Siasatan SPRM: UMNO semakin panas? 31 January 2009

Penubuhan Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) yang diilhamkan oleh perdana menteri Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pada mulanya diterima dengan sinis oleh orang ramai. Walaupun dikatakan sebagai sebuah badan bebas, persepsi terhadap SPRM adalah ianya hanyalah Badan Pencegah Rasuah (BPR) yang ‘berpakaian baru’.

Jadi apabila SPRM memulakan siasatan besar-besaran terhadap beberapa pemimpin bawahan UMNO dalam usaha untuk membenteras apa yang dilabelkan sebagai ‘politik wang’, ramai yang tidak menyangka ia akan berlaku dan pada yang sama, mengalu-alukan usaha SPRM tersebut. Masih terlalu awal untuk kita memutuskan samada SPRM benar-benar bebas dari pengaruh eksekutif, namun ianya merupakan permulaan yang baik.

Yang tidak menyambut baik usaha SPRM nampaknya adalah ahli UMNO sendiri. Beberapa hari yang lepas, sekumpulan ahli UMNO dari sayap Pemuda telah membuat demonstrasi di Menara Dato’ Onn dan menyerahkan memorandum membantah tindakan SPRM dalam soal membenteras politik wang. Kumpulan ahli UMNO ini menggesa kerajaan supaya SPRM dilupuskan. Nampak gayanya, mereka marahkan SPRM kerana telah membuat siasatan terhadap gejala politik wang di dalam UMNO. Alasan mereka? Gejala politik wang adalah isu parti yang harus ditangani oleh parti sendiri, dan bukan pihak ketiga.

Ahli-ahli UMNO yang sekian lama mengamalkan budaya patronage atau ‘hutang budi’ sudah tentu akan berasa tertekan dengan usaha SPRM. ‘Politik wang’ atau rasuah sudah lama menjadi barah di dalam parti politik itu dan sudah menjadi sebati dengan nadi UMNO. Dengar sahaja cerita-cerita yang keluar sewaktu pertandingan bahagian dan cawangan dahulu. Dan juga cerita-cerita berkenaan dengan pencalonan jawatan-jawatan tertinggi di dalam UMNO. Jika benar apa yang diceritakan, maka SPRM tidak akan lekang bekerja untuk menyiasat segala rasuah, ‘hadiah’, ‘pengeras’, angpow dan macam-macam lagi yang telah bertukar tangan pada waktu itu.

Tidak hairanlah jika pedemonstrasi-pedemonstrasi UMNO tersebut melaungkan slogan seperti “Kembalikan Hak UMNO” dan “Jangan sekat kebebasan bersuara ahli UMNO”. Mungkin dalam pemikiran mereka, menerima wang atau balasan setimpal dengannya demi membuat sesuatu keputusan itu tidak salah dan telah menjadi ‘hak’ mereka sebagai ahli UMNO. Tidak keterlaluan sekiranya dikatakan bahawa slogan UMNO kini telah bertukar dari ‘demi bangsa, agama dan negara’ kepada ‘demi wang, projek dan kuasa’.

Parti yang dahulu memperjuangkan kemerdekaan kini telah kehilangan arah. Jika dahulunya orang menyertai UMNO untuk berbakti kepada bangsa, agama dan negara, kini UMNO disertai untuk tujuan perniagaan, untuk menjalinkan hubungan (contacts) dan untuk menerima balasan. Orang tidak lagi menyertai UMNO untuk cuba membawa perubahan yang positif.

Walhal pada hakikatnya adalah amat wajar bagi SPRM untuk membuat siasatan di dalam UMNO. Politik wang itu adalah rasuah, dan rasuah adalah di bawah bidangkuasa SPRM. Politik wang di dalam UMNO bukan lagi hanya masalah dalaman UMNO kerana ia melibatkan secara langsung atau tidak langsung rakyat di luar sana. Masih ramai lagi ahli UMNO yang berada di kedudukan yang boleh membuat keputusan (decision-making positions), walaupun telah kehilangan lima negeri. Tidak mustahil bahawa antara ‘balasan’ yang diberikan adalah pemberian projek-projek yang melibatkan orang awam, ataupun wang rakyat yang telah disalahgunakan. Adalah menjadi tugas SPRM untuk menyiasat aktiviti ahli UMNO selama ini.

