'These two eminent armed forces personnel have put Zahid in his place. Both of them rose to great heights in the forces when it was still possible to perform with loyalty, honour and excellence.'

Ex-servicemen launch broadside at Zahid Hamidi

Anonymous: I salute Admiral (Rtd) K Thanabalasingam (Navy) for the services he rendered during the Emergency and during the Indonesian Confrontation. I am indeed delighted for his broadside against Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi for his racist remark.

I also salute Brigadier General (Rtd) Goh Seng Toh for describing the defence minister's remark as "unfair, stupid and racist".

Both of them served well for the nation in times of crises. Obviously, they must be deeply hurt when the defence minister mindlessly attacked non-Malays for not being patriotic enough to serve the Armed Forces.

During Tunku Abdul Rahman's time, he never looked at the colour of the skin for recruitment and promotion of staff. That was the best of times for all Malaysians. All races mingled, studied and played together; and nobody thought of race or religion. Then came the Umno racists.

Malaysian Born: These two eminent armed forces personnel have put Zahid in his place for his stupid comments. Both of them rose to great heights in the forces when it was still possible to perform with loyalty, honour and excellence.

It was possible then to join the ranks and just follow orders as there was faith that their well-being and future would be taken care off. Today it is not a matter of patriotism, it is a matter of faith - non-Malays have no faith that there will be fair treatment in terms of rank, promotion, career development or anything else in the uniformed services.

This lack of faith established over decades by consistently sidelining and bypassing them to the point that a vast majority left the forces frustrated. Instead of talking nonsense, a comprehensive and systemic change is needed in order to start rebuilding this most important missing factor - faith. Then you will see loyalty and gallantry from all Malaysians.

Abasir: Zahid, care to name the patriotic Malaysians who were killed by Al Ma'unah? Do you even know their names? Any reason why the Royal Malay Regiment was not sent in to put down a Malay uprising?

Any reason Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not do the patriotic thing by pushing his children into the Armed Forces? And yet fellows like you allowed him to run this country and bring it down to its sorry state?

FreeMalaysia: My dad was an ex-airman and he left the force when he realised that he was not going anywhere when his Malay comrades were overtaking him in rank. All this due to the fact that he is simply non-Malay.

So what would you expect the non-Malays do, having already sacrifice and put one's life in service of the country and yet not given the proper commendations. Why? Is it because the Malay's sacrifice and willingness to die for the country is better than that of a non-Malay?

Level the playing field and accord recommendations based on merit and not race, and you'll see non-Malays queuing up to enlist in the armed forces. Also Zahid, you can start by showing a good example by getting your children to enlist in the Armed Forces. Walk the talk.

Xroy: Disband the Malay regiment, or have an Indian Regiment, Chinese Regiment, Iban Regiment, Dayak Regiment, etc.

Let us see a chief of the Armed Forces who is not a Malay - there have been many in the ranks who were capable, more capable then some stupid clowns who were relatives of prime ministers or their cronies. If you do not know, ask your generals in the Malay Regiment and they'll tell you what I am talking about.

Rolls-Royce: Hello, ex-admiral and brigadier general, you can say whatever you want, but I can assure you that BTN (Biro Tatanegara) the racist headmasters and half-baked ministers will continue to label the non-Malays unpatriotic and undeserving to hold any position of substance in this country.

Oh yes, they will continue to claim that the disunity and the suspicion among the races in this country is due to the continued presence of vernacular schools. For them, nothing else is important - get rid of vernacular schools, this country will achieve 100 percent unity and patriotism. Soon, most non-Malays will have no future in this country, not just in the armed forces or civil service or GLCs.

Tok Janggut: "Retired airman Brig Gen (Rtd) Goh Seng Toh was more severe in his rebuke of Zahid's statement, calling it ‘unfair, stupid and racist'."

You are definitely right, Goh. If a non-Malay had said something similar, he would be jailed under ISA. Zahid is inciting racial tension and this is not healthy at all. In fact, it is very embarrassing for a minister to make such a low-class remarks.

