'Maju' together for true Merdeka

Collective responsibility: We need to sacrifice for the good of society so that the next generation can have a better life.

YESTERDAY I read a heart-wrenching piece by one of our towering Malays in academia, Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi, entitled A meaningless Merdeka”, where he laments on the sliding down state of the nation and our failing society. His utter despondency on the futility of trying to save our beloved Malaysia in a climate where in his words, “"peddler of religious capitalism comes to this country blaring insults... and ministers have dinners with him”" and "“Old Malaysia has just been given a new lease of life by a heart bypass”", seem like the norm today among the real thinking-class of Malaysia. His article hit every point like a nail-gun to the head.

Tajuddin was scathing and uncompromising in his words. I quote – "Malaysia is on a certain road of destruction…" and he continues with this damning pronouncement – " I can definitely say that Malaysia is a failure".

If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that the failure that is Malaysia is ours. You and me. Not someone else's. We collectively failed. We did not do enough, and we did not do it early enough to right the wrongs. We did not do say no and stop when we should have.

We cannot blame politicians for being politicians. We cannot blame religious charlatans for being charlatans. We cannot blame opportunists and extremists to do what they do. They will do what they do because we allow them to and today we reap what we sow.

The fact is Malaysians have had it good. We got our Independence when the British Empire was in decline, washed up after two world wars and really wanted out. Even when we fought the communists the British were still here helping us along the way. In no way does that diminish the contributions of our heroes but we, as a society, never needed to see the prolonged cruelty, bloodshed and loss of a war for independence. Indonesia did. India did, a war of attrition like no other. We just did not.

We let others do the “fighting” for us and they managed to get it as best they could, and we continue to make a living from this natural paradise called Malaysia. We compromise our ideals because "let'’s not make waves and hurt our rice-bowl".

Well, more and more of our rice bowl is being taken away and more and more of our opportunity and dignity are being crushed because we didn't want to stand and be counted for what is right. Lo and behold, those that we left to do the fighting for us are the ones that seem to be taking them away and giving them to those who are making the most noise. Am I right or am I right?

Because we are selfish. We just care about what happens to us and not to those around us. We don'’t have the tradition of sacrificing for the good of society so that the next generation can have a better life or building a better society because we never needed to really fight for it.

Ours is – let me take care of me and mine, and then we blame others for the loss that we must face. Ladies and gentlemen, human beings are inherently selfish if you allow them to be.

Less than 50 years ago, the blacks in America had to adopt Ghandian civil disobedience, march together with liberal whites for years and years just so they can vote, go to schools and universities together. They were beaten, some to their deaths. Their leaders were shot and killed.The blacks in America had to adopt Ghandian civil disobedience, march together with liberal whites for years and years less than 50 years ago just so they can vote, go to schools and universities together. They were beaten, some to their deaths. Their leaders were shot and killed.

From ground up: Only a few Malayans had to take arms in the nation's struggle for freedom, like these local women who joined the Malayan Home Guard troops during the height of the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s. - National Archive

What have Malaysians done to achieve equality in the last 60 years? Really, what? What have we done? I tell you what, we worked and sent our children away and abandoned the only place we know as our homes. We abandoned our less fortunate friends and families, that is what we did.

We complained at home and we kept quiet outside of our home. We allow the violence that was May 13 to shut all of us up and every truth was swept under the carpet. And we wonder why we are today, instead of living in a more equitable society, worse off and less equal. While the politicians live in luxury, and the religious charlatans and extremists roam free. Tepuk dada tanyalah selera.(To each his own.) This Merdeka, one year past the euphoria of May 9, again I say, I am convinced more than ever, that looking at politicians will not be the answer to the salvation of this nation. I believe the salvation for Malaysia will come from a class of citizens who, despite the prejudiced environment and the institutionalised discrimination we must live in, see the world for what it could be rather than what it is now.

These are the people who have decided that they are going to make the necessary changes to obliterate these divisions in their private and public lives. These people are the moderates, the liberals and the progressive thinking individuals, cutting across all racial and religious lines.

