in him?

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Belah Buku: Malaysia Milik Kita Bersama

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Malaysia is "Tanah Melayu"?

Pakatan wants Najib’s reply to Dr M’s Tanah Melayu remarks
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal February 04, 2011

In a speech on Tuesday, Dr Mahathir told Malaysians to admit that the country belonged to the Malays and that they had to accept the culture and language of the dominant community. The former prime minister said that the country’s forefathers gave the Chinese and Indians citizenship because they expected the communities to respect Malay sovereignty.

“This country belongs to the Malay race. Peninsular Malaysia was known as Tanah Melayu but this cannot be said because it will be considered racist. We must be sincere and accept that the country is Tanah Melayu,” he said.

[...]

DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua called Dr Mahathir’s views “supremacist”, saying there were no provisions in the Federal Constitution which supported Dr Mahahir’s views.

“Najib and Mahathir should perhaps enlighten Malaysians where Mahathir’s supremacist concept is found in the Federal Constitution as designed by our forefathers. Najib will also have to explain how his 1 Malaysia fits into Mahathir’s scheme of things,” Pua told The Malaysian Insider.

According to another DAP leader, Lim Kit Siang, Dr Mahathir was “contradicting” himself as his remarks went against not only the 1 Malaysia concept, but also the “Bangsa Malaysia” concept bandied around during the Mahathir administration.

“What he said was full of contradictions... it contradicts his (Dr Mahathir’s) own Bangsa Malaysia concept and 1 Malaysia.

“The aim for Vision 2020 was to create a Malaysia full of people committed to the nation, all races working together on the same platform,” the DAP parliamentary leader told The Malaysian Insider.

Click here for the full article.

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Najib Asks For Blind Loyalty To Umno From Civil Service

In the Prime Minister's speech when launching an Umno Club for retired senior government officers at his official residence, Seri Perdana yesterday, Datuk Seri Najib Razak claimed he is baffled that there are civil servants and government pensioners who preferred to support the opposition.

Bernama reported that he said the "civil servants should know better that it is only Umno that can ensure our survival".

Firstly, the Prime Minister is clearly unable to differentiate between loyalty to the Government as opposed to loyalty to a particular political party. While the civil service needs to be loyal to the Government of the day and carry out its policies diligently and professionally, the civil servants are allowed to have their own political ideals and preferences.

With Malaysia seeking to become a develop nation by 2020, the Prime Minister should perhaps start behaving like one for a developed country for countries like Japan, USA, UK, France or Australia are able to switch governments without the loyalty and political affiliation of the civil servants being questioned.

Secondly, Najib's reference to "Umno" as opposed to "Barisan Nasional" clearly shows the party's racial priorities when referring to "our survival" which could only refer to "Malay survival in the context of the civil service being dominated by Malays and Umno being a party exclusively for Malays.

However what was perhaps most damning in Najib's speech was his use of racial rhetoric and falsehoods to incite anger among the Malay civil servants.

"I want to ask who were the ones who questioned Article 153 in the Constitution? Malay privileges; who questioned them?

Who caused the incident of not offering prayers for the well-being of the king? Who wanted Universiti Teknologi Mara to be opened to the non-Malays. Not Umno, but the other side," he said.

Najib asked the questions like a true Perkasa "hulubalang" and gave away his true colours as a Prime Minister who is "Malay first" instead of "Malaysian first" as defined in his own 1Malaysia concept in the Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

It fully explains he lack of willingness to mete out harsh punishments against those who has spewed racist comments over the past few years including Penang's Ahmad Ismail, the teachers who insulted minority races, his own special assistant Nasir Safar as we'll as most recently, the BTN Deputy Director who referred to Indians as "Si Botol".

His speech marks a 180 degree about turn from his call for "moderation" to fight the global extremists at the United Nations three weeks ago. It is also in total contrast from his call for drastic reforms in the New Economic Model such as for affirmative action to be "market-friendly and merit-based" as opposed to being entirely race-based.

Who exactly was Najib referring to who questioned the Article 153 of the Federal Constitution? We would however question those who abuse to articles of the constitution to grant special privileges to political cronies, the already rich and influential.

The accusation of the King's name being replaced by others by the Penang state government in prayers at the mosque has been explained as being completely unfounded. Najib's lie is hence completely unethical and made with ill-intent.

At the same time, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim's innocent suggestion of making UiTM a little more multiracial was to encourage greater diversity and exhange of ideas within the university has been taken completely out of context by Najib, Umno and Utusan as threatening Malay rights to frighten the Malays.

