Shattering an old time myth


By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life adviser

THE UNIQUE SUCCESS STORY OF ZAID IBRAHIM HAS SHATTERRED OLD MALAY MYTHS

I am deeply honoured to be asked by Zaid Ibrahim to sponsor the launching of the Mandarin version of his book ‘I TOO AM MALAY’

The book narrates the story of a series of unique achievements by Zaid Ibrahim, which make very interesting reading.

Basically, he was a poor kampong boy from Kelantan. His father moved around on a bicycle as there was no family car. At Kota Bahru he enrolled first at the Sultan Ismail primary school, joined the Sultan Ismail college at the age of 13. He was an avid reader and he knew how to choose his schools.

Next he chose to study at English College in Johore Bahru, a big jump from Kota Bahru. He chose the college because it was the ‘best college’ and had a mixture of students of different races, and besides it was near to Singapore where the action was.

From there he emigrated with a scholarship to Mara Institute of Technology in Kuala Lumpur, graduating in Law. With a Mara degree he went to London to read for the BAR exam.

His foray into a law career started well when he formed his own law firm Zaid Ibrahim & Co. By dint of hard wark and business savvy he landed a fat client PLUS. From then on he rocketed upwards and his firm became the largest in the country.

Although at the top of his profession, Zaid was not ready to rest on his laurels. His intelligence and quest for new challenges led him into politics which was in a political ferment.

The call of politics landed him first into PAS. He next joined UMNO, and here he was picked to be Minister of Law with the task to institute judiciary reforms.

However, he could not stomach PM moves on the ISA and his decision to exonerate Lingam on the graft videotape on judicial hanky panky. He resigned his law portfolio. This goes to show that Zaid is no ordinary man, but a person of high moral stature and principles.

He is now with PR and I think he would be happy in the company of like minded people with the common objective of working for a better country for all malaysians.

To sum up, Zaid Ibrahim is a typical Malay. He had a kampong upbringing in Kelantan. His family was poor and did not own a car.

He had a good education in government schools and colleges. Mara college turned him to be a lawyer.

After that he was on his own. Living by his wits, and built up a top class legal practice.

He was made a minister but gave it back on matters of principle. But now is in the opposition for a sacred cause — justice, democracy and transparency.

He has shattered an old myth which claimed Malays tend to be backward, laidback, lazy, no initiative and dependent on handouts.

Zaid has shown that the Malay are smart, keen to learn for knowledge, are dynamic and capable of hard work.

Hundreds of Malays have graduated as professionals, entrepreneurs and owners of businesses. There is a large Malay middle class.

The impression that Malsys are laidback is being propagated by Umno cronies who want more handouts so that they can hijack them for their own bank accounts.

Umno’s cronies who insist on Ketuanan Melayu and handouts as necessary for the of the Malay race, are actually creating a mental handicap for the Malays. It will cause the Malay to feel inferior, and they may not be able to survive in a global society where survival means one has to be competitive, efficient and disciplined.

Zaid Ibrahim has shown the modern global way for Malays to advance – through confidence, education, competitiveness and hard work.

[Speech by Dr Chen Man Hin during the launch of Zaid Ibrahim book on ‘I too am Malay’ (Mandarin version) in Kuala Lumpur on 27th March 2010]

  1. #1 by Yee Siew Wah on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 12:00 pm

    I have great respect for this man. He is one of those Malays who conscientious and work hard to be what he is today. I take my hat off for him.
    Hope PKR politicians will treasure and keep malay politicians like him. As a matter of fact, i suggest he stand for the Ulu Selangor by-election.
    As for Zaid, i would like to let him know that most non malays and non racist malays will support him at whatever he does irrespective.
    Bless you!!!

  2. #2 by frankyapp on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 12:03 pm

    Congratulation Zaid Ibrahim. We miss you pretty much.Please come out more offen and talk to us about justice.democray and transparency. Please tell us when your next trip to Sabah and Sarawak.

  3. #3 by lopez on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 12:06 pm

    so fast get mesmerized by little bold talk ….wait and see first ,,,,you never noe….
    birds of feather flock together.

    ZI prove yourself , maybe i backed a PM of Malaysia.

