Forget politicians, what about racist Malaysians?

Actually there are too many racist out there. Not only Chinese but also among Malays and Indians. I think this is mainly due to segregation of children from young by sending them to different type of school. Children are taught to have stereotype of other races and this they carry for the rest of their live. My opinion is we should emphasise to abolish all national type (SJK) schools but learning of mother tongue should be made compulsory in national school. We should let the children mix with other races from young so that they learn to respect each other.

i was in Indonesia,the Indians, chinese, Indonesians, ALL speak in Bahasa Indonesia.i observed a group of Indonesian Chinese ( looked like school students) and they were talking to each other in B. Indonesia. At tht point, i felt sorry for my fellow Malaysians, not all, but most of em. I know, I WILL NEVER speak in tamil to my indian friends in front of friends or people of other races. Its plain RUDE. This is the root of all the racial problems/discriminations/you name it. It might sound surprising, but its TRUE.

Murthi was spot on, regarding abolishment of language based schools. I will not deny tht knowing ur own mother tongue is important, coming from a sekolah kebangsaan, i went for Tamil classes, so now i can read and write Tamil.Although the depth of Tamil knowledge/ Indian culture might decrease over time due to this, but the return would be in the form of RACIAL HARMONY. Thats of prime importance, since our forefathers of various races had pledged to live together, to make this nation work. Sometimes, you have to let go in order to receive.

Rajan, these were your comments:

"Bro. its not about codemming Bro. Dont u feel cheated. First was the bribe case earlier in Selangor. Then the Perak Councillor. Now worst, directly showing that the Indian rights cant be protected. They demolish a temple and the worst part just see the Indian opposition MP's. Keeping silent. Remember after the HINDRAF issue, what did S.K.Devamany did in the parliment. If Manickavasagam is sincere, then why just resign as Selangor PKR deputy liason chairman. Why not resign from the whole of PKR and be independent?"

And these are my replies:

Feel cheated? Sure, why not we start from the MAIKA scandal eh? Lets make that first priority number one, and then solve all the scandals in between and lets come to this one last, shall we?

You seem to have "waken up" just after the recent temple demolishment, what, have you conveniently forgotten all MIC's mistakes before this have you? Selective amnesia perhaps? PR made an error, no doubt, but where were you all these while? Sounds like you were waiting for PR to make the a mistake, and now you're jumping up and down? Sweet.

You also said:

"..directly showing that the Indian rights cant be protected."

"..the worst part just see the Indian opposition MP's. Keeping silent. "

Aaah, now let me think.. where was MIC when hundreds of temples demolished in the last couple of years? Oh yea, I can reply back saying the same thing.. "keeping silent" and "Indian rights were never protected anyways".

What did S.K.Devamany do? Sure, he blabbered his way through the Al-Jazeera interview on Nov 25th. Remember that? He said Hindraf was a terrorist group that day holding street protests and stuff. But yes, I also remember him making a complete U-turn in the parliment and said that the street protest reflected that the Indian community was not satisfied with BN. To which he was called "Racist!!" (by Nazri was it?) and eventually him getting suspended.

So Rajan, let me get this straight, if you think Devamany was right, then why was he suspended?

Anyways, the next Parliment sitting is on Oct 13th, so lets see if PR MP's are doing something similar.

I don't know why Manickavasagam didn't quit from PKR altogether, but perhaps it was only te Selangor PKR at blame and not the whole PKR?

And Rajan, please don't spam my shoutbox anymore. I hate that. If you have any comments, please put them where they should belong in the first place.

@Murthi: I agree. We can do away with vernacular schools, but mother tongue must be taught along side Malay.

@The truth: The root of the problems in this country is NEP and Ketuanan Melayu. Do away with that and you will get racial harmony. Period.

Naga,

My opinion is NEP is not the root cause of racial problems. While NEP is discriminatory in nature, both Chinese and Indians are discriminated by NEP. Whereas your article is about a Chinese being racist toward Indians. How does abolishing the NEP can bring about racial harmony if you do not understand each others culture from young ?

