Fifty-two unmarried couples could face charges of sexual misconduct and jail terms after being caught in hotel rooms by Malaysia's Islamic morality police.
[From the BBC]
SOURCE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8439899.stm
Quote:
Those detained in the early hours of New Year's Day were mainly students and young factory workers. The Muslim couples are expected to be charged with the offence of close proximity, or Khalwat.
Under Malaysia's Islamic Sharia Law, couples who are not married to each other should not be in a secluded area or confined space, which could give rise to suspicion that they were engaged in immoral acts.
[End quote]
Please note that sharia only applies to people registered as Muslims in Malaysia - normal people can do whatever they want, as long as they do not attempt to convert Muslims, and cringe obediently whenever a Muslim has a hissy fit.
Occasionally the Muslims riot over perceived grievances or small endowments, at which point it is wise for more mature people to take cover.
[Yes, I realize that my comments above are frightfully meanspirited. Tathapi 'ko enti give-a-damn. M'ngade, kabanyean na Muslim-fanatik di Malaysia lang-kaga, kutamto oro adab tja. Atjaranema sametek sehi bangpulak, gatverdamme. Djambiton ite.]
When convicted, the couples will probably receive two years in prison and be forced to pay a fine.
Afterwards, having been persecuted by Islamic authorities, they may wish to apply for asylum elsewhere.
If they do so, we wish them good luck and G-dspeed.
Showing posts with label Malay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malay. Show all posts
Monday, January 04, 2010
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
NONE OF THEM WERE MUSLIMS
In 1948, British forces in Malaya killed twenty four unarmed civilians. The perpetrators were all vindicated by British authorities, it being asserted that the soldiers had no choice but to shoot them to prevent the unarmed men fleeing into the jungle. Their village was subsequently set on fire, and the survivors prevented from burying the dead for a week.
The British government is not unduly concerned about this event.
The Malaysian government has shown scant interest in raking it up.
It is not an issue.
The victims were not Muslims.
They were Chinese Malayans.
After the world war, Britain was concerned with placating the restless Malays and assuring themselves of a source for rubber and tin. The Chinese Malayans, who had resisted the Japanese, were less important in the grand scheme of things than the Malays, who had quiescently collaborated with the Japanese.
Neither the British nor the Malays were concerned with justice for the Chinese Malayans, who had been particularly brutalized by the Japanese occupiers, or with including the Chinese Malayans in future power structures of the soon-to-be independent Malay state, choosing instead to 'reward' them for their stubborn resistance to the Japanese by a policy of ethnic exclusionism (the seed for apartheid policies against Chinese in modern Malaysia).
This, probably more than anything else, led to an emergency that lasted twelve years.
The Chinese community had been robbed and repressed by the Japanese, the Malays had collaborated, and were well rewarded. When the British returned, the Malays loyally collaborated again, to very great advantage.
Many of the Malayan Chinese consequently saw little choice but to join the insurgency.
The men of the village of Batang Kali who were killed by the British were not Muslims but Chinese. In the eyes of the British, that meant that they were almost certainly rebels. And in the eyes of the Malays, they were Chinese.
Both of those qualities were good reasons to execute them. The British were fighting a war, the Malays were profitably collaborating with the strongest party.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8025383.stm
From that article:
"Four of the Scots Guards gave sworn testimony, confirming that the shootings took place, confirming that the victims were unarmed. "
"We were kept away for a week and when we returned we found the bloated bodies, half eaten by animals."
[More data here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batang_Kali_massacre and here: http://dapmalaysia.org/all-archive/English/2004/jul04/bul/bul2460.htm]
I can understand the British authorities being unenthusiastic about re-examining the facts.
No ex-colonial power is glad to have its misbehaviour highlighted.
The British, French, and Dutch insist that their role in the East was that of enlightened bringers of civilization, law, and order, and that colonialism only benefitted the natives, who were incapable of administering themselves according to the standards of the civilized world. And who really wishes to dispute that?
I can also understand why the Malaysian authorities are not overly concerned - these were not Muslims, and therefore by the standards of Malaysia they can not really count for much.
Besides, there is no point in encouraging ANY sense of grievance among the Chinese. Surely that only leads to trouble?
I'm just noting that this was a war crime. One of many war crimes committed by the colonial powers in the years after the world war - thousands of people were killed or tortured in the eastern territories during the last gasps of the British, French, and Dutch empires.
This is just another war crime which our friends and allies (the former colonial powers) would rather forget. Why bring up dead issues?
After all, they lost their empires.
I also note that the survivors are now few in number, old and frail. When the last of them has died and still no justice has been done, the official version of events will stand. The victims will only be remembered as 24 among the tens of thousands of "communists" killed during the insurrection.
Seeing as so few Muslims died, compared to so many Chinese, the victory was without a doubt well worth it. Especially for the Malays.
And they are wonderful people, the Malays.
The British government is not unduly concerned about this event.
The Malaysian government has shown scant interest in raking it up.
It is not an issue.
The victims were not Muslims.
They were Chinese Malayans.
After the world war, Britain was concerned with placating the restless Malays and assuring themselves of a source for rubber and tin. The Chinese Malayans, who had resisted the Japanese, were less important in the grand scheme of things than the Malays, who had quiescently collaborated with the Japanese.
Neither the British nor the Malays were concerned with justice for the Chinese Malayans, who had been particularly brutalized by the Japanese occupiers, or with including the Chinese Malayans in future power structures of the soon-to-be independent Malay state, choosing instead to 'reward' them for their stubborn resistance to the Japanese by a policy of ethnic exclusionism (the seed for apartheid policies against Chinese in modern Malaysia).
This, probably more than anything else, led to an emergency that lasted twelve years.
The Chinese community had been robbed and repressed by the Japanese, the Malays had collaborated, and were well rewarded. When the British returned, the Malays loyally collaborated again, to very great advantage.
Many of the Malayan Chinese consequently saw little choice but to join the insurgency.
The men of the village of Batang Kali who were killed by the British were not Muslims but Chinese. In the eyes of the British, that meant that they were almost certainly rebels. And in the eyes of the Malays, they were Chinese.
Both of those qualities were good reasons to execute them. The British were fighting a war, the Malays were profitably collaborating with the strongest party.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8025383.stm
From that article:
"Four of the Scots Guards gave sworn testimony, confirming that the shootings took place, confirming that the victims were unarmed. "
"We were kept away for a week and when we returned we found the bloated bodies, half eaten by animals."
[More data here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batang_Kali_massacre and here: http://dapmalaysia.org/all-archive/English/2004/jul04/bul/bul2460.htm]
I can understand the British authorities being unenthusiastic about re-examining the facts.
No ex-colonial power is glad to have its misbehaviour highlighted.
The British, French, and Dutch insist that their role in the East was that of enlightened bringers of civilization, law, and order, and that colonialism only benefitted the natives, who were incapable of administering themselves according to the standards of the civilized world. And who really wishes to dispute that?
I can also understand why the Malaysian authorities are not overly concerned - these were not Muslims, and therefore by the standards of Malaysia they can not really count for much.
Besides, there is no point in encouraging ANY sense of grievance among the Chinese. Surely that only leads to trouble?
I'm just noting that this was a war crime. One of many war crimes committed by the colonial powers in the years after the world war - thousands of people were killed or tortured in the eastern territories during the last gasps of the British, French, and Dutch empires.
This is just another war crime which our friends and allies (the former colonial powers) would rather forget. Why bring up dead issues?
After all, they lost their empires.
I also note that the survivors are now few in number, old and frail. When the last of them has died and still no justice has been done, the official version of events will stand. The victims will only be remembered as 24 among the tens of thousands of "communists" killed during the insurrection.
Seeing as so few Muslims died, compared to so many Chinese, the victory was without a doubt well worth it. Especially for the Malays.
And they are wonderful people, the Malays.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
TROLLS WITH KEYBOARDS
One of the current readers of this blog is mighty upset that I do not jump at his demand for information. Particularly, that I do not wish to cater to his curiosity about the support for Hamas and similar organizations by several of the anti-Semitic-fringe groups so well represented in Berkeley.