  4. #4 by a2a on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 12:06 pm

    Maybe PERKASA admitted Malay race are mental handicap.

    They shown us they needed the Mama descendant to lead them.

    How many Immigrants decendants in PERKASA?

    Anyone know?

  5. #5 by Black Arrow on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 12:35 pm

    Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad, Khalid Samad, Nizar Jamaluddin and many more like them have debunked the myth that Malays are lazy and laidback.

  6. #6 by All For The Road on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 12:50 pm

    Zaid Ibrahim is undoubtedly a true son of Malaysia.

    All the best to him and his political future.

  7. #7 by pwcheng on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 1:28 pm

    Long gone are the myth that Malays are lazy and incapable. The British which had described the Malays as an indolent race in the Oxford dictionary was vehemently challenged by the Malays themselves led by UMNO in the sixties and ultimately it was deleted from the dictionary, but today UMNO is the mouthpiece of what the British had described in the dictionary and worst still keep on harping on the in capabilities of the Malays to the extent that they need PERKASA to propagate such “myth” .
    Need less to say UMNO has a ulterior motive and the man who deserves a medal for this is the half Malay ex-PM and with this myth he manage to fill the pockets of his cronies and himself. Until today they still try this “myth” to stay in power and enrich themselves, But today the Malays do not take such bait easily except those older Kampong folks which still remain a vote bank for them.

  8. #8 by monsterball on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 2:41 pm

    PERKASA is full talking full of cunning and twisted words… on their interpretation of Malaysian Malaysia.
    And why not….PERKASA hero worship Mahathir…..the master of all racists devils.
    There is no such thing as true blue blood Melayu.
    All are mixed blood and immigrants.
    Mahathir feels no shame at all…..being half Indian..half Malays….yet as a Malay…he is filled with other blood…..from Thailand…..China…which makes him…the most untrue blue blood of one race….in Malaysia….yet he call himself…true blue Melayu.
    What a sickening low class hypocrite he is.

  9. #9 by dagen on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 5:11 pm

    By any measure the malays are still behind. That is undeniable. They still need help. Not the NEP type of course. NEP after decades of implementation has successfully fattened people like toyol-the-indon and some other fellow pendatangs of the superior umnoputra variety. Apart from that it has failed completely to improve the common Joe Ahmads. That we all know. Actually if the proper assistance was accorded I am quite sure that by now malays as a whole would not be too far off the mark. But the intraveneous drip applied by the bad doctor is killing them. Newly incorporated two dollar umnoputra company could get jobs worth billions. That is plain brain numbing no sense stupid ridiculous move made in the name of NEP.

  10. #10 by Sunshine1 on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 5:47 pm

    Maybe the books should comes with a small souviner of a button lapel with the slogan ” Voter-get-Voters” so that we all can wear that “message” too

  11. #11 by Loh on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 6:33 pm

    PERKASA has adopted their enemy, in the form of Mamakthir, as their father. The assistance meant for Malays have been hijacked by NEWMalays. But by culture Malays would not say openly who their enemy is, though they know very well. Consequently, they even use the enemy as their patron. That might be the cause of a perpetual division of the country into Malays and others.

    The call now to respect Malays’ right would have hurt the late Tun Dr Ismail who would not accept that after 50 years Malays still cannot do away with crutches euphmerically known as special privilege to paper over the meaning that that Malays belong to the endangered group which needed protection. Now those included among the billionairs group still need protection to be the top on the list. What a joke.

  12. #12 by Orang Kenyalang on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 6:58 pm

    We the people from Bumi Kenyalang, really need change and it is a must come the next GE13 or thru the State Election soon. Anyway can the PR help us to do it. By all means and intent, we really need the change.

  13. #13 by fed-up on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 9:46 pm

    Malay’s are as intelligent as another races. I don’t think they need protection. Why is Perkasa downgrading the intelligence of Malays? Zaid Ibrahim can bring forth racial integration and reform the judiciary in Malaysia.

  14. #14 by tanjong8 on Saturday, 27 March 2010 - 10:17 pm

    This is the defining moment for Malays, and that for other Malaysians.

