YOURSAY ‘These racists behave as if there is no consequence of what they said.’

Chinese are intruders who bully Malays, says Isma

Alanthechan: Isma president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman has displayed his lack of historical knowledge with his stupid statement.

Go to do research (if he knows how) on how Malaya was developed, if not for the hard work by the Chinese slogging in the tin mines and the Indians in the rubber estates.

Who do you think started the townships in Malaya, and who were the people who did all the road constructions, among other things. Without the contributions of the other races, do you think the country would prosper to what it is today.

You have such low mentality that I don't expect you to understand the meaning of "removing the planks after crossing the bridge" which is a famous Chinese saying.

Wg321: Nobody oppressed the Malays. We may be free on Merdeka Day in 1957, but the British still controlled 90% of the wealth in Malaya and not the Chinese.

All the big tin mines and huge rubber plantations were in the hands of the British. 100% huge profits were siphoned off to Britain from 1957 to 1969. It was the ‘pendatang’ Chinese and the Indian who were oppressed by the British and not the Malays.

The British forced the Indians to come to Malaya to work as slave-like labour under the mandore system in building roads, railways and in the rubber plantations. Did Isma know that all solid waste collectors before 1957 were Indians (no Indah Water then)?

The Chinese also suffered, toiling in the tin mines under very low wages paid by Europeans. The Malay communist, Rashid Maidin, in his memoirs can testify to that in Gopeng, Perak. Isma should read his memoirs to see how the Chinese and Indian working class suffered.

Proarte: Let us remember that the British ruled Malaysia 'by proxy'. The 'sultanate' was a British invention merely to give legitimacy to their colonisation and exploitation of the land.

The sultans were sacked if they got too big for their boots and other proxies installed in their place as was the case in Perak and Selangor. The monarchy in Malaysia play the same role today with Umno as their real 'masters'. The king can only act on prime ministerial advice.

The British were literal ‘kingmakers' and they were the power behind the throne. The Malays in Malaysia are a political construct and their very identity was defined by the British.

Islam and the Malay race were inextricably linked. Malays were not allowed to be a free people and Islam had to be strictly controlled as the British found Islamic religious fervour to be a potent potential weapon against them.

They conveniently made their appointed sultans 'defenders' of  Islam with full authority to control Malays through religion.

And take a look at every leader of the 'Tanah Melayu' Malays; Tunku Abdul Rahman's mother was Siamese, Abdul Razak's family have Bugis origins, Hussein Onn had Turkish origins, Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s grandfather was pure Indian, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's father was half-Arab and his mother Hainanese Chinese.

The fact is Malays are a mongrel race and so are their chosen leaders. If Isma want to insult Chinese, at least do so with some intelligence and facts.

Malays, Isma should know are a defined race and a political construct. If a Malay changes his faith from Islam to Christianity for instance, he ceases to become a Malay according to the 'Tanah Melayu' constitution.

This shows that the 'Malay' is a created identity. Isma should not be 'bodoh sombong'.

David Dass: Before our 'independence', Malaya comprised the 11 states of the peninsula who except for Penang and Malacca were independent and sovereign states with governments headed by the Malay rulers.

The rulers voluntarily agreed to have British advisers. Prior to the British coming to Malaya, many Malay rulers imported Chinese who became farmers and market gardeners. The Malay rulers and their respective states benefited from Chinese enterprise.

The British with the consent of the Malay rulers brought in Chinese coolies and Indian labour to clear the jungles, lay infrastructure, establish rubber plantations and open up the tin fields. Malaya prospered and for a long time after independence continued to prosper.

Many Chinese and Indians died from disease and snake bite. It is hard to see the Chinese as intruders. Under the constitution, the Chinese along with all other Malaysians are citizens enjoying equal protection of the law. Isma cannot unmake history to achieve its objective.

Multi Racial: Under the Najib administration, you have racist like Abdullah Zaik who get away with racist statements. 

The silence from the PM is so deafening so much so these racists begin to behave as if there is no consequence of what they said. 

The attorney-general is more interested to help BN government to silence the opposition who clearly did not do anything wrong. And he allows people like Abdullah Zaik, Ibrahim Ali, Zulkifli Noordin and Ridhuan Tee Abdullah to get away with their extremism. 

Cocomomo: Racist and religious extremists organisations like Isma should be shunned and rejected by peace-loving Malaysians. Isma's goal seems to be to create racial and religious strife in Malaysia.

Generally the people of Southeast Asia were Hindus, Buddhists or animists before the arrival Islam and Christianity in the region. Over the years, many in the region have become Muslims or Christians - their choice and right to have chosen to believe what they wanted to believe.

We are Malaysians and let us respect one another, whatever our faith. Let not narrow minded bigots like Isma adversely impact our harmony.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .