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It was Hang Tuah, in “Sejarah Melayu”, otherwise known as "Sulalatus Salatin", chronicled by Tun Seri Lanang, who said "Tak akan Melayu hilang dari dunia" (No Malays will disappear from the world).
True enough, when the Sultanate of Malacca was defeated by the Portuguese in 1511, some made their way to Johore to create a new Kingdom. Others, sadly, were nabbed by the colonial masters and sent packing to faraway lands as far as South Africa. To this day, there are Malays in South Africa who trace their bloodline to Malaysia.
Now, in comes Umno in 1946. While it was formed by a disparate collection of ardent Malay writers, teachers, poets and thinkers, invariably mixed with Malays of royal descent, the facts show that Umno was a socio-political force before it was a partisan body.
In fact when Umno launched the "hartal" or boycott against the Federation of Malayan Union that would do away with the rights and privileges of the sultans and Malays, the effort cut across all party lines. Umno was in it, as were leftist and other religious Malay organisations.
In other words, Malays defend their institutions and way of life best, when they allow democracy to prevail. Be it Kaum Tua or Kaum Muda, Malays have always had the fascination of learning from the Ottomans and the East, and even the British themselves on how to better their lot.
This is why Umno founder Onn Jaafar proposed Parti Negara soon after becoming the president of Umno. He wanted a flagship party that could represent the Malays and everyone fending and fighting for the rights of the people who stayed in Malaya.
This is also why Burhanuddin al-Helmi, the president of PAS, transformed PAS into a progressive force to protect the rights of not just the Muslims and the Malays but all.
Indeed, in Parliament, with the exception of Syed Jaafar Albar, the father of Syed Hamid Albar, almost no one took a completely racial line of thought. Even Dr Mahathir Mohamad was concerned with economic inequities afflicting the Malays, not with Chinese taking away the rice bowl of Malays.
Thus when Umno puts out a spin - it is a spin nothing more nothing less - that only Umno can defend the Malays, the question is how?
In Selangor, PAS clings on to PKR like it is their long-lost twin brother, even though PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang had declared the end of Pakatan Rakyat.
DAP did not raise any outcry despite this anomaly, precisely because DAP understands the importance of PAS and PKR working hand-in-hand to improve the welfare of the Malays.
Neither did Bersatu oppose it too, precisely because party chairperson Mahathir, president Muhyiddin Yassin and deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir all want Malays to have a higher quality of living.
Besides, have Umno lackeys forgotten the sultans and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong too? The relationship between the sultans and the ulamas and the Malays are symbiotic. Each try to strengthen each other to do good and forbid vice. There is nowhere that says Umno is indispensable. In fact, Umno is long dead. What we have is Umno Baru from 1988.
But due to selective amnesia and corruption, Umno Baru kept calling itself Umno, when in fact the party has long been declared dead. When Umno died, did Malays die too? No. Malays recreated and reinvented themselves with Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim then. The two are now doing the same for the Malays and Malaysian electorate.
Remember, it is Umno that needs the Malays, not the Malays who need Umno.
RAIS HUSSIN is a member of Bersatu’s supreme council and its policy and strategy bureau head. - Mkini
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