See this post:
BAY AREA PEACE-ACTIVISTS SUPPORT 'RESISTANCE'
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/04/bay-area-peace-activists-support-hamas.html
Quote:
"As is made clear by their websites, their literature and signs in several protests, and their rhetoric, such Bay Area groups as International ANSWER, the ISM, Students for Justice in Palestine, Bay Area Women in Black, Jewish Voice for Peace, and even members of Code Pink support Hamas."
[Forty comments as of this writing.]
I have urged him to google, and even suggested several search criteria. But no. He is adamant that I do it for him. Livid, and having a big ole hissy. Despite the support for Hamas and similar organizations being both extremely well-known, and entirely beside the point of that post.
In that, he is rather like my customers a quarter of a century ago, when I still wrote term-papers for fellow "students". They too seemed incapable of reading on their own, or grasping what they read.
Perhaps he fails to understand that bloggers thrive on controversy, and are delighted when someone returns again and again to their blog. And perhaps he also wishes to put words in my mouth, and trick me into betraying sources or stating something that might be useful to him and his ilk.
No matter - all I really care about is that he keep coming back to be frustrated.
To enhance that experience for him, I present a list of posts on this blog that have irritated the living daylights out of other trolls.
VIOLENT ANTI-SEMITES RALLY FOR PEACE
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/03/violent-anti-semites-rally-for-peace.html
Quote:
"Peace rally in San Francisco's civic center turns into angry confrontation. Activists scream hatred at Jews. Angry Lakota Sioux radical spouts racist rant, finishes by bad drumming and unintelligible chanting. Dick Becker has a fit. Speaker at microphone calls the police mothe***88ers and accuses them of wanting to kill people. Arab bites cop. Palestinians attack Jews in metro."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"The same Lily Haskell who led the chant at the AIPAC rally back in late 2008: "Israel Supporters Watch your Backs, or we'll push you down a shaft!" The same Lily Haskell who referred to Jews as "racist Zionists" upon complaining to SFAC back in Sept 2007 regarding the remodification of a mural. "
[21 comments as of this writing.]
WHERE ARE THE PROTESTS?
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/where-are-protests.html
Quote:
"Surely Tamils deserve the same consideration if not more than the civilians of Gaza?
No? Are you sure? You're not just being racist, are you?
You really think it's all peachy over there, and you are not at all concerned?
Oh, I forgot - Tamils are the Jews of Sri-Lanka, and therefore not worthy of the intellectual pretentiousness of the good people of Berkeley. You guys ARE racists."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"Thats why the talk in Oakland was so egregious- solidarity should be built working side by side on issues of mutual aid, not by creating distrust through lies, demonization and hate. The way to elevate the Palestinian people is not by attacking the Israeli people- it is by convincing the Palestinians that their future lies on the path of peace."
[30 comments as of this writing.]
MALAYSIAN RACISM
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/malaysian-racism.html
Quote:
"Here, we have rejected the ideology of George Wallace, and that type of hate has been marginalized in the United States and most of the Western World.
You, on the other hand, elected his equivalent, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, to leadership of your country, and kept him, and his reprehensible points of view, in power for 22 years. That racialist hate, and that dislike of other peoples, continues to live on in your country, and thrives among your people. In that regard, you are true imitators of many of the modern Arab nations - societies marked by cronyism, repression of unapproved points of view, and support for terrorist organizations. What are the words screamed at your anti-American demonstrations? Hezbollah, Hamas, and Jihad."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"Mahathir is a smuck, and Malays are third rate Pakis. So fifth rate Arabs anyhow. An odious petty people without either culture or civilization, imitative, unoriginal, and in all things deficient. Kind of like the Greeks, in other words."
[35 comments as of this writing.]
DUTCH HAMAS SUPPORTERS
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/dutch-hamas-supporters.html
Quote:
"All of these people have tacitly or actively endorsed continued terrorist attacks against Israel. In that desire, they join the rest of European socialist parties (rebranded successors to the old-style Stalinist parties). A more convincing argument for an expanded no-fly list is hard to imagine."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"The left wingers in the netherlands are not the most educated persons in the world. You can't blame them thinking these things. Most Socialist have had just a few years in school and don't know history very well. Keep that in mind!"
[57 comments as of this writing.]
JEW HATE IN SF: DEMONSTRATION IN FRONT OF THE ISRAELI CONSULATE TUESDAY DECEMBER 30, 2008
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2008/12/jew-hate-in-sf-demonstration-in-front.html
Quote:
"Besides, the angry Middle-Eastern Jew-hater with a bullhorn, and the rabid white chick with an equally loud bullhorn and a grating voice, made plain in great detail what the peace movement's plan for Israel and the Jews entails, as did the numerous threats and insults directed at our side by both Arabs and Anglos."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"Read THE INTERNATIONAL JEW by Henry Ford!!! These Jews are an international band of criminals and BABY KILLERS who have hijacked our foreign policy and and bought our corrupt politicians and control our media but WE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE are smarter than they think. I say it is time we stopped financing them and protecting them without us they would not last two weeks. IRAN will NUKE them soon."
[108 comments as of this writing.]
PIE FOR FINKELSTEIN
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2008/10/pie-for-finkelstein.html
Quote:
"A frequent reader and occasional commenter draws my attention to the upcoming visit of Norman Finkelstein, kapo and collaborateur-extraordinaire of the International Phillistinist Enterprise, which will be sponsored by the usual gang of thugs at UC Berkeley - that being an Arab-funded operation going under the name of 'Students For Justice In Palestine'."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"But Finkelstein sets himself up so beautifully for ad hominems. After all, he admits he is fixated on his mother (oh, gee), and he admits he went into a deep funk when the soviet union fell (3 weeks- no eating and sleeping, poor baby). How can you NOT make fun of this guy?"
[71 comments as of this writing.]
Please feel free to peruse the posts cited above, my dear anonymous commenter. You will without a doubt find soul-mates among the commenters, and probably also revisit some of your own writing.
You will also find some comments and counter-comments in Dutch - that you shall not be able to comprehend them in the slightest saddens me, as I really do wish that more Americans were literate.
There's always Babelfish - no, I shall NOT translate for you, do your own research, you lazy darn Berkeleyite!
See this post:
BAY AREA PEACE-ACTIVISTS SUPPORT 'RESISTANCE'
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/04/bay-area-peace-activists-support-hamas.html
Quote:
"As is made clear by their websites, their literature and signs in several protests, and their rhetoric, such Bay Area groups as International ANSWER, the ISM, Students for Justice in Palestine, Bay Area Women in Black, Jewish Voice for Peace, and even members of Code Pink support Hamas."
[Forty comments as of this writing.]
I have urged him to google, and even suggested several search criteria. But no. He is adamant that I do it for him. Livid, and having a big ole hissy. Despite the support for Hamas and similar organizations being both extremely well-known, and entirely beside the point of that post.
In that, he is rather like my customers a quarter of a century ago, when I still wrote term-papers for fellow "students". They too seemed incapable of reading on their own, or grasping what they read.
Perhaps he fails to understand that bloggers thrive on controversy, and are delighted when someone returns again and again to their blog. And perhaps he also wishes to put words in my mouth, and trick me into betraying sources or stating something that might be useful to him and his ilk.
No matter - all I really care about is that he keep coming back to be frustrated.
To enhance that experience for him, I present a list of posts on this blog that have irritated the living daylights out of other trolls.
VIOLENT ANTI-SEMITES RALLY FOR PEACE
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/03/violent-anti-semites-rally-for-peace.html
Quote:
"Peace rally in San Francisco's civic center turns into angry confrontation. Activists scream hatred at Jews. Angry Lakota Sioux radical spouts racist rant, finishes by bad drumming and unintelligible chanting. Dick Becker has a fit. Speaker at microphone calls the police mothe***88ers and accuses them of wanting to kill people. Arab bites cop. Palestinians attack Jews in metro."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"The same Lily Haskell who led the chant at the AIPAC rally back in late 2008: "Israel Supporters Watch your Backs, or we'll push you down a shaft!" The same Lily Haskell who referred to Jews as "racist Zionists" upon complaining to SFAC back in Sept 2007 regarding the remodification of a mural. "
[21 comments as of this writing.]
