Wednesday, September 17, 2008

 

916, 917, ...

The much hyped about 916 ended as an anti-climax. However, today, 917 has seen interesting development on the political front again. These past few days we have had a minister resigning, a minor party pulling out of BN, another blogger detained, a reshuffle at the cabinet level, Tun M to rejoin UMNO, etc.

With so many things happening all at once, it is certainly hard to predict the outcome. While many Malaysians believe that DSAI will have what it takes to throw out BN, it is naive to think that he will simply gets what he wants. The path to Putrajaya will not be easy and I'm sure BN will try to halt his journey every inch of the way.

And this is where my worry is. DSAI couldn't have picked a worst time to stake his claim to the PMship. With the current turmoil in the financial markets, the economy can only gets worse from here on. Rather than our leaders concentrating on managing the economy and lessen the impact on any global slowdown, they are spending their time trying to stay in power because of a credible threat to their rule.

While all these political news are very exciting and some of us are waiting with bated breath for a new era in Malaysian politics, I do wish once and for all, this power struggle can have an early conclusion so that the leaders can go back to governing.

It is quite tiring to keep hearing DSAI repeating that he has the numbers on one hand and the BN calling his bluff on the other. If DSAI does have the numbers, BN should be graceful in defeat and let him have a go at ruling this country. If he doesn't, he should just admit it and move on.

Well, I may sound a little idealistic but if there is a financial meltdown globally and we still have two sides battling it out on who should rule, the people who would suffer the most would be the ordinary man in the street.

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

 

Don't Question Malay Rights

Lately, there have been hot issues raised over the social contract and Malay rights. As usual, the non-Malays are told not to question those rights which the Malays will supposedly defend at all cost.

Actually, I think the government has brainwashed me quite successfully in this aspect. I'm not supposed to question Malay rights even when the people who benefit the most from it are a select and corrupt few. I'm not supposed to question Malay rights even when it has become a tool that is conveniently used to divide and rule. I'm not supposed to question Malay rights even when politicians use it to further their own personal agenda and line their own pockets.

I'm not supposed to question Malay rights even when my Malay ex-boss who earned a few thousand more than me can get a 7% discount when he bought a double-storey house. I'm not supposed to question Malay rights even when Malay students much smarter and in a better class than me still had an easier entry into local universities. I'm not supposed to question Malay rights even when those Malay students chauffered-driven to school still qualify for government study loans.

I'm not supposed to question Malay rights even when there are still many, many poor Malays who cannot afford to buy their children a pair of school shoes. I'm not supposed to question Malay rights even when I still get to see two poor Malay kids hugging their father tightly on a motorbike ride to school. I'm not supposed to question Malay rights even when I see such misallocation of resources. I'm not supposed to question Malay rights even when the Malays that need it the most are not the ones that are getting the most out of those rights.

The list can be longer but you get my point. Yes, I know I cannot question Malay rights. I should not. It has been ingrained in me not to. Whether it has been misused, abused or whatever, it is not supposed to be my problem. Even if there are still so many poor Malays after so many years of these rights, is also not my problem.

If we don't question, don't debate, we can't improve. But then again, it is not my problem because I'm not supposed to say anything about Malay rights. Let it be that the rich-poor divide among the Malays are getting increasingly obvious, all in the name of Malay rights. Let it be that our university rankings are sliding, all in the name of Malay rights. Let it be that the country is losing its competitiveness, all in the name of Malay rights. It is my "duty" to remain silent.

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Saturday, September 6, 2008

 

Descendent Of An Immigrant

After reading about the "squatter" story and many comments on this topic, I'm reminded of the following:
  1. I'm a descendent of a pendatang and this is a historical fact. That other people's forefathers are also pendatang is a non-issue and irrelevant because they happened to come much earlier.
  2. Because I'm a descendent of a pendatang, I should honor a social contract agreed to by my forefathers and thankful that they were granted citizenships.
  3. Because I'm a descendent of a pendatang, I should also never question Malay rights nor ask for equality.
  4. I should be eternally grateful for being given the right of abode and the opportunity to make a living.
  5. I should never ever ask for more because I have been given a lot such as freedom to practice my culture and religion.

My question:

If my grandfather owed this land and her people a debt for being granted citizenship more than half a century ago, how many generations of his descendents would it take before this debt would be fully repaid and we are no longer known as kaum pendatang but share equal rights?

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