Racism is not a new thing. It has been there for a long time. Only now it is being blown out because of Information Technology. 20 years ago there was no such thing as blogging but now bloggers are writing their thinking or daily experiences in their blogs and we are reading and commenting. The only way forward is to let our children mix and learn with other races.

@naga

ok so lets take the NEP and ketuanan Melayu out of the picture, now suddenly our Malay leaders are really nice people and theres no discrimination in education, business & etc. Do you see the problem dissapearing into thin air? I dont. The Indians will go on gossiping in Tamil behind the chineses' and malays' back, the Chinese would do the same in Mandarin,and of course the Malays, following the footsteps of their now ethical and unbias leaders would all be really nice people so no gossips frm them!

Its pretty evident tht removing the ketuanan melayu(KM) would only solve 50% of our problems. We and our racist mindsets accomodate the other half.

the reason for NEP and the KM was to help our unispired Malay buddies to bring themselves up in society(economy) at the same pace as others(looks like this had been partially achieved). removing it suddenly would be like leaving thm in the wild. Theres no doubts as to which other race would definitely start dominating the country's economy if this happens. If they proceed with their racist mindsets, they would only form partnerships,award contracts to, hire and do business with ppl of similar race, would this be any better thn NEP? I say nay! The Malays would definitely get angry since theyve always been a step back but for the NEP, the Indians with their meagre 2 million plus population would most certainly struggle even further thn they are now.

reviewing the nation's current situation, stopping the NEP wouldnt solve bulk of the problem, however, when it is the last ever tumor left, thn yes, ill agree with you, if not let us ALL start behaving like Malaysians first!

Murthi and The Truth,

I agree that NEP won't solve our problems straightaway. But it would be a good start. ;)

The Truth,

I am a bit baffled with some of your statements.

1)"If they proceed with their racist mindsets, they would only form partnerships,award contracts to, hire and do business with ppl of similar race, would this be any better thn NEP?"

Assuming you are referring to the Chinese, how in a free country (with no NEP) will the Chinese have an upper-hand? NEP will be replaced with open tender system or first-come-first-served basis, which means that everyone regardless of their background will stand a chance of getting awarded a permit/contract by the government. What happens after that, i.e. whether they plan to form partnerships with their own people etc, is in the hands of no one under a free market. Everyone has a free right on that matter. But the initial awarding of permits and contracts is what is more important. By this of course I am assuming that government officials are free of bribery in awarding permits/contracts, so as to ensure total fairness. For example, I didn't know that all these while we had racial quota system in awarding permits for scrap-metal businesses, till Najib proudly declared that he will approve the licenses for all Indians at Permatang Pau, so as to reflect that Indians weren't getting any licenses at all! Read here and you will know what I mean: http://orangewaves.blogspot.com/2008/08/oh-please-mr-najib-can-i-have-scrap.html

2) "the Indians with their meagre 2 million plus population would most certainly struggle even further thn they are now."

How could we possibly be worse without NEP? This is ridiculous!

Naga,

i spent about 25 minutes typing a reply to ur recent questions, and it all vanished when accidentelly clicked something else. Long things short:-

wanna say tht only an idiot would reject the prospects of abolishing the NEP. But tht ain't the best solution for MALAYSIA, and at this POINT OF TIME. What might seem to be the best remedy towards achieving racial harmony could infact be doing more damage looking at current situations. NEP isnt restricted to government conracts alone, it basically defines our Nation's economy.

i have done some studies regarding this before, and i know im not wrong abt this 'mini theory', and when you look at the bigger picture , my oh my... relating malaysia's economy with racial harmony is unexplainable in words, at least for me. Thts why this is the best explanation i have to offer you, if you still dont get me thn im sorry, unless we settle for a tea session sometime soon!

just to wrap things up here,

a lot of things Tun Mahathir did during his tenure as the PM by holding back a certain race from running away too far with the economy, really benefited the others INCLUDING THE INDIANS. of course he didnt do it FOR the Indians but it still affected the Indians in a good way.

argue with me all you like, but, we will definitely be better off with the Malays in control thn YOU-KNOW-WHO. Malays are really nice people, unfortunately they are easily influenced by their racist leaders. These leaders are constantly blocking the arrival of the 'new generation' leaders whom i believe aren't racist (may it be a Malay, Chinese or Indian) and can propel us to greatness.

end

The Truth, you haven't answered my questions at all. You have just repeated your description.

