YOURSAY | ‘We have to be wary of our own select few, who will forever keep mauling our own.’

They'll maul us when in numbers - Rais on Rohingya and other races

Federal Bakery: Pronouns like ‘kita’ (we) are dangerous when you use it in opposition to a group you consider to be different from you, as former minister and Negeri Sembilan Bersatu chief Rais Yatim does in his tweet - first to separate himself from the Rohingyas and then to equate the Rohingyas to the ‘kaum lain’ (other races) that he says came in the 1920s under Britain.

Rais does not explain who the ‘us’ are in opposition to his ‘kaum lain’. Is it just his little ignorant self?

Or does it include Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu - all formerly under Siam until incorporated into the territory that now forms Malaysia by the British? Are these states also the ‘kaum lain’ - the others?

Does he also exclude from the ‘us’ the people of Sabah and Sarawak, who were also ‘brought’ in by the British?

He admonishes the ‘us’ to learn from history. Rais is no historian, no humanist and he is even not consistent with his beliefs. I just wish to remind Rais that both history and law are on the side of his ‘kaum lain’.

Rais has no better claim to the ‘us’ than those who came to these territories to eventually form the Federation of Malaya and then Malaysia. Rais has no claim to a predominant ‘us’. His claim to that is no better than that of any of his ‘kaum lain’.

I would say more about the hollowness of this man but the hundreds of responses from Malaysiakini readers to his mischief give him too much credit already - certainly the only credit he would have to his name when he meets the guard at the last gate.

Anonymous_07cd875d: I always had a lot of respect for Rais as an elder politician, but he has let me and many others down with his statement with regard to "the country's past experience of accepting other races" (when dealing with Rohingya refugees).

He is obviously referring to the Chinese, Indians and Indonesians. He should have confined his statement to the present situation regarding the Rohingya ‘refugees’.

I feel deeply hurt by his statement, and my sentiment is shared by the millions of patriotic Malaysians of various ethnic origins. Rais should rightly apologise to all Malaysians for his verbal outburst.

David Dass: "Let us learn from the history of siding with outsiders," said Rais. There are no lessons in our history that can be learnt here. Rais draws a bad analogy.

The Indians and Chinese who were brought here in the early part of the 20th century by an established government to help in the building of the nation's infrastructure and economy. They were not refugees. Their contribution to the building of the nation was enormous.

Malaya was relatively sparsely populated at the time and the Malay rulers, acting on the advice of British advisors, decided to import labour from foreign lands.

India and China were ideal places to obtain indentured labour. People from there were prepared to live and work in very difficult and dangerous conditions for very little pay.

The Rohingyas are refugees fleeing persecution by Myanmar. There may be some troublemakers among them. But the vast majority are trying hard to survive under very difficult circumstances.

It is a decision for us to make whether we choose to absorb them into our population. The other option is to wait for matters to be resolved in Myanmar or for third nations to take them in as refugees.

GooseNBanter: Ever since the 1920s, we have been divided by the elites amongst us who pursued political power and positions (something we have been doing to this day) and the majority amongst us who were content with tending to the field and flock. We mauled our own.

While the elites amongst us sent our children to schools abroad, there was the majority who were content with the ‘sekolah pondok’ and mission schools set up by ‘outsiders’.

These select few amongst us stoke fear of the majority on apostasy by outsider religions and stoke fear that outsiders will monopolise commerce rightfully belonging to bumiputeras.

And they stoke many other fears that mauled the minds of the majority and made them cower under the ‘protection’ of the select few.

That majority amongst us today are still cowering in fear which they are unable to shake off after years of being psychologically mauled by their own.

The select few have left the majority still struggling far behind. The select few have been mauling billions of ringgits which, if it had been shared, would have raised the state of the majority over the past 60 years. A state in which the majority is still struggling.

And thus, we have to be wary of our own select few, more than the outsiders of the 1920, who will forever keep mauling our own.

Quigonbond: Rais, are you suggesting that the Indians and Chinese are "mauling" Malaysia? Surely the police should investigate him for incitement.

Anonymous_1565629164778.0191565628799150: Rais, open up your eyes and look around. The world is talking about globalisation, life on Mars, artificial intelligence replacing low-end manual work.

But all you worry about is refugees from the unfortunate third world competing with Malays in this land. After almost 50 years of special privileges and rights, shouldn’t Malay be at least on par with the 1920s 'pendatangs' (immigrants) by now?

Quo Vadis: Scratch the surface of erstwhile leaders, now happily in their dotage - you see their true colours. Not always pretty.

Mazilamani: The holy month of Ramadan is observed as a month of fasting, atonement for past mistakes, being thoughtful about what we think, say and do, seek forgiveness from those whom we have hurt and to forgive those who have hurt us.

The same is observed by Christians during the month of Easter.

Of what good is Ramadan and Easter if our heart and mind are filled to the brim with thoughts that distance us from God.

I have the highest respect for people truly faithful to whatever religions they embrace, but definitely not the fakes. Rais has this habit of exposing his deep most inner thoughts at the most unlikely time.

Selamat puasa to all devout Muslims.

YOURSAY | Is it race first or religion first?

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