WHEN THINGS WERE RELAXED AND RACIAL IN THE OLD DAYS

So Malaysia’s problem is not racial. It is political. If the politicians would just stand back and allow the different races to hate each other like back in the 1960s Malaysia would be a much more peaceful place. Damn these politicians!

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Fifty years ago back in the 1960s things were so simple. We were more relaxed and racial in those days and did not have so many hang-ups. We did not have to worry so much about what we did and said, like we do now. And we knew where we stood and the boundaries that we should not cross.

Today, Malaysians are so sensitive and paranoid. Must be careful about this, must be careful about that. Must watch what you do, must watch what you say. The stress level must be extremely high for those living in ‘multi-racial’ Malaysia.

In the 1960s, Malaysia was divided into urban Malaysia and rural Malaysia. There was actually quite a small middle-class, unlike now where the middle-class is very large and we even have an upper and lower middle-class.

In rural Malaysia, which was mostly Malay, the Chinese and Indians who happened to live there spoke Malay (sometimes better than even the Malays themselves) and never said the wrong thing (since they were the minority). Hence there was relative peace and harmony in the rural areas and even on 13th May 1969 people in the rural areas went about their lives like normal and without much ado.

I suppose when the non-Malays represent less than 5% of the population they know better than to stir the hornets’ nest (is it nest or hive?).

Politics also played a part, I suppose. The two main contenders were Umno and PAS. Hence it was either you voted secularism or you voted Islamist. Nevertheless, both were Malays, so it was a Malay-versus-Malay contest and there was therefore no need to play the racial card.

In the urban areas the Chinese were the majority so Malays were very careful when venturing into the towns. Even if you were insulted you blamed yourself for straying into the wrong area rather than get angry with the Chinese who insulted you.

It was a system that worked well. You knew your place and you kept within your territory. And if you made the mistake of straying into the wrong territory you accepted the punishment like a man (or woman).

I once witnessed (in the 1960s, of course) a Malay woman bargaining for something with the Chinese trader in Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur. The price she asked for was a bit too low and the Chinese trader screamed at her, “Bodoh punya Melayu! Pergi balek kampung tanam jagunglah!”

The Malay woman just walked off as the Chinese trader continued to scream at her. There was no fight. No one made any police report. This Malay woman had strayed into a Chinese area and had upset the Chinese trader. So we all accepted that as normal and just shrugged our shoulders and walked off.

Can that happen today? Today there would be a police report, maybe even a demonstration. Umno, Perkasa and Isma would call for a press conference and DAP and PKR will ask them to show the proof that the incident did happen. In short, today it would be utter chaos.

I once ventured into an Indian area where the Kuala Lumpur Plaza now stands and got surrounded by a group of Indians. They wanted to know what I was doing in their area. I told them I was looking for a school friend of mine and gave them the name of my friend. Since I was a friend of their friend they let me go without a beating. If not I would have had to go home in an ambulance, assuming I was still alive.

Such incidents happened so many times in my life in the 1960s in Kuala Lumpur where I grew up that I have lost count. At times I got beaten up for being kwailan or langsi and at times I only ‘kena warning’ for looking at them in the eye (you are not supposed to have eye contact with anyone when you go to ‘other peoples area’).

But did we make it an issue? No! It was part of life.

No Chinaman or Indian would stray into Gombak, Kampung Baru, Kampung Datuk Keramat, Kampung Pandan, Kampung Pantai Dalam, Kawasan Melayu PJ, and so on. If you did and if you got beaten up then it was your fault for being so stupid.

No Malay would stray into Brickfields, Pudu, Bukit Bintang, Jalan Petaling, Jalan Pasar, Cheras, Jalan Ipoh, Jinjang, Kepong, Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh, Jalan Kelang Lama, and so on. If you did and if you got beaten up then it was your fault for being so stupid.

So we knew where we stood and we knew where we could and could not go. And we respected the right of each race to have its own area and would not stray into an area where we did not belong. And we accepted the punishment for this violation and respected the right of another community to beat us up if we dared stray into their area.

The politicians did not get involved and we left politics out of it. It was purely a racial thing and because of that we did not have any major race riot — maybe only small skirmishes here and there between different races, which was no big deal since it was only a clash between the races and did not involve politics.

Then, in May 1969, the politicians got involved. And that triggered the worst of the many race riots in Malaysia — yes, there were more than one, not just ‘May 13’. And since then we have all become over sensitive about racial issues.

Sigh…how nice things were back in the 1960s before May 1969 when we accepted the fact that Malays, Chinese and Indians lived in their own areas and had the right to beat up someone from another race who strayed into your area without the politicians making a big issue over it like now.

So Malaysia’s problem is not racial. It is political. If the politicians would just stand back and allow the different races to hate each other like back in the 1960s Malaysia would be a much more peaceful place. Damn these politicians!