You yourself sound a bit racist with the remark "we will definitely be better off with the Malays in control thn YOU-KNOW-WHO."

I don't give a damn who is in control, as long as their are being fair to all races. Right now, BN is in control, but they are not being fair, so I bash them. If PR comes to power, and they are not being far, I would still bash them.

So my point is, it doesn't matter which race dominates the politics, economy and all other shit, so long as everyone gets equal rights to do anything.

If you have a point, please explain properly, or else it shows you don't understand the concept properly to explain to others.

YOUR IDEA OF ABOLISHING THE NEP AS THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS RACIAL HARMONY IS COMPLETELY BASELESS. YOU HAVE CONVINIENTLY FORGOTTEN TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE HISTORY OF OUR NATION AND ON WHAT PLATFORM IT WAS BUILT IN THE FIRST PLACE BEFORE COMING TO THE CONCLUSION THT NEP IS THE ROOT OF RACIAL DISHARMONY IN MALAYSIA.

FIRSTLY GO AN UNDERSTAND ABOUT WHAT NEP REALLY IS. I AM VERY SURE THAT YOU ARE EXTREMELY UNLCLEAR ABOUT THIS. THERE ARE LOADS OF ARTICLES ONLINE REGARDING THIS, EVEN IN WIKIPEDIA. IF YOU STILL WANT TO THINK THAT NEP IS JUST ABOUT GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS, THAN THERE ISNT MUCH I CAN DO BUT TO FORGIVE THIS AUSSIE FOR NOT UNDERSTANDING MALAYSIAN ECONOMY POLICIES!

I will have to agree with the truth that NEP has also benefitted the Indians in someway. If we as Indians feel left out, it is mainly due to our own action of not taking the chances and also due to leaders who were corrupt. Anyway, I don't think racial harmony is directly related to NEP at least with regards to this post.
"For example, I didn't know that all these while we had racial quota system in awarding permits for scrap-metal businesses, till Najib proudly declared that he will approve the licenses for all Indians at Permatang Pau, so as to reflect that Indians weren't getting any licenses at all! Read here and you will know what I mean: "

For the scrap-metal business, it is actually not for the quota but in fact many Indians were complaining that their licenses were not renewed or new licenses issued to Indians due to too many scrap metal dealers in the country. So Najib tried to politicise in PP. I do not know whether you know about the scrap metal business but actually many Indians would like to venture into them

NEP or no NEP, currently there are many Indians expecting to be better off but they are reluctant to put in the extra effort. And they are making the NEP the scape goats.

i dont understand this Naga. Starts a topic which diverts all attention from malaysian politicians to its citizens, claiming tht we are the racist ones and how we are destroying the country silently. And whn people start commenting in agreement he starts talking about NEP instead which hppens to be...err ya...POLITICS! just lookin for excuses to start argumnts. typical Indian mentality. when will this ever end...muruga!!!

The Truth,

Why the caps lock? I am just asking you to explain properly, and you went on a rampage with the caps lock. ;)

Alright you said that I have conveniently forgotten the history and why NEP came into the scene in the first place. I have not and that's the other reason why I am against NEP.

Allow me to explain:

Post 1957, non-Malays agreed to give Malays special position (Bumiputera rights) as embodied in Ketuanan Melayu, in exchange for the granting of citizenship to non-Malays.

The problems here:
1) The real Sons of Soil, i.e. the Dusuns, Kadazans etc all were conveniently moved to "Others".
2) No time limit was set for "Bumiputera Rights" whereas citizenship offer was only valid for that generation living around 1957.

And then post 1969, Razak came up with his NEP because they thought that Malays were falling behind in terms of economical power. So they decided to give the Malays a percentage offer in everything from housing, university seats, contracts, scholarships, corporate equity, public service etc. [Please note in my previous comments I didn't say that NEP was only about government contracts.]

