A RESPONSE

I have had several interesting comments to my last posting  " The Week that Was"".  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-week-that-was.html

I felt that the issues raised were valid enough for another posting.  Firstly thank you Firdaus M,  Anon July 24 6.38am,  Anon July 24 10.09am, and Anon July 25 9.43 am  for your comments.

"Malay Muslims bears a lot of responsibility for their stupidity " (Firdaus).  To a certain extent I agree with you with regard to the issue of the canteen at SK Pristina Sg Buloh.  Such shortsightedness on the part of the school's authorities can cause a lot of ire among non-Malays.  

And speaking about schools always brings up past experiences from my teaching career in Singapore.  In the late 1960s, when Hari Raya was determined by the sighting of the moon, we, the Malay-Muslim teachers and pupils in Sekolah Menengah Yusof Ishak heaved a sigh of relief when the Government's allotted date for Hari Raya Puasa and the lunar sightings matched.  There was one year when this failed to happen. 

 The date for the Hari Raya break had been allocated, sealed and delivered.  There was to be no negotiation. Teachers and students were allowed time off in the morning to go for prayers and had to be back in school when that was over.  Well, only the teachers returned but no students were to be seen.  They went AWOL and why not?  Here's a case where Malay-Muslims were not responsible for the stupidity of a non-Malay-Muslim authority.

  Back to the present - there are certainly more dire examples of Malay-Muslims' "stupidity"  which have resulted in deep fractures within their own community and turned themselves into objects for target practice by others.

However,  "Chinese might have a perception problem, but why are Malays so stupid....? "  I do wish the analysis of the relationship between the Nanyang  ( Overseas ) Chinese and the Malays could be as simple as that.  It is related to perception indeed - a perception of a "3,000 year old" lighter skinned culture against a darker and perceived 'primitive' people. That's a universal problem like that of the whites vis-a-vis the blacks and all other prejudices due to colour differences.  And if this barrier is overlaid with disparities of income and wealth in favour of the fairer set, then the relationship becomes more fraught and the prejudice becomes deep-set and almost pathological.   (By the way, during the Apartheid Regime of South Africa, the Chinese were classified as "Honorary Whites".)   In a way the Malays are not so much stupid as ignorant for they have forgotten their own proverb Naga tak akan turun menjadi ular lidi.

And if Anon 10.09am can explain away the racist antics of  Tan and Lee as that of mere attention seekers, then fine -  they ( Tan and Lee) should confine themselves to exhibiting themselves and their private parts on the ether.  We know of "Peeping Toms", perverts and sickos who thrive on poking their eyes and noses into other peoples' privacy.  Well nowadays it has become fashionable to invert the PT syndrome and to exhibit yourself and your parts and allow other people to peer and gawk at the spectacle.  Some even describe this as a form of Art!

I would say, let Tan and Lee get on with their éxpose, but desist from humiliating and mocking their fellow-Malaysians' religion and religious practice.  They are indeed seeking attention in this case, but one ridden with racist malice.    Given the context of their actions, what Tan and Lee did was arrogant, wilful, and deliberately, seriously provocative.   It was not just bodoh, and it was not just attention-seeking.  They are very knowing and know where to put the knife in!

As for the other 'culprits' mentioned by Anon 10.09am, I'm not familiar with the text and context  but I agree with what Anon July 25 9.43 suggested.


  

The Week That Was

Last week was remarkable for the two diddies because we braved the peak morning traffic at Jalan Jelatek and Jalan Ampang to get to Tung Shin Hospital at Jalan Pudu. It was not just once - we did it three times in one week - and we survived, albeit in 123 pieces! Hats off to Darby and Joan for making it through what I reckon is one of the many moving parking lots in Malaysia. And I think of all those working-age youngsters and oldsters who have to do this 5-6 days a week, for 52 weeks a year!!!

 Last week was also the week of denouement ( well almost) for the Alvin and Vivian Peepshow - for Tan Jye Yee and Lee May Ling.

It needs to be said that their contempt for Islam and Muslims and Malays has a long pedigree.  Only the format, the representation and the cheek are new.  Their father's and grandfather's and great-grandfather's generations have been at it for yonks and we should not be surprised at this insolence.  Expect more.  As I mentioned in the last paragraph of my posting  "HMV :  His mentor's Voice"  ( see sidebar) .......

...... his opinions and diktat ( of and for the Malays) are not his alone - they have, after all, long been whispered into the ears of this ageing autocrat.  So it will not end with LKY.  This chauvinism will be sustained for a long time to come.

If you can bear with me, allow me to relate a series of observations and experiences I have gone through during my span of 69 years, living and working in Singapore.  This is not a racist  ( someone who believes that people of their own race are better than others)  analysis.  It is more of a racial perception - relating to the relationship between different races of people who live in the same country. It just happens that I am a Malay and my bug-bears are Chinese.