Nasir Zihni Yusoff: The military was once seen as sole career for so-called patriots and for those who believed serving the nation is 'more important' than career advancement. Those days are gone.

Now many take it as a life-time career. What else can you do if you're 'forced' to retire at the prime age of 38-40? What are they going to do after that, when the only jobs for them are being a 'jaga' (security guard)?

Are you trying to say those Malays who sent their children to international schools and the colleges in the UK - and seen soliciting with Mat Salleh girls - are more patriotic than the non-Malays? Just sheer hypocrisy.

Nik V: My dad served in the security forces loyally and with dedication in spite of racist thinking from people such as Zahid and his Umno clique. After serving for 35 years, he told me not to join because of the poor career prospect. We should never condone nor tolerate such shallow statements from inferior minds like Zahid's.

Koay Teng Hin: I was in the army and would have continued serving in the army if promotions were based on ability. Unfortunately for our country, we have racists running them and they spew venom.

We were 1Malaysia soon after independence and no thanks to all the BN politicians who used race and religion, we drifted apart. Malaysia could have been a great nation if the politicians did not use race and religion for their own selfish gains. Look at the corruption that is going on - the unnecessary grandiose projects - and a sense that if you are not a bumiputera, there is no future for you in the public institutions.

If our politicians are really patriotic, they should realise their mistakes and apologise to all citizens. Stop looking at issues from a racial perspective, perhaps then there is still hope for Malaysia. Hidup Malaysia!

Baron1: It is sad that the mindset of many Malays is that the non-Malays are unpatriotic. But the reality is that those who exploit the nation's wealth through corruption are the traitors of the nation. If the armed forces and public sectors are free of corruption and nepotism, I am sure more non-Malays will be more willing to join them.

Anonymous: Patriotism in the BN context is stealing money from the Treasury. Are all the big fat commissions that are given to middlemen an act of patriotism? According to Foreign Policy in Focus, a Washington think-tank, the commission paid to middlemen for the purchase of military hardware is between 10 to 20 percent.

Remember the Scorpion tanks, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) built by Sibmas of South Africa and the patrol boats by PSC Naval Dockyard? Hundreds of millions of ringgit have been lost through these scandals.

Dingy: Zahid is third in line for the PM's post, based on popular votes by Umno delegates. He will be worse off than Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with his kind of mentality. He doesn't speak intelligently and his argument and reasoning is that of a school boy's. He should be ashamed of the PhD attached to his name. Scholars don't speak like Zahid.

Najib should remove him from the cabinet because this man will make a fool of the BN government. But then, how many ministers have quality of Singapore ministers. I can't imagine if Zahid later becomes PM. For heaven's sake, please vote him out.

Tomkurus: Thanabalasingham, at your age, you should not fear calling a spade a spade. There is no need for political niceties. You should tell off Zahid Hamidi in his face. I am not quite sure if everyone is aware that you ‘retired' as chief of navy when you were in your 40s, then packed off as envoy to New Zealand. Why don't you shed some light on your ‘early retirement'?

Bobby Cheng: At the end of the day, it is not about race or religion. It is about power and money. Do you fellow Malaysians think people like Zahid care about who is more patriotic? It is good for them to break up the rakyat into three major races so that BN (Umno, MCA, MIC) will continue to rule.

If the rakyat stand up as one race, BN would have been kicked out and many of them sent to Sungai Buloh jail ages ago.

Md Imraz Muhammed Ikhbal: Well said, Thanabalasingam and Goh. Indeed all the races irrespective of creed or religion shall stand in total solidarity to defend this nation from any harm and the most immediate threat to the nation today is this racist, bigoted and corrupt government, and invariably our first war shall fought through the ballot boxes come the next general election.

Anonymous: These comments from Malaysiakini readers scored a bull's eye. This is not only true in the armed forces, but in many other branches of the government as well.

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