If you are one of these individuals then MAJU (Malaysian Action, Justice and Unity Foundation) is where we will organise and change Malaysia. Imagine a million such people under a wide tent, literally putting their names behind the movement. Imagine the resources at our disposal and the decibels of our collective voice under this one banner. We can change Malaysia.

This is how we change our society. We cannot wait for others to agree with us. We cannot expect politicians and elected officials to lead us. We must be the ones to take the initiative and mobilise and show a different narrative for this nation.

We must show the narrative of what it means to live in a society where freedom of religion is real, not where you say there is freedom and yet you stop others from exercising theirs. A narrative where Islam is kind and compassionate, and not dogmatic and judgmental. We must show how we can build a science-centric society that will take Malaysia to the next level.

We must change draconian and cruel laws. We must have laws that protect the weak and the marginalised instead of continually having our weakest sacrificed at the altar of commercial interests. We must make our society fair and equitable for all without regard for race or religion. That is the beauty of democracy. It is meant to perfect a better union. Do not wait until democracy is usurped and theocracy reigns in Malaysia.

It is imperative that progressives, moderates and liberals of Malaysia organise. We must be bold in our vision but we must conduct activism within the limits of what the law provides; and that is what standing on a platform together as citizens afford us.

We intend to change how civil liberties and humanitarian concerns are addressed, not on piece-meal basis but over an encompassing agenda. To do that we need the weight of numbers of our citizens behind us. You need to stand and be counted. You can no longer be anonymous. We must have the courage of our convictions. And with that we can even change the face of politics and political discourse in Malaysia. Time is not on our side. We must have a sense of urgency. Come with me and let’s build a progressive tent no one could ever dream of in Malaysia. Let us MAJU together and truly MERDEKA.

The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sunday Star.  Source link

Siti Kasim

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'Maju' together for true Merdeka

Collective responsibility: We need to sacrifice for the good of society so that the next generation can have a better life.

YESTERDAY I read a heart-wrenching piece by one of our towering Malays in academia, Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi, entitled A meaningless Merdeka”, where he laments on the sliding down state of the nation and our failing society. His utter despondency on the futility of trying to save our beloved Malaysia in a climate where in his words, “"peddler of religious capitalism comes to this country blaring insults... and ministers have dinners with him”" and "“Old Malaysia has just been given a new lease of life by a heart bypass”", seem like the norm today among the real thinking-class of Malaysia. His article hit every point like a nail-gun to the head.

Tajuddin was scathing and uncompromising in his words. I quote – "Malaysia is on a certain road of destruction…" and he continues with this damning pronouncement – " I can definitely say that Malaysia is a failure".

If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that the failure that is Malaysia is ours. You and me. Not someone else's. We collectively failed. We did not do enough, and we did not do it early enough to right the wrongs. We did not do say no and stop when we should have.

We cannot blame politicians for being politicians. We cannot blame religious charlatans for being charlatans. We cannot blame opportunists and extremists to do what they do. They will do what they do because we allow them to and today we reap what we sow.

The fact is Malaysians have had it good. We got our Independence when the British Empire was in decline, washed up after two world wars and really wanted out. Even when we fought the communists the British were still here helping us along the way. In no way does that diminish the contributions of our heroes but we, as a society, never needed to see the prolonged cruelty, bloodshed and loss of a war for independence. Indonesia did. India did, a war of attrition like no other. We just did not.

We let others do the “fighting” for us and they managed to get it as best they could, and we continue to make a living from this natural paradise called Malaysia. We compromise our ideals because "let'’s not make waves and hurt our rice-bowl".

Well, more and more of our rice bowl is being taken away and more and more of our opportunity and dignity are being crushed because we didn't want to stand and be counted for what is right. Lo and behold, those that we left to do the fighting for us are the ones that seem to be taking them away and giving them to those who are making the most noise. Am I right or am I right?