Under the spirit of the New Economic Model, the Prime Minister should be open to such ideas to ensure that Malaysia will be able to produce higher quality human capital and become more productive and competitive.

However, Najib has instead succumbed to Perkasa's tactics of stirring race discord with racial rhetoric, proving himself to be like his Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who had proclaimed himself to be "Malay first, Malaysian second". It also explains why Najib has taken extra pains not to criticise Perkasa for their non-stop racist and extremist posturing, despite them causing increased racial tensions and dissatisfaction in the country.

The above will severely jeopardise our goal of achieving the high income status with the Government and Economic Transformation Programme. Malaysian talents overseas will resist returning while foreign and local investors will seek greener pastures elsewhere if unequal opportunities and unbridled race-based policies continue to be practiced.

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Najib Adopts Middle Malaysia?

Najib needs to win over extremists in Umno, just as he calls on the moderates of the world to defeat the extremists in the world.

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak made a good speech at the United Nations which we could not fault. As reported in The Star today, the prime minister said there was a need to marginalise the extremists, and the “global movement of the moderates” of all faiths was needed to work together to make this a success.

Najib also said these extremists had held the world hostage with their bigotry and bias, adding that “we must choose moderation over extremism... We must choose negotiations over confrontation. We must choose to work together and not against each other. And we must give this effort utmost priority, for time is not on our side”.

What is interesting however, is the message and choice of words used by the Prime Minister bore remarkable resemblance to the speech made by DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng at the DAP National Convention held in Ipoh, January this year where Lim was slammed by Umno for calling for a “middle Malaysia”.

Then, Lim has called for resolution of religious disputes “not through confrontation but consultation and not by force but by negotiations” with a specific reference to the use of “Allah” controversy.

Lim had said that “we are not a nation at war with itself. What we are witnessing is UMNO is at war with the values that stand for openness, logical reasoning and mutual respect. When BN talks of international benchmarks, questions are raised as to why the global Islamic practice from Middle-East to Indonesia allowing Christians’ usage of the word “Allah”, not applicable in Malaysia.”

We had called for a Middle Malaysia which prefers co-operation not conflict, consultation instead of confrontation and an inclusive shared society rather than an exclusive separate society. And to embrace Middle Malaysia, Pakatan Rakyat must be seen as moderate and inclusive and distance and differentiate ourselves from our exclusive, racist, extremist opponents.

It is therefore “rich” coming from the Prime Minister to call for global moderation when he has failed to decisively clamp down on race and religious extremism, especially those from his very own political party.

Najib has no locus standi to preach global moderation when today Umno is still adamant on eliminating the rights of the other Abrahamic faiths to use the term “Allah”, his government's refuses to deal with racist school principals decisively and the National Civics Bureau continues to preach race supremacy as highlighted in the speech of its Deputy Director which was supported by Puteri Umno. What is perhaps worse is Najib's complete lack of willingness to openly condemn extremist organisations like Perkasa due to political expediency as the latter is constituted by Umno's own members.

We must applaud Najib's speech at the UN and support all and any effort to promote moderation and combat extremism. However the Prime Minister's pretty speech will be only deemed worthless if he refuses to steer his own party towards moderation, to achieve a middle Malaysia.

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Forum: What Does It Mean to be Malaysian?

Photo courtesy of TV Smith

The office of Kg Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San will be organising a public forum entitled "What Does It Mean To Be Malaysian? - Thoughts & Reflections Menjelang Malaysia Day".

Venue: Crystal Crown Hotel, Off Jalan Utara, Petaling Jaya
Date: 8 Sept 2010
Time: 8pm

Speakers:

• Hannah Yeoh - State Assemblyperson for Subang Jaya
• Rafizi Ramli - Chief Executive of Selangor Economic Advisory Office
• V Ganabathirao - Former ISA detainee
• Azmi Sharom - UM law professor
• Leon Donald - DAP Sarawak Asst Publicity Secretary
• Tony Pua - MP for Petaling Jaya Utara

All are welcome. Enquiries: 019-2865858.

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DAP Strengthens Relations with Malay-Muslims; Umno Edgy

Mosque visits reflect deeper PAS-DAP ties, makes Umno edgy
By Neville Spykerman August 29, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — The furore over Lim Guan Eng’s name being mentioned in Friday sermons and now the visit of a DAP MP to a surau is a reflection of deeper PAS-DAP ties that has made Umno uncomfortable ahead of the next general elections, say analysts and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) politicians.

PAS has stoutly defended both incidents and point out that only Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia and state news agency Bernama are championing the issues but not by others on the ground.