    Will Zaid Ibrahim be supported by the majority of Malays versus Dr M or Ibrahim Ali or UmnoUtusans ?

    The battle is ragging.

  15. #15 by ReformMalaysia on Sunday, 28 March 2010 - 2:34 am

    tanjong8 :
    This is the defining moment for Malays, and that for other Malaysians.
    Will Zaid Ibrahim be supported by the majority of Malays versus Dr M or Ibrahim Ali or UmnoUtusans ?
    The battle is ragging.

    Dynamic/progressive Malays will support Zaid where as
    Hopeless Malays will support Ibrahim Ali/Mahathir/UMNO

  16. #16 by ekompute on Sunday, 28 March 2010 - 2:41 am

    Zaid Ibrahim is now with PR? That sounds like music to the ears. But what is good for PR is bad for UMNO, so shall we see some miracles in the next general election?

  17. #17 by ekompute on Sunday, 28 March 2010 - 2:43 am

    fed-up :
    Malay’s are as intelligent as another races. I don’t think they need protection. Why is Perkasa downgrading the intelligence of Malays? Zaid Ibrahim can bring forth racial integration and reform the judiciary in Malaysia.

    Malays may not need protection, but what about UMNOputras? They will no longer be putras once there is no protection.

  18. #18 by isahbiazhar on Sunday, 28 March 2010 - 6:10 am

    We need more of this kind of Malay leaders who can transcend the normal.

  19. #19 by queequeg on Sunday, 28 March 2010 - 7:26 am

    I hope to see Zaid Ibrahim become the Prime Minister one day. In the midst of PERKASA thumping its chest and proclaiming to protect & uphold ketuanan melayu, his voice is rational, full of common sense (which is uncommon among the PERKASA members) and refreshingly idealistic but not to the point of being too optimistic. Unfortunately, if a person is perceived to be a threat to the powers-that-be, than many weird, illogical and sometimes crazy things will happen to him/her. Look no further than the sodomy II case.
    We definitely need more of Zaid Ibrahims to counter our Malaysian version of the Nazis!

  20. #20 by queequeg on Sunday, 28 March 2010 - 7:28 am

    queequeg :
    I hope to see Zaid Ibrahim become the Prime Minister one day. In the midst of PERKASA thumping its chest and proclaiming to protect & uphold ketuanan melayu, his voice is rational, full of common sense (which is uncommon among the PERKASA members) and refreshingly idealistic but not to the point of being too optimistic. Unfortunately, if a person is perceived to be a threat to the powers-that-be, then many weird, illogical and sometimes crazy things will happen to him/her. Look no further than the sodomy II case.
    We definitely need more of Zaid Ibrahims to counter our Malaysian version of the Nazis!

  21. #21 by queequeg on Sunday, 28 March 2010 - 7:31 am

    History has a funny way of repeating itself if we refuse to learn its lesson. We don’t welcome the ultra malays in our society. Please crawl back to the hole you came from and leave us ordinary peace loving Malaysians alone to build a more harmonius and greater Malaysia.

  22. #22 by sotong on Sunday, 28 March 2010 - 2:39 pm

    There are many Malays like him…….it is just a matter of time they will come out and make a stand for freedom, democracy and individualism.

  23. #23 by johnnypok on Sunday, 28 March 2010 - 5:10 pm

    It is a matter of time before the whole lot will succumb to NEP drugs, and send them into extinction.

  24. #24 by waterfrontcoolie on Sunday, 28 March 2010 - 6:34 pm

    Those guys at PERKASA are all HAVE BEEN. Soi let’s all leave them to their shadow boxing. With more enlightened leaders like ZI, I believe the writing on the wall will be inerasable, come GE 13th.
    BN is slowly strangulating itself and shooting its foot as we move towards the decisive date. And I believe ZI will surely help towards this achievement!

  25. #25 by MGR1940 on Monday, 29 March 2010 - 4:09 pm

    I have worked and lived with Malays for the past 52 years sharing the good and hard times and mostly as their superior.I had no problem in matters of religion or race These were people like Zaid Ibrahim and not like ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ of the Umnoputras.
    I also hope to see Zaid Ibrahim as the Prime Minister of Malaysia one day.

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