Given the nature of the Malay psyche, where
blind allegiance to race, religion and royalty dominates their
behaviour, it is not surprising that Malays become prisoners to their
own beliefs. To add to the confusion, Malay society is male-dominated
and has its roots steeped in animism.
It is the lack of moderate Malay dissention to the effects of ill-thought out government policies and injustices, which gives mixed messages to the wider public.
The "Malay protest"
held after Friday prayers last week, was an attempt to disprove the
theory that the Lynas issue is one that concerns only the Chinese and
residents of Gebeng.
If true, it adds credence to the widely held belief that Malays have only just become aware of the harm which Lynas may cause. It seems that the Malays only act when their rice-bowl is broken.
An undisclosed source alleges that Malay ‘keropok lekor' sellers in the Kuantan area noticed a drop in their monthly income, with losses averaging around RM3,000. The buyers of ‘keropok lekor' are mainly non-Malay and when the keropok sellers' pockets were hit, it is said that the Malays finally acted. It is ironic that the MP leading the anti-Lynas issue is Fuziah Salleh, a Malay and a woman.
Tide's turning
The tide is turning and moderate Malay voices are increasingly being heard but more moderate Malays need to come forward. Everyone wants the good things in life but it cannot come at the expense of social justice and moral obligations.
The moderates should not allow the extremists to exploit Malay insecurities.
Umnoputras enjoy billions in kickbacks. Naked greed triumphs over politics and religion. The moderates should not wait till the kitty runs dry and everyone is scraping the bottom of the barrel, before sticking their heads above the parapet.
Kartika
Dewi Sukarno's life was torn apart for her half pint of beer. Where
were the ordinary Malay women to speak up against the media circus and
political/religious wolf-packs, which destroyed her marriage,
scrutinised her past and questioned her morals? Kartika (right) was no lager-lout or GRO in a seedy bar. She was just another Malay woman enjoying a night out with friends.
If it is a question of priorities, then the moderate Malay should realise that drinking, when taken to excess, might affect the drinker's liver and pocket, but corruption on the grand scale of some Malay politicians affects the lives of the rakyat and makes the nation poorer.
During Kartika's media melée, we also discovered that three Muslim women had been flogged for having premarital sex.
Apart from protests from women NGOs, where were the Malay voices, men or women, protesting about this flogging and the secrecy under which it was conducted? The Malay men were not more virtuous than their women, but a big deal was made of the women's behaviour.
When Rosmah Mansor, the self-styled First Lady was interrupted at a dinner in Kuching and handed a petition detailing the rape of the Penan women, the many Malay faces cowering beside her, were a sight to behold. If only they had the courage to follow this through and see that the Penans received justice.
For
months, Bung Mokhtar, denied courting the starlet, Zizie Ezette despite
his new haircut and gym sessions to create a sporty, youthful, new
look. A year later, it emerged that he had allegedly been through a sham
marriage and not followed the proper marriage procedures.
Only a handful of women from womens' groups protested at the syariah court where Bung Mokhtar's trial was held. The message from ordinary Malay women is that they are so subjugated that they cannot even be seen to condemn such behaviour.
If all women, withheld sex from their husbands or boy-friends, to drive the point home, perhaps new laws might be rushed through parliament in record speed.
When male MPs uttered crude, sexist and derogatory remarks in the Dewan Rakyat, what happened to women power?
The people involved in stamping out HIV/AIDS have difficulty persuading Malay men to use condoms to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The women who contracted STDs or HIV/AIDS because of unprotected sex, should speak out. More lives could have been saved.
When a Kelantanese was asked why the rate of incest was highest in his state, he alleged that Malay men are unable to afford prostitutes and so vented their sexual lust on their own children. Do moderate Malays condone this? Why don't they voice their disgust?
Perhaps, moderate voices are not aware of the various forms of expression with which to register their disapproval.
In western countries, media outlets would be inundated with complaints if a minister's son was abusing his father's position in government. Mainstream media may not be immediately accessible, but registering criticism on Radio Free Sarawak, starting a Facebook page or a clip on YouTube are just as effective, if not more.
One letter from a few people to the mainstream papers may not make a difference; however, if the editors were to be swamped with hundreds or thousands of letters about a particular injustice, the impact of receiving them might prick the conscience of reporters to write on the issue. What is the government going to do? They would look foolish if they jailed hundreds of journalists.
MPs are there to serve us, so make full use of them. The local council, the mayor, exco members and village heads should also be targets of our disapproval. There are also celebrities, trade associations, NGOs and various bodies where one can lodge complaints. If Umno can make use of imams to spread their own gospel, then why not use the heads of religion to register our objections?
Boycotts
are another small act of resistance. Keretapi Tanah Melayu would suffer
greatly if people boycotted their trains because of the politicising of
BN flags.
Recently, Gardenia Bread suffered a reduction in sales because of its alleged racist policies.
Wearing certain colours are another form of expression. Malaysia would not want to risk more negative global publicity with another farcical banning of yellow or black items. Wholesale pressure must be maintained.
Moderate Malay voices must be encouraged to be heard, for their collective impact could make or break governments.
First. The Malays must take more cognizance of their surroundings and summon the courage to acknowledge that the government does not always have their interests at heart. In theory Ketuanan Melayu should be of benefit to all Malays. In practice, very few receive any real benefit.
Second. Malays can be their own worst enemy. Non-Malays expressing opinions about certain issues are criticised because the Malay claims that the non-Malay is not qualified to comment on "sensitive" topics.
