Speaking BM is sine qua non of M’sian citizenship

By Faidhur Rahman Abdul Hadi, TANJAK

Oh, will Azrul just shut up already!

Azrul Mohd Khalib, the IDEAS (external relations) manager, is nothing but a one-trick pony. He keeps alluding in a derogatory manner to Malaysia’s majority population – particularly those Malays connected to Umno – as nothing but haters, racists and bigots.

Cukup lah.

Azrul pictured above is evidently a self-hating Malay who’s at the same time the most repetitive Bangsa Malaysia whiner in the whole of our country.

Below is a quick review of Azrul’s “anti-racist” template articles that are seasonally recycled in the Malay Mail Online:

Azrul’s sample Article #1

• ‘On racism: We haven’t done enough’ — MMO (18 Sept 2015)

In the article above, Azrul whined about “blatant racism, bigotry and naked hatred on display during the #Merah169 demonstration”.

He accused certain albeit unspecified “racists and bigots” among the [Malay] Baju Merah community of “instilling fear, hatred and anger against others of different ethnicity”.

He then went on to gripe about how the voices of non-Bangsa Malaysians “are shrill with hatred, bigotry and prejudice”.

Azrul should just openly name those he deems racist. If Jamal Yunos (pix below) is the one who is in Azrul’s gunsight, then say so. Ada berani?

Azrul’s sample Article #2

• ‘Dealing with racism once and for all’ — MMO (22 March 2016)

Clearly Azrul is obsessed with the ‘racism’ topic, or rather more accurately with accusing other Malays of being racist and hate merchants.

In the article above, Azrul again accused his fellow Malaysians of being “the shrill and ugly voices of merchants peddling hatred, racism, bigotry, fascism, and extremism”.

Like the Dapters as well as the American Democrats, Azrul too has a similar tendency to label those who are not aligned to his liberal worldview as haters, racists, bigots, fascists and extremists.

In the same March 2016 article, Azrul accused some folks outside his Bangsa Malaysia clique as “zealots, racists and bigots” who perpetually “scream, shout and threaten” fellow Malaysians that are seeking social change.

As can be seen, Azrul possesses a rather limited vocabulary.

In the MMO articles where Azrul is a columnist, he repeatedly slaps simplistic labels on unnamed – presumably Umno/Perkasa/Isma – individuals but other than that, his creative writing repertoire does not extend beyond “racist” name-calling.

⇓  Azrul loves Penang where he is in his elementf

Azrul’s sample Article #3

• ‘We need to break the cycle of racism‘ — MMO (11 Feb 2017)

Yawn. Yet another Azrul article with the dogwhistle R-word (“racism”) in its headline.

“Racism and bigotry often feature prominently” when communal leaders are looking for scapegoats, wrote Azrul accusatorially in the boring article above.

He even proceed to the extent of declaring “Let’s face it: We are all products of racism in this country”.

(Speak for yourself, Azrul.)

His language – as illustrated above – is downright whingy. When this IDEAS man points his finger at others accusing them of “hate speech”, three fingers are actually pointing back at himself.

In his recent Feb 11 article, Azrul took umbrage with UUM’s Prof. Zainal Kling who had proposed for the blue IC to be withheld from Malaysian children who are unable to converse in our national language.

Most predictably, Azrul called the suggestion “repugnant” and … R-A-C-I-S-T (but what else).

According to Azrul, Prof Zainal’s racist proposal not only “targets the non-Malay community [but] it is also rooted in the Malay supremacist mindset which believes that Malaysian citizenship should be withdrawn or withheld from individuals who don’t act or conform to homogenous norms and expectations”.

Azrul is clearly an enthusiastic proponent of “diversity” who, at the same time, is against assimilation of our ethnic minorities. In his playbook, social conservatives who don’t subscribe to the liberal ethos of pluralism and multiculturalism are immediately tarred as “divisive”.

What’s really creating the divide in M’sia

Azrul believes that the “cycle of racism” – that acute concern he’s always obsessing about – is leading our country towards an apartheid.

To him, our very own Basket of Deplorables (haters, racists, bigots, fascists and extremists) are the “divisive” factor that is causing the polarization in Malaysian society.

I am convinced, however, that it is vernacular schools which are not only divisive but also unconstitutional.

Both prime minister Najib Razak and his deputy Zahid Hamidi have recently called on Malaysians to master our national language as the medium of unity.

I too have stressed this same point time and again. To understand why I say so, refer my previous articles HERE and HERE.

SJK(C)s which use Chinese as their medium of instruction are definitely problematic.

Why such a stubborn refusal to acknowledge the supremacy of Malay as our national language? They should do away with teaching completely in Mandarin – which is a foreign language alien to Nusantara.

Getting the vernacular school system abolished was always in the scheme of things  since before Merdeka even. Why can’t our government be firm about this? Uphold Article 152 of the federal constitution, please.

Why must they need to be constantly reminded?

If Malay as our national language is already a pillar of the constitution, why are Umno leaders continually pleading and pushing bahasa Melayu on non-Malays?

Speaking and writing, or at least understanding, our national language is a sine qua non of citizenship.

As citizens of Malaysia, it is incumbent upon the ethnic minorities to be able to speak BM without having to be prodded.

It is not racist to expect Chinese living in Malaysia to understand and to converse in BM.

For all that Azrul Mohd Khalib blathers on about “racial superiority” or “racial supremism” inflicted on the minorities by the majority group, he misses the mark in grasping the true meaning of ‘racism’.

It is racial superiority, racial supremism and plain racist to look down on bahasa Melayu.

Typical Dapster sentiment on our national language

All required to adhere to terms of social contract

What is truly “divisive” is a sizeable segment of the citizenry living in their own ethnic silos who are unable to speak the national language properly.

Have they forgotten the terms of the social contract their forefathers had agreed to, namely, citizenship in exchange for recognition and acceptance of certain principles – Malay as our national language being among one of the fundamentals?

It looks like their propensity for playing fast and loose with our constitution persists with no end in sight.

If they’ve forgotten, then maybe its time they were reminded in a way they can be made to remember permanently – perhaps by means of a new law enforcing the terms of the social contract agreed to.

This new law, to allow for civil as well as criminal sanction for breach of our social contract, should do the trick.

Faidhur Rahman Abdul Hadi is a lawyer and activist

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FOOTNOTE: See the long list below of Bangsa Malaysians who require Chinese interpreters when they present themselves in court. Is there any reason they can’t speak BM?

http://www.sinarharian.com.my/semasa/pemilik-syarikat-dodol-didakwa-eksploitasi-amah-1.639175

http://www.sinarharian.com.my/semasa/kes-bill-kayong-dua-lelaki-didakwa-1.541536

http://www.utusan.com.my/berita/mahkamah/jurujual-mengaku-tidak-bersalah-1.463296

http://www.sinarharian.com.my/semasa/peniaga-didakwa-hina-kerajaan-pm-dan-isteri-1.659141

http://www.utusan.com.my/berita/mahkamah/culik-suri-rumah-4-lelaki-didakwa-1.462853

http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2017&dt=0407&pub=Kosmo&sec=Negara&pg=ne_06.htm

http://www.sinarharian.com.my/semasa/kes-culik-datuk-ditangguh-ke-7-april-1.640948

http://www.utusan.com.my/berita/mahkamah/model-sambilan-mengaku-tidak-bersalah-1.458517

http://www.sinarharian.com.my/edisi/utara/mengaku-tidak-bersalah-eksploitasi-buruh-paksa-1.643357