Sikap ahli UMNO yang begitu resistan terhadap siasatan SPRM menunjukkan antara permasalahan yang melanda parti itu. Rakyat jelata telah mual dan jelik dengan rasuah dan politik wang, akan tetapi ahli UMNO tidak merasakan bahawa ada apa-apa yang salah dengannya. Ini menunjukkan betapa jauhnya  UMNO dengan nadi rakyat secara amnya. Hubungan di antara rakyat dan UMNO semakin kabur, sehinggakan UMNO tidak lagi dapat ‘membaca’ apa yang diinginkan oleh rakyat. Semakin lama perkara ini dibiarkan berlaku, UMNO akan semakin hilang relevannya kepada masyarakat negara ini.

Seperti kata Tuan Guru Nik Aziz, UMNO kini semakin hilang ‘graviti’ untuk menarik rakyat menyokong perjuangannya. Manakan tidak, sekiranya perjuangan ahli UMNO yang dilihat oleh rakyat hanyalah perjuangan untuk mendapatkan ‘balasan’.

Remember Sabah elections, 1994?, part II 29 January 2009

From the Malaysian Insider, an excerpt from a recent article by Mr. Wan Hamidi Hamid that revisits the events in Sabah politics in light of recent events:

Pada 19 Februari 1994, pilihan raya negeri Sabah diadakan lagi, dan walaupun BN berkempen dengan rasuah pembangunan dan taburan wang yang hebat, PBS terus diberi mandat oleh rakyat Malaysia di Sabah apabila ia memang tipis dengan 25 kerusi berbanding BN 23.

Apa yang berlaku selepas keputusan diumumkan adalah satu sejarah baru dalam politik negara pada masa itu. Pairin terpaksa menunggu di luar pagar Yang Dipertua Negeri selama tiga hari siang dan malam semata-mata untuk mengangkat sumpah sebagai Ketua Menteri.

Dua minggu selepas melantik kabinet negeri, beberapa Adun PBS mendakwa mereka ditawarkan berjuta-juta ringgit untuk melompat menyertai BN. Pada 12 Mac pemimpin PBS Datuk Lajim Ukin, Rubin Balang dan Datuk Zaini Isa, salah seorang dari Adun dilantik (selain 25 Adun yang menang pilihana raya, perlembagaan negeri membenarkan enam Adun dilantik oleh parti yang menang) mengumumkan keluar parti.

Sewaktu kekecohan itu, Kementerian Dalam Negeri mencatatkan rekod kepantasan tugas dengan meluluskan permohonan beberapa parti politik dalam masa beberapa hari sahaja untuk membolehkan mereka menjadi parti kepada Adun-Adun yang melompat dari PBS.

Pada 17 Mac 1994, Pairin secara gentleman telah menyerahkan surat perletakan jawatan sebagai Ketua Menteri kepada Yang Dipertua Negeri setelah hampir70 peratus barisan Adunnya melompat parti.

Dari 25 kerusi yang dimenangi serta enam Adun dilantik, iaitu 31 kesemuanya, PBS hanya tinggal lima Adun. Dengan itu, tidak sampai sebulan setelah memenangi pilihan raya negeri secara sah, PBS kehilangan kuasa apabila Umno dan BN berjaya membeli hampir kesemua Adun-Adun berkenaan.

You may read the full article here.

I agree with Mr. Wan Hamidi. It certainly is a case of ‘keris makan tuan‘.

Remember Sabah elections, 1994? 28 January 2009

Malaysian Insider reported the following:

“The voters placed their trust in him not because of the individual himself but because of his capacity in the party he represented which enabled him to win (in the elections),” he told reporters after a gathering with the leaders organised by the Federation of Sabah Chinese Associations.

Shafie said elected representatives should not belittle the party’s struggle by actions similar to that of the Bota assemblyman.

“People are not goods to be traded,” he said.

Noble words from the minister from Sabah. I myself am not comfortable with defections, especially as it may open the door for unsavory ‘UMNO elements’ to seep its way into Pakatan. However, I can tolerate the Bota assemblyman’s defection for the greater good of teaching UMNO a valuable lesson. Besides, it is said that if Mr. Nasarudin were to resign for a by election, he would be unable to contest for five years.

Yet I’m sure the UMNO minister from Sabah still remembers what Barisan did in his state in 1994. In the state elections of 1994, Parti Bersatu Sabah (prior to its re-entry into Barisan), won the state by winning 25 state seats against Barisan’s 23. However, several PBS assemblymen defected to Barisan which prevented PBS from forming the government. A Barisan Nasional government was instead established in Sabah.

