Time to differentiate genuine Malay fighter from the exploiters

Khalid - unmask the real exploiters and their reasons

KUALA LUMPUR (Harakahdaily) - "For religion and race" has been a favourite battlecry by a section of Malaysian politicians lately, who claim they were fighting to uphold the dignity of the Malay race from being ambushed by other races.

Shah Alam member of parliament Khalid Samad, however, said it was time to "unmask' these self-styled fighters for the Malay race.

“After 53 years of independence, is it still not clear to you, my dear people, as to who the genuine fighters and exploiters are?" Khalid asked in a blog posting, expressing his disgust over how the race card had been played by those who claim to champion Malay rights.

“At the same time, every one of these leaders (who claim to fight for the race) are living off comfortably as millionaires, despite being surrounded by their own people who are poor and destitute.

"They live off the wealth collected from their so-called ‘struggles’,” said Khalid, referring to several characters in the local political scene who had been in the news lately.

No doubt Khalid was referring to leaders in UMNO and its right-wing offshoot Perkasa.

He said these leaders were accumulating "shares worth millions of ringgit because ‘Malays are poor and I’m Malay’".

"But the wealth (they accumulated) is meant for them alone, and the millions go to their pockets, and not channeled to those poor Malays who are in need,” Khalid added.

Far from being "fighters for the race", Khalid described such leaders as people who exploited their own race "for their own stomachs".

He said it was important for these leaders to maintain the status quo, so that their people continued to live in poverty and could be exploited, the result being that the leaders continued to amass wealth while those under them were pushed into the abyss of poverty.

In what is believed to be a reference to Perkasa, Khalid pointed out that being more primitive and aggressive in its attacks against other races, the group hoped to be hailed as "genuine Malay fighters".

“People must realise that if this was the criterion to identify genuine fighters, then there will be more opportunists coming forward to indulge in racist rhetoric,” warned the Shah Alam PAS division head.

Mark of a true fighter

So who are the genuine fighters according to Khalid?

For a start, Khalid said they must possess two qualities, namely the direction, and the appreciation towards, the struggle.

He said a true fighter must fight for the betterment of his or her race in all fields, adding that the person must carry a vision and an understanding to develop the community so that they earn respect.

“He must bring his race towards modernity and a global mindset, not towards regressive thinking and primitiveness,” he explained.

On the second quality, Khalid said a true fighter would be ready to make sacrifices, not "sacrificing the others".

“He spends his own wealth to achieve the goal and vision for his race. His sacrifices must continue regardless of whether he is in power or not. His people must come before him.”

Fitting such a description, opined Khalid, were the PAS Murshidul Am, Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and its president Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang (right), both of whom had "very clear vision to achieve fairness and justice for all the Islamic way".

“At the same time, we can see see that they do not exploit their position to enrich themselves. In good times and bad times, they continue to serve in their struggles to bring up their race and others based on the teachings of Islam," said Khalid, adding that several DAP and PKR leaders also fit the same description.