Firstly, here's my experience from forty-three years ago, in 1966/1967 when I was an undergraduate at the University of Singapore, the same University that Tan Jye Yee attended.

Myself and about 5-6 other Singapore Malay undergrads were given a Special Malay Bursary of  about $1,000 a year as a scheme to help and encourage Malays into higher education. .........
Each time the note pinned to the Notice Board at the entrance to the Union House informed us to get our Bursary from the Bursar's Office, we  would find written on the notice nasty remarks like  " why give money to stupid  Malays?", or "why so special?" or other vulgar words in Malay, English and Hokkien - all very multi-racial.  On 9 July  1963, Singapore joined  the Federation of Malaysia  ........... but that also brought along with it racial and political tensions and the Chinese in Singapore were particularly against the affirmative policies towards the Malays and especially Article 153.  Their rallying cry was "Malaysian Malaysia" - a term/demand that the Malays were very suspicious of.

We, the Singapore Malay undergrads, sensed this undercurrent of hostility and resentment.  All this because of the $1,000 Bursary.  We got into the University on exactly the same credentials as the non-Malays, no favours in that direction.  We were not the off-springs of well-heeled professionals

 or taukehs, mostly lower to upper working class families.  Admittedly there were no unpleasant face-to-face encounters.  But the bigoted racist remarks about Malays, Malay rights, the Sultans, etc. which were scribbled in the Library's history and politics textbooks left me gobsmacked and confused.  There weren't enough Malays in the University to 'counter' this ' vandalism' of the text and context - so we just sat tight and took the brunt.

On one of my trips home from the hostel  ( Eusoff College), I asked my father  "why" ?  How do I live with Article 153?  He told me to read the History books, to study the statistics of the unequal distribution of wealth and income in the country, the big gap, economic and educational between the rural Malays and the urban non-Malays; why the Malays challenged the Malayan Union of 1946, and what are the Malays doing fighting the Communist guerillas in the jungle?  Of course all these issues were not the concerns of my A-Level History and Economics.

And when I glibly remarked - but the Malays are lazy and backward!  All those scribbles in the Library's books had an effect.  His jaw almost dropped .....

Read  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2009/02/baju-kurung-ramblings-of-malay.html

This happened 43 years ago.  And Tan Jye Yee and Lee May Ling are only carrying the torch of an old arrogance and  malice.

                          ---------------------------------------------

And as for racial perception here's my second personal experience.  In 1978 I was shunted to Anglo-Chinese Junior College because  I was getting to be too much of a thorn-in-the-side  of the Nanyang Graduates running the administration of Jurong Secondary School.  I decided then to leave for Brunei but I still had to serve my one month in ACJC.

I wore a baju kurung on my first day at ACJC, and for most days I would be garbed in this or my baju kebaya.  In the Common Room, a sweet Chinese lady teacher  welcomed me and said,  " You must be our new Malay language teacher."
I told her I wasn't.  I was the new Geography and General Paper teacher.
She looked shocked and uttered,  "You're a graduate?"
"From Singapore University, 1967,"  I replied.
She then made a sweet, quick retreat.

Read  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2012/05/acjc-finale.html

                                       -------------------------------------

That plain old-fashioned baju kurung has been my symbol of identity.  I wear it to dignify my people and myself  during any important occasion.

It all came about during my undergrad days.

One evening, I can't remember when exactly, but before 9.8.1965 when Singapore was 'expelled' from Malaysia, I attended a lecture by Dr Mahathir Mohamed, of course he wasn't the PM then.  Came one question from the floor by a Senior Lecturer in the Law Faculty, now a prominent Ambassador for Singapore.  He queried the rights and privileges of the Malays as enshrined in the Constitution and sort of recommended an alternative as  espoused in the "Malaysian Malaysia" mantra.

Dr Mahathir looked at him and said,  " You know what is the problem with you Chinese?  You cannot accept the Malays running the Government because you are so used to seeing them as your drivers and gardeners."  That was that.  The Lecture Hall was hushed.

The next day, I put on my beigeish-yellow cotton Esbyline Baju Kurung, which I had borrowed from my sister and walked to my lectures with my head held high.  My baju kurung is my heritage, it was not to enclose me but to set me free, not as a proud Malay, but one at ease and comfortable  with my Malay ways and purpose - Malay warts and all.

(Extract from the posting "Baju Kurung".)

                                        ------------------------------------------------

Back to 2013.  The format of this persistent denigration of the Malays has now entered the electronic media.  In the past it was more muted and restrained because the mode of communication then was not as widespread and pervasive.  Also the electronic media enables you to  hide behind an anonymity which gives all and sundry unadulterated licence to be as vulgar and as  irresponsible as they wish.

