Today, you are championing Malay Rights. You are angry that Non-Malays are questioning these rights. You are also angry that Malays themselves are questioning these so-called Rights. You want the other races to acknowledge that the Dominant Malays are the rightful heirs to this country called Malaysia. What an embarrassment to us Malays.
By Capt.Iskandar Dzulkarnain
Tun Dr Mahathir was Prime Minister of Malaysia for 22 years. All of us lived under his leadership during his tenure, and many of us have come to admire him and regard him with our deepest respect, for what he has done for the country. The Galleria Perdana in Langkawi is testimony to his achievements.
His Vision 2020, the Look East Policy, the Multimedia Super Corridor, the Internet and his efforts to industrialize the country has brought countless prosperity to our nation. We look upon him as the most successful leader since our nation’s independence.
Lately, we see a sudden about turn to his speeches and rhetorics. Many who listened with interest to his sermons, is alarmed at the vast distortion of everything he has tried to impress upon us in the past. He is beginning to sound incoherent, with a tinge of cynicsm. The great empire you built in the last 22years is slowly unravelling, crumbling, torn assunder by the words that spews forth from your mouth. Everyone, who knows you in the past, is becoming dissapointed in what you hold dear to.
At your age, we expect the Grand Old Vizier with bottomless wisdom, intellect, and wide political experience to advise us, and tell us where we went wrong, and to correct us. To bring continuous change, to unite us, and to tell us that we are all Citizens of this great nation, to warn us of the pitfalls of racism, corruption and to protect this country from tearing itself apart.
Lately, many of your speeches has been met with apprehension, and later with disgust as you keep on levelling criticism on the different races. Even Singapore was not spared. Your latest speech that Malaysia belongs to the Malays, that Malays think 1Malaysia is about abolishing vernacular schools, and that Chinese and Indians think that 1Malaysia means abolishing Malay Rights, is really hurtful and hard to swallow. I really wonder what is going through the mind of this once Great man?
Today, you are championing Malay Rights. You are angry that Non-Malays are questioning these rights. You are also angry that Malays themselves are questioning these so-called Rights. You want the other races to acknowledge that the Dominant Malays are the rightful heirs to this country called Malaysia. What an embarrassment to us Malays.
What special rights are you talking about? If the Malays have benefited from it, and given us a window of opportunity, and an edge over others, why has the Malays not advanced any further? All these years, the bragging and the promises about Special Rights has only led us to acknowledge that it is only a big pie in the sky.
Through 3 generations, we have come to accept that we are all Malaysian Citizens, and everyone is equal to everyone, and now we find out that we indeed do have Special Rights accorded only to us, and not to the others. We must also fight for our Rights and not let the other community take it away from us. But what are these Rights??? If we had Special Rights, why are the Malays still lagging behind? Did anybody actually accorded the Malays these Rights in the past? Did the Malays reject these Rights, so much so that they are now living in utter poverty? Can someone start going around and bestow this Rights upon us right now? When are we going to get these Rights? As far as we know, we never had any Rights!!! Ony the Chinese and Indians think we have Special Rights.
Most Malays don't give two hoots about Tanah Melayu, Ketuanan Melayu or Special Rights, because it does not exist. We also got bored waiting for these rights to be transfered to us. We just want a decent life, job, a brighter, predictable future. And the Right to practice our Religion free of encumbrance. We are a loosely knitted race that comprises mixed Javanese, Sumatran, Indian, Hunanese, Thai, and Middle East blood bound together by our Religion Islam. And yet in the INTERLOK novel we branded other communities as Pariahs.
And if there is a Special Right, I think I would want to have the Right to mingle freely with our Chinese and Indian friends, step into a church and listen with interest to their choirs singing Christmas Carols, drop by a Chinese temple, and observe the monks chanting their mantras, or to an Indian Temple to see how they worship. And to drop by the Pub, for a glass of cold Coke, withourt feeling a little peculiar. I want the right to tell all our fellow citizens that we do not harbour any ill will against them, that we are just like them and that we will always stand by them.
22 years in power, and yet so many of our kin still live in misery. We are not asking for utter riches, just a decent life, but many Malays still lives in utter misery, and in such contrast to the Super rich UMNOPutras. And in the last election, many Malays were abandoning BN in droves, and now the ruling elite are not confident any more of retaining their power and has started to take drastic measures to regain their support.
Lastly, keep this in mind. There is no racism in Malaysia. 99 percent of Malaysians are not racist. We are too busy living our lives than to check on our neighbours. It is the one percent who is desperately clinging on to power, bent on staying, and who will do anything at any cost,even selling their souls to the devil, that is causing all this ruckus about Racism in this country. The one percent of Malays, Chinese and Indians who are about to be given the boot are shouting Ketuanan Melayu and Ketuanan What not!!
