by Dr. Chen Man Hin
Malaysians have proven to be patriotic since merdeka in 1957, and are now asking that the Constituion be respected and honoured.
On Saturday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in a speech to the 2007 Youth Patriotism Congress at PutraJaya, called on the people to be patriotic and warned not to play with fire when speaking on sensitive issues.
It can be said that at least half the populatioon are born on and after Merdeka. they form the active adults who have demonstrated loyalty to the country by being law-abiding citizens.
They are questioning why they should be discriminated since Merdeka. Now at the 50th merdeka anniversary they are asking to be treated equally as citizens of the country in accordance with the Constitution.
Article 8 of the constitution states that ‘”all persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law”.
Article 153 (1) state it shall be the responsibility of the Yang dipertuan Agong “to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the legitimate interests of other communities in accordance with the provisions of the Article.’
At this important 50th anniversary, Malaysians are asking why they have been divided into bumiputras and non bumiputras, into Ketuanan Melayu and the rest ordinary citizens, why the New Economic Policy which is meant to uplift the economy of Malays are imposing restrictions on the economic rights of other citizens.
They consider themselves as Malaysians or Banga Malaysia, but now they have been demoted to non-Ketuanan Melayu.
These are the worries and questions which loyal patriotic citizens are asking, and in a democracy they have right to express their feelings and ideas, and should not be labelled as non-patriotic nor should they be accused of ‘playing with fire’.
#1 by k1980 on Monday, 20 August 2007 - 2:46 pm
To the smiling vampire, patriotism simply means obey everything the government says and do not protest while the monkeys are robbing the country blind. Or in a nutshell, patriotism means vote for BN and not for the opposition.
#2 by pwcheng on Monday, 20 August 2007 - 3:01 pm
Common sense will dictate that no one can be absolutely patriotic if the country has two set of laws, one for the elite and one for the ordinary citizen and two set of treatments, one for Malays who are classified as Bumiputras and one for the non- Malays who are treated like second class citizens.
The government must look into the root cause of discontentment that do not breed well for unity and patriotism.
#3 by Godfather on Monday, 20 August 2007 - 3:42 pm
The thing that pisses me the most is we abide by the law, we pay our taxes, and we still play on the uneven playing field, but somehow they keep finding ways to tilt the playing field even more.
We watch them steal, we watch them renege on their promises, we watch them kill press freedom by muzzling the mainstream press, and we watch the country sliding down the inevitable path to oblivion.
#4 by shortie kiasu on Monday, 20 August 2007 - 4:06 pm
After 50 years, we still to provide special privileges to a particular race in every sphere of life from economy to education, finace to business, and that special prilege is getting more and more privileged, classified and sensitized under official secret act.
That sounds ridiculous bordering on abuse ans exploitation.
There are first class, second class and third class citizen under your own country, your own constitution. That is indescribable!
#5 by chai on Monday, 20 August 2007 - 7:15 pm
after we merdeka 50yrs that we all are malaysian and we should not to asking who is the first class and who is the second class citizens. but why some malaysian has feel this issues it just because of our goverment policy and implementation way. so i think government must do some appropriate policy to rectify the problem for regain the people to vote for BN in this coming election.
#6 by ADAM YONG IBNI ABDULLAH on Monday, 20 August 2007 - 9:26 pm
article 8 of the constitution stated that all persons are equal under the law and all persons are protected under the law.
may i be allowed to list down what i feel that the above statement in the constitution is ABUSED. i may even be charged as challenging the constitution but i think article 8 should protect all persons as equal.
in not alphabetical orders.
SPORTS:
as simple as sports may be, the best of the best is often overlooked to fulfil the quota needed . days of moktar , arumugan, soh chin aun and santokh singh are history. now, we are pathetic force in every apects of the sports scene. the reasons behind this is obvious.
EDUCATION:
equality in education? neh! nyet! the quality of tertiary education has fallen so badly, that we sometimes do not understand if the graduates have really been to university. here again the quota system has damaged, the current generation, and of course future generation.
