Mahathir’s tersirat and tersurat message in the Kongres Maruah Melayu
So why shout and scream that the Malays are failures because they do not have as much money as the non-Malays? Is a rich, corrupt, fasiq Malay better than a poor taqwa Malay? Mahathir wants to see a Malay with quantity, not a Malay with quality. When money is used as the yardstick that is what you get, the ‘Ugly’ Malay. Somehow Mahathir does not see that choosing money as your kiblat means you need to sacrifice something. And you sacrifice ethics, honesty, compassion, etc., to replace them with greed and selfishness.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
One of the local Malaysian universities should run a course titled “Mahathir Mohamad” just like how Oxford and Cambridge Universities run those three-month courses on Charles I and the English Civil War, Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis, The British Empire, The Roman Empire, The Court of Elizabeth I, The Age of Revolutions, The Birth of Christianity, and so on (most of which I have attended over the last ten years).
Normally, most personalities and events in history are misunderstood mainly because our perception is formed by myths and stories passed down through the generations — plus we always look at things and judge them from just one angle or one aspect. It is normal for humans to view things from the brush strokes and not from the tapestry — another phrase for that would be looking at it from the small picture and not from the big picture.
With that backdrop, what was Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s tersirat (hidden or implied) and tersurat (stated or specified) message at the Kongres Maruah Melayu or Malay Dignity Congress today?
Mahathir’s message today was plain and clear, Malays must unite to face the onslaught from the non-Malays
I have said this before, many times, and I am going to say it again. Never listen to what Mahathir says, “listen” to what he does. Mahathir’s actions speak far louder than his words. And even when Mahathir speaks, his words need to be analysed for the hidden/implied meaning rather than the stated message.
That is the nature of the person called Mahathir — who warrants one of Malaysia’s universities running a course on him so that future (as well as present) generations can better understand that man.
Anyway, let us analyse today’s Kongres Maruah Melayu or Malay Dignity Congress and try to understand what just happened.
Not in order of priority, Mahathir’s first message is that since the new Pakatan Harapan government was formed in May 2018, the Malays have been weakened, unlike in the 61 years before that under Barisan Nasional and the Alliance Party before it.
Now, this is another way of saying the non-Malays call the shots in the new Pakatan Harapan government while Malay political power has been weakened and the Malays have to play second-fiddle to the non-Malays.
“Saya nak mengaku di sini bahawa kerajaan – walaupun dipimpin oleh orang Melayu – tidak sekuat kemelayuannya pada hari ini. Kalau dahulu kita boleh harap kerana kerajaan dipimpin oleh orang Melayu, memang kuat. Sekarang tidak kuat kerana mahu tidak mahu, kita kena ambil kira perasaan orang lain.” (Mahathir Mohamad: Kongres Maruah Melayu)
Another thing about Mahathir, which many may not realise, is that when he wants to say something that may be controversial (or he needs to test the waters first to see the reaction of the Malays or the rakyat in general) he gets someone else to speak on his behalf. And one person he has used since the 1980s to play “bad cop” is the MP for Arau, Shahidan Kassim.
Since the 1980s Shahidan has always played “bad cop” whenever Mahathir needs something controversial to be said
So, in short, when Shahidan speaks it is Mahathir speaking (through Shahidan). And this was what Shahidan said.
“Kongres ini bagus dan mencapai kejayaan. Tetapi ini semua rentetan daripada perpaduan ummah yang wujud antara UMNO dan Pas. Maka perhimpunan hari ini lebih mudah kerana dua parti Melayu yang besar, UMNO dan Pas, sudah bersatu-padu.” (Shahidan Kassim: Kongres Maruah Melayu)
Shahidan admitted that the Malay Dignity Congress is a follow-up to the Umno-PAS Penyatuan Ummah (or the Umno-PAS Muslim unity) move — and that today’s Malay Unity Congress became possible because the two biggest Malay parties set the pace for Malay unity.
In other words, the Kongres Maruah Melayu is phase two of the Umno-PAS Penyatuan Ummah move. And that would mean Umno, PAS, PPBM, the Malays in PKR — and probably Amanah, Parti Warisan Sabah and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) as well — can now unite under one large Malay grouping, like what happened in 1946 that saw the birth of Umno.
Yes, Umno was not really a political party at first. Umno was a union of many Malay organisations, movements, associations, NGOs, activists, intellectuals, journalists, poets, writers, etc., representing Malays from all over Malaya and from all walks of life. And that more or less seems to be what they are trying to do today, as suggested by Shahidan.
One thing that must be noted is that Mahathir sang the same old song of 50 years. To put in simply, the Malays have become hamba di negara sendiri (slaves in their own land). The second point to note is that Mahathir said the Malays have become divided because of politics.
Now, that means two things. First is that the non-Malays are not divided but are united (where 97% of the Chinese and 80% of the Indians voted Pakatan Harapan — because of DAP). Secondly, the Malays are divided because there are seven or eight political parties representing the Malays.
It is a meeting of Malays that cut across all political boundaries
Hence, to solve this “problem”, the Malays must all come under one grouping — like what happened in 1946. Then the Malays would not be split and weak (plus would not lose control of the government like what happened in May 2018).
Mahathir was very careful with his words so you need to not only listen to what he says but “listen” to what he did not say, and note who said it on his behalf. For example, Prof Zainal Kling, the organiser and one of the key speakers of the Congress, said those who trivialise the social contract or Islam’s position as stated in the Federal Constitution must be corrected.
