Putrajaya working to keep Malaysians apart, says Ambiga

Lawyer and Negara-ku patron Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan says Putrajaya is ‘rewriting ‎history’ or distorting historical facts in schools to promote only a certain race and their role in the nation's history. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 2, 2014.

There is a concerted effort by Putrajaya to keep the races in Malaysia apart, said Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, singling out the government's education policies for promoting racism.

In a forum held in Petaling Jaya last night titled "Stemming the tide of racism in our nation"‎, the activist also noted that the government had an agenda behind its efforts to widen the racial gap through education in schools, to enhance its "divide-and-rule" policy.

"They may set up the NUCC (National Unity Consultative Council) and they may do a lot of things but actually there is a‎ concerted effort to keep the races apart‎. ‎That is what we Malaysians are up against," she said.

"Ultimately, it is about power. It is creating first- and second-class citizens in Malaysia."

‎The Negara-ku patron said the Malaysian education system had played a big part in creating this mentality among the young and it went on throughout their schooling life.

"It is the systems that are put in place‎ where the Malays are told and are made to understand that they are better, the others are merely 'pendatang'.

"And this goes on throughout their schooling life. Then we try to fix it through the National Service programme when they're 18 after they finish school.‎ But too much damage has been done by then," Ambiga added.

‎The former Bersih co-chair was commenting on the recent attack on a purdah-wearing Muslim woman known as Melati‎ for joining DAP, which is a Chinese-majority party.

"‎The kind of attacks she has faced is unbelievable. What has happened to us that we have gone to that extreme, where they feel it is wrong for a Malay to be in the same party as a Chinese?

‎"So when people think this way, we, in urban areas, know it's ridiculous and wrong when anti-Chinese or anti-Malay statements are made.

"‎But there are many people in this country who have been through our education system‎ and think that it's fine to say things like that‎."

‎Melati was slammed for joining DAP, with one blogger even saying that it was better for the purdah-wearing 22-year-old to have become a prostitute instead.

In a posting entitled "Melati, lebih baik jadi pelacur dari sertai DAP”, the writer – KuntaKinte – said the action of Muslim girls or any Muslim youth in joining the DAP was actually strengthening the party's efforts to weaken the role and position of Islam in the country.

He had implied that a prostitute who sold herself would not decay the position of Islam in the country, but those who joined DAP were helping them destroy Islam in Malaysia.

"The reality is, it is more noble to be a prostitute who sells herself for a mouthful of rice, than being those in tudung and purdah who 'sell themselves' to the DAP for the riches of the world until it weakens Islam',” he said in www.mykmu.net.

However, Ambiga said this was a game that Putrajaya was playing, to make out that Malays and Islam were under continuous attack.

"We also have ministers saying that. So 65% of the population is under attack by 35% of the population? How is that even possible? It doesn't make sense.

"But unfortunately, when indoctrination takes place on and on, that's how people feel and that's why people think it's all right to make the racist statements like they do," she added.

Ambiga also said the government was "rewriting ‎history" or distorting historical facts in schools to promote only a certain race and their role in the nation's history.

"They are trying to change our cultural and historical background ‎to discount the role of non-Muslims.

"We have to be vigilant about what our children are learning. Let us ask for a study into the education system.

"We should act to object to anything that our children are taught that are bigoted, racist and are based on lies. We have to speak up."

- TMI