YOURSAY | ‘Today, the only thing communist about China is the name on the party.’

Retired brig-gen concerned China investment may lead to racial imbalance

Anonymous_3f49: What is being Malaysian? The Malays apparently see themselves as Arabised Muslims. They have lost their own unique culture, notwithstanding the fact that a certain former senior minister once said he was "Malay first and Malaysian second".

So what have the Chinese Malaysians got to lose? Being Malaysian doesn't seem relevant when the majority don't see it that way.

China is here to trade as another capitalistic nation, not 'sell' communism. Foreign Chinese investment may have a moderating influence on the contemporary social landscape. Is that what you call ‘racial imbalance’?

Kazakh: Brigadier-General (Rtd) Mohd Arshad Raji, I salute you for your tireless effort to bring the current government to walk the line and to steer the country forward, but alas your fear of the Chinese Malaysians losing their Malaysianness is rather unfounded.

Chinese never forget their roots and culture, not even in religion. Even if they convert to Islam, they would still retain their culture.

You should instead fear for the Malays, for you will see they are apparently being slowly and surely Arabised by the many young religious graduates coming home from the Arab world.

Fair Play: Dear retired brigadier-general, it is time for the majority community to know and accept the harsh fact and the truth.

While the Chinese Malaysians are not truly Chinese (Han Chinese) - the Han Chinese population is 1,220,844,520 or 91 percent of the total population of the People’s Republic of China, according to a 2010 population census.

Our nationality is Malaysian, not race. Why doesn’t the majority community accept this stark reality and let us move forward together as a nation?

Crucify Me But, Not My Beloved Country: Mohd Arshad, your candle is burning to its lower end, and your concern is whether we are all Malaysians?

Indeed, there is no need to differentiate between Chinese Malaysians and mainland Chinese. Of course, we are different.

We were brought up with nasi lemak and goreng pisang and the mainlanders’ favourites are char siew pau and sweet and sour pork.

Brigadier-general, we are all Malaysians and you should encourage everyone to fight the corruption and evil which are decaying the nation.

Please preach to your retired and current Armed Forces members how we, together, can be rid of kleptocracy as true Malaysians.

Wong Fei Hoong: Sad to say, Malaysians have already lost their Malaysianness long time ago. Where is the joget and ronggeng and the baju Melayu and kebayas?

What we have now is the Arab culture.

Allforit: It is understandable that Mohd Arshad is still living in the past. There were casualties on both sides.

My grandfather was shot by the Malay Regiment. Many innocent Chinese then were mistaken for communists. Okay, we all look alike. Let's take it as a case of mistaken identity, and let it be past history.

We have to learn to let go. We all carry Malaysian passports, otherwise it would be Malay passport, Chinese passport or Indian passport.

Sally: The brigadier-general’s concerns are spot on. He is saying aloud what many Chinese Malaysians are also afraid of.

Instead of picking on just one small part of his interview, we should look at his total message, which includes telling PM Najib Abdul Razak to run the country better and not try to make use of the Armed Forces veterans the way the Felda settlers and civil servants have allegedly been made use of.

Allforit: Whatever your fears, you are right and wrong about the local Chinese. Right, we are different from the mainland Chinese. Wrong, we do not subscribe to their communist ideologies.

Our forefathers wouldn't have escaped from China if they had agreed. I would be more afraid of the Malays losing their ‘Malaysian-ness’, and ultimately be absorbed by the Arab culture and its ‘hudud-ness’.

Anonymous 2461761488952870: The ashes of former Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng were forbidden to be brought into Malaysia, but Communist China's investments and purchase of Malaysian assets are most welcome.

What a bunch of hypocrites we have in the government.

Spinnot: The Japanese invaded Malaya, Sarawak and North Borneo and brutally occupied the territories in the 1940s. But then nobody complained about Japanese investment.

The Communist Party of China assisted the Communist Party of Malaya from the 1950s to the 1980s, but not a single mainland Chinese communist ever fought here.

Wira: Get real, Mohd Arshad. What Chinese communism are you talking about? In practice, Putrajaya is more socialist than Beijing.

Anonymous #70881335: Yes, the world has changed. Today, the only thing communist about China is the name on the party. Everything in China is capitalistic, and with it, all the excesses and corruption.

But then again, the world is so small now, and with China's ascent, there is no way to avoid 'bumping' into them.

Anticonmen: Don't they know that the ‘deputy to the PM’ is actually a Chinese, Jho Low?

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