EMPLOYMENT:
over 90% of the civil servants consists of a particular race. why? ask barisan nasional. when such uneven distribution of workforce is found in the largest employer of Malaysia, it reflects what and how others can contribute to the civil service.
CABINETS:
key and impoertant portfolios are menat only for umno and not from other parties.why/ ? are they not capable , or because it involves the security of the country that malaysians of other race cannot be in command.
CORRUPTIONS:
the issue of corruptions ironically takes on a different dimension. i believe the main culprit that likes to give ‘undertable monies” are the chinese. this is seems to make things work for the chinese entreprenuers. in as much as we would like to eradicate corruption, here the chinese are as much guilty , as if there are no givers, than there are no takers.
to be continued………………………
#7 by UFOne on Monday, 20 August 2007 - 9:29 pm
MCA fails to stop the Melayufication aka Islamification of Malaysia. Elements of Islam in law, education, religion, public service, food, clothing, residential areas, marriage; you name it, you get it. This is what we call Islamic Democracy which is not true democracy at all. Malaysia wishes to be recognized as a great Islamic nation in the world. This is why she is so desperate to be as Islamised as possible. Like MCA itself, all the Chineses have been law abiding and working with the relevant authorities except for some rotten apples. Whatever problems there are, they will voice it out. However they are not given the help they need or their help come only at the last minute, just before election. After 50 years, MCA looks more like a kau tau puppet party to her boss rather than actively taking part in the affairs of Malaysia. Don’t lie. Almost everyone have eyes, have ears, have mouths and have brains to think. If there is really one bangsa, why do you need a MCA and for that matter a MIC and of course a UMNO ? There is no cemerlang, there is no gemilang and there is no terbilang as long as we pretend to be one bangsa but in reality, we are not. MCA can’t help the Chineses much because if everything is so sensitive and if everything must be whispered instead of saying it out in the open, it means it is afraid and somehow things must be done quietly which is equivalent to being dishonest, not transparent and having no integrity. Sometimes when the big shots make some big proclaimation, do they really think about it or they think they can fool and hypnotize the public into another sweet long dream again. 50 years we are in a dream. This dream is slowly turning into a nightmare. So what if we have all the modern westernized skyscrappers. They are around as show offs to other people. So what if we send the two Melayu astronauts into space. As if only Melayu boleh and the rest tak boleh. So what if we proudly tell everybody that we have won this and won that. Does the winning benefit all the Malaysians or just some ? You wonder if all these achievements only serve to boost humans’ pride. There is no such a thing as Malaysia boleh. Only sebahagian Malaysia boleh. Sebahagian Malaysia lain tak boleh. Tell the truth. Stop lying. Tell the truth that we are not equal. Don’t lie and say we are equal and yet treated unequally. We are not dumb.
#8 by lakshy on Monday, 20 August 2007 - 9:50 pm
What a wimps definition of a Patriot given in the MCA assambeli.
Man! A patriot is someone who will fight for his beloved nation. He loves his nation and will fight injustices!
The only patriots I know are those in the Opposition parties. These are true Patriots who are fighting for the betterment of the country, to protect it from abuse, and to even protect it from the generally stupid rakyat who keep voting BN back into power.
If they wanted to get position and riches, all they need to do is to crossover to BN. Then they get contracts, and deals, allocations etc, and generally get rich!
But do our hardworking Patriots do? They elect to remain in opposition to fight the good fight! Its time for the rest of us to take action too! Lets join the opposition! Lets give them power in numbers!
Keep up the good fight!
#9 by ADAM YONG IBNI ABDULLAH on Monday, 20 August 2007 - 9:54 pm
ufone.
i think you did a good summary. BUT WE ARE NEVER EQUAL, AND YET WE ARE IN A DENIAL SYNDROME STATE. NO ONE DARES TO PUBLICLY SPEAK OUT. MCA???FAT HOPE.
#10 by Jonny on Monday, 20 August 2007 - 10:59 pm
MIC????
More FAT HOPE!
#11 by dawsheng on Tuesday, 21 August 2007 - 12:08 am
It is a jungle out here, there’s no law!