Malaysia and Gitmo 26 January 2009

So brand-spanking new U.S. President Mr. Barack Obama wasted no time in ordering the controversial Guantanamo Bay to be closed within a year.

Malaysia quickly made its views known. Prime minister Mr. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that Malaysia two of its citizens detained in Gitmo to be returned to Malaysia. The New Straits Times reported:

PM wants two Guantanamo inmates to be tried here

THE two Malaysian prisoners held at the Guatanamo military prison should be released to the Malaysian government so that they can stand trial in the country, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday.

The prime minister said the authorities would contact the US government for more information on Mohd Farik Amin or Zaid (Zubair) and Mohamed Nazir Lep or Bashir Lep (Lillie), who have been detained there since 2003 for suspected links with terrorist groups Jemaah Islamiyah and al-Qaeda.

“We would like them to be deported and tried accordingly (in Malaysia). If they are found guilty, they will continue to serve their jail sentences in Malaysia,” he told Malaysian journalists here on Friday night.

He flew to Kuala Lumpur yesterday at the end of a six-day working visit to strengthen bilateral ties with Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The prison had been ordered to close within a year by newly-elected US President Barack Obama.

Some 250 inmates accused of links to terrorism are being held there with 21 cases pending in court.

Abdullah welcomed the US move to close the controversial military prison, adding that it was the beginning of change under the Obama administration.

“It looks like the US president is keeping his word and that’s a good start. We hope to see many more changes in the US administration.”

The two Malaysians were detained by the Bush administration, which claimed that they were suicide operatives for an al-Qaeda “second wave” attack targeting Los Angeles.

According to Reuters, a draft issued by the Obama administration said that anyone still in detention at Guatanamo after its closure would be returned to their home country, released, transferred to a third country or transferred to another US detention facility.

On Thursday, Obama made good his promise to close down the prison and to halt harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects.

It would, however, be a long and complicated process to determine the fate of the inmates, many of whom have been held for years without trial.

US judges had suspended several of the military trials of terror suspects at the prison following Obama’s executive order.

The military prison was established at a US naval base in Guatanamo Bay, Cuba, after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the US

I find our ‘official’ stance on Gitmo as highly hypocritical. Really, there isn’t much difference between Gitmo and Kamunting. We cannot condemn one while upholding the other.

When Mr. Abdullah said that he wants the Malaysians to be returned to Malaysia to be tried here, I wonder if he means that the two suspects will be re-arrested under the ISA. After all, many who are suspected to be involved with Jemaah Islamiah are still languishing in Kamunting, without any possibility of having a fair trial in a court of law. If that be the case, it’s just a matter of substituting one detention centre and replacing it with another.

Oh and the same matter, today’s the Star had this ‘gem’ from our beloved Home Minister, Mr. Syed Hamid Albar:

On a separate matter, Syed Hamid said the American-run Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba should not be compared to the Kamunting detention camp for Internal Security Act detainees.

Unlike Kamunting, he said Guantanamo Bay was located on an island.

Yes, according to him, Gitmo and Kamunting are different because the former is located on an island.

Perak UMNO spits to the sky… 26 January 2009

There is a Malay saying, “Meludah ke atas langit, terpercik ke muka sendiri“. The peribahasa is quite self explanatory, really. If you spit to the sky, your spit will come back down to land onto your face.

Yesterday, Bota assemblyman Datuk Nassarudin Hashim presented UMNO with a Chinese New Year present; his defection from Barisan Nasional to Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

This will surely come as a blow to UMNO members who are still reeling from the by-election defeat in Kuala Terengganu. For Perak UMNO and its former Mentri Besar Mr. Tajol Rosli, it is even worse. This defection is immensely embarassing for them. It is no secret that Perak UMNO has been hard at work trying to make the Pakatan government in Perak fall. Perak UMNO has accused the Perak government of ’sidelining’ the Malays, especially in relation to the award of permanent land titles to new villagers in the state. In fact, Mr. Tajol even boldly proclaimed that the Perak government will fall by 31 August 2008. Of course, that did not come to pass, similar to Mr. Anwar’s 16 September facade.

But all that was for naught. Pakatan’s government did not fall. In fact, with Mr. Nassarudin’s defection, the ‘loose coalition’ of PAS, DAP and PKR in Perak has added an extra seat, bringing their majority to four.

Perak UMNO’s wet saliva excrement, which they so proudly spat to the heavens, have landed squarely upon their unsuspecting faces.

