YOURSAY | ‘We call certain people citizens but we do not accord them the same trust and respect…’

LETTER | Is it wrong for Malaysia to be a permanent ethnic Malay polity?

Constitutional Supremacy: There are many flaws in the writers’ (Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli and Fareed Mohd Hassan) arguments.

For instance, they say people are free to practice their religion unlike in many countries. But in western countries, the state does not support any religion, including Christianity. No funding is provided to any religion. But if they give funding to one religion then they must give funding to all other religions.

There are private schools and universities run by various religious groups notably the Muslims as they get funding in hundreds of millions yearly from Saudi Arabia and other Arabian counties.

Quigonbond: Hazmi and Fareed, are you kidding? The whole reason for a Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition is to promote Malay-Muslim first. Is that the kind of Malay polity you are referring to?

To what ends, that we call certain people citizens but we do not accord them the same trust and respect just because they don't share the same colour, culture or religion?

There has not been a more pressing need than now that we need to use the best resources the nation can offer us without constantly looking over our shoulders whether someone is stepping on a racial or religious minefield - and the most hilarious part of it all is that the constant fear of existential threat is nothing but a manufactured one, to keep deep states like Umno and its merry band of kleptocrats in power.

I am comforted that at least there's one-third Malays, probably those without connections and cables, those who are capable, and who can see past this myopic view. As long as they believe that they too are victims of elite politicians' excesses, and have their hearts in reform, and some degree of justice and fairness, there is hope for Malaysia.

Gerard Lourdesamy: Well, the US had a black president whose father was a Muslim. Can we have a Chinese or Indian Malaysian as the PM? Clearly, the Malays will say never.

In the UK, top ministers like home affairs (Priti Patel) and finance (Rishi Sunak) are from the non-white ethnic minorities. Same with Penny Wong in Australia (opposition leader in the Senate). Former governors-general of Canada and New Zealand were from non-white ethnic minorities.

Whereas here there was condemnation all around when Lim Guan Eng was made finance minister and Tommy Thomas the attorney-general (AG).

Vernacular schools may be the exception but they are open to all races. Can we say the same about Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM)? No other country in the world has a public university restricted to a single race.

Even if one argues based on demographics, shouldn't at least 33% of the public services including the police and army, and the government-linked companies (GLCs) or government-linked investment companies (GLICs) have ethnic minorities from the Chinese and Indian communities?

The counter-argument would be that the private sector is perceived to be dominated by the Chinese but the difference is that their businesses are mostly family-owned and not dependent on government handouts using public funds.

If discrimination is an issue, the government should pass laws to deal with it. Instead, equality, equal treatment and equal protection are taboo words in this country.

The sad thing is that for some non-Malay Malaysians, even after being in this country for five or more generations, they are still regarded as outsiders and with suspicion. Obviously, we have failed as a nation.

MS: Well argued, @Gerard Lourdesamy. The writers once again prove my contention that some Malays will never think and act as Malaysians, celebrate and harness ethnic diversity for the greater good of all but act like supremacists doling out minor favours to the minorities to prove their benevolence.

The Malay mind is so gripped by fear of losing their many privileges despite the constitutional protections and numerical advantage that they prefer racial division rather than unity. It is Malay unity first and last, and never Malaysian unity.

Vent: The question 'Is it wrong for Malaysia to be a permanent ethnic Malay polity?' is myopic at best and suffers from convenient historical amnesia with equal doses of denial, inherent insecurity and shameless supremacy.

But I would just like to attend to the topic of the Malay royalty here as most of the other claims have been dealt with already below.

The "Malay kingdoms or sultanates" did not exist "across the Malay peninsula and the Malay Archipelago for centuries" although small Malay kingdoms spread throughout parts of what is Malaysia today, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines over a few centuries.

However, they were all fairly recent phenomena given the historical antiquity of this region. What is historically evident was the rule of an ancient Hindu-Buddhist polity over much of the region with local evidence of it in the Bujang Valley/Lembah Bujang and in the now cordoned off sites of Kota Gelanggi (potentially the first capital of the ancient Empire of Srivijaya dating to around 650–900 and one of the oldest kingdoms in the Malay peninsula).

This evidence has been very strategically eclipsed in this nation. Now attempts are even being made to link the Bujang Valley/Lembah Bujang to the Malays by the usual suspects of revisionism in Malaysian history.

Wayang Spectator: Hazmi and Fareed, you do know that the "all lives matter" slogan is used by those who do not believe there is "white" privilege and that the lives of blacks or non-whites in the US are no different from those of the whites.

You need a new slogan, perhaps, "all Malaysian lives matter". And if so, how different is it from "Malaysia for Malaysians"?

And lastly, please stop your rationales for the changes that are much needed in Malaysia when after 45 years of "pro-Malay/bumiputera" policies have resulted in mismanagement and corruption at all levels of the government.

Question is, will the politicians do the house cleaning themselves and be stronger, or perhaps, the new overlords from Beijing will take over and redo the entire house for them?

Ex-Wfw: I don't think the majority of the other Malaysians is bothered about taking control of the central government as this is impossible based on the numbers alone; hence to narrow down the narrative is irrelevant to the main issue of good governance of the nation.

Surely, the majority of the population prefer a "clean" government without the stigma of corruption being trumpeted across the world. And that is a basic hope of the people.

Malaysian Bulldog: The problem is that this country could be even richer and more successful if not for the greed of people in power.

This article does not mention anything about the massive corruption plague in this country. Imagine if that money went to upgrading schools, quality of teachers, public health system, etc?

Just have to look at all the crooks now getting off and what is the defence to that? Yet, they are continually brought back to power. Why? Explain that.

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