PERFIDY

I do apologise.  For the moment, my posting of  "A Collective or a Cult?" has to be on the back burner - just for a while, as I have to publicise and thrash this little ignoramus.

The demise of one of the 20th century's bravest freedom fighters, Nelson Mandela, saw a great outpouring of love, sadness, sympathy and respect in the world's electronic and print media.  Today, I looked through the Daily Mail's article on the passing of Nelson Mandela ......

See :  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2519666/Nelson-Mandela-dead-95.html

and at the top of the Comment Section was this sordid piece by davidlee52, swanscombe, 15 hours ago (as of the time of this posting at 18.09,  7 Dec 2013).    The piece struck me as typical of an increasingly vocal campaign against Malaysia, now being waged (often by 'Malaysians") on the global Internet.

davidlee52 wrote:

The only country left in the world with its own version of apartheid is Malaysia and the country needs a great fair government and a leader that could walk in the shoes of Mr Nelson Mandela.

What magnanimity to utilise the passing of an African leader and freedom fighter to score points against Malays and Malaysia and to slag off his 'motherland" !!!   That's assuming that  (1) he is or was Malaysian, and (2)  that  as a Malaysian he is possessed of an undying loyalty to the land of his Passport.

Yes indeed. Malaysia needs a 'great fair government' especially  to balance the disparity of wealth between the Chinese of immigrant stock and the native Malays and Others.  This huge wealth gap in Malaysia - well institutionalised by historical, political, and cultural forces - is very similar to that  between the immigrant whites in South Africa and the indigenous blacks during and after the so-called end of Apartheid in South Africa.  Of course the political realities are different, but the skewing of wealth distribution is much the same. And remember, there are rich "natives" and poor "ïmmigrants" in both cases but they are few and far between.

Certainly, it will need more than the wisdom and fortitude of  a Mandela to sort out this economic injustice in Malaysia - as it clearly still does in South Africa!

 In many ways, davidlee52's  accusation  can be easily binned in the light of these statistics.

1.  According to Malaysia Today, reporting Nanyang Siang Pau's research; the 10 richest men in Malaysia are (in descending order)   T. Ananda Krishnan, Robert Kuok, Teh Hong Piow, Lee Shin Cheng, Lim Kok Thay, Quek Leng Chan, Yeoh Tiong Lay, Mokhtar al-Bukhary, Azman Hashim and Lee Oi Hian.  So the tally is : 1 Indian, 1 Arab, 1 Malay and 7 Chinese.  Doesn't this look like the list of South Africa's 10 richest men with the immigrant whites hogging the wealth?  Just as a matter of interest, in Apartheid South Africa, during the 1970s, the Chinese were classified as 'honorary whites' and by the 1980s , together with the Japanese they were treated as 'whites'.

If davidlee52 is calling Malaysia an Apartheid country, where one dominant non-indigenous group, the Chinese (like the whites in South Africa), control and  hold the reins of wealth  -  then there is Apartheid in Malaysia!   You see, you can't possibly make and accumulate such wealth and clout if you suffer discrimination and segregation like the blacks in the United States and in South Africa. But then , this domination and control also exist in Indonesia and the Philippines. So here are two more apartheid regimes in Southeast Asia!

2.  Let's look at Indonesia's Top Ten Croesus.  There's Budi Hartono (Oei Hwi Tjong), Eka Tjipta Widjaja (Oei Ek Thong), Anthony Salim and family (no Chinese name available), Susilo Wonowidjojo and family (Cai Doping) and two other Chinese as in Mochtar Riady and Sukanto Toto.  Chairul Tanjung  and Sri Prakash Lohia are certainly not of this tong pao.   As for Boenjamin Setiawan and Peter Sondakh - I cannot find the information.

3.  As for the Philippines, her Top Ten included amongst others, Henry Sy and family (No 1 - net worth $12,000million), Lucio Tan and family, Andrew Tan, George Ty and family.

You see, if people like davidlee and scores of others want to play the racial card about inequality and imbalances and democracy, I find no reason why I should not follow through their line of argument and look at the most crucial ingredient of power and justice and equality - namely wealth.