Khir oh Khir… 22 January 2009

The many casualties of the political tsunami last March have had differing fortunes post-elections. Some completely disappear of the map, like Messrs. Awang Adek, Fu Ah Kiow and Aziz Shamsudin. Some, like Ms. Sharizat, have picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and continued on with a purpose. Some have refused to disappear, barking at the edge of political relevance, barely anyone lending an ear to them. One of these are Mr. Samy Vellu. Another is Selangor’s opposition leader, Mr. Mohd Khir Toyo.

By far the only noteworthy thing the former Selangor Mentri Besar has done is qualified himself to be in the running for the post of UMNO Youth chief. How he did it is anyone’s guess, but from the stories that one hears, there were a lot of ‘persuading’ involved. Good luck to him on that.

But apart from that, Mr. Khir has not endeared himself to the masses at all. His involvement in  causing Ms. Teresa Kok to be detained under the draconian ISA has made him one of the most despised man in Malaysia. But like Mr. Samy, he still think he’s a hero. He still thinks that he’s Selangor’s saviour.

Earlier this month, he accused his predecessor Mr. Khalid Ibrahim of buying a Lexus using state funds. Of course, the egg was left squarely on his face when it was revealed that Mr. Khalid’s Lexus was brought in 2007, before Pakatan won Selangor. Of course, Mr. Khalid purchased the Lexus with his own hard-earned cash.

Today, Mr. Khir claims that he has evidence that Mr. Khalid used state funds for the slaughter of 46 cows in the constituency of Bandar Tun Razak (Khalid’s constituency). He also claims that the MACC (Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission) ransacked the Mentri Besar’s office two days ago. Which was quite funny, as Gerak, the Ezam-linked group who lodged the report with MACC, did so yesterday. Premonition from MACC, perhaps?

Anyways, if it is true that PKNS had donated those cows to the constituents, I really cannot see how it is such an evil thing that Khalid has to vacate his post (as demanded by Mr. Khir). In the end, those cows were slaughtered and given to the constituents. It’s not as if Mr. Khalid pocketed the beef.

More importantly, it’s highly hypocritical for Mr. Khir to be harping on this issue, considering that the whole of Selangor knew of his antics when he was Mentri Besar. Shows that the self-professed tempe lover has ran out of issues to lash at his opponents.

I’m sure many would agree with me when I say that Malaysians are quite sick of the man. He should do an Awang Adek. He should just disappear.

Acting like a sore loser… 21 January 2009

For all the ‘bruhaha’ over ‘change’ and ‘reform’ trumpeted by anyone and everyone from UMNO, we get this. Taken from the Star:

Govt orders its directors not to attend Perak state-level meetings

IPOH: All Federal Government directors of departments and agencies in Perak are banned from attending state-level meetings with immediate effect.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also said that, with immediate effect, federal agencies would only consider recommendations of Federal Village Develop­ment and Security Committees.

He said the move was to cut off the village committee appointed by the Pakatan Rakyat state government from access to Federal agencies.

“We will not hesitate to take disciplinary actions against federal agency directors if they attended meetings,” he told reporters after chairing the State Federal Action Council meeting here yesterday.

Zahid said agencies like the Drai­nage and Irrigation Depart­ment, Public Works Department, Health Department, Agriculture Depart­ment and the police were exempted from the ruling.

Noting that the Federal govern­ment only recognised the Federal Village Committees, their recommendations were therefore be considered legal.

“We do not recognise the recommendations of the Village Develop­ment and Security Committee (JKKK),” he added.

Zahid said that among the issues that required the recommendations of federal committee were scholarship applications and entries into institutes of higher learning.

Zahid said the 28 Barisan Nasional elected representatives in the state would be given special allocations to assist the people in their constituencies.

“The allocation will be given out whenever there are incidents of fire, flood or thunderstorm in their constituencies,” he said.

However, he declined to reveal the amount allocated for each constituency.

Dear Mr. Zahid, de facto minister of Islamic Affair, did you not hear what your superiors have said? I’m quite sure that UMNO leaders have been asked to ‘listen more to the rakyat’. Well Mr. Zahid, I’m quite sure the rakyat does not want you to behave like a sore loser and act totally against the spirit of federalism with your latest stunt.

But it’s alright. Three ‘wake up calls’ and you’re still snoring. Let’s see where that gets you when its election time again…

Kuala Terengganu: Pengajaran ketiga buat media arus perdana 18 January 2009

Berita Harian terbitan 16 Januari 2009 yang lalu membawa tajuk utama yang begitu yakin, “PELUANG BN CERAH“. Jelas sekali, dengan kemenangan calon PAS, YB Abdul Wahid Endut pada 17 Januari 2009 yang lepas, ramalan tersebut meleset. Malah, mengikut berita-berita dari sumber alternatif yang berada di Kuala Terengganu, kemenangan PAS memang sudah dijangkakan.