Because we are selfish. We just care about what happens to us and not to those around us. We don'’t have the tradition of sacrificing for the good of society so that the next generation can have a better life or building a better society because we never needed to really fight for it.

Ours is – let me take care of me and mine, and then we blame others for the loss that we must face. Ladies and gentlemen, human beings are inherently selfish if you allow them to be.

Less than 50 years ago, the blacks in America had to adopt Ghandian civil disobedience, march together with liberal whites for years and years just so they can vote, go to schools and universities together. They were beaten, some to their deaths. Their leaders were shot and killed.The blacks in America had to adopt Ghandian civil disobedience, march together with liberal whites for years and years less than 50 years ago just so they can vote, go to schools and universities together. They were beaten, some to their deaths. Their leaders were shot and killed.

From ground up: Only a few Malayans had to take arms in the nation's struggle for freedom, like these local women who joined the Malayan Home Guard troops during the height of the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s. - National Archive

What have Malaysians done to achieve equality in the last 60 years? Really, what? What have we done? I tell you what, we worked and sent our children away and abandoned the only place we know as our homes. We abandoned our less fortunate friends and families, that is what we did.

We complained at home and we kept quiet outside of our home. We allow the violence that was May 13 to shut all of us up and every truth was swept under the carpet. And we wonder why we are today, instead of living in a more equitable society, worse off and less equal. While the politicians live in luxury, and the religious charlatans and extremists roam free. Tepuk dada tanyalah selera.(To each his own.) This Merdeka, one year past the euphoria of May 9, again I say, I am convinced more than ever, that looking at politicians will not be the answer to the salvation of this nation. I believe the salvation for Malaysia will come from a class of citizens who, despite the prejudiced environment and the institutionalised discrimination we must live in, see the world for what it could be rather than what it is now.

These are the people who have decided that they are going to make the necessary changes to obliterate these divisions in their private and public lives. These people are the moderates, the liberals and the progressive thinking individuals, cutting across all racial and religious lines.

If you are one of these individuals then MAJU (Malaysian Action, Justice and Unity Foundation) is where we will organise and change Malaysia. Imagine a million such people under a wide tent, literally putting their names behind the movement. Imagine the resources at our disposal and the decibels of our collective voice under this one banner. We can change Malaysia.

This is how we change our society. We cannot wait for others to agree with us. We cannot expect politicians and elected officials to lead us. We must be the ones to take the initiative and mobilise and show a different narrative for this nation.

We must show the narrative of what it means to live in a society where freedom of religion is real, not where you say there is freedom and yet you stop others from exercising theirs. A narrative where Islam is kind and compassionate, and not dogmatic and judgmental. We must show how we can build a science-centric society that will take Malaysia to the next level.

We must change draconian and cruel laws. We must have laws that protect the weak and the marginalised instead of continually having our weakest sacrificed at the altar of commercial interests. We must make our society fair and equitable for all without regard for race or religion. That is the beauty of democracy. It is meant to perfect a better union. Do not wait until democracy is usurped and theocracy reigns in Malaysia.

It is imperative that progressives, moderates and liberals of Malaysia organise. We must be bold in our vision but we must conduct activism within the limits of what the law provides; and that is what standing on a platform together as citizens afford us.

We intend to change how civil liberties and humanitarian concerns are addressed, not on piece-meal basis but over an encompassing agenda. To do that we need the weight of numbers of our citizens behind us. You need to stand and be counted. You can no longer be anonymous. We must have the courage of our convictions. And with that we can even change the face of politics and political discourse in Malaysia. Time is not on our side. We must have a sense of urgency. Come with me and let’s build a progressive tent no one could ever dream of in Malaysia. Let us MAJU together and truly MERDEKA.

The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sunday Star.  Source link

Siti Kasim

Read more:

Do Malaysian political parties have real values or direction?

A national dialogue needed

Give kindness a chance

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Eye on Malay show of force

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https://youtu.be/J7gFNCkMV0o This Merdeka is a meaningless Merdeka for the nation as it entrenches itself into old political mindsets....

