YOURSAY | 'Shame on the politicians who gave them legitimacy by attending the congress.'

Newday: Malaysiakini columnist Mariam Mokhtar, you hit the nail right on the head and drove it straight and true.

On one hand, it is extremely sad and a bit frightening for the rest of us who uphold civic values - equality, ethics, morality, honesty and hard work. On the other hand, what we also see is the true state of the majority of Malays being brought to the surface for all to see.

Know thy enemy comes to mind. However, what of the kampung (village) folk who make up much of the Malay population? Are they interested in talkfests like this?

Do they understand what is happening to their future under people such as those that attended the congress - supposedly well-educated who have a way with words, mostly of no substance?

Do the kampung folk really believe that the non-Malays and liberal Muslims are behind their poverty? I hope not.

It is a messy blurred picture of right and wrong presented by those at the congress, especially the ruling coalition. Is this going to be Pakatan Harapan's platform to the kampung - promoting the talkfest resolutions? Or can Harapan change the rhetoric of supremacy?

Any of the five resolutions, if implemented, will result in turmoil to the country. We ignore the people of kampung at our peril in this now obvious in-your-face fight between good and inclusive Malaysia and evil, hate-filled Malaysia.

Come on Harapan, make sure the old man does step down as no one wants to listen to him anymore, especially when it comes to the need for Malays to look within themselves for change.

Harapan, make sure you tend to your voting flock - you know the lot that got you over the line 17 months ago. Your strategists may think you only have to focus on Malays who represent the majority. But at what cost?

Who will my family vote for in three years’ time? We are Malay. We are liberal, we are a minority among Malays. We are part of 30 percent of Malays who voted for Harapan. Is that a big enough minority to make a difference?

We all work hard, we educate ourselves, we keep up with current affairs and have a keen interest in Malaysia's future. We are the sort of voters you need for a dynamic, progressive future.

What of those at the Malay Dignity Congress talkfest? Do they really have a genuine interest in Malaysia's future? Going on their race and supremacist-based five resolutions, the answer is no. Their future is a despotic Third World state in our globalised world.

Come on, Harapan. Be inclusive, engage with the kampung folk and stamp down on this supremacist mindset. Be committed and be clear that the outcomes of (or lack of) the ‘dignity’ talkfest are just plain unhealthy for our future.

Mat Md: It is true that affirmative action has not hit its right target - to help the most needy and poor, which is the main aim of the policy.

It turned out that the policy had been skewed to help those who had close political links and cronies, thereby enabling rich Malays to become even wealthier at the expense of the poor. The affirmative action needs to be reviewed to ensure that it is targeted exclusively at the poor and needy.

It is not right and totally unjustified for the Malay Dignity Congress to call for all the coveted posts in the government institutions to be held by Malays. It has been proven that many of the institutions headed by Malays failed to perform well and are poor in delivery.

All these posts have to be filled by people who have the capabilities and tested abilities, chosen in accordance with merits. Malays who have the requisite qualifications have to compete for the posts on merits, not on affirmative action.

As Malays can no longer depend on the affirmative action, it will be very much appreciated if the successful non-Malay business enterprises can help the Malays in some ways as part of their social obligation.

One of the ways is to open their businesses to the Malays by offering 20 to 30 percent of their shares to them and training them to be successful business people, not as Ali Baba partners.

If this could be sincerely practised, the enterprises could request for the contracts from government institutions, which are meant to be allocated to the Malay contractors, to be assigned to them.

This scheme, if followed by many other enterprises, will, more or less, be able to distribute the wealth of the country equitably to all and narrow the economic gap.

Anonymous_1371482984: There is a simple solution to those Malays given initial public offering (IPO) shares at a discount, which they sold for a quick profit and then clamoured for more - create a class of shares where only Malays can buy and sell but otherwise ranking pari passu (equally) with the other ordinary shares.

In that way, the company will always have 30 percent Malay ownership. Of course, the privileged Malays will have none of that because that will deprive them of quick and easy profit.

David Dass: Those at the Malay Dignity Congress looked anything but dignified. They blamed the non-Malays of insulting or undermining the rulers, the Malay language, Islam and Malay privileges. Where is the evidence of this?

To declare Malaysia as the exclusive property of Malays is to ignore the Constitution and to leave 40 percent of the nation enraged. To threaten to suspend the citizenship of non-Malays is clearly seditious. And this was the speech made by a professor with the name Kling!

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad did lend legitimacy by attending the congress. And he succeeded in antagonising both sides.