Today one can twitter insulting remarks about the Yang di Pertuan Agong.  In my time, my fellow Chinese undergrads, in the privacy of university hostels and canteens would snigger and mock the Constitutional Head of Malaysia as the " Ah Gong".

As the Malays would say  "Bapa borek, anak rintik".

And mark my words, such racist and racialist antics will not end with Tan and Lee.

                               ----------------------------------------

Finally, one sweet story from the week that was.  On Tuesday last week, I decided to give Osman and Aisha a lift to the Post Office - to pay their electricity bill -  as I was heading in the same direction.  That done, Osman decided to get a bag of cat biscuits for their one cat at home and the other stray cats in our neighbourhood.  He was in his working clothes ( Osman and Aisha are road sweepers).  From a distance I could see Osman at the counter digging out small notes from his pocket to pay for the cat biscuits.  I knew he had enough.

I then walked towards Aisha who was waiting near the Information Counter.  Minutes later, Osman came and told us that the man who was in the queue behind him had offered to pay for his purchase!!!

Allahu Akbar.  This was truly the spirit of Ramadan.

Lest We Forget .......

Extract from "The Malay: Lover of Colour and Ceremony" by Ian Morrison,  The Geographical Magazine, Volume XXIII, NO. 4, May 1950 - April  1951.

It is the weakness of the Malays as a community that, from the economic standpoint, they fall into two well-defined groups.  At one end are the Sultans and the hereditary Malay aristocracy, the latter filling many posts in the administration.  At the other end are the peasants, the dwellers in the kampongs or villages.  The latter produce nearly all the rice that is grown in Malaya, although this represents only one-third of the country's needs.  Along the coasts they are often fishermen, living in small fishing villages under the coconut palms that fringe Malaya's coastline.   These Malay peasants and fishermen are most likeable people, hospitable, cheerful, kind,courteous, but they are also backward and unambitious.  It is part of their charm, of course, that they are unambitious and easy-going, that they do not worry too much about the morrow and trust the morrow to look after itself.  But it causes real complications in the political sphere and as many of the educated Malays realize, it may in time lead to their playing a permanently subordinate role in the country which has been theirs for centuries.

......Few Malays are in commerce.  There is, in effect, no Malay middle-class.  The role of the middle class in Malaya, as in several of the other countries of South-East Asia, is played by the Chinese.

Here's my patchwork of images from my collection of old books to complement or decry some of the above points.

"Children born with silver spoons in their mouths.  The children  of high class and prosperous parents wear sarongs and jackets of beautifully coloured and finely woven materials and quite small girls possess their own set of jewels. " Today a similar class of silver-spooned off-springs are sprung from the corporate and professional Malay elite.

"Engaging Malay girl.  Singularly winning is the smile with which the Malay girl confronts the world."   I suppose this fits in with Morrison's  perception about the Malay who "do not worry too much about the morrow...."

 However in this 1956 Malay School Textbook this was what the Malays taught their children - but only in the Malay schools, not the English schools.

"Sebab rajin dan jimat, lama-lama ia boleh pulang negeri China, bawa ringgit negeri ini.  Chuba kamu buat macam itu.  Kamu boleh juga dapat duit.  Lagi tidak payah beli sayor China."  Well , some Malays today "juga dapat duit". It can be seen in their luxury cars, their palatial homes, their holidays  to Disneyland and Switzerland and they still "beli dari orang China".

All the virtues of hardwork and skills and business and savings are suggested here but  sometimes it's like getting the tortoise to run against the hare in the 100 metres dash!

According to Morrison, the Malay peasants and fishermen are " most likeable people, hospitable, cheerful, kind, courteous" - but these charming facets do not help to pay the bills.  All these qualities are such a shame ( I'm being ironic here) because the Malays are still  "backward and unambitious".

 " The implements used ..... are primitive in the extreme: a plough is usually fashioned from a fork of a tree, and the harrow is of the crudest design.  Long weary hours must be spent ...... in cultivating their own plot of ground, for they heartily dislike  toil and their indolent,  pleasure loving natures would always borrow rather than earn money".
If that's the case how did they manage to feed one-third of the country's needs?  Furthermore, who decides on the price of their padi, certainly not the farmers?

What do we have today, besides the growing skyscrapers, the burgeoning corporate cats and the swell of the middle classes?  We have become such an ambitious people that we leave some to scratch such sad messages for their meagre survival.

I took the above photograph on our way from Georgetown to Tanjong Tokong three years ago.

This is the background to that wall painting.  Is this the price of development?


But in this month of  Ramadan - while we fulfill the tenets of our faith which came from the Arabian Peninsula let us not forget our dreams and hopes as the people of the Malay Peninsula.  This is how we can strive ....