WHERE ARE THE PROTESTS?
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/where-are-protests.html
Quote:
"Surely Tamils deserve the same consideration if not more than the civilians of Gaza?
No? Are you sure? You're not just being racist, are you?
You really think it's all peachy over there, and you are not at all concerned?
Oh, I forgot - Tamils are the Jews of Sri-Lanka, and therefore not worthy of the intellectual pretentiousness of the good people of Berkeley. You guys ARE racists."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"Thats why the talk in Oakland was so egregious- solidarity should be built working side by side on issues of mutual aid, not by creating distrust through lies, demonization and hate. The way to elevate the Palestinian people is not by attacking the Israeli people- it is by convincing the Palestinians that their future lies on the path of peace."
[30 comments as of this writing.]
MALAYSIAN RACISM
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/malaysian-racism.html
Quote:
"Here, we have rejected the ideology of George Wallace, and that type of hate has been marginalized in the United States and most of the Western World.
You, on the other hand, elected his equivalent, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, to leadership of your country, and kept him, and his reprehensible points of view, in power for 22 years. That racialist hate, and that dislike of other peoples, continues to live on in your country, and thrives among your people. In that regard, you are true imitators of many of the modern Arab nations - societies marked by cronyism, repression of unapproved points of view, and support for terrorist organizations. What are the words screamed at your anti-American demonstrations? Hezbollah, Hamas, and Jihad."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"Mahathir is a smuck, and Malays are third rate Pakis. So fifth rate Arabs anyhow. An odious petty people without either culture or civilization, imitative, unoriginal, and in all things deficient. Kind of like the Greeks, in other words."
[35 comments as of this writing.]
DUTCH HAMAS SUPPORTERS
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/dutch-hamas-supporters.html
Quote:
"All of these people have tacitly or actively endorsed continued terrorist attacks against Israel. In that desire, they join the rest of European socialist parties (rebranded successors to the old-style Stalinist parties). A more convincing argument for an expanded no-fly list is hard to imagine."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"The left wingers in the netherlands are not the most educated persons in the world. You can't blame them thinking these things. Most Socialist have had just a few years in school and don't know history very well. Keep that in mind!"
[57 comments as of this writing.]
JEW HATE IN SF: DEMONSTRATION IN FRONT OF THE ISRAELI CONSULATE TUESDAY DECEMBER 30, 2008
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2008/12/jew-hate-in-sf-demonstration-in-front.html
Quote:
"Besides, the angry Middle-Eastern Jew-hater with a bullhorn, and the rabid white chick with an equally loud bullhorn and a grating voice, made plain in great detail what the peace movement's plan for Israel and the Jews entails, as did the numerous threats and insults directed at our side by both Arabs and Anglos."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"Read THE INTERNATIONAL JEW by Henry Ford!!! These Jews are an international band of criminals and BABY KILLERS who have hijacked our foreign policy and and bought our corrupt politicians and control our media but WE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE are smarter than they think. I say it is time we stopped financing them and protecting them without us they would not last two weeks. IRAN will NUKE them soon."
[108 comments as of this writing.]
PIE FOR FINKELSTEIN
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2008/10/pie-for-finkelstein.html
Quote:
"A frequent reader and occasional commenter draws my attention to the upcoming visit of Norman Finkelstein, kapo and collaborateur-extraordinaire of the International Phillistinist Enterprise, which will be sponsored by the usual gang of thugs at UC Berkeley - that being an Arab-funded operation going under the name of 'Students For Justice In Palestine'."
Quote from an anonymous comment:
"But Finkelstein sets himself up so beautifully for ad hominems. After all, he admits he is fixated on his mother (oh, gee), and he admits he went into a deep funk when the soviet union fell (3 weeks- no eating and sleeping, poor baby). How can you NOT make fun of this guy?"
[71 comments as of this writing.]
Please feel free to peruse the posts cited above, my dear anonymous commenter. You will without a doubt find soul-mates among the commenters, and probably also revisit some of your own writing.
You will also find some comments and counter-comments in Dutch - that you shall not be able to comprehend them in the slightest saddens me, as I really do wish that more Americans were literate.
There's always Babelfish - no, I shall NOT translate for you, do your own research, you lazy darn Berkeleyite!
Monday, January 19, 2009
THE REPREHENSIBLE DR. MAHATHIR MOHAMAD
Recent readers of this blog may have noticed that I have strong opinions about Malaysia, the form of apartheid practiced in Malaysia (called 'the Bumiputra Policies' on this blog, aka NEP), and the man who more than anything else enabled that grossly unfair system, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
I waxed much wroth about him in recent posts.
See these posts:
1. http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/malaysia-racism-bigotry-and-boycott.html
2. http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/anti-us-and-anti-israel-round-up.html
3. http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/malaysian-racism.html
Note that by the third post, an ongoing scrimmage seemed to have developed.
I disagree with several of the commenters. Which does not mean that I wish them to cease and desist. There is no conversation when the participants agree. Dispute is necessary - not only to further understanding (your own, not that of the person with whom you disagree), but also to sharpen the mind.
This post is neither an apology, nor an expression of sympathy for Dr. Mahathir Mohamad's points of view. By no means!
I shall continue to find his ideas odious (except, of course, for the ones with which I happen to agree - please see comment above about 'conversation').
It is, however, an acknowledgement that the man writes very well.
As can be seen from his former blog:
http://test.chedet.com/che_det/archives.html
And his current blog:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/
On his blog, Dr. Mahathir discusses a wide variety of subjects. Not all of which are political.
Without giving credence or weight to his loathsome views on the western world and Israel, to which I would not wish to draw further attention either, let me just mention that I did not know that Malaysia made Mozzarella cheese till I read it here:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2009/01/mozzarella-cheese-ii.html
And further regarding Mozzarella cheese, see this:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2008/12/mozzarella-cheese.html
Mozzarella Cheese? Malaysia? Oyvavoy!
Flabbergasting.
But no more surprising than sambal badjak and sambal oelek being manufactured by Huy Fong Foods in Los Angeles (also manufacturers of Sriracha Hotsauce, affectionately called 'Cock Sauce' by its fans), a popular brand of kroepoek oedang for the Dutch Market coming from Chekiang, or ketjap manis made in Den Haag.
Not to mention Mooncakes from Eastern Bakery on Grant Avenue being sent to kinfolk in Guangzhou......
Dr. Mahathir also discusses the Bumiputra Policies and the race situation in Malaysia here:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2008/11/racism-and-2008-elections.html
Here:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2008/09/racialism.html
Also here:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2008/08/affirmative-action.html
And most particularly here:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2008/06/multiracial-malaysia.html
Please understand, I am absolutely not endorsing his views. But if you wish to understand the Malaysian Bumiputra policies, the posts referenced above are a very good place to start reading.
[You should probably also look up the terms NEP, Bumiputra, Orang Asli, Peranakan and Pribumi (as well as the Indonesian 'Peraturan Pemerintah 10/1959') - these are all explained in Wikipedia and elsewhere.]
Go on, browse over to his blog - it is well worth visiting. Did I mention that he writes well?
Many posts are in English, some are in Bahasa Melayu.
And if you are looking for texts in Malay to sharpen your ability with the language, you could hardly do any better.
I waxed much wroth about him in recent posts.
See these posts:
1. http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/malaysia-racism-bigotry-and-boycott.html
2. http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/anti-us-and-anti-israel-round-up.html
3. http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/malaysian-racism.html
Note that by the third post, an ongoing scrimmage seemed to have developed.
I disagree with several of the commenters. Which does not mean that I wish them to cease and desist. There is no conversation when the participants agree. Dispute is necessary - not only to further understanding (your own, not that of the person with whom you disagree), but also to sharpen the mind.
This post is neither an apology, nor an expression of sympathy for Dr. Mahathir Mohamad's points of view. By no means!
I shall continue to find his ideas odious (except, of course, for the ones with which I happen to agree - please see comment above about 'conversation').
It is, however, an acknowledgement that the man writes very well.
As can be seen from his former blog:
http://test.chedet.com/che_det/archives.html
And his current blog:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/
On his blog, Dr. Mahathir discusses a wide variety of subjects. Not all of which are political.