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It is sad that mistrust among the different races is rising even after 62 years of independence, with the various communities having...

Resolve race, religion and education to aspire for a better, the real new Malaysia

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The persistent pipe dream: some politicians play religion and race cards ended up becoming rats themselves

Vision 2020 - A pipe dream - Aliran

It's been more than six decades since Malaysian independence, yet, more than ever, some politicians continue to wield the race and religion cards to divide us.

PATHETIC and disgusting. That’s surely an understatement in describing the continuous racist slurs non-Malays have had to endure.

Using non-Malays – particularly the Christians – as bogeymen hasn’t ended, even more than six decades after independence.

The situation has probably worsened because social media has made things more evident and amplified them. Thankfully though, politicians selling venom to their target audience can no longer be a covert affair.

These chameleons used to stir the hornet’s nest of race and religion with the Malays, portraying themselves as champions of their community. And then, they have no qualms attending events at Chinese new villages, where they try to please the residents by professing to be one people. Just to add value to the “show”, even a calligraphy writing session is entertained. Next on their “tour” – get on stage, put their palms together, and greet the people in Tamil, and then do the dance bit, of course. And we bought all that, believing they portrayed the real Malaysia.

Incredibly, some are still doing the rounds. For a fresh twist, the LBGT element has even been thrown in now, and despite the charade being recorded, clarification must be issued to say otherwise. You know, I didn’t mean it.

Someone has forgotten that it isn’t only the ghosts, drunkards and LBGT community who are still awake at 11pm and need to use the toll.

These commuters include nurses, doctors, policemen, security guards, hawkers, taxi drivers, restaurant employees, firemen, factory workers, food deliverers and of course, journalists too, and we often work the infamous graveyard shift.

Scoring points and teaming up with an equally repulsive partner to create suspicion against other fellows, with fictional threats of race and religion, is just unacceptable.

While we cringe over the thought of how there are listeners who buy their hate speech, we expect these politicians to at least rise above these nauseating tactics and convince the people that they can provide better governance and deliver more than the present government.

They should prove to the people that the new government’s failings include not fulfilling its election promises, allowing the cost of living to go up and watching the ringgit’s value shrink. And to add ammunition, highlight how some ministers have even failed their probation.

That’s what a fault-finding Opposition is supposed to do – ensure check and balance, and behave like a government in-waiting, but here we have opposition Members of Parliament who can’t wait to broker a deal by defecting to the government’s side of the fence.

There’s another distateful story. It’s about an Umno MP who crossed over to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and had the gall to admit that he was doing it for the constituents.

So, we have an odd situation where opposition MPs mourned the defeat of the previous government even after almost a year, and now plot to join the new government. Not plot to topple, of course, not that again, but plot to join. Naturally, it’s in the interest of the people.

We believe you, well, some of us do. Most of us know it’s just a lie, but hey, we are in the era of malu apa ...

Then, there are the “remnants”, who probably won’t be accepted by the new government, and figure that the only way for them to get back on the gravy train is to stoke the fires of racial and religious sensitivity. You’ve got to give it to this lot, though. They are, at least, fighting back, although their methods are pretty despicable.

However, the hate speeches will likely work in some constituencies, where, like oil, it burns the minds and hearts of angry voters who are already struggling to put food on the table for their families.

Still, it’s the pits when someone like Barisan Nasional secretary-general Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz resorts to claiming that having a non-Muslim Attorney General is not “lawful” since he took oath without swearing on the Quran. Nazri, of course, is bluffing, but he’s like those snake oil peddlers who will say anything to make a sale.

Nowhere in the Federal Constitution does it state that an AG needs to take an oath using the Quran. And surely, we won’t expect the likes of Nazri to concede that in the history of Malaya, there were six British AGs.

Cecil Sheridan, who died aged 88 in 2000, was the last British Attorney-General of Malaya and helped in drafting the constitution of its successor state, Malaysia.

