Pray tell, who is the ‘common enemy’ of the Malay community?

 

From Clement Stanley

If you, like me, are a non-Malay, you could be forgiven for thinking that you are the Malay community’s “common enemy”.

This is because two former prime ministers, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin, as well as a former Umno warlord Annuar Musa along with a group of other leaders have come together to “ensure that the Malays do not lose power”, which according to them, is taking place under Anwar Ibrahim’s watch.

Really? It is both funny and unsettling how far from the truth this narrative that the Malays are losing power is.

Malaysia’s prime ministers, from the first to the current one, have been Malay.

The only occasions when a non-Malay occupied the post were when MIC’s VT Sambanthan and MCA’s Ling Liong Sik were made acting prime minister.

Sambanthan served as acting prime minister for 10 days from Aug 3, 1973 when then prime minister Razak Hussein and his deputy were out of the country.

In Ling’s case, it was because of a leadership tussle within Umno, the very party that Mahathir had headed.

But back to the issue of us possibly being one of those considered a “common enemy”.

I still don’t know if I am because these so-called leaders do not have the courage to name the “common enemy” and prefer to beat around the bush instead, which in itself is proof of their cowardice.

Nonetheless, remarks that some of these leaders have made in the past do give you an idea of who they mean when they talk about the common enemy.

Still, if they are serious about protecting Malay power, just say it. After all, when it comes to effective problem solving, the first step is identifying the said problem.

Unless, of course, this group is playing a card that we should never take a gamble on.

After all, it’s not what you have up your sleeve that matters but who holds the aces. - FMT

Clement Stanley is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.