Without giving credence or weight to his loathsome views on the western world and Israel, to which I would not wish to draw further attention either, let me just mention that I did not know that Malaysia made Mozzarella cheese till I read it here:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2009/01/mozzarella-cheese-ii.html
And further regarding Mozzarella cheese, see this:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2008/12/mozzarella-cheese.html
Mozzarella Cheese? Malaysia? Oyvavoy!
Flabbergasting.
But no more surprising than sambal badjak and sambal oelek being manufactured by Huy Fong Foods in Los Angeles (also manufacturers of Sriracha Hotsauce, affectionately called 'Cock Sauce' by its fans), a popular brand of kroepoek oedang for the Dutch Market coming from Chekiang, or ketjap manis made in Den Haag.
Not to mention Mooncakes from Eastern Bakery on Grant Avenue being sent to kinfolk in Guangzhou......
Dr. Mahathir also discusses the Bumiputra Policies and the race situation in Malaysia here:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2008/11/racism-and-2008-elections.html
Here:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2008/09/racialism.html
Also here:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2008/08/affirmative-action.html
And most particularly here:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2008/06/multiracial-malaysia.html
Please understand, I am absolutely not endorsing his views. But if you wish to understand the Malaysian Bumiputra policies, the posts referenced above are a very good place to start reading.
[You should probably also look up the terms NEP, Bumiputra, Orang Asli, Peranakan and Pribumi (as well as the Indonesian 'Peraturan Pemerintah 10/1959') - these are all explained in Wikipedia and elsewhere.]
Go on, browse over to his blog - it is well worth visiting. Did I mention that he writes well?
Many posts are in English, some are in Bahasa Melayu.
And if you are looking for texts in Malay to sharpen your ability with the language, you could hardly do any better.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
MALAYSIAN RACISM
For several days various anonymi have visited two recent posts, and left comments. These anonymi appear to be either two people, or two points-of-view; one of them is more-or-less a calm individual who seems to have an ability to perceive nuances, the other one comes across as a Malay-nationalist with an abiding hatred for America and Israel, though he (she?) does not actually express that in his (her?) comments. He (she?) merely replays the typical tropes that reflect a dislike of the West, a distaste for Jews coupled with a favouritism towards the side that employs Islamic extremists, and a gut-level support for the apartheid which marks the Malaysian state and its treatment of Chinese and Indians as well as the officially-sanctioned hatred towards Jews.
The two posts are:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/malaysia-racism-bigotry-and-boycott.html
And:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/malaysia-racism-bigotry-and-boycott.html
Now let us join a conversation already in progress........
Nuanced Anonymous writes:
The back of the Hill said :"Changes in attitudes have to come from both sides - without reciprocation, there is no inspiration"
The first to do a good deed will be the better one. What is going to be Mr Back of the Hill?
We've already made numerous overtures - the onus is now on you to reciprocate. And though we've been waiting for what seem like eons, we remain, as always, patient.
And we still wait.
Considerably Less Nuanced Anonymous writes:
Are you trying to say that you only like people which are subservient to you. And you hate Mahathir Mohamad because he dare to speak up issues that you refused to believe.
We like people with whom we are not in conflict and with whom we have open and constructive dialogue. We have no reason whatsoever to like people who scream "death to America" and "death to Israel" at government-approved pep-rallies. Especially not if they nevertheless seek to do business with us, and profit from their association with us.
Yes, we dislike those who dislike us.
It is clear that your grasp of history is one-sided and extremely biased. You support Mahathir Mohamad - a man who is notorious world-wide as a Jew-hater, a racist, and a bigot.
Here, we have rejected the ideology of George Wallace, and that type of hate has been marginalized in the United States and most of the Western World.
You, on the other hand, elected his equivalent, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, to leadership of your country, and kept him, and his reprehensible points of view, in power for 22 years.
That racialist hate, and that dislike of other peoples, continues to live on in your country, and thrives among your people.
In that regard, you are true imitators of many of the modern Arab nations - societies marked by cronyism, repression of unapproved points of view, and support for terrorist organizations. What are the words screamed at your anti-American demonstrations? Hezbollah, Hamas, and Jihad.
I absolutely reject such typical and unquestioning Malay allegiance to pan-Islamist solidarity.
We are a self-critical society with a broad spectrum of political viewpoints; even statements which advocate the destruction of America and support the racist-ideology of Hamas have a public voice in our country.
You are a society that is scared of opinions that oppose your narrow and rigid loyalties to your own tribe and your own creed.
Remember, you are the people who have maintained the last remaining version of apartheid for over a generation. It is almost forty years since the racists riots instigated by UMNO operatives in 1969.
You are not qualified to discuss certain issues until you clean up your act.
First get rid of the Bumiputra policies and NEP, then we can talk.
Oh, and stop treating Chinese, Indians, and non-Muslims as dhimmis while you're at it; that, too, is a particular sore point. And well worthy of anger and dislike.
The day when the Malaysian government rejects the apartheid and institutionalized racism that they have enforced for forty years is the day that Malays will truly deserve our respect.
The two posts are:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/malaysia-racism-bigotry-and-boycott.html
And:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/malaysia-racism-bigotry-and-boycott.html
Now let us join a conversation already in progress........
Nuanced Anonymous writes:
The back of the Hill said :"Changes in attitudes have to come from both sides - without reciprocation, there is no inspiration"
The first to do a good deed will be the better one. What is going to be Mr Back of the Hill?
We've already made numerous overtures - the onus is now on you to reciprocate. And though we've been waiting for what seem like eons, we remain, as always, patient.
And we still wait.
Considerably Less Nuanced Anonymous writes:
Are you trying to say that you only like people which are subservient to you. And you hate Mahathir Mohamad because he dare to speak up issues that you refused to believe.
We like people with whom we are not in conflict and with whom we have open and constructive dialogue. We have no reason whatsoever to like people who scream "death to America" and "death to Israel" at government-approved pep-rallies. Especially not if they nevertheless seek to do business with us, and profit from their association with us.
Yes, we dislike those who dislike us.
It is clear that your grasp of history is one-sided and extremely biased. You support Mahathir Mohamad - a man who is notorious world-wide as a Jew-hater, a racist, and a bigot.
Here, we have rejected the ideology of George Wallace, and that type of hate has been marginalized in the United States and most of the Western World.
You, on the other hand, elected his equivalent, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, to leadership of your country, and kept him, and his reprehensible points of view, in power for 22 years.
That racialist hate, and that dislike of other peoples, continues to live on in your country, and thrives among your people.
In that regard, you are true imitators of many of the modern Arab nations - societies marked by cronyism, repression of unapproved points of view, and support for terrorist organizations. What are the words screamed at your anti-American demonstrations? Hezbollah, Hamas, and Jihad.
I absolutely reject such typical and unquestioning Malay allegiance to pan-Islamist solidarity.
We are a self-critical society with a broad spectrum of political viewpoints; even statements which advocate the destruction of America and support the racist-ideology of Hamas have a public voice in our country.
You are a society that is scared of opinions that oppose your narrow and rigid loyalties to your own tribe and your own creed.
Remember, you are the people who have maintained the last remaining version of apartheid for over a generation. It is almost forty years since the racists riots instigated by UMNO operatives in 1969.
You are not qualified to discuss certain issues until you clean up your act.
First get rid of the Bumiputra policies and NEP, then we can talk.
Oh, and stop treating Chinese, Indians, and non-Muslims as dhimmis while you're at it; that, too, is a particular sore point. And well worthy of anger and dislike.
The day when the Malaysian government rejects the apartheid and institutionalized racism that they have enforced for forty years is the day that Malays will truly deserve our respect.
Monday, January 12, 2009
MALAYSIA - RACISM, BIGOTRY, AND A BOYCOTT
Apparently Muslim Malaysians are now boycotting American products.
This despite the products in question being made locally by Malaysian companies - which, per fiat, have to be minimally 30% bumiputra-owned (as opposed to Malaysian-Chinese), which means that those who will be hit hardest will be Malaysian citizens.