When Malaya attained independence in 1957, Sheridan was promoted to Solicitor-General and in 1959, became the country’s Attorney-General. He also helped in the preparations for the formation of Malaysia in 1963 and in the process, worked closely with Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Prime Minister of Malaya, Tun Razak Hussein, its deputy Prime Minister, and Lee Kuan Yew, of Singapore.

True, the eight subsequent successors were Malays, but there’s no race and religion criteria in the appointment of the top-ranking public prosecutor of the country.

The first Lord President of Malaysia – now renamed Chief Justice – was a Scot named Tun Sir James Thompson, who assumed the post in 1963 when Malaysia was formed. He held the post until 1966.

Likewise, after independence in 1957, Malaysia's first two finance ministers were ethnic Chinese – Tun H.S. Lee and Tun Tan Siew Sin. However, from 1974 until very recently, the post had been held by Malays.

So, what we are effectively saying is that our founding fathers had no issue with the ethnicity of these important posts such as chief judge, attorney general and finance ministers. However, as six decades have worn on, we have become more degenerate, insisting on focusing on race and religion, instead of qualifications, credibility and integrity as the main criteria?

Certainly, these men, who held the loftiest positions, did well then, and many of us can accept that they didn’t collude with individuals to loot the wealth of this country and the Malays – who make up the bulk of Malaysians.

The harsh reality is that the pilfering and corruption are shamelessly executed by those claiming to fight for their race and religion. They shouldn’t blame anyone else or try to fan the flames of racial discontent to save themselves. Malaysians are tired of such perversion, so we can’t allow such incorrigible politics to proliferate in our beloved country.

One Chinese Finance Minister, a Christian Chief Justice and an Indian Attorney-General aren’t going to be able to control a country of 31 million people, where Malays and the indigenous people make up 61.7%, compared to the the shrinking Chinese (20.8%) and Indian (6.2%) population.

As for religion, according to a 2010 estimate, Muslims number most at 61.3%, Buddhists 19.8%, Christians 9.2%, Hindus 6.3% with Confucianism, Taoism and other Chinese practices at 1.3%, others 0.4%, no religion 0.8%, unspecified 1%.

As for the 1.6 million civil servants – the then-Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim told Parliament that as at December 2014, the ethnic composition of the civil service was as follows: 78.8% Malays, Bumiputera Sabah (6.1%), Bumiputera Sarawak (4.8 %), Chinese (5.2 %), Indians (4.1 %), other Bumiputera (0.3%) and others (0.7%).

As for the police force, then-Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said non-Malays only made up 5% of the 133,212-strong force.

“Of the total, 80.23% or 106,871 are Malays, while Chinese make up only 1.96% (2,615), Indians 3.16% (4,209), Punjabis 0.21% (275) and others 14.44% (19,242),” he said in replying a question by Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah (Amanah-Kuala Terengganu).

And we haven’t even counted the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Malays holding key posts in the Cabinet, and of course, the overwhelmingly Malay armed forces, numbering 420,000 personnel. It’s downright contemptible for our politicians to make fictional claims of non-Malays gaining control of the country, when the facts and figures clearly speak for themselves. For most rational Malaysians, we just want to see a clean government and civil service, which can safeguard our national interest, regardless of race and religion.

The late Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping famously said that it doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches the mice.

Our recent history has showed that our big fat cats didn’t catch the mice but ended up becoming rats themselves.

Wong Chun Wai

Wong Chun Wai began his career as a journalist in Penang, and has served The Star for over 27 years in various capacities and roles. He is now editorial and corporate affairs adviser to the group, after having served as group managing director/chief executive officer.

On The Beat made its debut on Feb 23 1997 and Chun Wai has penned the column weekly without a break, except for the occasional press holiday when the paper was not published. In May 2011, a compilation of selected articles of On The Beat was published as a book and launched in conjunction with his 50th birthday. Chun Wai also comments on current issues in The Star.

