I copied this from Zaid Blog in full. .because some are too lazyto click on the link. zaid.my/current/i-am-not-a-chinese-apologist/ The performance by UMNO leaders at their recent General Assembly has convinced me that ISMA, Datuk Ibrahim Ali and their UMNO sponsors have succeeded in changing the once proud and great Malay political party into a senseless and directionless organisation. It’s sad to see the party—whose leaders once had vision and substance—transform into a motley band of angry men and women engaging in senseless attacks on the Chinese community in Malaysia. It has been a sad but defining moment for many Malays watching the awful performances of the delegates. We have always thought that, by their nature and religious upbringing, Malays are generally mild-mannered, moderate in their views and reasonable in their ways. That image has been destroyed by UMNO. A good friend asked me after my last posting: why have I become an apologist for the Chinese? I don’t think that’s a fair comment. I’m not anyone’s apologist. In my life I’ve had good and bad experiences with all types of people, some of whom have been Chinese. I do not see ethnicity as the defining character of any person. I see people as people. Some are good and some are bad. It’s as simple as that. But when UMNO leaders and delegates make ridiculous and dangerous allegations against the Chinese, then I feel compelled to speak up. Let’s look at some of their inane speeches: The Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and others lambasted the private sector for not employing Malays—and even if they were employed, their salaries were a lot less than non-Malays. We hear of this attack on the private sector at every Assembly. But if the allegations are true, what has the Government done about it? That should be the question. It’s certainly a more positive way of looking at the problem. UMNO is in Government and is in a position to change the law or formulate new policies on employment so that discrimination ceases completely. Instead, UMNO leaders and delegates choose to whine and complain. Why? Are they unwilling to enact anti-discrimination laws because they themselves discriminate against the Chinese in the public sector? Then we had the loony suggestion that the Chinese do not know how to speak Bahasa, driving home the point that “these people” are “unpatriotic”. The proper observation is that the Chinese do know Bahasa. Even in Chinese schools they have Bahasa classes. In public universities they have to be good at Bahasa if they want to succeed. The Chinese certainly know the language—they just choose not to use it. The question should be: why not? If you segregate people into compartments and discourage close social interaction, naturally those who are segregated will speak amongst themselves in the language they are comfortable with. In our Shariah-compliant country, we love to divide everything into some version of halal and non-halal. Those who are not Shariah-compliant have little choice but to huddle together in the non-halal environment. Here, amongst themselves, they are naturally more comfortable speaking their own language—be it Chinese, English, Tamil, and so forth. Likewise, put a few Kelantanese together and they will go into their French-sounding dialect, but this does not mean they show no respect for Bahasa Malaysia. The Chinese have an immigrant heritage, and the first immigrants instinctively adapted themselves to live according to the ways of the local people. Everywhere in the world, that’s the behavior of first- and second-generation immigrants. Even in my early days many of my Chinese friends spoke good Malay and wore Malay dress by choice—they were not forced to do any of these things. And of course when we speak of Chinese Malaysians today, we’re not dealing with first- or second-generation immigrants. We’re dealing with Malaysians. But UMNO Malays want to reshape and redefine the country so they bring religion into the public sphere. Now we have a situation where those who are not Shariah-compliant gravitate towards their own circles. If UMNO is so keen to differentiate and classify the people of our country and segregate them, then they cannot complain when people start to behave accordingly. I doubt UMNO leaders have the ability to follow this argument, but others surely can. It is to the latter that I address this problem, because it is only the latter that can provide the solution. There is no hope in going to UMNO for this.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 07:53:15 +0000
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