Thursday, September 11, 2008

Merdeka!!! Continued….

Readers are advised to read the original Merdeka article below before reading this article.

It was a little bit disheartening at first when no one gave any comments to my Merdeka Article.
Was it old news? Boring? Or didn’t people care anymore? It is none of the above actually.

In light of the most recent, controversial and racist remark made by the now famous Mr. Ahmad, comments came in through emails, sms and even phone calls. I would like to acknowledge readers and those who shared their views on the subject matter. I guess it is easier and safer to talk about these sensitive issues in private to avoid going behind bars.

As bizarre as it sounds, I will attempt to write about racial disintegration in the hope of achieving racial integration. The main issue at hand is the NEP/DEB where non-Malays feel that it is an unfair policy whilst the majority of the Malays feel that it is god given right policy. I have said before that there is a clear mismatch of expectations between the races in Malaysia and to prove my point further read the very contrasting and differing point of views shared by many Malaysians:


1. On History

Non-Malays
Malaysia is not owned by the Malays to begin with. Just like the Non-Malays the Malays came from other parts of the world, came to Malaya and called it their home. Therefore the Malays are also originally foreign to this land. The real Bumiputra’s of this country are the orang asli’s.

Malays
This country is historically owned by Malays and even the British acknowledge this. In recognition of the Sultans rule, the British signed treaties with the Malay Rulers and not with the other races. Further proof is that Malaysia was previously known as Tanah Melayu & Malaya.


2. On the Economy

Non-Malays
This country developed and flourished economically because of the hard work of non-Malays. The non-Malays are the fabric of this nation that allows this country to propel forward. They had to struggle, study and work hard to earn a living in this country. If it wasn’t for the Non Malays the Bumiputra’s would be living in jungles and trees. The Malays have it all easy with the support of the government and NEP.

Malays
The Non-Malays have a culture that is aligned to earthly success. They have a civilization that survived the test of time. Malays on the other hand have just started moving forward 60 years ago therefore requiring more time to succeed. It was the British that brought in foreigners into this country. The Malays never invited them into the country.As a race they made many sacrifices such as changing this country’s name from Tanah Melayu to Malaya to Malaysia. This is to help other races feel part of this country. Even the Bahasa Jawi was shelved for the same reason.


3. NEP

Non-Malays
The NEP has failed to accomplish what it was set out to do. I.e. to ensure that the country achieves some balance in terms of economic distribution. Instead, it has only benefited a small no of bumiputra’s. Contracts are only given to a selected few.

Malays
The NEP has benefited the Malays in many ways. Based on the stats, there are now more Malay Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, Architects and Businessmen than there was 30 years ago.


4. On Competitiveness

Non-Malays
Non-Malays are not willing to employ Malays because they are slow and not competitive. The NEP is the reason why Malays are not competitive. It has served as an ineffective crutch that cripples the Malays.

Malays
Malays have different values then the non Malays. The non Malays only think of Money while the Malays believe that there is more to life than money.


5 On Opportunities

Non-Malays
There should be equal opportunities for every Malaysian no matter the race. It is a human rights issue. There should be equal opportunities in terms of education and contracts distribution.

Malays
The Non-Malays are impatient and greedy. Even after owning more than 80% of the economic cake they demand for more and more.
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I personally feel embarrassed (not in an arrogant way) that the Malays have to ask for extra help in order to be competitive. As a Malay, I am not proud that after 50 years of independence Malays are still struggling to stem a mark in the economic pie. Even with the NEP the Bumi’s only own 17% of the economic pie. Just have a look at newly developed housing areas, how many Malays actually own a piece of the action? How many Malays own luxury homes? How many Malays own a bungalow or a semi-d home? Everywhere you look property is owned by non Malays. The majority of the Malays own property in some kampong which is negligible in value in comparison to the market value of properties in the city.

I would be lying if I said that I did not benefit from the NEP. In fact no successful Malay can claim that he or she did not benefit from the NEP. It would be selfish of me to say that we should wipe out the NEP policy totally when I know for a fact that there are many Malays that still need support and help. If the wealth of the nation is not distributed fairly and equally I fear that there will be more tension amongst the races.

Having said that, it would be totally unfair for the NEP to be in existence forever. The government should have a specific target date to achieve the desired results. Non Malays who are in need should also be helped.