The problems here:
1) Again, the aborigines are forgotten.
2) Poor people among other races are conveniently forgotten.
3) Economic growth was slowed down. Instead of encouraging those who contributed to growth, their opportunities were given to Bumi's.
4) Only objectives are to uplift the economic status of Bumi's, and not all Malaysians.

Why NEP didn't work:
1) Even after almost 40 years in existance, NEP didn't uplift the economic status of Malays, but only served to enrich the pockets of few select cronies of UMNO and BN. There are still Malays living in rural areas whose life is still the same prior to independence. If 40 years of NEP didn't change their lives, then maybe its time to review our economic policies?

2) The aborigines are still living their ancient way of life, despite this country being theirs in the first place. No economic policies are made to help them, save for their homes turned into tourist attractions. How about them giving them an education and job?

3) NEP is racist. Why?

Lets look at university seat allocation. Out of 100 seats for medicine at UM, 85 goes to Malays, 10 to Chinese, 3 to Indians, and 2 to Others. Now, lets say that out of that 85 seats allocated to Malays, only 60 have the merits and are capable of graduating. The other 25 (85-60) will have to be filled in just because they are Malays, despite not having the merits. As for non-Malays, there are more than 15 non-Malays with enough merits, but can't get into UM simply because of their skin color. This is why we have students with 14A1's not being able to get into public uni despite their results.

Murthi, you mentioned "If we as Indians feel left out, it is mainly due to our own action of not taking the chances", pray and tell me how these students are supposed to work any harder? And even if they do, will it make any different? I agree, there are some people out there, regardless of their race, do not work hard. They in fact expect an easy life. But how about those students who weep and cry when they don't get university seats and scholarships? And there are not one or two, but many of them.

"For the scrap-metal business, it is actually not for the quota but in fact many Indians were complaining that their licenses were not renewed or new licenses issued to Indians due to too many scrap metal dealers in the country."

Why can't we have it this way? Issue licenses everytime someone applies for it (regardless of race). Renew licenses unconditionally. Market forces of supply and demand will ensure the right amount of scrap-metal dealers be in business at any given time. That is the first lesson in microeconomics. This way the government gets income from renewing and issuing licenses indefinitely, and no grudge is held against the government for favouring a particular race over the other.

If you happen to think that we will be better off with NEP, explain to me. Maybe I don't know something you do.

ok sorry the outburst, but i'll stress again, we are not better off with the NEP, however i feel it should only be taken into question gradually, once all other problems( such as our own racist mindsets) as you've mentioned, are solved. NEP didnt help put current successful Indians(non politicians) in this country where they stand now, it was all down to their hardwork, BUT, the NEP also keeps us on par with the chinese whom are abviously also suffering from it. Its a case of "if i go down, we both go down".

as you've mentioned above, the NEP hasnt been really successful. and i couldn't have put in better words as mentioned in part (1). Not only have the malays failed to take full advantage of all these spoonfeeding( the reasons as youve mentioned as well as many more), the other 2 major races are also held back from progressing, BUT AGAIN, i'd say tht the chinese have the upper hands although it dosnt show now, but do you know tht so many contracts/businesses/etc. which had been awarded to the malays were 'sold' or 'shared' to/with other races(chinese mainly) because they would rather get the easy money??

if NEP was abolished suddenly, do you think the nons(mostly chinese) will wanna proceed with such arrangements? they'll definitely buy over the malay's share and run a 100% owned business. being racists they would hire only their own race to work for them, form partnerships with ppl of their own race, offer contracts to people of their own race....

and if all these happened with our racist mindses still intact, its gonna be a disaster.

the scenario above would definitely change if we werent racist. let say la after NEP abolishment,even when 70% of companies in M'sia are chinese owned, without racism, this would definitely be good for everyone. the chinese owner would not have preferences for chinese staff over Indians and malays, and vice versa.

All I am saying is NEP is not the root cause of racial disharmony and Indians being left out. We Indians need to analyse our weaknesses and find solution for that instead of pointing fingers everywhere

Sorry The Truth, I had to delete the comment you posted at 1.11 AM, since it contained the URL to Sammy Chan's Facebook profile. But i agree what you had to say on people posting Facebook URL's in my blog.

@naga

no problem man...