Malays, in their right minds are not going to support this bunch of losers. That is why they say that the Malays are split between UMNO and PAS. And the blame was put on poor old Nik Aziz, who became the scapegoat for splitting the Malays.
They really must go!
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Remember 1977
In April 1974, Sadat presented what he called the October Working Paper, which described his vision of Egypt's future. The paper committed Egypt to building a strong country, continuing the confrontation with Israel, working toward Arab unity, and playing a leading role in world politics. Perhaps the most important part of Sadat's paper was the announcement of a new economic policy that came to be called infitah [Literally open door; refers to Anwar as Sadat's policy after the October 1973 War of relaxing government controls on the economy so as to encourage the private sector and stimulate the inflow of foreign funds.].
This new economic policy allowed increased foreign investment in Egypt, greater participation by the private sector in the Egyptian economy, more freedom for individuals to develop their own wealth and property, and relaxed currency regulations so that Egyptians could have access to foreign currency. The new direction gradually changed Egypt in many ways: the shops filled with foreign consumer goods; foreign companies built huge modern hotels; and new wealth was displayed in a way that had not been seen in Egypt since before the 1952 Revolution. Doubts began to be expressed, however, about how much all this was actually doing for the Egyptian people since foreign investment in long-term agricultural or industrial projects was lacking.
In January 1977, Egyptians took to the streets in antigovernment riots that demonstrated their disillusionment with infitah and the nepotism and corruption it spawned. The cause of the riots went back to late 1976 when Sadat, in an effort to solve the country's economic problems, asked the World Bank for loans. In response to the bank's criticisms of public subsidies, the government announced in January 1977 that it was ending subsidies on flour, rice, and cooking oil and canceling bonuses and pay increases.
The result was immediate and shocking. On January 18 and 19, there was rioting in towns from Aswan to Alexandria, variously described as the biggest upheaval since the 1919 riots against the British, or a second Black Saturday. It was the first time the army had been brought into the streets since 1952. For thirty-six hours, the rioters unleashed their pent-up fury on targets that symbolized the yawning gap between the haves and have-nots, the frivolity and corruption of the ruling class, and the incompetence and insensitivity of the administration. The rioters shouted slogans like, "Hero of the crossing, where is our breakfast?" and "Thieves of the infitah, the people are famished." There were also shouts of "Nasser, Nasser." In the clashes between demonstrators and police, 800 persons were killed, and several thousands were wounded, according to unofficial estimates. The rioting ended when the government canceled the price increases while retaining 10 percent wage increases and other benefits for public sector employees.
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Memories of 1977
Do public protests about the increased cost of basic commodities have overtones of the bread riots more than three decades ago, asks Mohamed El-Sayed
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Egyptians are generally not rebellious people though when their stomachs are empty the government should beware. That, at least, is the feeling of many commentators who felt a sense of déjà vu when looking at the demonstrations that hit the streets of Cairo, Port Said and Mahalla in a week when the public finally began to protest against increases in the price of basic commodities.
Memories of the bread riots that broke out when President Anwar El-Sadat attempted to cut subsidies on a range of basic foodstuffs were never far away when, beginning last Thursday, the Egyptian Movement for Change (Kifaya) attempted to stage the first demonstration in Cairo's Sayeda Zeinab Square. Security forces arrested around 50 Kifaya members along with a number of journalists covering the event. While those detained were held in Central Security trucks the rest of the protesters headed to the Press Syndicate to continue the protest. The heavy-handed approach adopted by the police towards the protesters prompted the Washington-based Human Rights Watch to criticise the Egyptian authorities. "Egyptian authorities are taking every opportunity to signal to citizens that when it comes to peaceful criticism of government policies forget about exercising your rights," said Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East division.
On Saturday, the Ghad Party organised a demonstration in the Mediterranean city of Port Said, about 220 kilometres north east of Cairo. Blaming the government for the increase in prices of basic foodstuffs they carried bread and cooking oil bottles and warned the government against removing subsidies on basic commodities.
A day later 5,000 people attended a demonstration in the industrial city of Mahalla, Gharbiya governorate, 123 kilometres north of Cairo, organised by Wafd, the Nasserist Arab, Ghad and the frozen Labour parties and the Muslim Brotherhood. Raising anti-government and anti- National Democratic Party slogans, protesters accused the government of failing to raise salaries to keep pace with inflation. They warned government officials that another bread uprising could be in the offing.
The same governorate was the site of another demonstration by 300 people protesting a shortage of flour at the only bakery in the village of Kafr Hassaan.
