Saturday, January 9, 2010
MALAYSIA, WHERE ARE YOU GOING????
Where is Malaysia heading? Where, I do not know, but for sure it is going down the hill towards a cliff. If the government is not going to muster the courage to tell its citizen to stop this kind of racial brinksmanship and taunting, a repeat of May 13 is not too far.
60 years ago, 13 fragmented states, most were ruled by Malay Sultans came together to form a single independent country called Malaysia which consist of 60% Malay majority. The Malays enjoy special rights enshrined in the Constitution. The ‘special rights’ has been the single most contentious and divisive issue.
This time, the court granting Catholics the right to use the word “Allah” was deem to have trampled and encroached on Malay special rights. As anticipated many politicians saw this as a direct challenge to the Malays and thus must be defended vigorously.
All these years, this issue have been manipulated and exploited by all political parties to boiling point. A few questions need to be asked, did the leaders of the past did anything to temper this emotional issue. Or have the past leaders find this issue politically expedient to uphold for their own political advantage? Have the past leaders failed in nation building? What nation-building did the highly respected statesman Mahathir did for Malaysia in his 22 years at the helm?
The recent spate of contentious, divisive and controversial events constantly gripped the news headlines are getting more bizarre and even scary. The government seem to be at lost, at times completely in a dilemma to act rationally without upsetting the racial balance and expectations.
The latest arsons of burning churches has attracted world attentions. Having so many embarrassing episodes occurring in this ever divided country, this one was one too many. The potential security risk cannot be underestimated. What if more churches are burnt? What if the Christian retaliated? What if mosques are burnt in revenge? What if a fight between Christian and Muslim is exploited by extreme quarters? How would an unstable Malaysia be impacted economically? This event is set to be the tipping point and the Malaysia government have to act fast and firmly. It may not have any choice left but to invoke the draconian ISA. Otherwise a racial and religious implosion cannot be ruled out and the consequences unimaginable.
The last GE saw BN losing its 2/3 majority since independence. With the spate of events unfolding the last few months, BN cannot expect to receive continued unconditional support from the non-Malays quarters. These recent chilling and unnerving events have further alienated more non-Malay who used to support BN. With eroding support of BN within its ranks as well as outside, the political landscape is bound to undergo seismic change in the next election. The recent lost of power by the LDP in Japan may be a case in point. If and when BN do lost its mandate in the next election, Malaysia will be in deep political malaise and agitated political tensions will fester for the subsequent years. This will not bode well for Malaysia socially and economically, especially at a time when it is struggling out of recession, losing direct foreign investment and as well as dipping oil revenues in the years to come.
If I am a Malaysian, doesn’t matter if I am a Chinese or Malay, I would be crying for my country. How did Malaysia end up so fragmented, so divisive and so insensitive. If we compare Malaysia as a big family, where was the 'family upbringing' of sharing and respect? It is a situation when every child fight for his own selfish interest. The elder demand more as if it is his birth right. The younger must fight for everything. No one give in and even prepare to see blood if needed. This is the problem with Malaysia today, no family upbringing or rather no nation building at all! Each race continues to fight for its own interest and nobody want to lose out!
As the fire burned the churches, the government scrambled into the fire fighting mode. This has been the mode of the government for all these 60 years, fire fighting. In its balancing act, the home ministers even defended the Muslim demonstrators that carried the bloody and severed cow head against the building of a Hindu temple. He said he understands the emotions of the demonstrators and even have a dialogue with them. Now in this church arson episode, he even tries to pacify the antagonists by allowing them to demonstrate. This is a situation when the head of the family fears his children and obliges even unreasonable demand; the outcome is certainly chaos and disharmony. UMNO has unwittingly trapped itself in this quagmire in its hunger and desperation to win election. UMNO leaders fear losing its members’ support. The price for this short sightedness and inaction will be very costly and painful in the next election. When the inevitable happens it may be too late for UMNO.
