Dead To Me
Written by johnleemk on 3:02:34 am Nov 6, 2006.
Categories: Malaysian Politics
American comedian Stephen Colbert has an amusing segment on his satirical news show, The Colbert Report, entitled "Dead To Me" where he lists people whose existence he will no longer acknowledge. If anyone ever establishes a Malaysian equivalent, I have someone for his list: Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman.
The New Straits Times frontpaged an article today on the idiot's opposition to Bangsa Malaysia. I'd link to the web version, but the NST archives its articles quite quickly, so it wouldn't be worth it. Instead, I'll just selectively quote from the piece:
Delivering his policy speech at the party convention here, Johor Umno chief Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said the concept was not acceptable because it meant a rojak (mishmash) of races in the country.Well, get a clue, you fucktard: national unity isn't a zero-sum game. And the Constitution only specifically defines the Malay race (in Article 160); good luck trying to find a definition of Chinese or Indians there. There isn't a pre-existing definition of national identity to be found either, so Bangsa Malaysia doesn't conflict with anything within the Constitution.
As the Constitution clearly defined the races as Malay and others, there was no justification for demands for a united and single Bangsa Malaysia or a Malaysian race.
...
"After 49 years of independence, we should be more mature and not try to produce nebulous concepts whose origins are not clear," said Ghani.
The concept is seen as a threat to the Malays and the special position provided for them in the Constitution.
...
Ghani said there was no need to reinvent a national identity when the Constitution had clearly defined the various races that make up the citizens of this country.
"Even if the term Bangsa Malaysia is to be used, it must only be applied in the context of all the peoples of Malaysia with the Malays as the pivotal race," he said.
This nonsense about the Malays being "the pivotal race" only becomes clearly irrational when you think about how these same assholes would react if they lived in the West and heard a white politician talking about "the Anglo-Saxons as the pivotal race". If John Howard said that, you can bet Mr. Malays-As-Pivotal-Race would be racing to fuck him up the ass as hard as he could.
You know, this is probably some sort of backlash against Mahathir. It's not good enough that they beat him at his own game of denying the government's opponents press time. They have to play the race card as well. And that's why Abdul Ghani Othman is, for all intents and purposes, dead to me.
Here are the most popular articles in Malaysian Politics:
If you'd like to keep informed about updates to the site, consider subscribing to our web feed:
(Infernal Ramblings is a Malaysian website focusing on current events and sociopolitical issues. Its articles run the gamut from economics to society to education.
Infernal Ramblings is run by John Lee. For more, see the About section. If you have any questions or comments, do drop him a line.
Comments
Thoughts? Comments? Discuss this and other ramblings at the forums.
(Alternatively, contact the author privately.)
| Related comments from forum thread "Emigration": | |
|---|---|
|
johnleemk
Infernally Rambling Thoughtless Mind Head Administrator Posts: 948 IP Logged | Posted at 5:58:56 am Aug 30, 2005
Have you ever wondered why so many people seem to be leaving the country? Isn't a bit strange how so many people are always off to New Zealand or Australia? Malaysia's high emigration rate is something to worry about. I have known many people who have left or are going to leave the country, and even more people who have friends who left for Australia, New Zealand or some other nation. This trend is rather disturbing, given the fact that Malaysia is hardly a nation with much bitter discord or lacking in economic prosperity. Rather, I think the emigration can be traced to two factors. The first is that to rise, especially in any bureaucracy in Malaysia, you have to be connected. Competency is no good here. Your colleagues will envy you and pull you down; your superiors will feel threatened, and try to push you out. You need to be connected and/or incompetent, preferably both, to be promoted in a bureaucracy. Connections with those higher in the chain of command ensure your superiors' efforts will come to naught, and incompetency will lull those above and equal to you into a state of complacency. A competent person, Malay or non-Malay, would hardly enjoy a system that punishes him or her for doing a good job. The second factor is the abject inequality between races. Affirmative action for the poor would not be minded by anyone, but when your taxes go to subsidising somebody's new Mercedes-Benz or fifth house, you can't help but feel betrayed by your country. When you, whose parents and grandparents were born here, and have known no other place than Malaysia as home, can be easily told to "balik ke China kalau tak sukanya di sini", you can't help but feel betrayed by your country. When your citizenship, which represents your Malaysian identity, is treated as worthless, you can't help but feel betrayed by your country. When you are told to die for your country before having your country treat you as equal to a Malay drug addict, you can't help but feel betrayed by it. When your history textbook talks about "mempertahankan maruah bangsa" instead of negara, and when your Prime Minister talks about "agama kita" or "bangsa kita" in public, you can't help but feel betrayed by your own country. That, my friend, is why some "bananas" go West/Down Under. Even if you are publicly insulted in Australia for your race, at least you have equal opportunities for work and success. Even if people speak their mind about your race, at least you feel better knowing it's out in the open instead of being bottled up, allowing intense pressure to build. And that is why people emigrate. It's usually not for money or because of hatred, but simply because you can't help but feel you have been betrayed by your own country. |
| Last five replies (0 comments not shown): | |