He upset the ‘dignity’ Malays by saying that they were to blame for their condition, whatever it was, and the non-Malays by calling them “orang asing” repeatedly in giving a version of history which was inaccurate and for suggesting that Harapan had to be sensitive to the feelings of non-Malays because they came to power with their support.

Was he actually saying that if Malays had been more united, the government in power needs not be as sensitive to non-Malay feelings?

Mahathir subsequently clarified his actual position by rejecting an Umno invitation to join Umno and PAS to form a Malay unity government. He then said that Malaysia belonged to all races and any government should comprise all races.

Indeed, non-Malays should not be blamed for the state of the nation or its people. All races should come together to move the nation and its people forward.

Harapan has the opportunity to prove that an inclusive government with inclusive policies will achieve more for all its people, especially the poor.

Observer123: Mariam, I have always been inspired by your clear-headed views on the current state of affairs of the Malays in Malaysia.

All the political rhetoric of Malays under threats are self-created fallacies, hoping to capture sympathy and garner more Malay supports.

It's really tragic to realise that even after 62 years of independence, we still have so many people championing something that's clearly detrimental to the progress of their own race.

Unless more far-sighted intellectuals like you come forward to show the way, I am afraid the progress of our nation will be hindered by these narrow-minded individuals.

Frank: Mariam, just to add one more thing to your brilliant write-up. It looks like Mahathir and friends and those spearheading the gathering seem to ignore its impact on the nation's economy.

In particular, the foreigners will stay away from Malaysia while those who are already around may now be looking elsewhere. That is why the ringgit continues to come down in value and graduate unemployment shall be more than 170,000 in just a few years from now.

So, it is the young who shall continue to suffer more, and more miserably, as time passes by. Are our elites so - for no better words - damn stupid? Or evil? Why are you people doing this to your sons and daughters?

Another really pathetic thing is that a number of these political elites are still trying very hard to entice more and more investments from inside and outside the country with one scheme after another, but at the same time doing things, such as the congress, for the whole world to see that the so-called New Malaysia is just a fantasy.

Indeed, inconsistency in words and in conduct are all that come to mind to describe Malaysia yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Hence, how on earth are we going to get ahead in any field? And other countries in no time can surpass us in all that is important with no problem.

This is truly sickening and nauseating. Time to go back to the streets?

One: One just needs to follow former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s 1MDB trial to see that the ‘maruah’ (dignity) problem is real.

A prime minister who used money siphoned from the state sovereign fund for his political survival. A board of directors that lost control of many rounds of bond issues or borrowings.

Worse, before a cent was made available, the nation was already creamed of its money by the conman and the financial institution which knew they were dealing with very weak leaders.

Even worse, a CEO who could proudly say he had no financial skills and depended on the unsavoury cronies of the conman to tell him what to sign. And audit partners who were willing to sign to give the audit a clean bill of health when previous audit firms had resigned.

Yes, ‘maruah’ needs to be restored and the only way is to quickly put the crooks that have let the country down into jail.

Anonymous 5237890145285379: Dignity? I am currently engaging an Indonesian to do some work at my house. Malaysians are either not willing to do the work or will charge a much high price.

This Indonesian is very efficient. He will quote a low cost and immediately carry out the work. He will shoot a video of the work when I can’t see the work area due to height.

He will answer phone calls immediately and take action. He will also look for more things to do to improve the house and so I am very satisfied with his performance although I am paying more due to the increased work scope.

I see him as diligent, very entrepreneurial and efficient. He mentioned that he is running several projects at the same time and is hiring a number of other workers to carry out his projects.

Dignity? I see him as a totally dignified person although he may be dressed as a worker and ride on a motorcycle. He is intelligent and efficient. People like him will not just survive but will do well in life.

To me, he is an expert on dignity. I would suggest that Professor Zainal Kling consult him on how to get dignity.

Tidak Harapan: 'Stupidity' is too kind a word to use. A Malay Australian who left his homeland described this so-called dignity congress as a "gathering of idiots".

It aptly sums up the people who attended, and worse, was organised by universities that are supposed to be seeds of learning, whcih now appear to be seeds of bigotry and led by pseudo professors and vice-chancellors.

Shame on them and to the politicians who gave them legitimacy by attending and silently listening to the barrage of racist demands.

The congress said nothing about nation-building and uplifting the status of the Malays through hard work and training so that they can compete equally with others.

Headhunter: The involvement of the universities in organising the racially-inspired congress is one reason why non-Malays don't trust the national schools.

Slowly but surely, they are morphing into madrasas.

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