When you don't belong in your country...
January 22, 2009
I admit that sometimes I am over critical when it comes to Malaysia, especially political related issue. I might even sound pessimistic at times. But, I am not a cynic, nor do I not love my country.
“About Malaysia. Truly Asia…A bustling, melting pot of races and religions where Malays, Indians and Chinese and many other ethnic groups live together in peace and harmony.”
That was written on Tourism Malaysia Official website. It’s true, Malaysia is made up of the 3 main races, and other ethnic groups. It is also true that we live in peace and harmony. If the question ends here, then sure, there is nothing wrong about the statement. Scratch the surface a little, what do you see? I assure you, what I am about to say, has nothing to do with me being pessimistic or over critical.
The following was written in a letter addressed to the graduates of University Malaya, the national university of Malaysia by the Head of Graduates, last year.
Translation of the excerpt of the letter reads:
“As the Head of Graduates of University Malaya, I urge all the graduates to work together and equip ourselves with what is necessary for us to survive in the real world. I especially urge the Malay graduates of this. Treasure the sacrifices of our ancestors who fought against foreign power and freed us from their colonization. We should not forget our roots in order to prevent us to be oppressed by other races. Graduates should prove that we are capable and has what it takes to be the future leaders of the nation…(some shit about how this is in line with the university’s vision)… I also urges the Malay graduates to be prepared for all unforeseeable possibilities in the future seeing that nowadays, the progression of the nation mainly stem from non-Malays. We shouldn’t let our guards down and cause us “to be stabbed by the enemies in our own blankets”( direct translation of a Malay idiom). We should not let the country fall into the hands of other races that don’t have a right to do so.”
If statements of this sort come from someone else, which we get it from time to time, I will dismiss it, because if that is their stance of mind, I can only be sorry for their ignorance. But, this comes from the Head of Graduates of our national university. We would have expect statements like this from a politician(not political leader) for their survivor in the political circus, but certainly not from a Head of Graduates, in a letter approved and circulated by the national university.
I am a Malaysian. The country is ours. It’s as simple as that. You would’ve expected me to explain to foreigners that even though the Chinese in Malaysia are Chinese, we are not from China. Not our parents, not our grandparents, not our great great grandparents. Same for the Indians. But to need to explain the same thing to a fellow Malaysian? Our ancestors fought in the same war, alongside their ancestors, against the colonization of foreign powers. Their bodies lay on the same ground, as Malaysians. And we are certainly, not “enemies in their own blankets.”
It’s one thing to have policies to protect the interest of Malays by setting up quotas for everything. It’s one thing to raise the keris(Malay sword) in a political party assembly to demand us to go back to our own country, but it is another to proclaim us as enemies of this country.
We are Malaysians, where else can we go?
So, it is true that we live in peace and harmony, I guess, if peace and harmony is measured by the existence of gun fires or grenades, or otherwise.
The contrast seems to be bigger, in the light of Obama’s inauguration. How many of us in Malaysia dare to dream that, in 50 years time, that maybe we will have a non – Malay as our Prime Minister, I truly want to know.
Mayyie xxx
