Two weeks ago, when speaking at the first public ceramah/consultation with DAP MPs, Excos, State Assembly representatives in Ipoh, I broached the subject when the UMNO Youth leader and Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussin will publicly apologise for his offensive, irresponsible and provocative “Malay keris” antics which MCA, Gerakan and even Umno leaders had blamed as one of the causes of the Barisan Nasional’s debacle in the March 8, 2008 general election “political tsunami”.

I said:

Hishammuddin should publicly apologise for his “Malay keris” antics and MCA, Gerakan and other Barisan Nasional leaders should demand in unison for such an apology and assurance of no repetition in Cabinet and Parliament.

Unless Hishammuddin is prepared to make a public apology and MCA, Gerakan and other BN leaders in Cabinet and Parliament take a public position demanding that Hishammuddin publicly apologise for his offensive, irresponsible and provocative “Malay keris” antics, it could not be said that Umno, MCA, Gerakan and BN leaders have learnt anything from the March 8 “political tsunami”.

The questions I want to pose tonight is whether Hishammuddin is prepared to publicly apologise for his irresponsible and provocative “Malay keris” antics and whether MCA, Gerakan and other BN leaders are prepared to demand in unison for such an apology and assurance of no repetition in Cabinet and Parliament as proof that they have taken seriously the voice of Malaysian voters in the March 8 “political tsunami”.

Now Hishammuddin has made his apology, although quite an ambivalent one.

MCA, Gerakan, MIC and Umno leaders are euphoric and ectastic with Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak declaring that Hishammuddin’s apology was “something great and noble” and calling on the issue of the “keris-wielding” to be put to rest.

I had repeatedly lambasted Hishammuddin for his irresponsible, offensive, insensitive and provocative “Malay keris wielding” in the last Parliament even citing it as a reason for a RM10-salary cut for the Education Minister’s pay as a censure, and I was extremely disappointed that apart from support from other DAP MPs, there was not a squeak of protest against the keris-wielding antics its from the Barisan Nasional ranks, whether front or back benches, whether MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Umno or from other BN component parties.

I can accept Hishammuddin’s apology, however haughty or ambivalent, but the issue cannot just be forgotten and buried if no attempt is made to understand its root causes and how and why it could happen – symptomatic of something very wrong with half-a-century of Malaysian nation-building.

Hishammuddin’s irresponsible, offensive, insensitive and provocative “Malay keris wielding” symbolized the worst of Umno political hegemony, which was mischievously equated with Malay political power.

It represented a rejection of the Vision 2020 objective of creating a “Bangsa Malaysia” out of the diverse races and religions in Malaysia, a repudiation of the concept of “ketuanan Malaysia” to replace “ketuanan Umno” camouflaging as “ketuanan Melayu” and a refusal to accept that all Malaysians must be treated as equal and rightful citizens in Malaysia.

In apologizing for his insensitive “Malay keris wielding”, is Hishammuddin prepared to fully respond to the paradigm shift pioneered by the voters in the March 8 “political tsunami” for a fully Malaysian approach, transcending race and religion, to the nation-building challenges of the country where the focus is no more on competition between Malays and non-Malays but between Malaysians and the rest of the world in the highly competitive era of globalization?