May 13, 1969 was a day of madness on which innocents were needlessly killed based on blind racial rage. It was a day that will live in infamy in the annals of Malaysian History unless one skews that History!

It is described “sacred” only in a special ethnocentric context with which Utusan Malaysia used it in defence of Azhar Ibrahim, suspended from the Penang assembly for citing the May 13 incident in his speech. It was an integral part of that defence to argue that because of the riots, aggressive affirmative policies favouring Malays by way of ”overseas scholarships for Bumiputeras and their businessmen” were accepted by all other races and started, and that had it not been for May 13, “wealthy businesses and the professional classes would (by now) be controlled by one race only.”

From these perspectives, May 13 was a day that provided the justification to abandon the Tunku’s comparatively multi-racial approach – and even usher him out of his position – on grounds of alleged legitimate Malay dissatisfaction at the then alleged Chinese insensitivity and insouciance of the glaring socio-economic disparity favouring themselves against Malays and also the alleged arrogance of Chinese majority opposition parties and their supporters in celebrating their electoral victories in Selangor. May 13 then is deemed “sacred” because it marks the historical watershed demarcating the time before from that of after in which the concept of Ketuanan was established as basis of aggressive affirmative NEP policies to address and correct the alleged colonial legacy of economic divisions that had been blamed for the racial clashes – without protests from other communal parties within the ruling Alliance, charged with representing these other communal interests relegated to subordinate position….

To be sure, the expression “sacred” used by Zaini Hassan here is actually the same as that described by the writer John Baptist – ie “connected with God; considered to be holy or very important and treated with great respect” – with an important difference. And that difference is that whilst John Baptist takes the word “sacred” as meaning important in the UNIVERSAL sense for all, Zaini’s interpretation is skewed with specific ethnocentric connotation of being important and “sacred” to one particular race only, its destiny and future trajectory in terms of well being from that time onwards.
The word “sacred” is not used here in context of importance to any other races who are also Malaysians or the country and its peoples as a whole. Why it is not acceptable to all Malays eg. those in the Opposition parties, blogs (RPK Mariam Mokhtar and many others) and even those within UMNO like Nazri and Ku Li (if their public speeches abjuring racism were a guide).

To sum, one can’t stop people from unreasonably skewing meaning of words like “sacred” to advance their agenda but that it should come from an editorial in Umno’s Utusan Malaysia in direct contradiction of the spirit of UMNO’s president’s platform of “1 Malaysia” is the disconcerting surprise!

(Moderator, this is a rerposting: please delete earlier post under current moderation)

I am sure TheWrathOfGrapes is not referring to Perkasa immediate chief : First age factor – how could he be one of the plotters May 13 incident when he was only 16 years old that time? Then Profile – Besides to plot means to think strategically and abstractly with guile and cunning and in a cool and controlled way engineer one’s own benefit to the deteriment of all having both immediat and long term road map in mind – hardly fits the profile of someone who when provoked in Al Jazeera English Channel interview bursted out “Don’t talk shit!” three repeated times…..

Age factor and profile, the clues….
SoimeIt won’t fit the profile of someone

///Every one should just come out to declare that they are not afraid of may 13 and will not be cowed by umno./// – dagen #21.

However it is a question of who is bluffing who and who will call the bluff on this.

If from a certain ethnocentric view point May 13 1969 is a “sacred” day, then will another May 13 be an even more second “sacred” day following that logic?

If 1. yes, then the extremists and ultras will call the bluff of those who say they are not afraid of may 13. If 2. no, then the opposite.

Likely 1. is truer but I shan’t give the reasons, which will only help extremists’ agenda.