‘New’ Malaysia is still Malays vs Chinese, and will always be
Accept one fact. The Chinese will never accept Umno in a million years. So move on. Stop trying to convince the Chinese that Umno wants to serve them and can look after them and so on. The Chinese have totally and absolutely written Umno off and this is never going to change. Umno either serves the Malay-Muslim interest or just close down the party like Semangat 46 did. Only idiots will believe that Umno can go back to what used to be. You will have better luck trying to restore the Ottoman Empire like what ISIS or Islamic State is trying to do.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
To solve a problem the first thing you need to do is to admit you have a problem. If you insist you are a ‘recreational user’ and not a drug addict, or you are a ‘social drinker’ and not an alcoholic, you will remain an addict or alcoholic forever.
Whenever I talk about Malays versus Chinese, I am inundated by hate messages calling me a racist. Malaysians just refuse to let me talk about a problem that has been around since the Second World War.
It is now 77 years (since 1941). When are we going to stop living in denial? When are we going to admit that the Malays and Chinese do not trust each other? And this started when the Japanese first divided the Malays and Chinese by telling the Malays to not trust the Chinese and by telling the Chinese the Malays are Japanese collaborators and informers.
The Malays fought the Japanese while the Chinese sat back and watched
That was why as soon as the Japanese surrendered in September 1945, and in the two weeks before the British came back to take control of the country, the Chinese went on a rampage to kill all Malays suspected of being Japanese collaborators and informers. Many of those Malays killed as alleged Japanese collaborators and informers were in fact innocent victims of revenge.
The younger generation Malays or those born after Merdeka do not know about the two-week ‘reign of terror’ the Chinese subjected the Malays to. Since that day the Malays have always been terrified of ‘Chinese rule’. And when the Malayan Emergency started soon after that, the Malays knew that it is dangerous to ever give Chinese political power.
The Malays opposed the Malayan Union while the Chinese did not lift a finger
You might say this is in the past, this is history, this was what used to be and is no longer so. The Malay mindset, however, has not changed much in almost 80 years. And only a fool will think the ‘new’ Malay in the ‘new’ Malaysia is a different animal. If the ‘new’ Malay in the ‘new’ Malaysia is a different animal, why did Mujahid Yusof Rawa order the organiser of the George Town Festival to remove the portraits of Nisha Ayub and Pang Khee Teik from the ‘Stripes and Strokes’ exhibition just because they are gay activists?
So, no, the ‘new’ Malay is still the same old Malay. And the Malays will never embrace the Chinese as brothers and sisters. The Chinese are a ‘necessary evil’ who must be kept at arms-length and treated as rakan perjuangan but not more than that.
The Chinese will never support Umno in a million years never mind what Umno does for them
You must not judge the sentiments of the Malays by what they say to the Chinese. You need to judge the sentiments of the Malays by what they say to fellow Malays. When Anwar Ibrahim became Finance Minister he was asked since he is now Finance Minister why not restore Penang’s free port status and make Penang great again.
(Penang used to be a favourite shopping destination for Malaysians but after they removed Penang’s free-port status Singapore took over as the new favourite shopping destination).
Anwar replied why do we want to do that? If Penang’s free-post status is restored it is going to be the Chinese who will benefit, not the Malays.
Anwar said if Penang becomes rich it will be the Chinese and not the Malays who will benefit
So, in discussing Penang’s free-post status, the discussion is based on Chinese versus Malays, even for Anwar Ibrahim.
Not many understand Tun Dr Mahathir’s Mohamad’s book ‘The Malay Dilemma’. And, knowing Malaysians, very few probably actually read the book. Well, to sum up what that book is about, it talks about why the Malays are too accommodating to the Chinese when it is the Malays and not the Chinese who are the lords of the land. The book was considered too seditious that the government banned it.
Has Mahathir changed his view since 1969? In 2013, Mahathir attacked Najib Tun Razak for giving too much face to the Chinese. The Chinese will never support Umno, never mind what you do for them, argued Mahathir. It is the Malays and not the Chinese who keep Umno in power. So why waste time with the Chinese while neglecting the Malays?