Photo by Sukar Sarif  in Intisari

..... and this is how we should inspire our young.  As our old Malay saying would put it  ......

As a former teacher, I have met many, many good seeds.  But seeds also need the clean light of the sun, the soft, warm wet earth,  the loving hands to train the branches and the tendrils  and to learn from the good examples set by the adult plants.

Have a peaceful and fulfilling Ramadan.  But please remember that generosity, kindness, courtesy, consideration and thankfulness for Allah's blessings  are  not only for Ramadan.

WOMAN

Been feeling poorly, under-the weather, out-of sorts or just plain knackered!!

My usual remedy is to go through my magpie collection of old books and this made me smile.

But first, listen to this  ...........




You see, I have this Duckworth's Encyclopaedia from 1891.

 Amongst other hilarious entries, I discovered this.

The Wife's Duty

Here are some of the main points.

1.Be careful in your purchases.  Let your husband know what you buy and that you have wisely expended your income. ( I don't, especially after a spending spree at Charity shops like "Animal Rescue"in Leicester.  And if he notices them I will shrug my shoulders and say it's coming from my state pension, lah, which is about 22 GBP a week!)

2.  Let no wife devote a large portion of her time to society work which shall keep her away from home daytimes and evenings, without the full concurrence of her husband. ( The spouse reciprocates this rule except when he disappears into a second hand bookshop.)

3.  Beware of entrusting the confidence of your household to outside parties.  The moment you discuss the faults of your husband with another, that moment an element of discord has been admitted which will one day   rend your family circle.  ( Isn't that called backbiting which no one, whatever the relationship, should do to another.  As for me I call the spouse a MOG or Miserable ole git, a SOG or Silly ole git  and he regards me as his 'Tart' .  And we say that to all our friends and relatives!!)

4.  Beware of bickering about little things.  .......  he is in the habit of giving commands  .... and the same dictatorial spirit may possess him in the domestic circle.  ( I have to remind the spouse that  all items in the kitchen should be properly kept, there's a place for everything and everything has its place. )

5. Be always very careful of your conduct and language.  A husband is largely restrained by the chastity, purity and refinement of his wife.  ( For a number of months last year the spouse was unable to do the driving.  Three times a week I had to drive to Tung Shin Hospital at Pudu.  Such is the level of driving in Kuala Lumpur that you cannot keep your sanity without screaming expletives in the car.  All the spouse could do was to roll his eyes upwards in despair and once asked,  "Where did you learn those words?".  I gave a short crisp answer,  "From my workmates in Leicester!!"

6.  Whatever may have been the cares of the day, greet your husband with a smile when he returns.  Make your personal appearance just as beautiful as possible.  ( I will when he does.)

7.  Be careful that you do not estimate your husband solely by his ability to make display.........  The superior qualities of mind and heart alone will bring permanent happiness.  ( When either of us say  "I love you" to the other - the response is always the same - "What for?" )

8.  A man does not alone require that his wife be a good housekeeper.  She must be more; in conversational talent and accomplishment she must be a companion.  ( I'm not a good housekeeper but I always try to have the last word  and I'm also an accomplished listener.)






AND FINALLY - a tip from 1891 for all those who do not know how to make money -  especially those who live on the urban fringes and in the rural areas.  It is still applicable today and it must work - when you see the well-heeled and influential scoundrels surrounding us today.

Hallelujah!!

Vintage Eurasian and Malay Mavericks

Thirty five years is such a long , long time ago.  Margaret Thatcher started her reign in 1979, the Iranian Revolution shook the world in 1979, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accord and Russia invaded Afghanistan.  I was blissfully unaware of these happenings because I lived and worked in Singapore where life was very predictable and comfortable, revolving around shopping, teaching and more shopping.  I even believed that Ronald Reagan, the President of the US was the next best thing after sliced bread!!  That was how politically idiotic and naive I was.

Then in 1977 I decided to deviate from the straight and narrow.  My career was careering nowhere and I decided to up sticks and get a job in Brunei.  This I did in February 1978.
Read  : http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-tale-or-two.html

And what a change it was!  I must say those short (compared to 10 years teaching in Singapore) years in Brunei gave me so much more - in the warmth and camaraderie of my colleagues -  Yvonne, Munah and later Asmah in Jabatan Ilmu Alam.

Yvonne and I were - I reckon- the only two women expatriates in Maktab Perguruan Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Brunei.