That simply means Malaysia is not secular country and Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution should not be questioned or challenged — so the Malay special privileges and the NEP stays.
Zainal Kling said Islam denounces oath-breakers and violators of treaties. “Thus I remind those in attendance, honour those who remain steadfast to their treaties with you. But those who wish to violate that which is found in the Constitution, then Malays have no choice but to return to Allah’s decree.”
Many may not realise that this refers to the treaty that Prophet Muhammad made with the Jews of Medina and then, when they broke the treaty, they were rounded up and executed. Hence the punishment for non-Muslims who break treaties with Muslims is death — their blood is halal.
And that is why DAP MP Charles Santiago is very upset about this speech (READ MORE HERE).
“Is this hate speech? It appears to be in violation of Section 504 of the Penal Code.”
As for the rest of Mahathir’s speech it is “vintage” Mahathir. He spoke about the Malays being failures and lazy, etc., and he measures the success or failure of the Malays based on money. If Malays are millionaires then they are successful, and if not, they are failures. This is standard Mahathir yardstick for assessing success and failure.
Islam, however, uses a different measurement system. If you taqwa you are successful and a useful human being and if you fasiq then you are a failure and a useless human being. Money or how rich or poor you are does not come into play in Islam. And this is Mahathir’s failure to understand what matters.
The Arabs are extremely rich, far richer than the Malays many times over. But they use their riches to invest in England, America and Europe to make even more money — which means helping the economy of the non-Muslim countries.
Then these rich Arabs use their riches to finance wars between Muslims in the Middle East countries and millions of innocent Muslims suffer and die because of these wars. Today, millions of Muslims are migrating or have migrated and live in non-Muslim countries — or in refugee camps while waiting to be allowed to migrate to non-Muslim countries.
The refugee problem in the Muslim countries is recognised as the worst tragedy in history that overshadows the Jewish Holocaust of WWII. Never before has the world seen so much human suffering. And all this is possible because those with plenty of money use their money to create suffering and not to eliminate suffering.
So, what’s wrong with the Malays not being millionaires, as Mahathir laments, when it is better living modestly rather than having so much money while using that money to create suffering in this world?
We talk about corruption. We say Malaysia is so corrupt. We say the politicians in power steal from the people. The DAP leaders say Malaysia is the most shameful country in the world because of the corruption.
Okay, let us say that is true. But then who are these corrupt people (whether Malays, Chinese, Indians or natives)? It is not the fishermen, farmers, Felda settlers or kampong folks. It is the rich people. It is the millionaires. Those are the corrupt lot.
So why shout and scream that the Malays are failures because they do not have as much money as the non-Malays? Is a rich, corrupt, fasiq Malay better than a poor taqwa Malay? Mahathir wants to see a Malay with quantity, not a Malay with quality. When money is used as the yardstick that is what you get, the ‘Ugly’ Malay. Somehow Mahathir does not see that choosing money as your kiblat means you need to sacrifice something. And you sacrifice ethics, honesty, compassion, etc., to replace them with greed and selfishness.
Now read Zaaba Aman’s analysis of the Kongres Maruah Melayu.
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KONGRES MARUAH MELAYU GAGAL TEROK
Zaaba Aman
Rata2 orang ramai terutama orang2 melayu menyatakan rasa kecewa dan dukacita diatas penganjuran kongres maruah melayu ini yg tidak ada satu pun yg membawa kebaikan kepada orang2 melayu di negara ini, malahan orang2 melayu di TUDUH bersalah, dan lemah kerana tidak dapat bersaing dgn bangsa2 lain..
Pada pendapat mereka, jika inilah rupanya Kongres yg kononnya yg terhebat, juga sebagai ( amanat akhir) Tun M, nyata kemaluan ini tersepok di muka penganjur itu sendiri..apa amanatnya?. kalau sekadar mengatakan melayu itu lemah dan tak mampu bersaing , ini ayat adalah dari Zaman belum merdeka lagi..di ulang ulang. Nyata2 yg hadir rasa TERTIPU dgn Kongress ini..Khadiran pun amat terok, menurut tv3 ,( lebih kurang 5000 sahaja) yg mereka war warkan 4 Univerisiti bergabong, sekurang kurangnya boleh memecahkan stadium Malawati..tetapi itu semua kosongg..maaf kata, jika BOSSKU turun di warong2 pun hampir 10 ribu org yg meraikannya. Apa tah lagi utk bersaing dgn ” PERPADUAN UMMAH” Umno dan PAS yg di hadiri lebih 40 ribu orang, ada yg mengatakan 50 ribu..JAUH API dan JAUH PANGGANG..akhirnya panggang tergantong busok.
Moral cerita..nampaknya sangat orang ramai sudah mula sedar dan meluat dgn sepak terajang politik yg dimainkan oleh PH,DAP,PPBM.PAN, mereka rasakan mereka telah di permainkan dan di TIPU hidup2 oleh pemerintah sekarang..tak ada satu pun yg boleh menjadi pegangan buat mereka semua..pembohongan, demi pembohongan, sentiasa bermain dibibir kamu semua..
Jujurnya rakyat telah menunjukkan JALAN KELUAR buat Tun M, dan ahli2 kabinet Tun, untuk melepaskan jawatan, atau membubarkan Parlimen dan mengadakan PRU 15 dgn segera.