Here is the notorious former prime-minister of Malaysia with a simplistic statement:
"If you stop accepting US currency, the US can't trade and can't make any money, it will become very poor and it will have to stop the production of more and more weapons in order to kill people. People must act... they won't die if they don't drink Coca-Cola"
------Dr Mahathir Mohamad
In one sense, this is an outgrowth of the xenophobia traditional among the kampong-electorate, though this most recent manifestation is because of our foreign policy, especially our support of Israel. Malays have an unhealthy dislike of everyone who is not of their faith, most particularly Chinese, Indian, Jews, and Americans.
Events in Gaza prompted the current boycott.
TRADE
Very well. Let's look at some ideas. The U.S. is Malaysia's largest trading partner, while Malaysia is the tenth largest trading partner of the United States, currently allowed very favourable terms, and bucking for FTA status.
At present, trade amounts to over fifty billion dollars, mostly computers, computer accessories, telecommunication equipment and electronic goods. Nearly half of U.S. exports to Malaysia are semi-conductors.
Companies that use Malaysian manufacturing are General Electric, ConocoPhillips, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Oracle, among others.
MALAYSIAN APARTHEID POLICIES
Malaysia is one of the last countries practicing a form of apartheid, namely the Bumiputra policies, which give ethnic Malays (mostly defined as Moslems and Borneo tribal peoples) preferences over the Chinese and Indians. For purposes of discrimination, Chinese who have been there for several centuries are classed as outsiders, while recent carpet-baggers from Java and Sumatra are considered natives. Anybody who converts to Islam almost automatically becomes a native, though conversion from Islam to other religions is forbidden. The gentleman quoted above, though technically a foreigner (being descended from South Indian Muslim stock), is by the peculiar logic of the Bumiputra policies native because of his religion. Yes, Malaysia is also one of those countries where religion is a basis for discrimination.
The term for conversion to Islam is 'jadi melayu' - becoming Malay. Which indicates that the main targets for Bumiputra-policy discrimination are Chinese and Indian - precisely the people whose enterprise and gumption for the past two centuries have made Malaysia a modern nation.
The main beneficiaries of the discriminatory laws are the coastal settlers from Sumatra, Riau, Borneo, and Java, as well as the descendants of Bugis pirates and Minangkabau adventurers, who only since the clearing of jungle during British times have moved inland in substantial numbers.
The Bumiputras who do not benefit from Malaysia's peculiar form of apartheid are the non-Muslim tribal peoples of Borneo, who are systematically robbed by Melayu (Malay) and Melanau (Islamic convert speaker of Malay) settlers. Nor, oddly, are the Tausug and Samal (who are indigenous to certain areas of the Sabah coast) beneficiaries, as admitting them as natives would be disadvantageous to Melayu and Melanau .... settlers.
Ethnic Malays, of course, consider their discrimination perfectly normal. And regard us as less than human.
CONCLUSION
In short, this pestilential piece-of-drek country has utterly no business telling the rest of the world what to do. And would be well advised to shut up, and not try a boycott. Especially not now. Not if they wish continuing talks on a Free Trade Agreement to go anywhere.
It would be worth your while to bring this up with your elected representatives, and with the American companies listed above, as well as others. And I encourage you to let your voice be heard.
===============================================
ADDENDUM
If you wish to tell the Malaysians precisely where to stuff it, contact the nearest Malaysian Trade Commission office.
In California:
Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA)
550 South Hope Street, #400Los Angeles, CA 90071
PH: (213) 955-9183
FX: (213) 955-9878
Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA)
226 Airport Parkway, #480San Jose, CA 95110
PH: (408) 392-0617/8
FX: (408) 392-0619
Here are other useful addresses:
Embassy of Malaysia
2401 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008.
PH: (202) 328-2700
FX: (202) 483-7661
Consulate General of Malaysia - Los Angeles
550, South Hope Street, Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90071.
PH: (213) 892-1238
FX: (213) 892-9031
Consulate General of Malaysia - New York
313 East 43rd Street
New York, NY 10017.
PH: (212) 490-2722, 490-2723
FX: (212) 490-2049
I am sure that they will delighted to hear from you - especially as a frank discussion of the ethnic situation in Malaysia will touch a matter near their hearts. Either as the happy beneficiaries of institutionalized racism, or the resigned and resentful victims.
This despite the products in question being made locally by Malaysian companies - which, per fiat, have to be minimally 30% bumiputra-owned (as opposed to Malaysian-Chinese), which means that those who will be hit hardest will be Malaysian citizens.
Here is the notorious former prime-minister of Malaysia with a simplistic statement:
"If you stop accepting US currency, the US can't trade and can't make any money, it will become very poor and it will have to stop the production of more and more weapons in order to kill people. People must act... they won't die if they don't drink Coca-Cola"
------Dr Mahathir Mohamad
In one sense, this is an outgrowth of the xenophobia traditional among the kampong-electorate, though this most recent manifestation is because of our foreign policy, especially our support of Israel. Malays have an unhealthy dislike of everyone who is not of their faith, most particularly Chinese, Indian, Jews, and Americans.
Events in Gaza prompted the current boycott.
TRADE
Very well. Let's look at some ideas. The U.S. is Malaysia's largest trading partner, while Malaysia is the tenth largest trading partner of the United States, currently allowed very favourable terms, and bucking for FTA status.
At present, trade amounts to over fifty billion dollars, mostly computers, computer accessories, telecommunication equipment and electronic goods. Nearly half of U.S. exports to Malaysia are semi-conductors.
Companies that use Malaysian manufacturing are General Electric, ConocoPhillips, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Oracle, among others.
MALAYSIAN APARTHEID POLICIES
Malaysia is one of the last countries practicing a form of apartheid, namely the Bumiputra policies, which give ethnic Malays (mostly defined as Moslems and Borneo tribal peoples) preferences over the Chinese and Indians. For purposes of discrimination, Chinese who have been there for several centuries are classed as outsiders, while recent carpet-baggers from Java and Sumatra are considered natives. Anybody who converts to Islam almost automatically becomes a native, though conversion from Islam to other religions is forbidden. The gentleman quoted above, though technically a foreigner (being descended from South Indian Muslim stock), is by the peculiar logic of the Bumiputra policies native because of his religion. Yes, Malaysia is also one of those countries where religion is a basis for discrimination.
The term for conversion to Islam is 'jadi melayu' - becoming Malay. Which indicates that the main targets for Bumiputra-policy discrimination are Chinese and Indian - precisely the people whose enterprise and gumption for the past two centuries have made Malaysia a modern nation.
The main beneficiaries of the discriminatory laws are the coastal settlers from Sumatra, Riau, Borneo, and Java, as well as the descendants of Bugis pirates and Minangkabau adventurers, who only since the clearing of jungle during British times have moved inland in substantial numbers.
The Bumiputras who do not benefit from Malaysia's peculiar form of apartheid are the non-Muslim tribal peoples of Borneo, who are systematically robbed by Melayu (Malay) and Melanau (Islamic convert speaker of Malay) settlers. Nor, oddly, are the Tausug and Samal (who are indigenous to certain areas of the Sabah coast) beneficiaries, as admitting them as natives would be disadvantageous to Melayu and Melanau .... settlers.
Ethnic Malays, of course, consider their discrimination perfectly normal. And regard us as less than human.
CONCLUSION
In short, this pestilential piece-of-drek country has utterly no business telling the rest of the world what to do. And would be well advised to shut up, and not try a boycott. Especially not now. Not if they wish continuing talks on a Free Trade Agreement to go anywhere.
It would be worth your while to bring this up with your elected representatives, and with the American companies listed above, as well as others. And I encourage you to let your voice be heard.
===============================================
ADDENDUM
If you wish to tell the Malaysians precisely where to stuff it, contact the nearest Malaysian Trade Commission office.
In California:
Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA)
550 South Hope Street, #400Los Angeles, CA 90071
PH: (213) 955-9183
FX: (213) 955-9878
Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA)
226 Airport Parkway, #480San Jose, CA 95110
PH: (408) 392-0617/8
FX: (408) 392-0619
Here are other useful addresses:
Embassy of Malaysia
2401 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008.
PH: (202) 328-2700
FX: (202) 483-7661
Consulate General of Malaysia - Los Angeles
550, South Hope Street, Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90071.