MPSHBB  1981

When Munah  (Head of Department) and I went to the Airport as the 'reception committee' to welcome the new lecturer Dayang Yvonne de Souza, we had this picture in our heads and how we laughed ourselves silly over it.  We imagined a middle-age, slightly plump Eurasian lady wearing horn-rimmed glasses with a small short-strapped black handbag tucked under her arm!  Well, the ravishing creature we got caused quite a stir at the College, especially among the male lecturers.  During the first few weeks we would see a parade of men (married and single) strolling past our room to have a look at the new member of the Geography Department.  Some of the braver ones would talk to her, calling her Yonne because they did not know how to pronounce the 'v' in Yvonne's name.  Munah and I observed the show and had to gulp so many giggles.

The three of us and later four when Asmah came to join the Department, got on like a College on fire and built up a strong professional and personal bond.

We were more than just colleagues, we were mates.

Mike Bailey  (honorary member of our Girls' Club),  Munah and Yvonne

Yvonne and Asmah being stupid at my lunch table!

Eventually Yvonne and I left Brunei.  Munah and Asmah were both Bruneians - and have forged ahead in their careers and family life.  These two Brunei lasses are the finest of colleagues and friends I could ask for.  Unlike some female academics I have come across in Singapore and Malaysia, they are very warm and unassuming , no airs and no pretensions despite their family and educational backgrounds.  And they had been studying in England since their A levels!!  

Yvonne and I spent much more time together wandering in places like our student Sameon's padi field to take photographs and learn about dry padi farming in Tutong.

Sameon, his grandfather and little sister on the rice-threshing platform.

Yvonne and I also took on the task of drawing our own wall maps of Brunei for our teaching and for our teacher-trainees. They were the usual series : Relief, Land-Use, Transport and Rainfall maps.  No such maps were available for teaching.  Even textbooks on the geography of Brunei were scarce.  All four of us managed to cobble together a basic notebook on the geography of Brunei in Malay and English for our teacher-trainees.

My third year secondary school teacher-trainees.  To the right can be seen the wall maps we drew and at the back of the class we put together the 1:50,000 topographic maps of Brunei which we managed to cadge from Brunei's Jabatan Ukor 

By the early and mid-1980s we all went our separate ways.  Munah was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,  Asmah was embarking on her Masters at London University with two little toddlers in tow.  Yvonne was beginning a new career  as a Librarian at a College in Vancouver and I went on to do my Masters at Leicester University and then settled down to life as an academic's wife.  How I relished that 'early retirement' - the great escape :

This is the spouse's vision of his escape from academe in 1988.  It was just the same for me  in 1986.

But I faltered in my decision and went on to teach at USM Penang from 1991-1993.  The students made those two years worthwhile but the administration and the system made me realise it was a mistake.  Teaching and teachers are just the same, wherever they are -  petty, unprofessional and even squalid in some parts.  I returned to Leicester and decided I must look up dear Yvonne.   

So in 1993 - 12 years after we said goodbye in Brunei - I went to Vancouver to renew old ties.  We spent hours regaling our mischief  and all the shenanigans we got up to when we were in Brunei.  And when we said goodbye at the Airport we hugged each other and said we must not wait too long for our next reunion.

But it took all of 20 years!!  

Dear Yvonne had been to hell and back where her health was concerned.  I had my ups and downs but nowhere as traumatic as hers.

And so after her visit to Sydney to see her mum and family, Yvonne stopped over in KL .  With Julian's kind help, he accompanied her to our doorstep on the evening of  Thursday 20 June.  It seemed like we had never parted - though time has ravaged us somewhat  ( but less so with Yvonne) ...... 

Still the best of friends.  Note Yvonne's glasses and Maznoor's mata sepet!

......  and we looked through the old photographs and College magazine - and we were back laughing and giggling at our wayward ways of the past.  This must be my bestest treat since the new millenium.

We said good-bye way after midnight , pretty late for folks who are over the hill in their 60s, and once again reiterated we must not wait too long for our next chinwag - perhaps in Vancouver, maybe in Leicester and who knows it might be in KL again.  InsyaAllah.

This has been the story of a loving, lasting friendship between two mavericks - this Eurasian from Kuala Lumpur and the Malay from Singapore.  And thank you Brunei for putting us - and Munah and Asmah - together.

  

BAJA AKAL

To take refuge from the oppressive heat the two of us tend to spend most of our time - in the afternoon after lunch and in the evening after dinner - in the cool of the largest room in the house, the bedroom-cum- spouse's mini study.

Health-wise, it has not been a good time for AsH - but as the spouse often reminds me, we are into our seventh decade and we have to go with the flow of decrepit old age.

No matter what, the grey matter ( the head, not the hair) needs reinforcing and is still capable of rejuvenation.

In the artificial coolness of the afternoon and evening I keep company with Zaini Hassan's CUIT *  Dilema Melayu Moden  Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn Bhd,  2013,  - a gift from the author himself, just a few weeks ago.

I find much to ponder and to digest in this book of 676 pages.  Zaini has brought the politics in Malaysia of the past 4-5 years up close - something I really need to learn especially after  GE 13.