Mahathir whacked Najib in 2013 for wasting his time with the Chinese when it is the Malays who give Umno power
So, no, Mahathir has not changed. He only gave an appearance of change in 2016 when he realised he will never become Prime Minister through a Malay ‘platform’ and if he wants to become Prime Minister he will need Chinese help for that. But then why did he form his Malay party, PPBM? Why not just join a ‘multi-racial’ party like DAP or PKR instead?
The answer is simple. Mahathir knows even with 100% Chinese support he can never become Prime Minister. He still needs Malay support. And to get Malay support he needs a Malay party such as PPBM. Only with PPBM can he attract Umno Malays to leave Umno and join his party. Malays will never leave Umno in large numbers to join DAP or PKR. It has to be another Malay party.
Use the Malays to fight the Malays, said DAP’s Superman Hew, which is the reason why the Chinese support Dr Mahathir
Mahathir can become Prime Minister with Chinese support. But he needs Malay support to remain as Prime Minister. So, over these next two years he needs to find a formula to work with Umno and PAS and the Malays in PKR. Eventually, politics has to revert to Malay hands.
Khairy Jamaluddin accuses Umno of still playing the race and Islam card. So, what is wrong with that? If Umno does not play the race and Islam card then what card do they play? The Malaysian Malaysia card? The Secular Republic card? The equal rights for LGBT card? What card should Umno play if not the race and Islam card? Umno is a party for Malays and Muslims (and some Bumiputeras or non-Muslims from Sabah).
Khairy wants Umno to discard its Malay-Islam platform and become a carbon-copy of PKR
Talking about Sabah, Umno may no longer be relevant to that state. Umno has to play its race and Islam card to remain relevant. And that would make it irrelevant to Sabah. Sarawak does not allow Umno into that state because of Umno’s race and Islam platform.
The next logical step for Sabah and Sarawak would be to form its own coalition. Not two separate coalitions for Sabah and Sarawak but one coalition to unite parties from both Sabah and Sarawak. A united Sabah and Sarawak coalition will make them stronger to face the federal government. And the MA63 and 20% Oil Royalty can be the two issues that can unite both those states under one coalition.
Sabah and Sarawak should unite under one coalition and push for full autonomy and 30% oil royalty
In fact, the MA63 and Oil Royalty issues should be stepped up. It should not just be about MA63 but about autonomy plus the Oil Royalty should be 30% instead of 20% since legally natural resources are supposed to belong to the state.
The new Sabah-Sarawak coalition should not be part of Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan but should be a third grouping. And this third grouping will decide who gets to form the federal government via a unity government.
There are those who want Umno to reinvent itself and to discard its race and Islam platform. So, what is the ‘new’ Umno going to look like? The problem is not so much that Umno should reinvent itself and discard its race and Islam platform or what the new Umno is going to look like. The problem is Umno appears rudderless and lacks direction and is suffering a leadership vacuum.
Umno should either go back to its original perjuangan or else just close down like Semangat 46
Umno has to wake up and start playing the role of the opposition. It appears like Umno is playing the wait-and-see game and is hoping that Pakatan Harapan fails to deliver and gets kicked out because of their failures — and by default Umno can take over again. In that case Umno is going to remain in the opposition for a long, long time to come. Thus far, Umno has not demonstrated any leadership qualities. And, as bad as Pakatan Harapan may look, Umno looks worse.
Accept one fact. The Chinese will never accept Umno in a million years. So move on. Stop trying to convince the Chinese that Umno wants to serve them and can look after them and so on. The Chinese have totally and absolutely written Umno off and this is never going to change. Umno either serves the Malay-Muslim interest or just close down the party like Semangat 46 did. Only idiots will believe that Umno can go back to what used to be. You will have better luck trying to restore the Ottoman Empire like what ISIS or Islamic State is trying to do.