• chunwai@thestar.com.my
• https://twitter.com/chunwai09
• http://www.wongchunwai.com/

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The persistent pipe dream: some politicians play religion and race cards ended up becoming rats themselves

Vision 2020 - A pipe dream - Aliran

It's been more than six decades since Malaysian independence, yet, more than ever, some politicians continue to wield the race and religion cards to divide us.

PATHETIC and disgusting. That’s surely an understatement in describing the continuous racist slurs non-Malays have had to endure.

Using non-Malays – particularly the Christians – as bogeymen hasn’t ended, even more than six decades after independence.

The situation has probably worsened because social media has made things more evident and amplified them. Thankfully though, politicians selling venom to their target audience can no longer be a covert affair.

These chameleons used to stir the hornet’s nest of race and religion with the Malays, portraying themselves as champions of their community. And then, they have no qualms attending events at Chinese new villages, where they try to please the residents by professing to be one people. Just to add value to the “show”, even a calligraphy writing session is entertained. Next on their “tour” – get on stage, put their palms together, and greet the people in Tamil, and then do the dance bit, of course. And we bought all that, believing they portrayed the real Malaysia.

Incredibly, some are still doing the rounds. For a fresh twist, the LBGT element has even been thrown in now, and despite the charade being recorded, clarification must be issued to say otherwise. You know, I didn’t mean it.

Someone has forgotten that it isn’t only the ghosts, drunkards and LBGT community who are still awake at 11pm and need to use the toll.

These commuters include nurses, doctors, policemen, security guards, hawkers, taxi drivers, restaurant employees, firemen, factory workers, food deliverers and of course, journalists too, and we often work the infamous graveyard shift.

Scoring points and teaming up with an equally repulsive partner to create suspicion against other fellows, with fictional threats of race and religion, is just unacceptable.

While we cringe over the thought of how there are listeners who buy their hate speech, we expect these politicians to at least rise above these nauseating tactics and convince the people that they can provide better governance and deliver more than the present government.

They should prove to the people that the new government’s failings include not fulfilling its election promises, allowing the cost of living to go up and watching the ringgit’s value shrink. And to add ammunition, highlight how some ministers have even failed their probation.

That’s what a fault-finding Opposition is supposed to do – ensure check and balance, and behave like a government in-waiting, but here we have opposition Members of Parliament who can’t wait to broker a deal by defecting to the government’s side of the fence.

There’s another distateful story. It’s about an Umno MP who crossed over to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and had the gall to admit that he was doing it for the constituents.

So, we have an odd situation where opposition MPs mourned the defeat of the previous government even after almost a year, and now plot to join the new government. Not plot to topple, of course, not that again, but plot to join. Naturally, it’s in the interest of the people.

We believe you, well, some of us do. Most of us know it’s just a lie, but hey, we are in the era of malu apa ...

Then, there are the “remnants”, who probably won’t be accepted by the new government, and figure that the only way for them to get back on the gravy train is to stoke the fires of racial and religious sensitivity. You’ve got to give it to this lot, though. They are, at least, fighting back, although their methods are pretty despicable.

However, the hate speeches will likely work in some constituencies, where, like oil, it burns the minds and hearts of angry voters who are already struggling to put food on the table for their families.

Still, it’s the pits when someone like Barisan Nasional secretary-general Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz resorts to claiming that having a non-Muslim Attorney General is not “lawful” since he took oath without swearing on the Quran. Nazri, of course, is bluffing, but he’s like those snake oil peddlers who will say anything to make a sale.

Nowhere in the Federal Constitution does it state that an AG needs to take an oath using the Quran. And surely, we won’t expect the likes of Nazri to concede that in the history of Malaya, there were six British AGs.

Cecil Sheridan, who died aged 88 in 2000, was the last British Attorney-General of Malaya and helped in drafting the constitution of its successor state, Malaysia.