I must admit this is my first attempt at reading what is a sober and thoughtful book about Malays - in Malay! Zaini's style is lucid, his analysis is critically sharp yet tinged with empathy and also regret at the recklessness of his - my - bangsa.  He echoes my feelings about the Malays shooting themselves in the foot because of their disunity.  Zaini sees six parts to the split : the Melayu Liberal, Melayu Ulama, Melayu PKR, Melayu DAP, Melayu Atas Pagar and Melayu UMNO.

I especially agree with him about Melayu UMNO.

Golongan pejuang UMNO dulu adalah aktivis yang jati diri mereka cukup hebat.  Mereka tidak mewah, mereka tidak gelojoh, mereka tidak tamak, seperti generasi UMNO sekarang.
From Melayu Bukan UMNO Lagi, Melayu Sudah Minoriti.... 24 September 2008, 23 Ramadan 1429,  pg,13.

As he succintly puts it, the Malay majority have turned themselves into a minority.

In many ways the author's views about Bangsa  and  Negara coincide with mine and I think I could spend much time talking to this Abah of Four about our hopes and fears for the Malays - with one difference.

He is young enough to make a difference!!


This passage from page 605 is especially poignant and touches a nerve in my psyche.

Hujung minggu berada di Tunjang, kampungku sungguh mengasyikkan dan menginsafkan  .......

Kehidupan orang kampung berjalan seperti biasa.  Jarang-jarang yang bercakap soal politik perkauman.  Tiada yang bercakap yang bukan-bukan.  ........ 

Kita kaji kehidupan orang kampung kita yang amat dicintai.  Kehidupan orang yang masih lagi menjadi majoriti Negara ini.  Orang Melayu kampung yang masih kais pagi makan pagi dan masih mengharapkan belas ihsan bumi tercinta untuk mengeluarkan hasil terbaik.  Hidup mereka bukan macam rakan kita di bandar dan pekan yang kemewahannya melimpah ruah.
From Orang Kampung: Inilah Langit Yang Kita Junjung,  01 September 2010, 21 Ramadan 1431.

And Zaini Hassan reminded me of that most gentle soul - Usman Awang- who I had the privilege of meeting in 1986.  This is an extract from Usman Awang's poem Melayu.

Malanynya Melayu itu kuat bersorak
Terlau ghairah pesta temasya
Sedangkan kampung telah tergadai
Sawah sejalur tinggal sejengkal
Tanah sebidang mudah terjual
Meski telah memiliki telaga
Tangan masih memegang tali
Sedang orang mencapai timba
Berbuahlah pisang tiga kali.

Melayu itu masih bermimpi 
Walaupun sudah mengenal universiti
Masih berdagang di rumah sendiri

From Bacalah, Hayatilah Demi UMNO-PAS, 10 Jun 2009, 16 Jamadilakhir 1430, Pages 374-375.

It's such a shame that the future of the Malays often needs to be couched in terms of a dilemma. A dilemma refers to "a solution that is difficult to decide, where all the choices are equally good or equally bad".  But what is certainly true is that the easiest choices, the short term ones ( the ones so many take) are almost certainly the worst ones ............. in the long term.   Tutup lobang, korek lobang!

The thinking, concerned Malays know where the solution lies but they lack what the Chinese have, the unity and commitment of  tong pao  (of the same womb).  Ugama, which is meant to bind has become the seeds of dissent.

As for Melayu Moden, I think there's no such Malay.  They are still serfs - economically and certainly culturally.  Instead of the nobility and royalty, they now tug their forelock to the icons of their Westernised and Arabised overlords and they have forgotten or are too embarrassed and too arrogant to be Orang Melayu.

Finally Zaini, thank you for your book - for keeping me company and sustaining me during such weary days.



Sekarang, orang Melayu sudah tidak buta huruf tetapi masih buta akal.

ROCKET SCIENCE

Got back from Singapore - picked up Malaysian Insider's (MI) piece on "DAP tapping on overseas Malaysians' voices with  'Ubah Networks'  "   See:http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dap-tapping-on-overseas-malaysians-voices-with-ubah-networks

DAP will start 'Ubah Networks' , a programme to garner additional support from over 500,000 Malaysians eligible to vote overseas. 

A scheme to "garner.... support" from "Malaysians eligible to vote overseas"  has a long-term objective,     looking towards GE 14.

As I see it there are three issues relating to this Ubah Network: the numbers game, the chosen ones and  "the serial liars". 

HOW MANY?

Let's look at three sources.

