by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Mar 11, 2013

Malays could be the masters of their own destiny, but decades of spoon-feeding, reinforced by an unhealthy belief that they are morally and spiritually superior, has robbed many Malays of the power of critical thought and analysis. It is as if the strain of thinking for oneself, is too great a challenge.

When a Malay criticises the ruling party, he is seen as ‘ungrateful’. He is told that he should be appreciative for all that Umno has done for him – all the opportunities for education and work. It is conveniently forgotten that not all Malays benefit from the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Many middle-class Malay families complain that scholarships or study loans go to the children of well-connected parents. In businesses, and especially in government tenders, the same applies – connections count more than skills or expertise. Many senior politicians and their wives are more commonly known as Mr or Mrs “Ten percent”.

Conversely, Malays have not realised that receiving an education or business opportunity via the affirmative action policies, should not deprive them of a voice. Malays must learn that keeping the government on its toes does not mean that they are unappreciative or disloyal.

Some Malays have a child-like version of the world. In a discussion with a non-Malay, the Malay who cannot present his facts in a logical manner may invariably blurt out, “Go back to where you came from”. It is like the frustrated child who does not get his way and threatens his sibling with, “I’ll tell father what you did”. He does not care about the consequences. He just wants to hurt and get retribution.

When our leaders act in the same manner, this presents a very poor example for the Malays. As an example, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had encouraged the stripping of Ambiga Sreenevasan’s citizenship because she wanted true democracy.

When all else fails, some Malays bring Allah into the argument. Malays are adept at emotional blackmail, especially when the threat of eternal damnation is involved.

Malays fiercely defend their religious rights and condemn non-Muslims for entering the discussion. Some claim that as they do not interfere with other religions, then non-Muslims should not interfere in theirs. Could this be an explanation for the muted Muslim voices when a band of renegade Malays dragged a cow’s head through the streets of Shah Alam?

Why have Malays not acknowledged that for centuries, the word ‘Allah’ was used with no problems until Umno Malays decided it was wrong?

Suffering trial by ordeal

Malays swearing on the Quran in a mosque debases the religion. Compare this with trial by ordeal in medieval England. If someone was accused of a crime against the monarch, he might suffer trial by ordeal. If he did not sustain injuries when his arm was placed in a vat of boiling oil, then he is found innocent.

Saiful Bukhari’s father, Azlan Mohd Lazim, has claimed that the sodomy charges against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had been politically motivated. Umno leaders treat Malays as simpletons. Will Malays ask Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to respond to Azlan’s latest revelation and also address the accusations made by carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan and former inspector-general of police (IGP) Musa Hassan?

Why don’t Malays consider a range of other views, to help shape theirs? Sadly, some non-Malays also fall into the trap of not entering into a discussion because they are told that “it does not concern them”. Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, so all Malaysians are free to express the opinion on any aspect of Islam.

Malays dislike being told that they are in the wrong. Instead of having a rational discussion, some prefer to bottle their emotions, than risk running amok. Decades of ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ have reinforced this flaw in their character.

Mahathir said that the opposition would destroy the Malays and bumiputeras in Selangor. Mahathir’s ‘Project M’ allowed illegal immigrants into Sabah. Najib and the Election Commission (EC) permit illegal immigrants into Malaysia. Malays are being betrayed by Umno Malay leaders. These policies of offering citizenship to illegal immigrants have contributed to the loss of lives in Lahad Datu.

Whilst Najib fell under Psy’s charms in Penang, and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had reportedly been in Indonesia for Chinese New Year, armed Sulu invaders had slipped into Sabah where they were allegedly plied with food and drink by the Umno government during negotiations.

A news blackout did nothing to quell criticisms of the handling of the crisis, it merely festered the spread of rumours. Najib has only himself to blame for this debacle.

The country is being crippled by abuses of power, corruption, police brutality and high levels of crime, and the man in the street knows the perpetrators. Both Mahathir and Najib have portrayed Anwar as an agent of various foreign governments, a stud (from the various sex videos produced by Umno), and the one who will bring the Malays down.

Anwar may be portrayed by Umno as a supervillain, but he is not responsible for these crimes. Contrariwise, he is the superhero who would like to avenge them.

People may have read on the Internet about the portly delivery van driver who dressed as Batman and marched a suspected criminal into a police station in Bradford, England. If only Najib could have exercised his full powers when he was prime minister and put a stop to all the evil in Malaysia. Perhaps, he could have been the Malaysian Batman – The Caped Crusader.

Their similarities and differences

The original Batman was the son of millionaire philanthropists; Najib and his wife have become multi-millionaires from being in politics, but they are no philanthropists. Any largesse they exhibit is paid for by the taxpayer.

There are some significant similarities and differences between Batman and Najib. Batman lives in a gothic mansion, whereas Najib has a Louis-Farouk monstrosity. Batman has a Batmobile, but Najib has access to a variety of vehicles, including two submarines with slight technical glitches.

Batman has a ‘six-pack’, whereas Najib is blessed with a ‘12-pack’ figure. In the Umno world, quantity matters.

Batman has his sidekick, Robin “The Boy Wonder”. Najib has three sidekicks – Hishammuddin Hussein the “Action Boy”, Zahid Hamidi “GI Joe” and Rais Yatim “The Disinformer”. Batman has eyes only for the femme fatale “Catwoman”, whereas Najib has Rosmah Mansor “The Bag Lady” and Ummi Hafilda Ali “The Wazz”.

The Malays must understand that if Najib cannot defend Lahad Datu from a gang of invaders, he has little chance of defending the name ‘Allah’, nor protecting Malaysians from a band of internal crooks.

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MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.