#12 by Rocky on Tuesday, 21 August 2007 - 1:10 am
it is Ketuanan UMNO!!! They use NEP etc for their own use. There are 2 rules in this country, one for UMNO and one for the rest of us. Just look how fast police react to a report lodge by UMNO.
#13 by sotong on Tuesday, 21 August 2007 - 7:02 am
UNMO knew that if they play fair and by the rules, they will lose their power and support as the party is divided and weak. That’s why they always blamed others or find a scapegoat for their internal problems to unite the party at all costs.
The previous PM, at one stage in the 80’s, said Malays cannot be fair and why can’t Malays be millionaires – how one achieve material success is irrelevant.
These are the consequences of a weak political party leading the country for decades and the significant effects are permanent, long term and far reaching – economically and socially.
#14 by lakshy on Tuesday, 21 August 2007 - 11:16 am
Well we should also define Traitors when we define Patriots!
Traitors are those who plunder the wealth and resources of the nation for their own benefits.
Those who promote racism in the name of fighting for the malays are not only a traitor to the nation but also a traitor to the malay race. Their actions serve to weaken the malays while they benefit from it!
#15 by k1980 on Tuesday, 21 August 2007 - 11:43 am
A repeat of the 1997 financial crisis?
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/08/17/afx4029806.html
The global credit crunch has the potential to slow Malaysia’s economic growth this year if it spreads to the wider US economy, slowing it drastically or in the worst case scenario, sending it into a recession…..If the US economy slips into a recession, even the Malaysian government’s pump-priming efforts through its Ninth Malaysia Plan, will not help to avert a sharp slowdown in the domestic economy.
#16 by sotong on Tuesday, 21 August 2007 - 12:47 pm
Forget Bangsa Malaysia…..it is meaningless at this moment or in the near future as there is no strong desire from our leader/s to unite the people.
They are more interested to continue the ” divide and rule policy” to maintain power and control over the people at all costs.
Someone in this blog said, to simplify the many classifications of people, we should have one ” Bangsa Bertongkat ” and the other ” Bangsa Asing “.
I can live with being called a Bangsa Asing!!
#17 by ktteokt on Tuesday, 21 August 2007 - 9:07 pm
Loyalty and patriotism comes from within the heart, not through propaganda or force. The way the Malaysian leaders are putting it is like forcing loyalty and patriotism onto all Malaysians. Loving one’s own country comes naturally from the way the government interact and treat its people. The government need not spend millions of ringgit just to “cultivate” patriotism among Malaysians.
Remember the “Setia” trailer on TV those days? Do you think by watching this trailer, Malaysians will “be made” to love Malaysia? The way it looks, it is acting like the communists who tried to indoctrinate communism into the brains of every citizen.
In fact, it would be very easy to “cultivate” patriotism and love for Malaysia; simply treat all Malaysians as equal, do away with the so-called special rights and make everyone happy. Do away with the NEP and let the bumiputras try to stand on their own feet rather than spoon feeding them. Only through these ways can Malaysia truly prosper and be able to stand out among nations in the world to show everyone “MALAYSIA BENAR-BENAR BOLEH!”
#18 by BobSam on Wednesday, 22 August 2007 - 3:12 am
Adam Yong, it is not the quota system that destroyed the quality of the Malaysian education, it is the meddling of the politicians from DSAI, Najib, etc. who watered down the quality. We still have a good infrastructure, we need leadership to take us to the next level (or to bring us back to the historical levels).
But some may question the necessity. Why do Malaysian Universities need to compete with NUS, etc. As long as we can be equi-ranked with other Unis from Islamic countries, then we are OK.
Now, before we go any further, Adam, your outfit does not meet the dress code. Kindly wear clothes that cover all ur skin, so that we can then sit down and start the lecture. Adam, tell Eve to wear a headscarf please. Her hair, which flows serpentinely like in the TV commercial is very distracting.
#19 by ADAM YONG IBNI ABDULLAH on Thursday, 23 August 2007 - 5:20 am
bobsam.
if your idea of leadership, is having a nerd mentality.
you have failed.