YOURSAY 'The Umno agenda seems to be pulling the nation into a ‘them and us' situation with divisive elements on the march to an exclusive Malay/Muslim-dominated society.'

The race whisperers of 1Malaysia

Black Mamba: The malady of Malaysia can't be cured overnight. Only a great leader with the initial vision of Onn Jaafar for a multiracial party can forge the nation forward to an inclusive society for all Malaysians.

This is not at all impossible but certainly difficult after the great damage done to the very fabric of our society that has held us together since independence.

The exodus of two million Malaysians and the infusion of three million illegals needs to be corrected first before we can call ourselves Malaysians.

Otherwise, we are left with ‘pseudo Malaysians' derived mostly from Burma, Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, mainland China and Vietnam who today form most of the Malaysian workforce ranging from maids, restaurant workers, waitresses, masseurs, factory workers, construction and plantation labourers and some unmentionable professions very much sought after for their services.

Mohan Ghandi: Commander S Thayaparan, this is a well-written and frank piece. I wish to add that we should not give up on the country. The next two general elections will decide the future of our nation.

The Umno agenda seems to be pulling the nation into a ‘them and us' situation with divisive elements such as Jati and Perkasa - apparently fully state-funded - on the march to an exclusive Malay/Muslim-dominated society.

The world is marching full steam ahead of us and we cannot live isolated and without a reality check.

We cannot live beyond our means and continue to be debt-ridden to the point of bankruptcy just to facilitate the political corruption of PM Najib Razak's Umno and their cronies in handing out hugely unrealistic contracts.

There may be some differences of opinion amongst us, but the central theme has to be to get the nation back on track.

Only Pakatan Rakyat can even attempt to do this and the coalition should include all well-intentioned organisations, including NGOs, political parties and individuals, to carry out its task.

Kgen: Thayaparan writes: "If you are not a slavish devotee of P Uthayakumar or Hindraf, you are a ‘mandore' like everyone else. There is no room for dissent or discussions. The agenda and cause is clear and the problems of the Indian community are the result of everyone else, except members of the Indian community.

"It is both a victim and defiant survivor culture which seems to bring out the worst in its proponents who have no qualms about labeling everyone else ‘racists' while engaging in racisms of their own."

Truer words have never been spoken. We know who the commentators practising this slavish devotion and labelling of all others as racists are.

Anonymous #15736611: Commander, despite your ‘slavish' criticism of Hindraf, it's funny that you don't have anything to say about the Chinese education group, Dong Zong.

This group, at a recent rally, demanded that only Chinese-language qualified teachers can teach at Chinese schools, others are not wanted.

Doesn't this make Chinese schools the territories of China? Isn't this the most racist demand to date in comparison to other demands, such as only Muslims can rule the country?

Yeoh Chee Weng: This is an excellent write-up, with which I have complete affinity. Thayaparan did miss a salient point - that Malaysia's monarchy system (if not the direct cause) contributed to the feudalistic Malay mindset.

It would be a good exercise to research how much of this feudalistic submission (together with religious fatalism) has contributed to the Malay malaise.

As I see it, as long as one is unable to think outside of one's race and religion and adopt an egalitarian philosophy, one cannot be considered a true Malaysian.

I fear for the future of Malaysia. In an intensely competitive global village beset with depleting resources and climate change, standing still is tantamount to receding to a failed nation state.

Joe Lee: Commander Thayaparan is as always incisive in exposing the issues.

"In the end, a dominant ‘Malay' community will decide the destiny of this country and seeing as how presently we are not even attempting to plant the seeds for any kind of egalitarian worldview," he writes.

This is a little pessimistic. The progressive forces, whether in Pakatan or among the NGOs, have not really had a chance to undo 30 years of poisons inserted into the body politic by the fascist wing of Umno as epitomised by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and symbolised by that hate organisation he encouraged, the Biro Tatanegara.

The destiny of this land will always be determined by the Malays. That is fine, as long as the Malays are prescient enough to encourage and lend support to all Malaysians to foster an inclusive and progressive society.

The current democratic situation in Indonesia, whilst not perfect, is indicative that Malaysia too can be progressive despite the racists.

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