PH: (213) 892-1238
FX: (213) 892-9031
Consulate General of Malaysia - New York
313 East 43rd Street
New York, NY 10017.
PH: (212) 490-2722, 490-2723
FX: (212) 490-2049
I am sure that they will delighted to hear from you - especially as a frank discussion of the ethnic situation in Malaysia will touch a matter near their hearts. Either as the happy beneficiaries of institutionalized racism, or the resigned and resentful victims.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
ANOTHER CRITICAL LOOK AT MALAYSIA
Wow. Even the US government is paying attention! Apparently the camel-corps over at State has realized that Malaysia's assaults on freedom of speech and freedom of the press should not stand. The Malaysian Charge d'Affairs, Mr. Ilango Karuppanan, was given a talking-to over the recent arrests of an oppositionists, a blogger, and a journalist.
Quotes:
"Peaceful expression of political opinions is a fundamental right and critical to a democracy,"
"The United States believes that the Malaysian government should provide due process and treatment consistent with Malaysian law and international standards,"
"We expect that democratic countries that purport to advocate free expression of political views will not curtail such freedom,"
[Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jaqcOFqlsYHyxjXfkbxuJcNRQ5_A ]
It should be stressed that the ruling powers in Malaysia do NOT believe in a fundamental right to express ANY political opinions - they tolerate such expression when it more or less agrees with their own ideas - nor does the Malaysian government adhere to international standards, save when convenient.
As for the expectation so eloquently expressed, such does not accord with Malay adat at all.
[Adat means traditional law and custom. The word is derived from Arabic. But the Malay interpretation means everything from enforced obedience to societal pressure and government dictat, to draconian legal measures against any form of dissent and non-Malay ethnic assertion.]
MALAY SOCIETY
The honourable Ilango Karuppanan has a less than enviable position; representing a society and a ruling class which fears dissent, independent thought, and outside influences. For such is the dominant ethos in Malaysia - an undereducated and superstitious agrarian hinterland occupied by Malay migrants from the coasts and the Indonesian islands, fiercely fearful of the influence and success of the urban Chinese and Indians who have made the peninsula prosperous, and the country viable as an independent nation.
[Malays originate in Sumatra and Riau predominantly, though there are Malaysian villages inhabited by the descendants of Javanese settlers, as well as Minang in Negri Sembilan. The dominant class in Malaysian Borneo are mostly carpetbaggers and the Malayized pirate classes of the coast, along with corrupt officials who have seized control of the natural resources in the upriver areas. The Buginese form distinct strata both in the peninsula and Borneo, but are nevertheless considered Bumiputra]
Twenty years of noteworthy service in Malaysia's foreign service also can not quite prepare even so intelligent an individual as Ilango Karuppanan for the promotion of what is essentially a system of apartheid; the legalized advancement and preference given to mal-educated Malays and Arabs-gone-native over qualified Indians and Chinese, the quotas and projects that benefit aforementioned Malays and Arabs-gone-native, and the legal privileges that being a Malay (or an Arab-gone-native) have.
[For background on Malay Apartheid and the term Bumiputra, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumiputra
and note especially the favoured position of Muslims. ]
Mr. Ilango Karuppanan himself may have some private objections to such a system - not being, strictly speaking, a beneficiary thereof.
[Bio of the honourable Mr. Ilango Karuppanan:
http://www.akronworldaffairs.org/programs/speaker_bios/karuppannan.html ]
HUMAN RIGHTS
Perhaps it is time for the rest of the world to stop passively accepting the Malaysian government's utterances at face-value, and actually start investigating the human rights abuses in that stalwart Muslim country?
I am sure that the activists of SUARAM could assist them in that regard, as well as all the people who have over the years been arrested and held indefinitely under Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA) - including but not limited to human rights activists, activists of the ethnic and political minorities, plus lawyers, scholars, and people who have cast aside a former Islamic identity in favour of other religions.
Converts to Buddhism, Hinduism, or Christianity in Malaysia can certainly speak, from bitter personal experience, of the treatment they have received from their Muslim ex-coreligionists.
The experiences of reporters and politicians who at some point ran afoul of UMNO (United Malays National Organization - the major Malay political party) and were arrested under the Internal Security Act might also be instructive - ISA has in the past been used as a catch-all statute to squash dissent, punish recalcitrant politicians, and enforce the Mafia-like rule of local machers.
[For just one example of a reporter arrested arbitrarily, see here:
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/12656/84/
and also read this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7613754.stm]
If the world were to support the sincere and honest individuals in Malaysia in their attempts to improve their society, they would discover that Malaysians of all ethnicities have the capability to make Malaysia flourish. This is not a country that is starting from zero, these are not people without valid reasons for national and ethnic pride.
It is a great pity that the integration of Malaysia in the world economy has been at the expense of certain inalienable freedoms, and it is a tragedy that the international community has so profitably turned a blind eye to the rape of its own ideals.
Quotes:
"Peaceful expression of political opinions is a fundamental right and critical to a democracy,"
"The United States believes that the Malaysian government should provide due process and treatment consistent with Malaysian law and international standards,"
"We expect that democratic countries that purport to advocate free expression of political views will not curtail such freedom,"
[Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jaqcOFqlsYHyxjXfkbxuJcNRQ5_A ]
It should be stressed that the ruling powers in Malaysia do NOT believe in a fundamental right to express ANY political opinions - they tolerate such expression when it more or less agrees with their own ideas - nor does the Malaysian government adhere to international standards, save when convenient.
As for the expectation so eloquently expressed, such does not accord with Malay adat at all.
[Adat means traditional law and custom. The word is derived from Arabic. But the Malay interpretation means everything from enforced obedience to societal pressure and government dictat, to draconian legal measures against any form of dissent and non-Malay ethnic assertion.]
MALAY SOCIETY
The honourable Ilango Karuppanan has a less than enviable position; representing a society and a ruling class which fears dissent, independent thought, and outside influences. For such is the dominant ethos in Malaysia - an undereducated and superstitious agrarian hinterland occupied by Malay migrants from the coasts and the Indonesian islands, fiercely fearful of the influence and success of the urban Chinese and Indians who have made the peninsula prosperous, and the country viable as an independent nation.
[Malays originate in Sumatra and Riau predominantly, though there are Malaysian villages inhabited by the descendants of Javanese settlers, as well as Minang in Negri Sembilan. The dominant class in Malaysian Borneo are mostly carpetbaggers and the Malayized pirate classes of the coast, along with corrupt officials who have seized control of the natural resources in the upriver areas. The Buginese form distinct strata both in the peninsula and Borneo, but are nevertheless considered Bumiputra]
Twenty years of noteworthy service in Malaysia's foreign service also can not quite prepare even so intelligent an individual as Ilango Karuppanan for the promotion of what is essentially a system of apartheid; the legalized advancement and preference given to mal-educated Malays and Arabs-gone-native over qualified Indians and Chinese, the quotas and projects that benefit aforementioned Malays and Arabs-gone-native, and the legal privileges that being a Malay (or an Arab-gone-native) have.
[For background on Malay Apartheid and the term Bumiputra, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumiputra
and note especially the favoured position of Muslims. ]
Mr. Ilango Karuppanan himself may have some private objections to such a system - not being, strictly speaking, a beneficiary thereof.
[Bio of the honourable Mr. Ilango Karuppanan:
http://www.akronworldaffairs.org/programs/speaker_bios/karuppannan.html ]
HUMAN RIGHTS
Perhaps it is time for the rest of the world to stop passively accepting the Malaysian government's utterances at face-value, and actually start investigating the human rights abuses in that stalwart Muslim country?
I am sure that the activists of SUARAM could assist them in that regard, as well as all the people who have over the years been arrested and held indefinitely under Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA) - including but not limited to human rights activists, activists of the ethnic and political minorities, plus lawyers, scholars, and people who have cast aside a former Islamic identity in favour of other religions.
Converts to Buddhism, Hinduism, or Christianity in Malaysia can certainly speak, from bitter personal experience, of the treatment they have received from their Muslim ex-coreligionists.
