WHEN IGNORANCE IS YOUR GUIDE

Oh, and don’t scream too much about those who are being denied entry into Sabah and Sarawak. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Singapore, too, used to do the same thing. Those with long hair were not allowed into Singapore.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I find that many younger generation Malaysians, in particular the non-Malays or non-Muslims, would present their views or debate an issue with absolute arrogance and ignorance. To these people, this is what I believe should be and what I believe should be is all that matters. Everything else is of no concern to me and I do not wish to hear about it.

I can appreciate that many of these Malaysians hate both the Malays and Islam and this is their way oflepas geram, as the Malays would say. Hence, most times, they post comments, as the Malays would also say, just to buat sakit hati. This is their way of getting revenge or hitting back at the community that they hate and despise so much.

These Chinese, Indians, natives of Sabah and Sarawak, etc., feel that they have been victimised for so many years since Merdeka and could do nothing about it. So now this is their chance to show their frustration and hit back at the majority community of Malaysia that has been treating the minorities most unfairly.

No doubt, in Malaysia, everything is about race and is measured in terms of race. Look at the recent Kajang by-election, as one example. Politicians and their supporters or members from both sides of the political divide talk about Chinese votes and Malay votes and how much of a percentage of the Malay and Chinese votes they won.

Both sides are equally racist and sing the same tune and speak the same language while each side accuses the other side of being racist. And this is quite funny. It is like two prostitutes fighting and calling each other a whore.

The younger generation, especially the non-Malays, do not care two hoots about Malay or Muslim traditions, customs and sensitivities, and they make sure that this is fully understood. It is an in-your-face sort of thing that the non-Malays give the Malays. It sort of pleases these people that they can safely hide behind their anonymity and screw the Malays good and proper without exposing themselves to any danger of retaliation or legal action.

The issue of the Selangor Menteri Besar is one example where these younger Malaysians, in particular the non-Malays, are showing their disrespect to the Palace. I suppose they know that the Raja-Raja Melayu (monarchy) is a symbol of Malay political power and that is why they are telling His Highness the Sultan to go to hell (meaning if they want a new Menteri Besar and even if that Menteri Besar is a woman they are going to push for that).

The fact that according to Malay culture and tradition the women must pray at the back row and not in the same row as the men or that two female witnesses are equal to one male (meaning the women cannot lead the men) is of no concern to these people. It even took the Malays some time to accept Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the party president and even then only when she was ‘marketed’ as a mere nominee and proxy to her jailed husband (hence she was only Anwar Ibrahim’s wakil and not the President in her own right).

I find that the 5% oil royalty is another example of how the young Malaysians debate with arrogance and ignorance. They talk about cancelling the licence for Petronas to extract the oil. What licence? Was a licence ever issued? If no licence was issued then how do you cancel a non-existent licence? Can you get a divorce if you never got married and do not have a marriage certificate?

Then they talk about a referendum for Sabah and Sarawak to leave Malaysia. Can that be done? Is a referendum legal and valid? Is it provided for in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia? Can we then have a referendum to abolish the monarchy and turn Malaysia into a Republic? What about a referendum for Sabah to join the Philippines or for Sabah and Sarawak to merge with Kalimantan and become part of Indonesia?

Pakatan Rakyat cannot even hold local council elections like they promised every general election (and still have not done as promised) because it is not provided for in the Constitution. If you cannot even do a simple thing like hold local council elections how do you do the more crucial and complicating things like hold a referendum?

I think these young Malaysians, especially the Chinese, Indians and ‘others’, need to gain a bit more education and read up on the law and history of Malaysia before they open their mouths. No doubt they are speaking up not really to contribute to the discussion but just to make the Malays sakit hati, but such talk only gives an impression that these Chinese, Indians and others are not really as clever as they pretend to be and their so-called mother-tongue education is not really as superior as they think.

Oh, and don’t scream too much about those who are being denied entry into Sabah and Sarawak. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Singapore, too, used to do the same thing. Those with long hair were not allowed into Singapore.

No doubt some of these people with long hair were Chinese, Indians and Gwailo but the majority were Malays. And none of the DAP Chinese made any noise then. So maybe you should tone down your outrage and not protest so much just because now ‘your people’ are suffering what the Singapore Chinese did to the Malays. If not people might think you are racists who only scream when ‘your people’ are affected.