The Namewee Video - What Khairy should really do

Namewee's video may be obscene but not racist

Aizuddin Danian

This is a racist video? Not even close. Watch it. This is what Khairy had to say on the matter:

"We have tolerated a lot of things but when the insult is too blatant, the time has come for those who did so to be taken a stern action," he told reporters after visiting Kota Baharu Umno Youth chief Rosmadi Ismail here Tuesday night.

"The Malays are not being overly sensitive. We have in fact tolerated a lot of things," he said.

Really? Khairy, your definition of racism seems to be quite selective. When your ex-boss said this, did you agree with him? You were sitting just a few feet away. Maybe you even helped him write the speech. Let me refresh your memory:

EDIT: Khairy Jamaluddin blogs about Namewee on Rembau.net. Will read it and respond shortly.


EDIT2: After reading KJ's blog, the part of Namewee's video that he has a problem with deals with Namewee's assertion that Malaysia is rich because of the Chinese.

In the 'song', which begins with him colourfully expressing his disdain for racists, Namewee exposes himself as the racist when he says "You tak baca? Siapa buat Malaysia kaya?", the implication being that the Chinese are the reason for Malaysia's prosperity and as such Malays like Siti Inshah have no business asking the Chinese to 'return' to China.


First of all, i would suggest that KJ and anyone else who finds this offensive, read up on a particularly seminal piece of work called "The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith. Perhaps as an Oxford graduate, KJ has heard of this.

Namewee

In it, Adam Smith defines the wealth of a nation as "the annual produce of the land and the labour of the society". In popular terms, wealth thus defined refers to how much of something of value that is owned -- and the accumulation of this value, aggregated across the people of a country, determines it wealth or its "kekayaan".

Its arguable, of course, who controls the wealth of Malaysia. While everyone contributed to the creation of wealth and/or relative prosperity of the nation, the question we need to ask is who owns a majority of it. The fact that Malay ultras such as PERKASA, and even UMNO Youth, have argued that the 30% equity quota needs to be retained in the hands of Malays begs the argument that if the Malays need help to "own" their own country, then the wealth of the nation is not necessarily controlled by them.

So while, as a Malay, it's stinging to hear that "You tak baca? Siapa buat Malaysia kaya?", i'm realistic enough to realize that if left to the devices of the Malays alone, the nation could very well be a much poorer place. Of course, that's speculatory, but reverse engineer the results of what we see in today's economy and its hard to see how the Malays, perhaps due to our own cultural values, would be able to compensate for the effort of the other races. As it is, we can't even compete with them on a pure merit basis (or at least this is what my Malay leaders are telling me).

Secondly, unlike KJ and the other sensitive Malays out there, why take offence (if offence was meant) when you can draw motivation from it all. So what, a Chinese rapper makes fun of me and my Malay brothers and sisters? I'll show you what we can really do! The suggestion that the Malays were carried to prosperity on the backs of the Chinese should not offend me -- it should give me pause to realize that if i haven't done enough, perhaps i need to try harder.

That's the real message our Malay leaders should be spreading -- appeal to our sense of shame, stoke our pride, push us to be better citizens, more productive citizens, save more of our money rather than spend it on lavish Hari Raya gatherings, generate wealth through real investments and not fall prey to silly get-rich-quick schemes.

And, while we're at it, grow a thicker skin.

Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin

Lastly, most importantly, and let this be an eye-opener to those who haven't considered it before -- racism is an ideology. Its bad, nasty and unwanted. But if history has thought us anything, fighting ideologies with threats of "punishment" or physical distress such as imprisonment or fines, is just counter-productive and ineffective.

Khairy Jamaluddin is a senior Malay leader. When such a person calls for the punishment of a Chinese boy on the grounds of racism, how do you think the Chinese are going to think (especially among them who share or are at least sympathetic to Namewee's views)? By fighting an ideology with fire, you're just stoking the flames ever higher. You're validating their claims that the Malays are indeed racist, do indeed have thin skins.

The battle of ideologies was never won through the persecution of its bishops. Nelson Mandela and Robben Island. Gandhi in 1922. The Prophet Muhammad. You don't put down an idea through the use of heavy handed tactics. You do it through the fostering of a competitive idea.

If i was in KJ's shoes this is what i'd do.

I'd invite Namewee to engage in a dialogue with me. In private, if being in public is too much. I'd let the people know that i wanted to meet him, but i won't tell them exactly we talked about. During this meeting, sans lawyers or any fear mongers (he can bring his friends with him if he wants), i'll talk to him to understand where he's coming from. Why did he say the things he did. Does he understand that what he did could inflame the sentiments of the people? If he is as much as a patriot as he says he is, what does he think we should do to fight racism.

Take their bishop and turn him to your side, if possible. If not, then engage him in dialogue and, though disagreeing with him, respect his right to opinion.

If nothing else, this gesture will show the nation that a modern, moderate Malay leader isn't like all the rest -- not the ultras like PERKASA, not even the knee-jerk Malay on the street.

Click into this link to read more and gauge for yourself how offensive is the Nah videohttp://www.aizuddindanian.com/voi/2010/09/the-namewee-video-what-khairy.html