The experiences of reporters and politicians who at some point ran afoul of UMNO (United Malays National Organization - the major Malay political party) and were arrested under the Internal Security Act might also be instructive - ISA has in the past been used as a catch-all statute to squash dissent, punish recalcitrant politicians, and enforce the Mafia-like rule of local machers.
[For just one example of a reporter arrested arbitrarily, see here:
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/12656/84/
and also read this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7613754.stm]
If the world were to support the sincere and honest individuals in Malaysia in their attempts to improve their society, they would discover that Malaysians of all ethnicities have the capability to make Malaysia flourish. This is not a country that is starting from zero, these are not people without valid reasons for national and ethnic pride.
It is a great pity that the integration of Malaysia in the world economy has been at the expense of certain inalienable freedoms, and it is a tragedy that the international community has so profitably turned a blind eye to the rape of its own ideals.
Friday, September 12, 2008
RAJA PETRA KAMARUDDIN
What, you do not know that name? RPK is the editor of a popular newsblog in Malaysia. He was arrested today under the Internal Security Act for posting an article which the Malaysian government claims insulted Islam.
The Malaysian government claims equitability and a lack of bias, yet have consistently favoured Islam and discriminated against non-Muslims.
This is the same government whose then prime minister, Datuk Seri Mahathir Muhammad, spouted anti-Semitic and anti-Western drivel of the most reprehensible kind. This is the same government which discriminates against all non-Muslims. This is the same government which supports some of the worst elements in the Islamic world while blandly pretending neutrality.
This is the same government which panders to Minangkabau, Javan, and Melayu carpetbaggers by claiming that they are the true natives, because they are Muslim.
This is the same government which maintains the proud Muslim traditions of several royal families descended from Bugis and Arab pirates, rapists, and robbers - what, you didn't know that Malay royalty is traditionally half a generation removed from the most successful brigand in the local bog? You didn't know that piracy ennobled?
You didn't know that Malay royal families happily claim descent from the kin of the prophet Muhammad?
I'm not surprised you did not know that last bit - the only ones who believe that claim are the Malays themselves.
The Malaysian government seems determined to keep its citizenry ignorant and unenlightened. If they have to use Islamic sensibilities as a tool to that end, they will. It’s a means of staying in power.
THE ARREST OF BLOGGER RAJA PETRA KAMARUDDIN
BBC article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7612666.stm
Quote: "General Abdul Aziz Zainal called for "stern action" to be taken against anyone stoking racial tension in the country."
Quote: "Interior Minister Syed Hamid Albar said he had been arrested because his writings posed a threat to national security."
Racial tension is of course the great Malay bugaboo. In 1969, the ethnic Malays, incited by "native" racialists (Islamic politicos, mostly), rioted in Kuala Lumpur ('Muddy Estuary') against the Chinese, the actions having been preplanned (as is evident from the near simultaneous speed with which the violence spread throughout the city), and the ensuing organised violence including murder, rape, robbery, and torture.
The official figures speak of less than two hundred dead. Non-governmental figures reliably state that the real numbers were over two thousand fatalities. Army units sent to quell the rioting deliberately added to the chaos - by bringing in armed Malay thugs, and by arson.
This has been denied by all Malay parties and politicians since then.
The scale of the violence eventually shocked the instigators, but more importantly convinced the Malaysian mainstream politicians that unless something was done the economic basis of the country would collapse. That economic basis being the industrial sector created by Chinese enterprise and drive. Even to the "native" Malay, it was evident that the agrarian village economy could not sustain any development, nor provide the surplus that the ruling classes had come to depend upon.
Hence the use of 'racial tension' as the catch-all reason for curbing freedom of the press while yet encouraging Malay-ethnic chauvinism.
So, what actual text got Raja Petra Kamaruddin in trouble?
A REPORTER’S ACCOUNT OF AN INTERVIEW WITH TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN ON THE 13 MAY INCIDENT
Posted by Raja Petra Kamaruddin (2008-9-11)
"The following statement is a factual account of the above-mentioned event given to me by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman (first Prime Minister of Malaysia) during an interview at his residence in Penang in 1972. I requested to discuss the above incident and was surprised when the appointment was given within three days.
His Secretary, a Chinese gentleman, allotted me one hour and advised me not to go into too much detail as this would tire the Tunku unnecessarily. In fact, the interview lasted three and a half hours. Because of the very surprising details provided to me, I think it would be best to report in a first-hand manner based on my notes written immediately after the interview.
It was clear to me as well as the police that in the highly charged political atmosphere after the police were forced to kill a Chinese political party worker on May 4th, 1969, something was bound to happen to threaten law and order because of the resentment towards the Government by the KL Chinese on the eve of the general election. This was confirmed at this man’s funeral on the 9th May when the government faced the most hostile crowd it had ever seen.
Therefore, when the opposition parties applied for a police permit for a procession to celebrate their success in the results of the general election, I was adamant against it because the police were convinced that this would lead to trouble. I informed Tun Razak about this and he seemed to agree.
Now, without my knowledge and actually "behind my back", there were certain political leaders in high positions who were working to force me to step down as a PM. I don’t want to go into details but if they had come to me and said so I would gladly have retired gracefully.
Unfortunately, they were apparently scheming and trying to decide on the best way to force me to resign. The occasion came when the question of the police permit was to be approved.
Tun Razak and Harun Idris, the MB of the state of Selangor, now felt that permission should be given, knowing fully well that there was a likelihood of trouble. I suppose they felt that when this happened they could then demand my resignation.
To this day I find it very hard to believe that Razak, whom I had known for so many years, would agree to work against me in this way. Actually he was in my house, as I was preparing to return to Kedah, and I overhead him speaking to Harun over the phone saying that he would be willing to approve the permit when I left. I really could not believe what I was hearing and preferred to think it was about some other permit. In any case, as the Deputy Prime Minister, in my absence from KL, he would be the Acting PM and would override my objection.
Accordingly, when I was in my home in Kedah, I heard over the radio that the permit had been approved.
It seems as though the expected trouble was anticipated and planned for by Harun and his UMNO Youth. After the humiliating insults hurled by the non-Malays, especially the Chinese, and after the seeming loss of Malay political power to them, they were clearly ready for some retaliatory action.
After meeting in large numbers at Harun’s official residence in Jalan Raja Muda near Kampong Bahru, and hearing inflammatory speeches by Harun and other leaders, they prepared themselves by tying ribbon strips on their foreheads and set out to kill Chinese. The first hapless victims were two of them in a van opposite Harun’s house who were innocently watching the large gathering. Little did they know that they would be killed on the spot. "
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_13_Incident
Further from Wikipedia:
Less than 24 hours after posting the above entries in the "Malaysia-today's blog", Raja Petra Kamaruddin was arrested by the Badawi's Government under the draconian Internal Security Act.(2008-9-12)
A few hours later, a reporter for the Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily, "Miss Tan Hoon Cheng" was also arrested under the Internal Security Act after reporting on an outburst from a ruling party member who called the ethnic Chinese community "squatters".
Her report triggered a major row in the coalition which is made up of race-based parties. The leading party, which represents majority Muslim Malays, was forced to punish the member responsible.
Just before midnight, a third person, "Miss Teresa Kok", a highly regarded member of Parliament from the Chinese-based DAP which is a member of the opposition alliance, had also been arrested under the Internal Security Act. Miss Kok is an outspoken lawmaker and critics denouncing the race based politics in Malaysia.
[Source: same Wikipedia entry as the article by Raja Petra Kamaruddin]
-----------------------------------
I'll admit it - I am a partisan of the overseas Chinese in South East Asia. While I admire the cultural achievements of the Indonesians (not those of the Malays or Philippinos, because they have achieved so little), and consider the civilization of central Java both splendid and inspiring (again, not that of the Malays or Philippinos - what exactly have they achieved?), I know that if it weren't for the enterprise, drive, and vitality of the Chinese (and the Atjehnese, Batak, Buginese, Dayak, Minangkabau, and a few others), there would be little more than overpopulated swamp and jungle-villages from Patani in an arc all the way to the tip of Luzon.
The twentieth century would not have penetrated. The tax-base that allows corrupt politicians and military men to live in luxury would not exist. The modern conveniences that lighten the burden of the orang tanah or the labourer in the kuta would never have been imported. The tourists would not come, the traders would never leave the coast, and the educated classes would emigrate en-masse.