4.  Just to add grist to the mill, outside of China, Malaysia is the only country that caters for vernacular Chinese education.  Singapore, with a population of over 75% Chinese only gives room for the top flyers in vernacular Chinese education - in the SAP school where they are treated as anak mas..  Furthermore here are some  'enlightening' aspects of  "Apartheid Malaysia" from Wikipedia referring to a Chinese PI Cohort..  In terms of admission to post-secondary institutions the proportion of  Chinese rose from 65% (1990) to 96% in 2005.  Very interesting is the increase of ethnic Chinese in publicly funded tertiary institutions from 13% (1980) to 69% (2005).

I suppose davidlee52  could shrug this off as, "Well it's because you Malays (and Indians) are backward and lazy!"   Aaah, a tactic straight from the White Colonialists' hymn book..  My experience as a teacher in Singapore tells me that it takes more than colour and culture to excel in school.  Those from a comfortable middle-class background especially the ones who live in the urban areas have the right ingredients for educational success, not only in terms of motivation but also of health and facilities.  The Chinese have always, always been the denizens of mainly urban areas where the British provided the best facilities, services and infrastructure for education, employment and health - an enduring legacy of their built-in advantage.

For more statistical details about this urban-rural apartheid do look at :
http://anaksihamid.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/atap-genting-atap-rumbia-kak.html

5.  I think people who reckon that the Malays have an unfair placing in the power structure of the country should familiarise themselves with the matters that really count - wealth!  Malaysians of all shades of hue should be proud to know that in the list of the world's billionaires Robert Kuok is at number 33 ( though Ananda Krishnan may have topped him in 2013), Lee Shin Cheng (189), Quek Leng Chan (277), Teh Hong Piow (277) and Yeoh Tiong Lay (421).  So what are the Sino-cybertroopers whingeing about?

And while checking on the news of Malaysia a week ago I discovered this helluva codswallop - this time from the Kelantan Malay Datuk Zaid Ibrahim - about how the Chinese were the true patriots because they paid the most tax!!!!  Of course this silliness will be used by the likes of davidlee52 to show what good Malaysians they are .

People who are not rich enough to pay a lot of tax have other priorities to cater to, like paying their rent, the children's schooling and putting food on the table.  People who pay tax are exactly the sort who have more than they need and want for a good life.  In any country in the world these sorts have to fulfill their responsibilities to the country that made them what they are!    But then they also can afford accountants who can help them to siphon their extra dosh to escape the tax man!

So, is there another indicator of loyalty?  Will davidlee52 of Swanscombe and all the other cybertroopers of his ilk out there in the ether acknowledge and respect those who pay with their blood to protect the sovereignty of "Apartheid Malaysia"?    Is there any chance that one day, people like davidlee or his grandchildren and great grandchildren will be willing to reciprocate this sacrifice?   But maybe they might think, what for?  We've paid enough tax.

It is a shame that davidlee52  chose not to direct his comment in The Daily Mail to paying respect for a great son of Africa in the Mail's Mandela tribute.  Instead he used it as a platform to shout his chauvinism and slag off Malaysia.

I picked this beautiful flower from near Motherwell, a township where the blacks live.  I brought it home, dried it and preserved it in my special box to remind me of  the disparities of wealth and poverty - anywhere in the world.

In 2000, the spouse and I went on a little visit to South Africa.  In Port Elizabeth we were advised by our Boer host not to take the local Pawancha or Teksi Sapu to get into the City Centre because they were run and used by blacks.  We disregarded that advice and on both trips we were treated no different from the other 'local' passengers..  We got back to our host's house safe and sound, body and possessions intact.  Later we took a coach trip from Port Elizabeth to Capetown.  We shall never forget this.  On that coach, we observed a white woman giving a can of drink to a black South African - who obviously looked far far poorer - in the seat next to hers.  You would think, there's a good lady - she has shed her sense of superiority in a South Africa that has cast off the chains of Apartheid.

Well, she had 'donated' a can of drink which she herself could not finish - she gave away her leftovers.

The late Nelson Mandela pushed the door a little for justice for his people but his followers and the younger generation among his people will have to work even harder.  "Freedom and liberty" is not too hard a sacrifice to be given away by the powerful and the rich.   But giving the people Justice, - the opportunity to enable people to ' duduk sama rendah dan berdiri sama tegak', to redistribute the share of the pie, would be  anathema for those at the top.

Ditto Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.