“Umno is afraid of deeper PAS-DAP ties so the only way is to wreck it where possible,” Harakahdaily website editor Zulkifli Sulong told The Malaysian Insider.

He pointed out that PAS leaders see nothing wrong with the twin issues, adding even PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat has backed the outreach to non-Muslims.

“There is nothing wrong except in the eyes of Umno and Utusan,” said the editor of the PAS news portal.

Klang MP Charles Santiago agreed with Zulkifli’s assessment of the issue that began at the onset of the Ramadan fasting month.

“The uproar in the Umno-owned press are calculated moves to drive a wedge between DAP, PAS and the Malay community,” Santiago said..

The DAP MP described the issue as “high level bigotry” and said Umno was concern by the party’s growing acceptance by PAS and the Malay community.

His sentiments were echoed by Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua who pointed out that DAP was working well not only with PAS but PKR.

He added Umno was wary because DAP has been breaking down the perception it was a Chinese chauvinist party concern with only Chinese or Indian issues.

“Umno is clearly worried,” said Pua.

For the full article, click here.

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More Racist Investigation Committees Required?

Tan Sri Muhyiddin has set a ridiculous precedent of setting up a high-level taskforce to investigate allegations of racist remarks by a school principal and he will now have no choice but to set up a committee to investigate every such remarks.

The Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has belatedly announced the set up of a taskforce specifically to investigate the allegations regarding highly racist remarks made by the principal of SMK SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Siti Inshah Mansor, after remaining silent for 1 whole week since the incident.

The setting up of the investigation taskforce is clearly an afterthought by the Minister after the attempt by the ministry's Director-General Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom to waive away the issue by claiming that the issue has been “resolved” as it was due to a “misunderstanding” backfired when the public voiced their outrage at the cover up by the Ministry of Education.

Unfortunately, the public does not have any confidence at all that the taskforce will be able to produce a satisfactory outcome as the Minister himself has set the tone for the taskforce.

1.Despite this being a simple issue of determining if such words were spoken, especially with tens of witnesses as reflected by the police reports filed against Siti Inshah, Tan Sri Muhyiddin chose to “complicate” matters by emphasising on a “full and thorough investigation which my cross several agencies”. While it is certainly fair for the principal to receive a “full and thorough investigation”, the emphasis by the Minister that it'll involve several agencies is a clear attempt to unnecessarily prolong the investigation despite the obvious fact that Siti Inshah has apologised to the students for the offence.

2.Unlike his Deputy Minister, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, who had at the very least tweeted publicly that it was “not appropriate for principal to pass those remarks, shd be sensitive living in a multiracial society”, Tan Sri Muhyiddin has still refused to condemn such remarks, if truly uttered.

The question is, why is he, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, so reluctant to condemn such remarks and warn others in the Education Ministry from ever doing the same or face the harshest of consequences? His action, or in this case, inaction, has further damaged the “1Malaysia” concept proposed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to promote national unity.

3.What is perhaps most telling in Tan Sri Muhyiddin's setting up of this investigation taskforce is fact that there was no deadline set for the taskforce to present its findings and recommendations when a week would have been more than sufficient time to investigate and determine the outcome.

The above shows that the Deputy Prime Minister is not serious about getting to the bottom of this issue quickly and in such a way to demonstrate that the Ministry of Education will not tolerate any such serious offences by anyone under its payroll. The setting up of the taskforce is just meant to temporarily placate the furious parents and upset Malaysians while the Ministry buys time for itself to “resolve” the issue the second time.

However, the precedent of setting up such a taskforce of teachers or headmasters uttering racist remarks may just create a tidal wave of such taskforce for now there is a new case of a principal and teacher committing the same offence in a school in Sg Petani, Kedah. Will the Education Minister announce another taskforce to investigate these claims? Will more taskforces be set up as more such offences gets reported?

We call upon the Tan Sri Muhyiddin to stop pussyfooting over the issue and demonstrate his commitment to “1Malaysia” by condemning outright such remarks and giving a warning to all teachers and principals that those found guilty of doing so will be punished most severely including being sacked from the profession. If Tan Sri Muhyiddin still refuses to take quick action on the above, then it is imperative for the Prime Minister himself to take all necessary steps to hold together his fragile “1Malaysia” brainchild, if the concept still means anything to him.

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Racist Headmaster, Muhyiddin Silent

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is again proving to fail “1Malaysia” with inept handling of the racist remarks by the principal of SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra

Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin punctured the “1Malaysia” euphoria when he went against the Government's official definition of the concept which called for “a nation where, it is hoped, every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second” earlier in March this year.

