The Problem Of Their Never Ending Problems

The messages have gone viral since yesterday - about  being asked to resign, abdications, new appointments etc. Meetings being extended - that would have been a challenge.

For as far as I can recall they have been a problem. I have tried to look at their positive contributions but todate there are none or very few.

Lets be a little Irish and begin at the beginning. 

With the exception of a few, many of them were put in place by the colonials. The colonials not only bought them with money, and gave soldiers and weapons to whichever of them was prepared to "deal" but the colonials frequently got rid of recalcitrants and replaced them with their own toadies.  Stamford Raffles was good at this game. Hence "legitimacy" has always been that Sword of Damocles - hanging by a hair - over their heads.  And more recent impetuousness among some of them to "secure" their positions or that of their families, has certainly thinned that strand of hair holding up the sword. 

When the time came for Independence they bet on the colonials instead. One of them even lived in the UK. He came home for a short while to sign the 'documents' and then promptly left again for the UK - on board a British ship.  He eventually returned home again -  in a   coffin. To be 'given the honors'.  

I have been reading about them. Even their kids who lived and died in the UK or US are brought 'home' to be buried here. After a few years, locals will not recall where they had lived or where in the world they had died. Since they are buried here, they must have been here since the hills and the mountains.  Our "protectors".

Surely the people have more important things to do with their lives.

Obviously these folks do not have much better to do with their own lives. 

Whenever they have tried to get involved with the people it has caused problems for the people.

Their business involvement is based on simple predatory behaviour. The people lose out.

When they get involved in other affairs like sports - Majulah Sukan goes into reverse. The people lose out again.

The country was effectively colonised for 446 years.  For 446 years the colonials were the administrative power, military power and most importantly the economic power. In other words for 446 years the colonials totally eclipsed them. For 446 years they have been practically non 'impactful' in local affairs.  

Effectively, for centuries, their existence was at the behest of the colonials and the largesse of the local wealthy, including the immigrant wealthy.  There was one interesting comment in an earlier post  about the colonials even appointing them into the opium trade - circa the Opium Wars with China.  This made one group of them very rich - perhaps the 'richest' in the world at that time. 

My own grandfather, born 129 years ago, who was known as a wealthy man, would make "funds available" for one of them. This was between the two world wars.   The world has always been simple for these folks. At that time they would "grace" weddings but it would go unnoticed. They are not even in the old wedding pictures.

After Independence and before Arabisation, the "jurang perbezaan" politicians suddenly found it in their own interests to skyrocket them as "protecters of race and religion" who must be "protected" by the 'jurang perbezaan' policies.  Say that again? Never mind. It helped secure the votes. 

And hence began their windfall years. Having been elevated as  "protectors" they just asked for this and that from the 'jurang perbezaan' politicians. The "jurang perbezaan" politicians had to give it to them - albeit grudgingly. 

Their 'wealth' was  strongly tied to land. It has always been land.  After the colonials finally left - again no thanks to them - and the country progressed, land values increased.  Of course land along the northern border is worth much less than land along the southern border - as an example.  You do not need a calculator to figure out who will be more wealthy.  [To digress here is a little joke - the farmhouse rat sits on his beans and peas. The hardware shop rat sits on his nuts and screws. Joking only ah].

Now with 70% urbanisation and Arabisation becoming the new "identity and protector" of the race perhaps there is at last more awareness of the less need for  the 'lord protectors'.  In fact it is now becoming more aware among some - like the guy in Melbourne - that it is the "protectors" who need the protection of the protected.  It is the other way around. It has always been the other way around. 

This is actually a really dead matter. It is so archaic and stone age. They will always make movies about the velociraptors and T Rexes ie the real dinosaurs. Human beings will always be fascinated by the real dinosaurs of 60 million years ago.  Jurassic Park will always be cool.

But there will be no movies made about these other 'voracious raptors'.  Or maybe not so flattering movies. They are just not "good movie" material. And as the people mature - even at their horrendously slow pace - and become more aware (like Skynet becoming 'aware') they will become even less movie material. 

They will have to fade away.  The question that still beguiles is - when exactly ? 

Sukarno and Nehru got it exactly right.