When I saw the article entitled “Malays can become a minority, warns Dr M” a few days ago in Malaysian Insider, I did not even bother to click on the link to read the article. TDM has been making outrageous remarks to make the Malay community feel insecure about themselves and this is just one more. A few weeks ago he claimed that Malays are under seige, pointing out that “the community’s political leaders were now under the thumb of “the others” and need to be united again for the sake of its future.” He had also claimed that Malays can become “marginalised like ‘Singapore Malays’ because of political divisions that dilute their voting power.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malays-can-become-a-minority-warns-dr-m/
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dr-m-claims-malays-under-siege/
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dr-m-claims-malays-could-become-like-singapore-malays
To me the best way to deal with these far-fetched insinuations is to ignore them altogether. But I couldn’t help wondering what has changed TDM over the years. I vaguely remember TDM castigating the Malays for their lack of progress, and asserting that the government needs to remove the “crutches” so that the Malays can stand on their own. This was a while back and I wasn’t paying attention to these matters then so feel free to correct me if my memory is playing tricks with me. But I remember tears were involved. Today instead of using these observations to spur the Malays to greater achievements, TDM is urging them to defend their numerical superiority for fear of being marginalised. It seems to me that at best TDM has lost faith and at worst he speaks merely to manipulate.
To their credit, some UMNO politicians have disagreed with TDM. In an article entitled “Umno, Pakatan slam Dr M’s Malay theory as ‘far-fetched’” Umno’s Pulai MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed was quoted to say that it was “not right” for the former PM to assume that the Malays were constantly under siege and could not compete with the other races.
“He should realise that it was from his own industrialisation policies which have resulted in the Malays being more progressive. The Malays today are competitive, strong and capable of direct competition,” said the Umno man.
He claimed that the reason why the Malays were not united in the first place was because of Umno’s own policies.
“It is the questioning of Umno’s own policies. If Umno wants their support it has to fight for them. Get them to be on our side,” said the Pulai MP.
“Dr Mahathir is just doing it for Perkasa. Perkasa is not taking off, Ibrahim Ali sounds racist when he opens his mouth. With Dr Mahathir’s position, he hopes to attract moderate Malays.”
But Nur Jazlan admitted that Dr Mahathir’s remarks would still have an “effect on the more rural Malays, who still regard him as a national icon.”
Another Umno member, Johor Baru MP Datuk Seri Shahrir Samad, chose to focus on the merits of TDM’s arguments and dismissed them as “too speculative.”
Anwar Ibrahim had this response:
… PR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed that Dr Mahathir’s views were the actual obstacle for the Malays.
“I think that ideas like his are an obstacle, and will create even more insecurity among the Malays.
“He (Dr Mahathir) is oblivious to the fact that the new generation of Malays are more assertive, and confident of their abilities and position,” Anwar told The Malaysian Insider.
But Dr Mahathir’s one-time blue-eyed boy stressed that the Malays must also not be marginalised and that equal opportunity be given to all.
“We cannot take his views and position about non-Malays as he did during the 1950s. The second and third generation of non-Malays are as much citizens of the country as the Malays.
“I appeal to young Malays to be confident and move on with the future,” Anwar said.
I would have left the matter alone if I had not read another report in the Malaysian Insider entitled “PM tells Malay contractors fate tied to Umno”.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told Malay contractors last night not to be complacent as their fate was tied to Umno.
“The fate of Umno and that of the Malay contractors is inseparable,” he said when officiating the 31st annual general meeting of the Malay Contractors Association (PKMM).
“Malay contractors have to continue to support Umno.”
He likened the mutually beneficial relationship between Malay contractors and Umno to two hands clapping, citing the initiatives and incentives provisioned in the New Economic Model (NEM).
However, while he acknowledged the success of Malay contractors in the 40-odd years since the founding of PKMM he cautioned that past success was no guarantee of future progress.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/pm-tells-malay-contractors-fate-tied-to-umno/
So DSN’s message is no different from TDM. Your economic welfare is tied up with your political clout. You have no chance competing on merit alone. You help me and I help you.
What do the Malays think? Are they so insecure, so lacking in self-confidence that even in present circumstances where all top political, civil, military, judicial positions are filled by Malays they will be affected by TDM’s scare mongering? Or will they realize how they have been manipulated in order to keep UMNO in power? Do they believe the relationship to be symbiotic? Will they suspect that it might be parasitic? Will they continue to fear the Chinese and the Indians, oblivious to the corrosive tongues that continue to tell them that they are nothing without UMNO?
The Micah Mandate is a Christian-based public interest advocacy ministry that seeks a transformation of our nation through justice, mercy and humility.
July 19th, 2010 at 11:49 am
DSN said “The fate of Umno and that of the Malay contractors is inseparable.”
Consistent with the theme “Let’s make a deal,” in the most watched political speech of our time.
Has anyone thought of collecting all these videos of DSN’s speeches in one place? Could be a good project for Sibu churches.