When Malaya attained independence in 1957, Sheridan was promoted to Solicitor-General and in 1959, became the country’s Attorney-General. He also helped in the preparations for the formation of Malaysia in 1963 and in the process, worked closely with Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Prime Minister of Malaya, Tun Razak Hussein, its deputy Prime Minister, and Lee Kuan Yew, of Singapore.

True, the eight subsequent successors were Malays, but there’s no race and religion criteria in the appointment of the top-ranking public prosecutor of the country.

The first Lord President of Malaysia – now renamed Chief Justice – was a Scot named Tun Sir James Thompson, who assumed the post in 1963 when Malaysia was formed. He held the post until 1966.

Likewise, after independence in 1957, Malaysia's first two finance ministers were ethnic Chinese – Tun H.S. Lee and Tun Tan Siew Sin. However, from 1974 until very recently, the post had been held by Malays.

So, what we are effectively saying is that our founding fathers had no issue with the ethnicity of these important posts such as chief judge, attorney general and finance ministers. However, as six decades have worn on, we have become more degenerate, insisting on focusing on race and religion, instead of qualifications, credibility and integrity as the main criteria?

Certainly, these men, who held the loftiest positions, did well then, and many of us can accept that they didn’t collude with individuals to loot the wealth of this country and the Malays – who make up the bulk of Malaysians.

The harsh reality is that the pilfering and corruption are shamelessly executed by those claiming to fight for their race and religion. They shouldn’t blame anyone else or try to fan the flames of racial discontent to save themselves. Malaysians are tired of such perversion, so we can’t allow such incorrigible politics to proliferate in our beloved country.

One Chinese Finance Minister, a Christian Chief Justice and an Indian Attorney-General aren’t going to be able to control a country of 31 million people, where Malays and the indigenous people make up 61.7%, compared to the the shrinking Chinese (20.8%) and Indian (6.2%) population.

As for religion, according to a 2010 estimate, Muslims number most at 61.3%, Buddhists 19.8%, Christians 9.2%, Hindus 6.3% with Confucianism, Taoism and other Chinese practices at 1.3%, others 0.4%, no religion 0.8%, unspecified 1%.

As for the 1.6 million civil servants – the then-Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim told Parliament that as at December 2014, the ethnic composition of the civil service was as follows: 78.8% Malays, Bumiputera Sabah (6.1%), Bumiputera Sarawak (4.8 %), Chinese (5.2 %), Indians (4.1 %), other Bumiputera (0.3%) and others (0.7%).

As for the police force, then-Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said non-Malays only made up 5% of the 133,212-strong force.

“Of the total, 80.23% or 106,871 are Malays, while Chinese make up only 1.96% (2,615), Indians 3.16% (4,209), Punjabis 0.21% (275) and others 14.44% (19,242),” he said in replying a question by Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah (Amanah-Kuala Terengganu).

And we haven’t even counted the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Malays holding key posts in the Cabinet, and of course, the overwhelmingly Malay armed forces, numbering 420,000 personnel. It’s downright contemptible for our politicians to make fictional claims of non-Malays gaining control of the country, when the facts and figures clearly speak for themselves. For most rational Malaysians, we just want to see a clean government and civil service, which can safeguard our national interest, regardless of race and religion.

The late Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping famously said that it doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches the mice.

Our recent history has showed that our big fat cats didn’t catch the mice but ended up becoming rats themselves.

Wong Chun Wai

Wong Chun Wai began his career as a journalist in Penang, and has served The Star for over 27 years in various capacities and roles. He is now editorial and corporate affairs adviser to the group, after having served as group managing director/chief executive officer.

On The Beat made its debut on Feb 23 1997 and Chun Wai has penned the column weekly without a break, except for the occasional press holiday when the paper was not published. In May 2011, a compilation of selected articles of On The Beat was published as a book and launched in conjunction with his 50th birthday. Chun Wai also comments on current issues in The Star.

• chunwai@thestar.com.my
• https://twitter.com/chunwai09
• http://www.wongchunwai.com/

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