I obviously don’t have all the answers but I hope this article will help Malaysian’s understand each other a little bit better.

4 comments:

A Voice said...

We've met somewhere that cannot be mentioned in public.

I can see you've given this a fair discussion. However it is not sufficiently deep. and short of saying it is too simplistic.

I can say that you have no idea what hat are you wearing or trying to wear to many hats, when you discuss this? Are you a pejuang sosio-politik Melayu? Or are you a businessman and professional void of any socio-political consideration?

One should not feel embarass to defend what is necessary for the Malays development even if it is not the ideal situation.

Never feel apologetic to claim what is rightly yours. If you cease to be able to do that, perhaps socio=politics or NGO is not your cup of tea.

Please do not be one of thse pemudas that i sunable to fathom the issues and end up taking an apologetic compromising positin vis a vis Malay righst and interest.

Coming from an aristo, you represent the top hardly 1% of the whole Malay social status.

Gauge what they are thinking deep in sembrong. Not deep what you want them to think. Frankly you have the slightest idea of what they went through.

Seeing is not enough, it is only living to believe it.

Beautiful@Nita said...

Hello. tak payah la emosi nak comment ini kan pandangan masing-masing. Take it or leave it.

Unknown said...

for some people, the malay rights as they understand it are a way of perpetuating the status quo. if they truly were interested in the betterment of malays as a whole, the crew of Bersamamu would find it impossible to any aid recipients. this situation has two separate viewpoints, one group will say that it is proof that the NEP is still needed as the 'perjuangan' is 'belum selesai', and the other group will say it is patent evidence of failure after more than 35 years of implementation. depending on where your periuk nasi and political affiliation lies, either interpretation will hold water. that said, my two cents on the matter is that one selects his or her interpretation depends exclusively on whether you use emotion or reason in your decision making process, and in the end, all that matters is convincing 50% + 1 of the voters in your party/constituency that your interpretation is closer to their heart and/or mind than the other guy. p.s. the most recent research shows that people justify their positions AFTER they have made their choice, and not before, as one would suspect.

Razlan said...

Salam,

Untuk kita membina sebuah tamadun, bukanlah mudah dan ianya tidak boleh dibuat tanpa MASA.

Malaysia baru merdeka 51 tahun, dan orang Melayu baru berusaha bermula dari tahun 57, manakala orang cina telah berusaha lebih lama, walaupun ini tanah Melayu.

Didalam masa 51 tahun, telah banyak dugaan dan rintangan dari orang-orang Melayu untuk mencari rezeki di Negara Sendiri.

Orang Melayu ditindas dan di Dikriminasi untuk mencari kerja.

Orang Melayu ditindas dan dikriminasi didalam memiliki harta benda(rumah dan sebagainya)

Orang Melayu ditindas dan dikriminasi didalam urusan perniagaan.

Orang kita akan ditindas dan ditindas lagi, kerana kuasa Ekonomi bukan hak kita.

Bahasa kasar, orang cina mempunyai harga lain dan orang melayu akan mempunyai harga lain.

Orang melayu selalu beli dari orang cina, orang cina jarang sekali membeli dari orang melayu.

Memang betul dengan NEP banyak yang telah diberikan kepada MELAYU, tetapi ini bukan diberi kerana kita MINTA, ianya sememangnya HAK kita yang tidak perlu diminta, dan ianya BUKAN pertolongan.

Perjuangan kita pada hari ini adalah untuk mempertahankan selama mungkin Tanah Melayu, kita berjuang kerana kita tidak mahu Malaysia menjadi Singapura.

Dan dengan perubahan global, saya percaya, ianya akan hilang sedikit demi sedikit.

Dan apa yang kita perlu jalankan adalah MEMBINA dan MENYEDIAKAN sebuah Tamadun Melayu yang bermartabat dan bermaruah, Menguasi Ekonomi dan Politik sebelum DUNIA GLOBAL mengambil alih.

Itulah tujuan kita sebagai Pemimpin.... Setiap Pergerakan Politik dan KUASA POLITIK.. tanamkanlah JIWA berkongsi dengan ORANG MELAYU seperti orang CINA berkongsi Dengan CINA.

Insyallah .. kita akan bersedia sebelum DUNIA GLobal mengambil alih.