Inilah masalah yang dihadapi oleh pengamal media arus perdana. Mereka bagaikan tidak mempelajari apa yang telah berlaku sebelum ini pada pilihanraya umum ke 12 dan juga pilihanraya kecil Permatang Pauh. Pengamal media masih tidak tersedar dari lamunan. Dua ‘peringatan’ yang diberikan oleh rakyat sebelum ini tidak diendahkan. Perkara yang sama diulangi untuk Kuala Terengganu. Sama seperti sesetengah ahli UMNO yang menyalahkan calon dan juga Pak Lah untuk kekalahan mereka di Kuala Terengganu, pengamal media masih menyalahkan faktor lain selain dari mereka.

Semalam Bernama TV menyiarkan rancangan wawancara berkenaan dengan pilihanraya kecil Kuala Terengganu. Dua ahli panel dipanggil, seorang dari RTM dan seorang lagi dari Utusan Malaysia. Walaupun hampir setiap pemanggil ‘menghentam’ media yang berat sebelah, kedua-dua ahli panel masih tidak mengakui perkara tersebut. Ahli panel dari RTM menyatakan bahawa RTM telah banyak memberi peluang kepada parti pembangkang. Manakala ahli panel Utusan Malaysia pula menyalahkan strategi kempen UMNO. Malah beliau mengatakan bahawa media arus perdana ‘hanya memberikan sesuatu pandangan’ dan ‘tidak boleh disalahkan’. Beliau juga memberikan contoh media alternatif yang lebih memihak kepada pembangkang, untuk ‘menghalalkan’ perjudis media arus perdana terhadap Pakatan Rakyat.

Sebenarnya TV3, Utusan Malaysia, the New Straits Times dan Berita Harian tidak menampakkan banyak perubahan untuk ‘melonggarkan’ konkongan berita yang pro-Barisan. Hanya akhbar the Star, yang dimiliki oleh parti MCA, memperlihatkan peningkatan sejak tsunami politik 8 Mac 2008. Malang sekali, presiden MCA kini telah membuat perubahan di dalam MCA dan kini akhbar tersebut seakan-akan kembali kepada perlakuannya sebelum 8 Mac 2008. Alasannya? Banyak pemimpin-pemimpin Barisan Nasional tidak senang dengan keseimbangan the Star. Mereka menuduh the Star sebagai ‘berlagak seperti Harakah’.

Media banyak mempengaruhi keputusan sesuatu pilihanraya, walaupun bukan dengan cara yang diinginkan oleh parti pemerintah. Pertama, ketidakseimbangan berita menimbulkan kemarahan pengundi dan sedikit sebanyak mempunyai pengaruh terdahap keputusan pengundiannya. Kedua, dengan memberikan gambaran yang begitu indah terhadap sentimen pengundi, media telah melalaikan pemimpin dan penyokong Barisan Nasional untuk dengan perasaan ’selamat’ yang palsu (false sense of security). Mengambil contoh Kuala Terangganu, seorang ahli UMNO  yang tidak berada di Kuala Terengganu sudah tentu amat terkejut dengan kemenangan PAS, walhal hari sebelumnya Berita Harian telah mengatakan bahawa Barisan Nasional mempunyai peluang yang cerah di kerusi Parliment tersebut.

Di ambang pilihanraya kecil di Kuala Terengganu,  asakan bertubi-tubi  diberikan oleh media arus perdana kepada PAS dan Pakatan Rakyat.  Setiap akhbar arus perdana dan saluran berita memainkan peranan masing-masing, mengikut penonton/pembaca sasaran mereka. Media bahasa Inggeris menakut-nakutkan rakyat dengan isu hudud, manakala media bahasa Melayu pula mencerminkan PAS sebagai parti yang menyimpang dari prinsip asalnya dan kini tunduk kepada ‘parti cauvanis Cina’, DAP. Dan kedua-duanya membesar-besarkan ‘pergeseran’ yang berlaku di antara sesetengah pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat, untuk memberi gambaran bahawa kerjasama politik tersebut tidak akan bertahan lama.