The Deputy Prime Minister had chosen to reject the goal of 1Malaysia, by insisting that he is “Malay first” and subsequently ridiculing the concept of “Malaysian first” by saying “How can I say I'm Malaysian first and Malay second? All the Malays will shun me... and it's not proper.”

Now, when the principal of SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Siti Inshah Mansor is alleged to have uttered completely racist statements during school assembly to young Malaysian students a week ago on the 12 August 2010, Tan Sri Muhyiddin who is also the Minister of Education has chosen to remain elegantly silent on the matter of utmost national importance.

During the National Day celebration launch, she was alleged to have said “Pelajar Cina tidak diperlukan di sini dan boleh pulang ke China atau Sekolah Foon Yew. Kepada pelajar India, rantai keagamaan yang dipakai di leher dan tangan membuatkan mereka kelihatan seperti anjing kerana hanya anjing diikat sebegitu”, seriously insulting all Malaysian Chinese and Indians.

Such a statement must be condemned immediately and without reservation for it tantamounts to an attempt to divide Malaysians, and opposes the “1Malaysia” ideals. By choosing to remain silent, Tan Sri Muhyiddin has again demonstrated his reluctance in endorsing the 1Malaysia concept beyond just paying it lip service.

The “1Malaysia” concept is further debased when Tan Sri Muhyiddin's Director-General for Education told the press yesterday that “there is no change, the issue was only a misunderstanding and the problem has been solved between the principal and students,” indicating also that the principal will not even be transferred as a punishment.

Malaysians fail to see how the uttering of such a crude and completely insensitive statement could be caused by any “misunderstanding” and see the action by the Ministry of Education as a complete cover up, and an attempt sweep the matter under the carpet.

Deputy Minister of Education, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong explained in his tweet last night that “the principal is on leave now, she has to face the probe by police. She did apologise to students.”

Datuk Dr Wee's explanation invited a repartee from UMNO Youth Chief, Khairy Jamaluddin who tweeted “We cannot drag our feet or prevaricate on things like this. Blatant racism. By a school principal no less. And if proven that she said those things (which I'm told is a certainty) she must be sacked & charged appropriately. She shouldn't be allowed back pending the result of the investigation, which shouldn't have to take long.” Khairy is absolutely right in this case, therefore stern and immediate action must be taken to demonstrate that the Government has no room and tolerates no racism, especially in our schools.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin must immediately reprimand the Director-General for Education for claiming that “the problem has been resolved”, especially since it is now known that the principal has apologised to the students. He must also demonstrate his commitment to “1Malaysia” by issuing a public condemnation of the principal's actions and mete out the appropriate punishment to her. Otherwise, inaction by the Deputy Prime Minister will show without doubt, his own prejudice against “1Malaysia”.

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Muhyiddin Instrumental To 1Malaysia's Failure

It was certainly ironical when the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin agreed with former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir that Malaysians have yet to understand the 1Malaysia concept and argued that the public needed more time to fully understand 1Malaysia. It couldn't have been more apt when the Deputy Prime Minister admitted that “certain groups are “purposely sabotaging the 1Malaysia concept”.

There is probably at present, no bigger saboteur of the 1Malaysia concept than Tan Sri Muhyiddin himself for he had sought to expound a completely different interpretation of 1Malaysia compared to the official definition provided by the Government in the official documents.

While the Government Transformation Programme approved by the Cabinet and published in December last year defined the goal of 1Malaysia as “a nation where, it is hoped, every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second”. It was a definition which was clear and concise.

However, despite the above, the Deputy Prime Minister had chosen to reject the goal of 1Malaysia, by by insisting that he is “Malay first” and subsequently ridiculing the concept of “Malaysian first” by saying “How can I say I'm Malaysian first and Malay second? All the Malays will shun me... and it's not proper.”

The impact of Tan Sri Muhyiddin's contempt for the Malaysian first concept as defined by the Government sounded the death knell for a unifying “1Malaysia” and is best epitomised by the complete refusal til today for the President of Gerakan, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, who is also the Minister in-charge of the Government Transformation Programme, as well as the President of MCA, Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek to declare themselves “Malaysian first”.

It is hence completely unsurprising that Malaysians fail to understand the concept of 1Malaysia, and Tun Dr Mahathir had lamented that the concept is interpreted differently by different people.

The Deputy Prime Minister's strident support for “ketuanan Melayu” as being a pillar for 1Malaysia and the complicit and complete acquiesce of Barisan Nasional component parties, MCA, MIC and Gerakan to UMNO's demands ensures that there will be no chance of a “Malaysian first” goal of being achieved.