Some Malays might be better off if they looked through the eyes of the non-Malays.
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak', this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.
It is the lack of moderate Malay dissention to the effects of ill-thought out government policies and injustices, which gives mixed messages to the wider public.
The "Malay protest"
held after Friday prayers last week, was an attempt to disprove the
theory that the Lynas issue is one that concerns only the Chinese and
residents of Gebeng.If true, it adds credence to the widely held belief that Malays have only just become aware of the harm which Lynas may cause. It seems that the Malays only act when their rice-bowl is broken.
An undisclosed source alleges that Malay ‘keropok lekor' sellers in the Kuantan area noticed a drop in their monthly income, with losses averaging around RM3,000. The buyers of ‘keropok lekor' are mainly non-Malay and when the keropok sellers' pockets were hit, it is said that the Malays finally acted. It is ironic that the MP leading the anti-Lynas issue is Fuziah Salleh, a Malay and a woman.
Tide's turning
The tide is turning and moderate Malay voices are increasingly being heard but more moderate Malays need to come forward. Everyone wants the good things in life but it cannot come at the expense of social justice and moral obligations.
The moderates should not allow the extremists to exploit Malay insecurities.
Umnoputras enjoy billions in kickbacks. Naked greed triumphs over politics and religion. The moderates should not wait till the kitty runs dry and everyone is scraping the bottom of the barrel, before sticking their heads above the parapet.
Kartika
Dewi Sukarno's life was torn apart for her half pint of beer. Where
were the ordinary Malay women to speak up against the media circus and
political/religious wolf-packs, which destroyed her marriage,
scrutinised her past and questioned her morals? Kartika (right) was no lager-lout or GRO in a seedy bar. She was just another Malay woman enjoying a night out with friends.If it is a question of priorities, then the moderate Malay should realise that drinking, when taken to excess, might affect the drinker's liver and pocket, but corruption on the grand scale of some Malay politicians affects the lives of the rakyat and makes the nation poorer.
During Kartika's media melée, we also discovered that three Muslim women had been flogged for having premarital sex.
Apart from protests from women NGOs, where were the Malay voices, men or women, protesting about this flogging and the secrecy under which it was conducted? The Malay men were not more virtuous than their women, but a big deal was made of the women's behaviour.
When Rosmah Mansor, the self-styled First Lady was interrupted at a dinner in Kuching and handed a petition detailing the rape of the Penan women, the many Malay faces cowering beside her, were a sight to behold. If only they had the courage to follow this through and see that the Penans received justice.
For
months, Bung Mokhtar, denied courting the starlet, Zizie Ezette despite
his new haircut and gym sessions to create a sporty, youthful, new
look. A year later, it emerged that he had allegedly been through a sham
marriage and not followed the proper marriage procedures.Only a handful of women from womens' groups protested at the syariah court where Bung Mokhtar's trial was held. The message from ordinary Malay women is that they are so subjugated that they cannot even be seen to condemn such behaviour.
If all women, withheld sex from their husbands or boy-friends, to drive the point home, perhaps new laws might be rushed through parliament in record speed.
When male MPs uttered crude, sexist and derogatory remarks in the Dewan Rakyat, what happened to women power?
The people involved in stamping out HIV/AIDS have difficulty persuading Malay men to use condoms to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The women who contracted STDs or HIV/AIDS because of unprotected sex, should speak out. More lives could have been saved.
When a Kelantanese was asked why the rate of incest was highest in his state, he alleged that Malay men are unable to afford prostitutes and so vented their sexual lust on their own children. Do moderate Malays condone this? Why don't they voice their disgust?
Ways to express disapproval
Perhaps, moderate voices are not aware of the various forms of expression with which to register their disapproval.
In western countries, media outlets would be inundated with complaints if a minister's son was abusing his father's position in government. Mainstream media may not be immediately accessible, but registering criticism on Radio Free Sarawak, starting a Facebook page or a clip on YouTube are just as effective, if not more.
One letter from a few people to the mainstream papers may not make a difference; however, if the editors were to be swamped with hundreds or thousands of letters about a particular injustice, the impact of receiving them might prick the conscience of reporters to write on the issue. What is the government going to do? They would look foolish if they jailed hundreds of journalists.
MPs are there to serve us, so make full use of them. The local council, the mayor, exco members and village heads should also be targets of our disapproval. There are also celebrities, trade associations, NGOs and various bodies where one can lodge complaints. If Umno can make use of imams to spread their own gospel, then why not use the heads of religion to register our objections?
Boycotts
are another small act of resistance. Keretapi Tanah Melayu would suffer
greatly if people boycotted their trains because of the politicising of
BN flags.Recently, Gardenia Bread suffered a reduction in sales because of its alleged racist policies.
Wearing certain colours are another form of expression. Malaysia would not want to risk more negative global publicity with another farcical banning of yellow or black items. Wholesale pressure must be maintained.
Moderate Malay voices must be encouraged to be heard, for their collective impact could make or break governments.
First. The Malays must take more cognizance of their surroundings and summon the courage to acknowledge that the government does not always have their interests at heart. In theory Ketuanan Melayu should be of benefit to all Malays. In practice, very few receive any real benefit.
Second. Malays can be their own worst enemy. Non-Malays expressing opinions about certain issues are criticised because the Malay claims that the non-Malay is not qualified to comment on "sensitive" topics.
Some Malays might be better off if they looked through the eyes of the non-Malays.
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak', this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.
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