Untuk pilihanraya kecil Kuala Terengganu, Utusan Malaysia dan TV3 telah digunakan oleh parti pemerintah untuk berkempen bagi pihaknya. Macam-macam keburukan Pakatan dan kebaikan Barisan disiarkan. Tiap-tiap hari, TV3 akan mengutuk dan menyindir PAS dan Pakatan Rakyat. Utusan pula memainkan watak cauvanis Melayunya dengan mempermainkan isu-isu perkauman. Melihat serangan Utusan dan TV3, saya tidak akan terkejut sekiranya rakyat Kuala Terengganu memilih Barisan Nasional berdasarkan laporan media arus perdana.

Berita tentang Barisan Nasional pula begitu indah. ‘Jasa’ parti pemerintah disiarkan setiap hari. Barisan memberikan sumbangan ini. Barisan memberikan peluang itu. Barisan sentiasa berbakti untuk rakyat. Apa yang baik itu hanya datang dari Barisan, dan apa yang buruk itu dibawa oleh Pakatan.

Tetapi rakyat sudah bijak. Walaupun dengan propaganda Barisan Nasional, rakyat Kuala Terengganu telah memilih calon PAS. Penolakan BN di Kuala Terengganu juga bermaksud semakin hilangnya kredibiliti media arus perdana. Rakyat tidak lagi mempercayai dakyah yang disiarkan di dada akhbar dan kaca televisyen mereka. Sama seperti 8 Mac lepas. Sama seperti Permatang Pauh.

Tidak hairanlah, seperti pilihanraya umum yang lepas, seperti Permatang Pauh, rakyat menjadi mual dan jelik terhadap sikap media arus perdana. Rakyat kini lebih mempercayai media alternatif yang diterima dari internet. Kredibiliti media arus perdana yang sekian lama tercalar masih tidak dirawati.

Barisan must search within 17 January 2009

The messege is loud and clear.

Barisan Nasional and UMNO would do well to listen to it. Their survival depends on it.

Three shattering body blows has been delivered to the ruling coalition in the past 10 months or so.

First it was the loss of two thirds majority in Parliament and five states.

Second, it was the increased majority in Mr. Anwar’s spectacular win.

The third one, delivered by the rakyat, was the wresting of Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat by PAS.

No, they cannot blame Mr. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi alone any longer. His participation in Kuala Terengganu has been minimal. Instead, it was Mr. Najib who spent almost every day during the campaign period, trying to canvass votes for Barisan. Mr. Najib may claim that Kuala Terengganu isn’t a referendum on his leadership, but it certainly raises questions of the leadership of the prime-minister-to-be.

UMNO must realize that it’s problem isn’t just Mr. Abdullah Badawi. The so-called March ‘transition plan’ will not  mean anything if UMNO itself doesn’t address some pertinent questions.

‘Ketuanan’-free, for now 15 January 2009

“Iye?! UiTM tu untuk orang Melayu aje?“

My second sister exclaimed in suprise. She was 17, ‘enjoying life’ after SPM.

I explained to her that Mara was set up to help the bumiputeras. As such, anything Mara related was for bumiputeras, although Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM), the asrama school, actually has a 10% non-bumiputera quota. So too are the various kolej matrikulasi (matriculation collages) dotting the country.

“Racist!“

That was my youngest sister. 15 years old, just starting her Form 4 at a private school in Damansara.

“Kata Malaysia untuk semua kaum…” she continued.

I looked at them, amazed at what they’re saying. I didn’t expect them to feel so strongly about the issue.

Maybe it’s because they’re exposed to ‘the others’. My youngest sister, as I said, studies in a private school, where non-Malays significantly outnumber the Malays pupils. As for my second sister, being in a public school in Petaling Jaya meant that she has a multi-racial group of friends.

I reckon it would be hard for a group of young people to understand why some of them are given certain preferences whilst others are not. Especially if to them race and religion are immaterial to friendship. All of a sudden when they come to the ‘real’ Malaysia, the system forces upon them divisions that never existed in the first place.

I tried to explain to them that the poor and rural Malays do need our assistance. It is our responsibility to help them. I tried to make them understand the underlying rationale behind the system.

At the same time, I also told them how some Malays themselves are abusing the system. I told them of how rich and connected Malays are using the system towards their advantage, thus denying the assistance that should have been given to other Malays.

I wondered how long will these outrage at what they perceive to be ethnic ‘injustice’ will remain with them. Will they succumb to the indoctrination and propaganda justifying the system? Will they start to think that such preferences are their entitlement? Their God-given right?

Will they one day believe in ketuanan Melayu?