Firstly, according to myoverseasvote.org  the Electoral Commission reported that only 6,298 Malaysians overseas registered to be postal voters.  Of course it was all to be blamed on the EC for 'deliberately' limiting the numbers of postal voters.  Read: myoverseasvote.org/page2/

According to this website Malaysians in Singapore, Brunei, Kalimantan and southern Thailand were prevented from registering.  The biggest losers according to them were the "400,000 Malaysians living in Singapore, or 40 % of overseas Malaysians".  Anyway what's to stop Malaysians from nipping across the Causeway in their tens of thousands like they do for Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Deepavali?

Secondly, an article by Leong Sze Hian in Malaysiakini reports :  See : leongszehian.com/?p=4438

The Singapore Census of Population 2010 Advance Census Release revealed some surprising statistics about Malaysians in Singapore.

It says about 1 in 4 ( 23 per cent) of the resident population - Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) - were not born in Singapore.  Of that 23 per cent, about half  (45 per cent) were from Malaysia.

Leong further added - 

What the census does not say is how many of the 386,000 Malaysian-born residents are Singapore citizens and how many are PRs.

Thirdly, Philip Schellekens, a senior economist in the World Bank  ( See: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/nep-brain-drain-holding-back-malaysia-says-world-bank  )   stated that :

More than one million Malaysians live abroad.

He added :  

Migration is very much an ethnic phenomenon in Malaysia, mostly Chinese but also Indian.

With regards to Singapore:

Singapore has absorbed 57 per cent of  Malaysia's overseas citizens, with almost 90 per cent of those crossing the border ethnic Chinese.

All of the above figures can look very confusing.  However, one can deduce that:

1.  There are one million Malaysians abroad, mostly Chinese and some Indians.  But of these 1 million, what percentage of them are eligible voters and not citizens of the country they are residing in?  Malaysia, Singapore and several western countries like UK do not accept Dual Nationality.

2.  The vast majority  ( 90 percent ) of Malaysians working in Singapore are Chinese.

3.  According to Leong the figure of 386,000 Malaysian born residents in Singapore does not clarify how many are Singapore citizens and thus not eligible to vote.

4.  myoverseasvote.com claims that 400,000 of Malaysians living in Singapore or 40 percent of Malaysians overseas  were prevented from voting.  How many of them are still holding their Malaysian passports and Identity Cards?

With all these numbers swirling around, how did MI and DAP arrive at the figure of 500,000 Malaysians overseas "who are eligible to vote"?

THE CHOSEN ONES

According to the Ubah Network, set up to gain  "support from over 500,000 of Malaysians eligible to vote overseas", the Network "seeks to channel concerns of Malaysians overseas especially in Singapore, Europe, the US, and Australia".

But why only "Malaysians overseas, especially in Singapore, Europe, US and Australia" ?  What about  Malaysians overseas in Egypt, Indonesia, India, Russia, China?  Will they be courted and wooed assiduously  by DAP's Ubah Network?  Or are the latter 5 countries the wrong sort of "Malaysians overseas", like of the wrong hue, wrong language and lack financial clout?

If the above countries represent the core of DAP's clientele, what kind of  'Ubah'  are they pursuing?  Certainly the beneficiaries of this change will be well-heeled and well-serviced English-speaking ( albeit with an accent ) urbanites.

If, with the support of these western-based expatriate Malaysians overseas, the DAP/Pakatan succeed in wresting the reins of power from BN, will these professionals  ( medical, and IT specialists and engineers etc)  "jom, balik kampung" to  contribute to the well-being and development of the Rakyat, including those living in the rural areas?  Or will they prefer to remain ensconced in their comfort zones in the cool climes of US, Europe and Australia and pontificate about freedom, democracy and social justice in "my beloved country" from a distance?  As for the Malaysians overseas in Singapore they will certainly stay put - at the current  exchange rate, they would be fools to leave!

It's hard to predict how these "500,000  eligible voters" will respond because we don't really know why and how they chose to migrate to these comfortable watering holes.   Is it for love or for money?  The Malaysians overseas in Singapore are there because the exchange rate more than doubles the size of their earnings and the movement of Singaporeans into Malaysia to work is not such a rarity.

On the other hand, these "500,000 eligible voters" have the power of money to  sustain and maintain the flight of the Rocket, or at the very least, provide very articulate and very loud moral support. This will not be dissimilar to those Friends of Israel residing outside of Israel.

As for this magic word 'Ubah" what is DAP's blueprint for change?  Will it take the shape of what they idealise as their chosen society - that of Singapore?  What if 'Ubah' means this, as in Singapore?

Extract from the Singapore Straits Times, 4 June 2013.

Earlier last week, the Media Development Authority  (MDA)  introduced a new licensing framework for news websites.

Under the new rules, sites which report an average of at least one article per week on Singapore news and current affairs over a period of two months, and reach at least 50,000 unique visitors from Singapore each month over a period of two months, must apply for an individual licence.

