RIDHUAN TEE: Portrait of an 'ultra-kiasu' racist-bigot bootlicker?

Being a convert to Islam Ridhuan Tee bin Abdullah@Tee Chuan Seng has a lot more to learn about the religion. Islam abhors racism and advocates common sense and tactfulness when preaching the religion to others. Islam acknowledges the various races that the Creator has created. No race is made superior or inferior to the other.

Unfortunately, Tee can best be described as a “racist” who hides behind Islam to play politics. And a person does no good to Islam with his or her blind allegiance to race and religion.

The rights to preserve their racial and religious identities

By snubbing people of other races and religions a Muslim is not seeing the splendour and graciousness that the religion of Islam confers on people. One cannot play an “ultra kiasu” (“too proud to lose”) role when it comes to religion or race.

Nor can a person play the “holier than thou” brashness when it comes to religion, as this is against the tenets of dakwah (preaching) in the very religion a person professes.

Malaysia has citizens who are described as Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera – quite a stumbling block indeed to unite the two groups. With this partition will naturally be different identities. By virtue of being non-Bumiputera these people may want to have some racial or religious identity in them.

After all, the Malaysian Constitution provides for these people the rights to preserve their racial and religious identities. Islam is the official religion of the country and the Constitution also provides for other religions to be practised by the non-Muslims.

Unfortunately Tee has many times put down people of his own race (Chinese) and the Indians in the country. Tee himself is a Chinese by birth and he is classified as a non-Bumiputera. A “bin” or “binte” in a convert’s name does not make him or her Bumiputera or Malay.

A Chinese cannot be more Malay than a Malay is, as this is against his God-given biological attributes.

Regrettably Tee, as reported, has before this described the non-Malays as “non-Malay speaking Malaysians” and the Chinese as “ultra kiasu”, “ultra kiasu tribes” and “ultra kiasu groups” and yet he expects these people to support UMNO and Barisan Nasional through his “political preaching”.

An armchair academician

Being a poor political preacher Tee has failed to approach the people he is reproaching to change their attitudes or lifestyle if he really has the opinion that they are not up to his measure as a Malaysian. Instead, Tee speaks in forums and through the media to debase these people – typical of an armchair academician.

Tee’s clamorous views on race relations have angered many Malaysians – which also includes the Malays. Describing others who do not share his beliefs or who question Malay rights as “ultra kiasu” has made Tee a controversial figure.

As a political preacher Tee has failed to draw the non-Malays into accepting the values that he wants them to adopt.

There are non-Malays – according to Tee – who cannot read or write in Malay. If true, Tee should have taken steps or suggested ways to overcome this quandary. But as a political preacher he has never before approached these people to suggest ways on how to improve their command of the Malay language. After all, he must be referring to – among them – people of his own race.

Neither has he come close to people of his race in tactful manner to convince them change their way of life to what he is subscribing to. “Chinese bashing” has become his trademark instead and this will never make Tee an efficacious political preacher.

Have hurt the Hindus

Lately he has hurt the feelings of another group of Malaysians – the Indians. As reported, describing the Thaipusam as a festival celebrated by “people of one colour – with no other colour” must have hurt the Hindus in the country. As a Muslim he should not have uttered this despicable term to describe people of another race.

Malaysia is a multi-racial and multi-religious country and the sentiments of all people have to be well-thought-out before uttering such a remark on them.

The Qur’an says:

Oh mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (Not that you may despise each other). Qur’an 49:13

Islam is totally against racism. Racism opposes peace, comradeship, finding the middle ground and tolerance. The essence of the religion is “respectable morality”. So racism is an ideology completely at variance with Islam.

A racist has always claimed that his own race is superior to others, and has used this claim to put down people of other races or those professing other religions. Islam teaches that superiority does not lie in race, colour or one’s social status, but in one’s nearness to God and living by faith and morals.

Let me draw Tee to another verse from the Qur’an:

Those who disbelieve filled their hearts with fanatical rage – the fanatical rage of the time of ignorance – and God sent down serenity to His Messenger and to the believers, and obliged them to respect the formula of HEEDFULNESS which they had most right to and were most entitled to. God has knowledge of all things. (48:26)

It’s obvious that God has divided people into different races and ethnic groups so that they can get to know one another and live in peace, brotherhood and tolerance. In other words, contrary to what racists think, different races and ethnic groups are not an implement to be used to struggle for survival, oppression or discrimination.

There can be no superiority among different races and ethnic groups. God imputes the only superiority among human beings to nearness to Him – living in faith and morality.

People of one colour

A Muslim who adheres to the Qur'an will not show his earthly might just because he is, or trying to, representing the majority. He will not pitch in to conflicts of race, colour or tribe, and claims of superiority.

The Qur'an says, 'All might belongs to God.' (10:65).

Human beings are created by God with no distinction between race or skin colour, but as “high and dry” creatures are wholly dependent on God.

Islam advocates peace and conventionality. It vouches for tolerance and conciliation. These concepts are the exact opposite of racism, which favours disparagement, belligerence and oppression. The Qur'an views all of these things as maliciousness and God disapproves of them.

On the contrary, God commands people to live according to what is good and with cordial relations with each other irrespective of one’s race or religion.

Islam believes in the unity of all human being and preaches peace, justice and equality. Religion is to serve humankind. Religion has come to reform and unite the people, not to divide them.

Insulting a race, community or another religion is not what Islam prescribes in the Qur’an. Vicious remarks made on the minority will only breed anger and bitterness in a multi-racial and multi-religious society. Islam advocates tolerance and solidarity as it’s through God’s will that He has created people of various races and creeds.

And with this come different religious value systems that the people pledge to.

With this also come various cultures and beliefs. It’s thus very unbecoming for a Muslim to overtly describe a system of belief that is being celebrated by “people of one colour” in a deprecating manner. This is too racist a statement and Tee has asininely and callously hurt the Hindus with his insensitive discourse on Thaipusam.

Issue of too many temples

Places of worship or the right to worship by people of all religions are guaranteed in Islam. People of minority religions have all the rights to have their places of worship built in a democratic society with provisions and supervision by the government.

No doubt the Indians have many temples including many funded by the government and those “illegally” built on private lands. The role of the government is to tactfully edify the Indians if this “issue of too many temples” on private or non-gazetted lands is hurting the feelings of non-Hindus.

There are many Indian representatives in the government as well as in the Opposition. Muslims and non-Muslims in this context have to exhibit tolerance.

But if Tee feels that freedom of religion can be a “lesson” to the those concerned – the majority – and warn the majority to be aware of the “ultra kiasu“ – referring to the Indians and Chinese then this will affect unity and peace among people of different races and religions in the country.

Tee himself seems to act “ultra kiasu”

But again why talk about peace and unity when one brands the non-Malays as “ultra kiasu”? Trying to influence the Muslim minds to hate the non-Muslims and the non-Malays may not be a wise move in Malaysian politics. Malaysians have always been interdependent – politically, socially and economically – and this has helped the country to remain peaceful for the past five decades.

Using emotional strings to pull to get the desired weight to split the society is immoral. Targeting the Malays to generate anger among them towards the other races is also immoral. Stirring up hatred among the races by a Muslim only brings a bad name to Islam.

To the non-Muslims and many Muslims Tee himself seems to act “ultra kiasu” when it comes to religion and race and apparently he has been described by many moderates as a racial bigot who is trying hard to placate his political masters and in the process indirectly dismantling the fabrics of the Malaysian society.

Malaysia Chronicle