There are no winners in this episode and UMNO apparently will come out a bigger loser. It can only at best, mitigate this loss if the PM prepares to take a more rational and tougher stand.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
60 years ago, 13 fragmented states, most were ruled by Malay Sultans came together to form a single independent country called Malaysia which consist of 60% Malay majority. The Malays enjoy special rights enshrined in the Constitution. The ‘special rights’ has been the single most contentious and divisive issue.
This time, the court granting Catholics the right to use the word “Allah” was deem to have trampled and encroached on Malay special rights. As anticipated many politicians saw this as a direct challenge to the Malays and thus must be defended vigorously.
All these years, this issue have been manipulated and exploited by all political parties to boiling point. A few questions need to be asked, did the leaders of the past did anything to temper this emotional issue. Or have the past leaders find this issue politically expedient to uphold for their own political advantage? Have the past leaders failed in nation building? What nation-building did the highly respected statesman Mahathir did for Malaysia in his 22 years at the helm?
The recent spate of contentious, divisive and controversial events constantly gripped the news headlines are getting more bizarre and even scary. The government seem to be at lost, at times completely in a dilemma to act rationally without upsetting the racial balance and expectations.
The latest arsons of burning churches has attracted world attentions. Having so many embarrassing episodes occurring in this ever divided country, this one was one too many. The potential security risk cannot be underestimated. What if more churches are burnt? What if the Christian retaliated? What if mosques are burnt in revenge? What if a fight between Christian and Muslim is exploited by extreme quarters? How would an unstable Malaysia be impacted economically? This event is set to be the tipping point and the Malaysia government have to act fast and firmly. It may not have any choice left but to invoke the draconian ISA. Otherwise a racial and religious implosion cannot be ruled out and the consequences unimaginable.
The last GE saw BN losing its 2/3 majority since independence. With the spate of events unfolding the last few months, BN cannot expect to receive continued unconditional support from the non-Malays quarters. These recent chilling and unnerving events have further alienated more non-Malay who used to support BN. With eroding support of BN within its ranks as well as outside, the political landscape is bound to undergo seismic change in the next election. The recent lost of power by the LDP in Japan may be a case in point. If and when BN do lost its mandate in the next election, Malaysia will be in deep political malaise and agitated political tensions will fester for the subsequent years. This will not bode well for Malaysia socially and economically, especially at a time when it is struggling out of recession, losing direct foreign investment and as well as dipping oil revenues in the years to come.
If I am a Malaysian, doesn’t matter if I am a Chinese or Malay, I would be crying for my country. How did Malaysia end up so fragmented, so divisive and so insensitive. If we compare Malaysia as a big family, where was the 'family upbringing' of sharing and respect? It is a situation when every child fight for his own selfish interest. The elder demand more as if it is his birth right. The younger must fight for everything. No one give in and even prepare to see blood if needed. This is the problem with Malaysia today, no family upbringing or rather no nation building at all! Each race continues to fight for its own interest and nobody want to lose out!
As the fire burned the churches, the government scrambled into the fire fighting mode. This has been the mode of the government for all these 60 years, fire fighting. In its balancing act, the home ministers even defended the Muslim demonstrators that carried the bloody and severed cow head against the building of a Hindu temple. He said he understands the emotions of the demonstrators and even have a dialogue with them. Now in this church arson episode, he even tries to pacify the antagonists by allowing them to demonstrate. This is a situation when the head of the family fears his children and obliges even unreasonable demand; the outcome is certainly chaos and disharmony. UMNO has unwittingly trapped itself in this quagmire in its hunger and desperation to win election. UMNO leaders fear losing its members’ support. The price for this short sightedness and inaction will be very costly and painful in the next election. When the inevitable happens it may be too late for UMNO.
There are no winners in this episode and UMNO apparently will come out a bigger loser. It can only at best, mitigate this loss if the PM prepares to take a more rational and tougher stand.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment