Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said it was “very painful” to hear former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad questioning the loyalty of the non-Malays.
She was also hurt when Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, described DAP as an Umno-Baru “lapdog”.
Trying to explain to the politician our suffering, in a way that communicates exactly what we are experiencing, can be a hopeless and difficult task.
Some people may be articulate, but the very young, the elderly, or those who are tongue-tied will have no hope of making their MP or state assemblyperson understand what they are going through, simply because they do not have the words.
While Syed Saddiq’s concerns about Malaysia’s future are justified, he merely mentioned a fraction of our suffering.
When in opposition, the Pakatan Harapan coalition promised change, but today, the promises are but a distant memory.
Failure to rein in extremists
Our votes gave them Putrajaya, and while we’re not stupid to think that reforms will happen overnight, we are alarmed by some of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s actions.
The Islamic Development Department retained a more prominent role and a bigger budget. Why? The Islamisation process of dress codes, perceived Allah insults in shoes and socks, crosses that “convert people”, boycotts and institutionalised voyeurs are crippling the nation.
The threat of the “Green Wave” limited our criticisms of the Madani administration, so we accepted the best of the worst, unlike our neighbours down south, who are led by only the best.
Anwar’s rude and uncompromising tone when addressing Indian students with legitimate concerns about education quotas contrasts sharply with his demeanour when addressing the terrorist Hamas and his delayed action in censuring the rabble-rouser Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh.
“Anak Melayu anak saya. Anak Cina anak saya. Anak India anak saya. Anak Iban atau anak Kadazan, mereka semua anak saya,” (Malay children are my children. Chinese children are my children. Indian children are my children. Iban or Kadazan children, they are all my children) are rendered meaningless.
Anak Hamas and anak Melayu became Anwar’s only children.
The Madani administration failed to rein in the extremists and racists, as seen in the Allah socks and shoes scandal. There is foot-dragging for overhauling the entire education system including the religious schools, including tahfiz schools.
Anwar allegedly made backroom deals with Umno-Baru, to form a coalition government, and that, we find hurtful.
We toppled the corrupt kleptocrat who led the corrupt Umno-Baru party in the 14th general election, but in a moment of madness, we retained many corrupt politicians in the 15th general election.
Alarmingly, the more seasoned corrupt politicians escaped justice.
Former senior Umno-Baru MPs once claimed that the convicted felon, Najib Abdul Razak did not steal taxpayers’ money in 1MDB. The then cabinet swore that an Arab prince had donated money to Najib.
If they were easily misled, or too dense, why retain some of them in the Madani administration? Why are cronies helming some government-linked companies?
It hurts to know that corrupt politicians received new titles, with wages paid with our money.
Lazy politics
Malaysians are not stupid. Successive defence ministers treated taxpayers’ money as their own. The black hole in the Defence Ministry has swallowed up billions of ringgits alongside planes, helicopters, ships and armaments. Military leaders are promoted and on retirement, become consultants to squeeze more money from the treasury.
No former defence minister has been punished for the losses. These hurt our defences, our national pride and our coffers.
The Madani administration claims to protect the environment, but under the guise of “development”, they cut down swathes of prime forest, build mega dams, flood land, villages and ancient burial sites, and destroy precious flora and fauna.
It hurts the Orang Asli and indigenous east Malaysians to be denied their ancestral rights and their basic rights to water, electricity, housing and education; but converting to Islam opens many doors.
Telling us to eat cassava, instead of finding solutions to resolve the rice crisis, is lazy politics. It hurts to know we have clueless politicians.
Then, with Mahathir, what did Yeoh expect?
We were naïve or perhaps, desperate in 2018, to imagine that Mahathir would correct the many wrongs he started during his tenure, like institutionalised racism, cronyism and draconian laws. We were wrong.
Mahathir is good at political self-preservation. He knows that it is time-consuming and difficult to convince one man by logic and reason alone, but far simpler and quicker to convince a thousand men to believe in him, by appealing to their prejudices.
In January, he projected himself as the quintessential Malay when denouncing the loyalty of Indian Malaysians. He said, “No, I’m not an Indian. I don’t speak the Indian language… I’m now 100 percent a Malay, I speak Malay and practise Malay customs and traditions.”
‘Remember the Green Wave’
The United Kingdom is led by Rishi Sunak, a Hindu of Indian origin. The first minister of Wales is a black man. He is also the first black leader of any European country. Scotland is led by a Muslim of Pakistani origin, as is the mayor of London, a Muslim of Pakistani extraction.
In sharp contrast, Indian Malaysians are short-changed and given short shrift. Non-Malays are defined by quotas, from sports to scholarships and despite their citizenship are treated as second-class citizens. These hurt.
When we voice our concerns, we are shouted down with, “Remember the Green Wave!”
The same people forget that Anwar and his coalition government are undertaking the country’s Islamisation process on Abdul Hadi Awang and Muhyiddin Yassin’s behalf.
That hurts even more! - Mkini
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and the president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, X.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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