Even without Chinese or Indians, the Malays would still be SPLIT - and maybe into more than Pas, Umno & PKR

I like very much the piece written by Zainnal Ajamain, “Instant-fixes won’t solve Sabah’s illegal immigrant issue”.

Essentially what he expounded on was that people don’t read anymore. He said this was common not just among the everyday Malaysian but many captains of industries and leaders too. Hence the “instant fix mentality”, as described by Zainnal Ajamain has permeated into every facet of our decision-making process.

I have my own favourite phrase to describe a similar situation – many of our leaders think they have a “simple solution to a complex problem”.

So we now have Mahathir who said disunity among the Malays has caused the Malays to be beggars even though they are the majority in this country. The Malays, according to him, have to beg the non-Malays, particularly the Chinese, for support to remain in power. Soon after, Minister Nazri joined the farce, saying that Mahathir was right. Malays are indeed political beggars.

This is what Zainnal called the “instant fix mentality” and what I called “a simple solution to a complex problem”. To combine my favourite phrase with Zainnal’s, these two leaders think they now have “a simple instant fix solution to a complex problem”.

Instead of simply lamenting that Malays are disunited, why not ask “why” this is so. Worse yet is blaming the Malays for begging the Chinese for support. Is this a case of killing two birds with one stone in that they are trying to make the Malays look at the Chinese with a jaundiced eye?

I am no expert in Malay unity or disunity. But this much I know. Even if there are no non-Malays in this country today, the Malays will still be divided, maybe into more than three factions as claimed by Mahathir.

What do you expect if we have bourgeois Malays and proletariat Malays?Aristocrat Malays and the peasant Malays? Rich Malays and penniless Malays? Rural Malays and urban Malays?

More than that, what do you expect if we have liberated Malays and Malays who are indoctrinated and enslaved? And don’t forget; we also have Malays who are bigots, parochial, and insular and Malays who are liberal, plural, inclusive and progressive.

To me, the Malays must find the middle path to unite the community and this nation. Right now, the Malay community is struggling within itself in regard to how it wishes to move forward. That is why moderation within the Malay community is so important if we truly understand what moderation is all about. It is about giving hope and aspiration to all within the community; it is about respecting our differences and giving others the space to breathe; it is about not imposing your jaundiced views and values on others.

What is the role of non-Malays in all this? As I have said many times earlier, only the Malays can save this country. The non-Malays can only help by supporting Malay leaders and political parties that provide hope and aspiration to all. We can only support moderation, inclusiveness, progressiveness and good governance. - FMT