YOURSAY ‘Authorities must realise this, act to arrest and defuse the problem.’
How the Low Yat brawl is, and isn't, about race
Dizzer: Interesting piece, Aidila Razak, showing the fractures and fissures of inter and intra-ethnic relations in Malaysia. Generalisations about 'Melayu this or Cina that' often miss this crucial point.
We all need to remember that Malaysia truly is unique as a racial experiment. Can anyone think of another country with a similar ethnic breakdown that has not led to breakdown or break-up?
I'd like to see our universities - social sciences, psychology, political science, economics - doing much more serious work in this area and providing workable solutions.
2020 should be a milestone for Malaysia (fully-developed, mature, tolerant society, etc) but clearly we're way off track at the moment, and will veer further away, as long as we put race at the centre of everything.
The 'national experiment' needs a new team of scientists at the helm with a genuinely multi-racial Malaysian approach to solving our problems. The Malay dilemma is still the central problem - do the majority of them really want to live in a 21st century, multi-cultural democracy?
FairMind: The spark to the Low Yat fracas is non-racial. It is just a simple theft case. But the fire that raged at Low Yat was certainly racial.
The earlier the authorities come to grips that race relations is the biggest problem plaguing Malaysia at the moment, the better it can arrest and defuse the problem.
Telestai!: Yes, I agree that the brawl was, to a certain extent, about race but not how many perceive it to be. It is about income disparity between the Chinese and the Malays, broadly speaking.
Here we have the minority race that has a sizeable middle class, while distribution of income levels amongst the Malays is poorly skewed.
Both situations occurred despite the NEP (New Economic Policy) - the Chinese helping themselves in the absence of government assistance, whereas the majority of the poor Malays could not, despite the implementation of affirmative policies.
This paints a scenario of the Chinese being the "have" and the Malays as the "have nots". One can only attribute this to one thing - failed government policies due to corruption.
Apart from city folks, the Malays have supported Umno that has failed them. So why do the Chinese always end up as whipping boys?
VP Biden: I grew up in the low-cost Bandaraya flats of Loke Yew, neighbouring San Peng and Pudu.
I could see the Indian ‘machas’ (close friends) loitering around the bicycle park, the Chinese at the coffee shops and the Malays ‘lepaking’ (chilling out) after school smoking in their school uniforms. This was a ‘muhibbah’ neighborhood back in the 70s and 80s.
The most destitute then were the Indians. There were Indian gangs connected to the drug trade. Fast forward 40 years, same thing still in place with larger numbers of Indian/Malay gangs and loiterers.
My "kampung" folks are still stuck in the same mud as analysed by the writer. This area has always been an opposition stronghold. No development whatsoever has ever come this way. The Malaysian leadership has failed these folk and we see the consequences now.
Jega Muthu: Excellent article. Regrettably, as long as the poor of the major races are segregated in their own areas, they remain fertile grounds for negative indoctrination - both political and religious. I grew up in PWD (Public Works Department) quarters to labourer parents, but we were happy.
I used to spend a lot of time in my Malay colleague’s house, eating and spending nights there, and so did he in my house. The respective parents treated us as one of their own. And then politics got in the way.
Gaji Buta: Good article. Note that the ringleaders are usually not living in the same low cost flats. They instigate from their middle or upper class abodes, from afar.
Anonymous_1372741997: Forty-two years ago when I was in Form 2 of an English medium school, my Malay teacher addressed us Chinese students as 'budak asing' (foreigners).
I felt uneasy but totally helpless. The evil agenda of BTN (Biro Tatanegara) had a profound effect over the decades to shape what we are today.
Anonymous_1371479577: To ensure real integration, people of different races must live together in the same housing estates.
I am Chinese. I lived in a semi-detached house in Johor with a Malay neighbour when I was a kid. We helped one another when there was need. We even shared goodies during Chinese New Year and Hari Raya. How can we bring back the good old days?
Malaysia does not need another government department for racial integration in response to this unfortunate incident. Malaysians just need to open their hearts and minds to the possibilities of the bygone days of just being Malaysians.
Appum: Those who love the country and its multi-racial, multi-cultural people will surely agree with Aidila.
But it is very sad to see this country mismanaged by Umno for 57 years, sowing race and religious hatred by encouraging extremist groups like Perkida, BTN, Perkasa, Isma, Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, by giving them the kid glove treatment.
Yes, the Low Yat brawl was initially a simple theft but instigated and turned into a racial issue. But by whom? How should such people be treated?
It is sad to see the videos the way the police on the scene were acting - like they were helpless in protecting innocent victims from abuse by the mob. They just stood by like watching a movie on mob violence.
Are they trained to respond like this? The citizens are watching to see how the racial instigators are to be dealt with, and whether the police are serious caretakers of the law.
FellowMalaysian: The Low Yat incident is a stark case of how the extremists have successfully manipulated young minds to the extent of breaking the law.
The way religious and racial extremists work is rather simple, ply at the pliant minds of the young and vulnerable especially those who come from economically-displaced areas, who are all too ready to defend their friends who are 'unjustly victimised'.
One text message is enough to whip up a frenzy. So why are the authorities and law enforcement agencies keeping their mouths tightly sealed when they are fully aware of the nature of the problem?
Mamadias: What a wonderful article that reflects the reality on the ground. Basically, the elite have found ways to keep many poor for them to continue to rule. More articles should be written on real issues like these, rather than just on race, religion and political parties.
It’s time to wake up, Malaysia. Urban poverty is a real problem. If we are not careful, more incidents like these will happen.
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