For example, despite an initial attempt by MCA to defend the rights of Christians to use the term “Allah” in their prayers, the MCA President, Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek wasted no time backing down from its initial position once MCA received a rebuke and warning from the Deputy Prime Minister. Instead of fighting for an inclusive “1Malaysia” which took into consideration the rights and interests of all Malaysians, Datuk Seri Chua changed the party's position, claiming that they were “merely echoing the wishes of non-governmental organisation Christian Federation of Malaysia”. This is to say that MCA themselves have no opinions or position about the issue.

Hence the Tan Sri Muhyiddin has no one else to blame but himself for disparaging the initially noble concept of “1Malaysia” by failing to take into consideration the rights and interest of all Malaysians. The non-UMNO Barisan Nasional component parties on the other hand, perpetuate the failure by refusing to take a position in the interest of all Malaysians, by refusing to challenge Umno, even if the latter is acting against the official government policy or the interest of all Malaysians at large.

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Koh Tsu Koon Unable To Answer If He's "Malaysian First"

The President of Gerakan, a party known to be the "conscience of Barisan Nasional" was put under severe test in parliament last week. He was asked by DAP Parliamentary Opposition leader if he is a "Malaysian first" or a "Chinese first", in relation to the definition set out in the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme Roadmap, a project headed by Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon himself.

Unfortunately, what is seemingly a straightforward question appears to be a most difficult one for Koh Tsu Koon as he was warned by the speaker twice from answering something different from what the previous Umno minister, Datuk Seri Nazri had answered in parliament while defending the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who had declared that he was "Malay first, Malaysian second".

Watch the 5 minutes video to see it for yourself.

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Muhyiddin's 1Malaysia Joke

I won't make any comments, but feel free to make your on judgements on this matter.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has launched the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Roadmap with big fanfare. In fact, he spent RM2.7 million just launching this Roadmap, which you can download here (286 pages).

Inside this roadmap, the concept of 1Malaysia is actually defined very clearly. In fact, it's repeated twice on page 11 and page 69 of the document (English version), or page 16 and page 76 of the Bahasa Malaysia version.

The goal of 1Malaysia is to make Malaysia more vibrant, more productive and more competitive – and ultimately a greater nation: a nation where, it is hoped, every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second...

I could not agree and share the above goals more for I certainly see myself as Malaysian first, and Chinese second. Religion, geography and class don't even come into the picture.

DAP Parliamentary Leader, Lim Kit Siang posed the simple question to the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, if he supports the Prime Minister's 1Malaysia as defined above. The response is below as quoted from the Malaysiakini report:

"I am Malay first, but being Malay doesn't mean I am not Malaysian," said Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. He was responding to DAP leader Lim Kit Siang's challenge earlier today for him to state whether he is a Malay or a Malaysian first.

"He doesn't understand (what) the meaning of the concept of 1Malaysia is all about," Muhyiddin told a press conference in the Parliament lobby this afternoon.

"How can I say I'm Malaysian first and Malay second? All the Malays will shun me... and it's not proper," he said.

Who understands 1Malaysia, and who doesn't? What are the implications? Who's being taken for a ride? Hmmm....

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Call For Emergency Parliamentary Session to Condemn Attacks

DAP condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent acts of defiling the places of Muslim worship

This morning, two mosques along Jalan Klang Lama were found desecrated with pig heads being found in their compounds.

We condemn in the strongest possible terms such despicable acts which are not only insensitive to our Muslim brothers, but is clearly an act to incite racial hatred and sentiments in our multi-racial and multi-religious society.

Ordinary Malaysians of all faiths and creed must not be entrapped by these acts which motives are clearly to enrage Malaysians into conducting similar tit-for-tat acts to create destroy the peace and tolerance in the country.

We will like to repeat our call upon the Government to convene an all-parties meeting, including all political parties, religious bodies and civil society organisations to unite as one to condemn such attempts to sabotage the future and unity of Malaysians.

We also call upon the Prime Minister to convene an emergency Parliamentary meeting for all Parliamentarians from across the divide to condemn without reservation the increasing incidence of arson, vandalism and desecration at all places of religious worship including mosques, suraus, churches and temples.

The Government must no longer dismiss these incidents as “minor aberrations” or “minor damage” for they have much broader implications to our nation-building. We must nip the increasing religious militancy in the country in the bud, before it escalates to a point of no return where properties are destroyed and lives are lost.

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