Naga,

Why must it always be Medicine, aren't there any other choice. Since the result is excellent, I believe choices are a plenty. There must be other reasons for them not to get the seat. For someone who manage to relate The Fountain with Hinduism, I fail to understand why you didn't consider karma. If you think NEP is the root cause of our problems, how do you explain air asia, astro etc.

Murthi, Medicine is just an example. Take ANY courses offered in ANY public university and the ratio is the same.

"Since the result is excellent, I believe choices are a plenty."
But what if their dream was to become a doctor? What if their dream was to become an engineer?

I had a friend who achieved 4A's in STPM and asked for Medicine, but she was offered Forestry instead. Do you want her to become a park ranger despite her brilliance?

"There must be other reasons for them not to get the seat."
Name one for me.

"For someone who manage to relate The Fountain with Hinduism, I fail to understand why you didn't consider karma."
Murthi, this is ridiculous. Let me get this right, are you asking the students who got 14A1's to do prayers and poojas to wash away their karma in order to do the course they wanted? Ok lets say your theory is even right, how would that explain for the hundreds of non-Malays who can't get seats despite their results? God decided to give them karma as well? What, God is racist as well now?

"..how do you explain air asia, astro etc."

Astro - Ananda Krishnan, his close ties to Mahathir. But I am not doubting his vision and hard work. Hats off for that.

Air Asia - Tony Fernandes. I have put some excerpts from Wiki here:

"Fernandes left to pursue his dream of starting a budget no-frills airline. However, his application for a license from the Malaysian government was rejected.

It was through Datuk Pahamin A. Rejab, the former secretary-general of the Malaysian Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry that Fernandes got to meet up with the then Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in October 2001. The wily Malaysian prime minister had a cropper in his hand, which he had been trying to unload for nearly two years.

AirAsia, the heavily-indebted subsidiary of the Malaysian government-owned conglomerate, DRB-Hicom, was losing money big-time. Instead of starting from scratch, Mahathir advised Fernandes to buy an existing airline instead. Fernandes mortgaged his home and sank his savings to acquire the company, comprising two ageing Boeing 737-300 jets (9M-AAA and 9M-AAB) and USD$11 million (RM40 million) worth of debts, for 26 US cents (one ringgit), and transformed it into an industry player."

No doubt Air Asia's success is due to Tony's vision and hard work. Really I mean it. But if I am to start a budget airlines in Malaysia, two things will happen:

a) My initial application will be rejected. Period.

b) I can't start from scratch, but if I insist, then the Malaysian government will hand over me an almost-broke airline company and ask me to turn around its fortunes. Ah but do we have an almost-broke airline company sitting idly for me to take over?

NEP didn't help these two people. It was political connection and yes, I admit they worked hard for where they are now. But their hard work came AFTER they were given the initial access to their respective industries. They didn't walk up to a counter in Putrajaya and applied for a license. (Well Tony did and his got rejected).

Okay, these are two people out of two million Indians, and out of 26 million Malaysians. Even if you eliminate these two people out of the country's GDP, and calculate the PPP (People's Purchasing Power), do you know where we stand? Murthi, I lived 20 years of my life in estates, and I can assure you none of those people have even heard Tony or Ananda. To them its all bread and butter, falling roof, and schools in containers and cow sheds.

I don't care if every Malaysian out there turns up to be a Tony or Ananda, I just want every Malaysian out there to *be given a chance* to become one. Right now we don't even have the chance. Whether they work hard to become one or not is not the government's fault, its their own fault. But they need to be given a chance first.

Naga,

Do you seriously think that Karma is about prayers, poojas and rituals. Where in the scriptures, literatures or anything is mentioned in such a way ? This is what I extracted from wikipedia since it is simple "Through the law of Karma, the effects of all deeds actively creates past, present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others".
Whatever whe are experiencing now are partly due to our past life. In order to free ourself we need to understand our mistakes and take remedial action. But since we do not have the ability to know our past, the best we can do is, live for the future.

For the hundreds of non-Malays who can't get seats despite their results, who knows they might have been racist in the past. Anyway, since you have different perspective of Karma and I being unable to explain in simple terms, I'll end it here.