MDA has said that the rules  ........  are designed to give parity to regulations concerning mainstream and online media

If this is applicable in Malaysia,  the Malaysian Insider will be subject to the same regulations as  Utusan Malaysia, Lim Kit Siang's bete noir .

But it all depends on the timing.  If this happens under BN, there would be mayhem in the media and in the streets.  

Lucky old Singapore can get away with it but Malaysia "Mana Boleh"?

THE SERIAL LIARS

The final paragraphs of this MI news  reported :   

Lim Kit Siang was reported on Wednesday accusing Utusan Malaysia of hiring a team of "serial liars"to help the newspaper in its alleged role as the mouthpiece for UMNO's  "DDD Brigade", a campaign he claimed was masterminded by the ruling party to destroy the DAP.

The 4 categories of "serial liars"in Utusan Malaysia (UM) are  (1) editorial ranks of the paper,  (2) former DAP leaders, (3) a group of BN party hacks and (4) "guest serial liars" - LKS's term for Utusan's pro-UMNO guest columnists.

It looks like in LKS's Little Red Rocket Book, anyone who criticises DAP is a "serial liar". That must also include the ex-DAP leader and founder of  the Malaysian chapter of Transparency International Tunku Abdul Aziz, who was reportedly offered a bribe of 50,000MYR to persuade him to stay.  Only last week Tunku Aziz reported receiving a death threat by phone.

As for "serial liars" in Utusan coming from ex-DAP leaders, LKS cannot complain.  DAP's/Pakatan's  biggest catch is their own leader, ex-UMNO  Dato Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim.  Would they call him a "serial liar".  

Remember what George Bush said about the 2003 Invasion of Iraq?  "If you're not with us, you're against us".  And so, according to LKS, any Malay who speaks up for his fellow Malays is pro-UMNO and  hence anti-DAP - with an avowed wish to exterminate the DAP.

However DAP is not averse in citing The Economist  ( which had once been successfully sued by Lee Kuan Yew for lying about his family).  This paper's  credentials should be taken with a large dollop of salt.  After all, the accusations of cronyism and corruption that The Economist throws at Malaysia and UMNO are nothing compared to those circulating around the British establishment of which The Economist is such a hallowed part.  See :  www.counterpunch.org/2013/05/17/the-descent-of-britain/

Aaahhhh  -  the  plot thickens ......

Utusan Malaysia, according to LKS is "the mouthpiece of UMNO".

LKS's rant on the relationship between UM and UMNO is old hat.  That's nothing new.  The British Conservative Party is supported by The Telegraph, the Mail and the Daily Express, while the Daily Mirror is a hardcore Labour Party supporter.

Blue is Conservative, Red is the Labour Party and yellow is Lib-Dem

  

In the US, the Washington Post is for the Democratic Party and the Washington Times is Republican.  In China, Renmin Ribao  (Peoples Daily) is the organ newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.  As for Singapore,  self-censorship is an acquired skill and habit.

Utusan Malaysia has never deceived anyone about its beginnings, as a paper speaking for the Malays even before the DAP saw the light of day.  There are also Chinese and Tamil language papers speaking for Chinese and Tamil rights. 

Utusan Malaysia is no clone of any foreign political party and certainly no running dog of any external interests.  Shall we instead query the pedigree of DAP and its audience - of how the lightning became the rocket - just a touch of political cosmetic surgery?

DAP

PAP

More relevant is this question.  If the DAP is innocent of any connection with any mainstream paper in Malaysia, how did they manage to co-ordinate and organise massive Chinese support at home and abroad to gain their seats and keep Penang and Selangor under the Rocket?

For every "serial liar" in the form of party hacks and guest columnist in Utusan Malaysia, you can find the same DAP lackeys in the website papers, the same  'hacks' from the NGOs, from the yellow and black T-shirts Brigade, the neo-liberals  and racist-extremists.  But I would not describe them as "serial liars".  They know what they are doing and  how to get there!

No, they are far more slick and sophisticated in putting the knife in and blurring the line between fact and opinion. 

 
_____________________________________


JUST A BIT ON THE SIDE

An extract from Hui Mei Liew Kaiser  (April 18, 2013).  http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/04/18/why_i_m_flying_back_to_malaysia_to_vote

(The underlined parts are my own)

Amongst other stories of Malaysians overseas speeding home to vote, she mentioned that the local branch of Bersih in Shanghai has initiated a "Go back to vote campaign" that is offering 500 renminbi  (about $82) for airfare to Malaysians in the city who might not be able to afford the trip home ....Bersih's   Hong Kong chapter has launched a similar campaign, offering 500 Hong Kong dollars (about $60) towards a plane ticket".

Note :  500 renminbi = 256 MYR and 500 Hong Kong dollars = 202 MYR