The one-track mind

And that is the most important criteria to get Malaysian citizenship. And that is why many foreigners have been given Malaysian citizenship. So I don’t know why many of you grumble and complain about the ‘Projek IC’ in Sabah. Maybe one million people have been given ICs. But then these people are exactly like you -- ignorant people who have no ability to think beyond the one-track. So why should they not be given Malaysian citizenship when they possess the brain of a Malaysian?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

After living in the East Coast of West Malaysia for 20 years from 1974-1994, and after interacting with the local ‘natives’ of Terengganu and Kelantan, you tend to develop a pretty good idea as to how their mind works. 

Terengganu and Kelantan is predominantly Malay-Muslim with some areas comprising of 70%-90% farmers and fishermen. The people there are actually very nice and friendly although many of them harbour the wrong impression of the non-Malays/non-Muslims, mainly due to ignorance.

For example, they (‘they’ not necessarily meaning everyone but some: the degree or percentage not known, though, since I have not conducted any poll) think that the Chinese can live as husband and wife, although they may not be legally married, mainly because Chinese do not have any religion and hence, according to Chinese ‘norms’, this is not an immoral thing.

My wife, Marina, was shocked when one day a kampong woman told her this. Marina had to tell her that the Chinese, just like the Malays, do have a concept of morality and most of what is considered immoral for Malays is also immoral for Chinese. And this kampong woman was actually quite surprised that the Chinese, too, have moral values.

They also think that the Chinese businessmen and shopkeepers cheat due to the same reason -- meaning that the Chinese do not have any religion and hence they do not have any concept of heaven and hell where you later pay for the bad things that you do (or get rewarded for the good things that you do). This means it is in the Chinese character to be dishonest since they are not accountable for their actions in the Afterlife.

I suppose the manner in how you treat people from another community depends on how you perceive them and what you think of them. Hence if you think that the Chinese are ‘immoral’ and ‘dishonest’ only because they do not have any religion to guide them regarding right and wrong, then you accept the fact that you cannot expect the Chinese to be ‘good’ people but then you should not blame them also since they do not have the advantage of a religion to help guide them.

And this is the problem with how these people think. They think that morality and honesty are not part of the Chinese character not because the Chinese are bad people but because, to the Chinese, these concepts do not exist due to the absence of religion.

Can you see what ignorance can do to you? Part of the blame must certainly go to that person who is ignorant because it is your duty to get educated. However, the Chinese too need to also make themselves understood. And that is why I always write articles about the Malays and Islam. I feel many non-Malays/non-Muslims have misconceptions about the Malays and Islam mainly because they don’t bother to find out (just like the Malays do not bother to find out about the non-Malays/non-Muslims).

One more thing about the Malays is that they believe very strongly in bomoh (witch doctors), black magic, good genies (jin), bad genies, evil spirits, tangkal (lucky charms), etc. Tangkal are supposed to make you invincible and bullets, knives, etc., would not be able to penetrate your body.

Maznah Ismail a.k.a. Mona Fendi (picture above) was supposed to be a specialist in tangkal that gives you invincibility. Unfortunately for her client, though, Pahang State Assemblyman Datuk Mazlan Idris, it did not work and when they conducted the test, the parang (machete) went deep into his skull and killed him (it was supposed to have bounced off his skull without leaving a scratch).

It seems some of those Filipino Muslim soldiers who infiltrated Sabah recently and who were shot dead had tangkal on their bodies as well -- although they did not quite work (since they were shot dead). Not quite an endorsement for those bomoh who manufactured those tangkal for the Filipino Muslim army. On some of those dead soldiers the tangkal was found between their legs. Maybe this was to make sure that they don’t get their balls shot off.

Actually, Chinese, Indians and ‘others’ also believe in bomoh, tangkal, jin, black magic, and so on. When P.I. Balasubramanian suffered his heart attack a few days ago, they said that ‘First Lady’ Rosmah Mansor had used black magic on him. Hence he was supposed to be suffering from an attack of black magic. I am not sure whether they thought so before they discovered what was really wrong with him or whether they meant that the heart attack was due to black magic. 

But don’t laugh. As funny as it may sound, many people of all races do believe in such things. In fact, when Malays from Terengganu and Kelantan get sick the first thing that comes to mind is that someone must have employed a bomoh to put a spell on you. And they will go to their own bomoh for treatment.

I have known of cases where someone had aches and pains and went to a bomoh for treatment -- who confirmed the aches and pains was because some bad bomoh had put a spell on you. After many months or even years of treatment, the aches and pains would still not go away (and after paying the bomoh a tidy sum of money over all that time).

One day you can’t bear the pain any longer and you go to a ‘proper’ doctor. The doctor then tells you that you are suffering from cancer. However, you should have done something about it earlier. Now it is too late and because of that you will be dead within six months, most likely over the next two months or so.

The bottom line is, if you had gone to the doctor instead of a bomoh you might have been saved. Now, because you wasted your time with the bomoh, it is too late and because of that you are going to die.

Sounds stupid does it not? But this is the way they think. They have a one-track mind. And this is because they are quite ignorant so they are incapable of thinking outside this one-track. Hence if anything goes wrong it can only be because of one thing -- black magic and the work of an evil bomoh.

Many if not most Malaysians have this same mentality. They too are ignorant and have a one-track mind. When something happens they can only think of one reason for this. They are incapable of imagining any other reason other than just this one reason.

For example, if someone disagrees with you or has a different opinion from you then this can only be due to one reason -- and that one reason is that that person has been bought. Your brain is not capable of imagining that there could actually be another reason for this. This is the same mindset as those who think that if your body has aches and pains then it must be because a bomoh has put a spell on you.

I suppose we can’t expect everyone to have analytical skills and to have the ability to think beyond the one-track. If you are sick then it can only because of a bomoh using black magic. If someone disagrees with you then it can only be because he/she has been bought. 

And that is the most important criteria to get Malaysian citizenship. And that is why many foreigners have been given Malaysian citizenship. So I don’t know why many of you grumble and complain about the ‘Projek IC’ in Sabah. Maybe one million people have been given ICs. But then these people are exactly like you -- ignorant people who have no ability to think beyond the one-track. So why should they not be given Malaysian citizenship when they possess the brain of a Malaysian?