For Tan Sri Ananda, even though he has close ties with the then PM, he is where he is now due to his vision and hard work.

As for Datuk Tony, he is the classic example of "hardwork pays" theory. From your explanation, it shows that he had work hard to achieve his dreams even though he had stumbled upon many hurdles. Did he wait for his chance to be given. NO, he decided to look for the chance. That's what required from everyone one of us. Don't wait for the chance to be given, lookout for them. You have mentioned, NEP did not help them. If they can be succesfull on their own, why not others ?

Sincerely, do you think there are only 2 Indians who had made it out of two miillion Indians or 26 million Malaysians ? There are many more. Those who made it did not wait for chance to cross their path but instead believed in working hard to achieve their goal.

@Naga

"I had a friend who achieved 4A's in STPM and asked for Medicine, but she was offered Forestry instead. Do you want her to become a park ranger despite her brilliance?"

This is too bloody common in this bloody country. And those with str8 Bs & Cs in spm & stpm will be sent to germany,france and england to study engineering. After 5 years they'll be back working as teachers simply because no one wants to hire them and they also want easy cash. Insulting the bloody education system and most importantly the teaching profession! Ptui! Ptui! Ptui!


@Naga & Murthi

i think we should leave God/religion/karma out of this very interesting discussion. God helps bring no one up in society, hardwork and determination does. God had already blessed us with brains for us to think and parents whom were capable of providing more thn enough to help us succeed in life.

"Its a storm in a Tea Cup".
My handphone was snatched in broad daylight by two persons on a motorcycle, who looked like.....
Sammy is 22.She is the product of this Nation that has allowed these sentiments to develop.
When I was in Form 1 {a long time ago!} I was picked on by a group of chinese boys , until out of sheer desperation , I rearranged their noses & ribs!
We Indians in this Land have made ourselves/painted ourselves as such.
Walk into any restaurant which has predominantly Indian Patrons and you will be stared at - no smiles , no greetings.
But if that Rest is Indian and the patrons are non Indians , there are smiles & even greetings.
Police Reports are not the modus to resolve such anomalies.
REACH OUT & TALK to all of us.
Come out in a more pleasent manner!
Diwali is around the corner. Have open houses & invite specifically NON INDIANs {as we used to do in the 60's & 70's.
Imagine if one Indian Family invites 5 non indians, on a street of 10 Indian Families, there will be 50 non indian visitors and multiply this across the Nation/Land - WOW!
I was at a bookstore last evening and the the cashier was a young Malay lass, who had henna - bindhi on her hands!She stated that it was so feminine and Indian!!!
SO! Indians here in Malaysia { not in far away lands } are u up to this campaign or are u content on being in the state of hate?

Mr. Jeyapalan,

your campaign sounds promising, but our country is in such a state, tht if i were to have an open house, meaning leaving my front gate open and having a buffet style lunch, i need not invite those 5 non indians over, automatically 20 Nons would turn up uninvited, not in the name of friendship, bt simply to get their stomachs filled and probably have some fake conversations. The next time we'll ever talk with them would be a year later during deepavali.

roti canai, nasi kandar, murukku are already considered 'makanan melayu' in this country. it will be a matter of time before hennas & bindhis are recognised as Malay art. Tht girl might say such touching things now, but her leaders are in the process of changing tht. In 5 yrs time, meet her and her reply would be " so feminine and Melayu".

i do not want to be in a state of hate. no one does, its foolish. unless everyone(all races) becomes a player in this effort which you've endorsed, it will never work, even with us the Indians alone going all out to try and be accepted. afterall, thts wht we've been doing since independence, doesnt seem to be working aint it?

Everyone, not just the Indians alone must change!

haha....
its so simple...
racist politician creates racist Malaysian....

I don't think politicians are the sole culprit. Kids are taught to be racist from young. We are being racist by insisting to have vernacular schools.

We can have one school for all Malaysians , we can and we are learn Malay for National unnity .

Yet , who decide on our education system ? Guru cemerlang ? nationalist ? end of the day a politician in the name of Menteri Pendidikan will decide how our education system should look like , hence i strongly believe , beside multiracial school , multiracial politic system can create true Malaysian who free from racist mindset .