Let's face it - the only South East Asian countries that still have vibrant native cultures are Thailand and Viet Nam. The rest? Meh. The ruling classes do not encourage intelligence or creativity.
I really wish that the Malaysian government would realize that by their cowardice they effectively condemn their culture to death. They could instead re-inspire it.
Dengan hormat,
---B.O.T.H.
The Malaysian government claims equitability and a lack of bias, yet have consistently favoured Islam and discriminated against non-Muslims.
This is the same government whose then prime minister, Datuk Seri Mahathir Muhammad, spouted anti-Semitic and anti-Western drivel of the most reprehensible kind. This is the same government which discriminates against all non-Muslims. This is the same government which supports some of the worst elements in the Islamic world while blandly pretending neutrality.
This is the same government which panders to Minangkabau, Javan, and Melayu carpetbaggers by claiming that they are the true natives, because they are Muslim.
This is the same government which maintains the proud Muslim traditions of several royal families descended from Bugis and Arab pirates, rapists, and robbers - what, you didn't know that Malay royalty is traditionally half a generation removed from the most successful brigand in the local bog? You didn't know that piracy ennobled?
You didn't know that Malay royal families happily claim descent from the kin of the prophet Muhammad?
I'm not surprised you did not know that last bit - the only ones who believe that claim are the Malays themselves.
The Malaysian government seems determined to keep its citizenry ignorant and unenlightened. If they have to use Islamic sensibilities as a tool to that end, they will. It’s a means of staying in power.
THE ARREST OF BLOGGER RAJA PETRA KAMARUDDIN
BBC article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7612666.stm
Quote: "General Abdul Aziz Zainal called for "stern action" to be taken against anyone stoking racial tension in the country."
Quote: "Interior Minister Syed Hamid Albar said he had been arrested because his writings posed a threat to national security."
Racial tension is of course the great Malay bugaboo. In 1969, the ethnic Malays, incited by "native" racialists (Islamic politicos, mostly), rioted in Kuala Lumpur ('Muddy Estuary') against the Chinese, the actions having been preplanned (as is evident from the near simultaneous speed with which the violence spread throughout the city), and the ensuing organised violence including murder, rape, robbery, and torture.
The official figures speak of less than two hundred dead. Non-governmental figures reliably state that the real numbers were over two thousand fatalities. Army units sent to quell the rioting deliberately added to the chaos - by bringing in armed Malay thugs, and by arson.
This has been denied by all Malay parties and politicians since then.
The scale of the violence eventually shocked the instigators, but more importantly convinced the Malaysian mainstream politicians that unless something was done the economic basis of the country would collapse. That economic basis being the industrial sector created by Chinese enterprise and drive. Even to the "native" Malay, it was evident that the agrarian village economy could not sustain any development, nor provide the surplus that the ruling classes had come to depend upon.
Hence the use of 'racial tension' as the catch-all reason for curbing freedom of the press while yet encouraging Malay-ethnic chauvinism.
So, what actual text got Raja Petra Kamaruddin in trouble?
A REPORTER’S ACCOUNT OF AN INTERVIEW WITH TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN ON THE 13 MAY INCIDENT
Posted by Raja Petra Kamaruddin (2008-9-11)
"The following statement is a factual account of the above-mentioned event given to me by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman (first Prime Minister of Malaysia) during an interview at his residence in Penang in 1972. I requested to discuss the above incident and was surprised when the appointment was given within three days.
His Secretary, a Chinese gentleman, allotted me one hour and advised me not to go into too much detail as this would tire the Tunku unnecessarily. In fact, the interview lasted three and a half hours. Because of the very surprising details provided to me, I think it would be best to report in a first-hand manner based on my notes written immediately after the interview.
It was clear to me as well as the police that in the highly charged political atmosphere after the police were forced to kill a Chinese political party worker on May 4th, 1969, something was bound to happen to threaten law and order because of the resentment towards the Government by the KL Chinese on the eve of the general election. This was confirmed at this man’s funeral on the 9th May when the government faced the most hostile crowd it had ever seen.
Therefore, when the opposition parties applied for a police permit for a procession to celebrate their success in the results of the general election, I was adamant against it because the police were convinced that this would lead to trouble. I informed Tun Razak about this and he seemed to agree.
Now, without my knowledge and actually "behind my back", there were certain political leaders in high positions who were working to force me to step down as a PM. I don’t want to go into details but if they had come to me and said so I would gladly have retired gracefully.
Unfortunately, they were apparently scheming and trying to decide on the best way to force me to resign. The occasion came when the question of the police permit was to be approved.
Tun Razak and Harun Idris, the MB of the state of Selangor, now felt that permission should be given, knowing fully well that there was a likelihood of trouble. I suppose they felt that when this happened they could then demand my resignation.
To this day I find it very hard to believe that Razak, whom I had known for so many years, would agree to work against me in this way. Actually he was in my house, as I was preparing to return to Kedah, and I overhead him speaking to Harun over the phone saying that he would be willing to approve the permit when I left. I really could not believe what I was hearing and preferred to think it was about some other permit. In any case, as the Deputy Prime Minister, in my absence from KL, he would be the Acting PM and would override my objection.
Accordingly, when I was in my home in Kedah, I heard over the radio that the permit had been approved.
It seems as though the expected trouble was anticipated and planned for by Harun and his UMNO Youth. After the humiliating insults hurled by the non-Malays, especially the Chinese, and after the seeming loss of Malay political power to them, they were clearly ready for some retaliatory action.
After meeting in large numbers at Harun’s official residence in Jalan Raja Muda near Kampong Bahru, and hearing inflammatory speeches by Harun and other leaders, they prepared themselves by tying ribbon strips on their foreheads and set out to kill Chinese. The first hapless victims were two of them in a van opposite Harun’s house who were innocently watching the large gathering. Little did they know that they would be killed on the spot. "
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_13_Incident
Further from Wikipedia:
Less than 24 hours after posting the above entries in the "Malaysia-today's blog", Raja Petra Kamaruddin was arrested by the Badawi's Government under the draconian Internal Security Act.(2008-9-12)
A few hours later, a reporter for the Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily, "Miss Tan Hoon Cheng" was also arrested under the Internal Security Act after reporting on an outburst from a ruling party member who called the ethnic Chinese community "squatters".
Her report triggered a major row in the coalition which is made up of race-based parties. The leading party, which represents majority Muslim Malays, was forced to punish the member responsible.
Just before midnight, a third person, "Miss Teresa Kok", a highly regarded member of Parliament from the Chinese-based DAP which is a member of the opposition alliance, had also been arrested under the Internal Security Act. Miss Kok is an outspoken lawmaker and critics denouncing the race based politics in Malaysia.
[Source: same Wikipedia entry as the article by Raja Petra Kamaruddin]
-----------------------------------
I'll admit it - I am a partisan of the overseas Chinese in South East Asia. While I admire the cultural achievements of the Indonesians (not those of the Malays or Philippinos, because they have achieved so little), and consider the civilization of central Java both splendid and inspiring (again, not that of the Malays or Philippinos - what exactly have they achieved?), I know that if it weren't for the enterprise, drive, and vitality of the Chinese (and the Atjehnese, Batak, Buginese, Dayak, Minangkabau, and a few others), there would be little more than overpopulated swamp and jungle-villages from Patani in an arc all the way to the tip of Luzon.
The twentieth century would not have penetrated. The tax-base that allows corrupt politicians and military men to live in luxury would not exist. The modern conveniences that lighten the burden of the orang tanah or the labourer in the kuta would never have been imported. The tourists would not come, the traders would never leave the coast, and the educated classes would emigrate en-masse.
Let's face it - the only South East Asian countries that still have vibrant native cultures are Thailand and Viet Nam. The rest? Meh. The ruling classes do not encourage intelligence or creativity.
I really wish that the Malaysian government would realize that by their cowardice they effectively condemn their culture to death. They could instead re-inspire it.
Dengan hormat,
---B.O.T.H.
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GRITS AND TOFU
Like most Americans, I have a list of people who should be peacefully retired from public service and thereafter kept away from their desks,...