"The government is scared of another hungry riot," argued Kifaya general coordinator Abdel-Wahab Elmessiri, who was forced by a group of plainclothes security personnel into a van and then driven with seven others to the outskirts of New Cairo. "They prevented our protest because we raised slogans that were closely related to the livelihood of people."
The prevention of peaceful demonstrations calling for a reduction in basic commodity prices, Elmessiri continued, could lead to "a populist uprising in the form of catharsis that could destroy everything". He had hoped that the government would be more rational in its response to such protests and work on reducing basic commodity prices. "This [rebellion], if it happens, will not be to the benefit of any party, the people, the government or the opposition."
Elmessiri concedes that skyrocketing commodity prices are a global phenomenon but insists that the sufferings of ordinary Egyptians are compounded by government corruption.
But could Egypt really see a repeat of the January 1977 bread riots?
"Since the 1977 bread riots political awareness among the people has been in decline. However, they have been restoring it step by step of late," says Elmessiri, citing the series of labour strikes that hit the country last year. "Even [Egyptian] pilgrims organised sit-in strikes during the pilgrimage season in Mecca, and strikes have been organised by civil servants, unheard of in Egypt's modern history."
While opposition leaders are using an alarmist tone, Mohamed Kamal, member of the ruling National Democratic Party's Policies Committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the warnings against potential riots are exaggerated.
"Egyptian society is going through a period of political and economic mobility. Our society is witnessing an unprecedented degree of freedom of expression, and it's normal for societies in a state of transition to experience what's happening in Egypt."
Kamal dismisses the notion that Egyptian society is on the verge of "social upheaval" and defended the government, arguing that the rise in prices was a global phenomenon. "The government continues to subsidise basic foodstuffs, and at the same time increases salaries, the problem is that the increase in salaries hasn't matched inflation."
The string of protests still sounds alarm bells for many observers. "The atmosphere that prevailed before and during the 1977 bread riots is similar to now, especially in that there is no confidence in the government," Ammar Ali Hassan, director of the Middle East Studies and Research Centre, told the Weekly. "The desire to protest has overwhelmed a large sector of society."
That said, Hassan argues that although current living conditions are "much worse than 1977, the ordinary Egyptian nowadays is unable to stage wide protests because he has become fragile. Egyptians in 1977 were more politicised than now and the regime's security grip was less strong," he said.
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I met Egyptian Mohammed in 1977, then a final Medical student. A typical youth, who is full of dreams but also, mature enough to know that his future was a hopeless one as an Egyptian who has no connection with the Ruling Party.
Mohammed’s family was considered well off during the time of First Egyptian President Gamal Nasser. Mohammed’s father was a trader who did his work and was never involved or took interest in politic. Mohammed has five sisters and one little brother.
In Egypt consanguineous marriage is practice. So Mohammed’s sisters leave home once they reach puberty. Mohammed’s family assets were two three-room apartments, ten minutes from Cairo and a beat up American trunk that has seen better days. The apartments were stolen from them by Mubarak’s cronies similar to what happened in Selangor under UMNO before PKR took over.
When Sadat took over as President of Egypt, he wanted to be a transformer like our Mr Rosmah. He talked and talked about KPI, transparency, NEM and whatever alphabets you can name. But like Mahathir, Sadat divided the people and introduced cronyism and corruption.
Mohammed’s father business collapsed because of cronyism and corruption and so he spent his remaining days praying that the Government would change. Mohammed in the meantime had to find the funds for his study, so like most Egyptian youth he became MOAT – man of all trade. Show the cash and he is all yours, no matter how undignified or humiliating the job requires. Graduated as one of the top three students in Egypt, Mohammed thought he could find work and later specialized and be a surgeon but things took a drastic turn when Mubarak took over as President. From then on Mohammed failed to get a decent job and his dream shattered because he had no connection to any member of the cronies of Mubarak.
Mohammed like most Egyptians has since make the valley of the dead their home now. As more and more people are unable to get a job or afford proper housing or pay for exotic price for food.
Egypt since 1977 till 2011 and Malaysia today is similar in fate. We are controlled by a government who favour cronies, we have PDRM, MACC, Judiciary, AG and EC who are loop-sided, a first lady whore who is out to compete with her husband as Prime Minister, an ageing fart who is still glutton for projects in PETRONAS, bleeding it dry and have helped himself to billions of our money and Royal Households who does not know the meaning of STOP demanding for projects and land. The monthly increase of food, goods and services is one way of controlling us so that we have limited resources to fight the government. The life long issue of Religion and Race is constantly being used as a front line to divide the people so that we pay less attention to what the UMNO bastards are up to. We are constantly being told we should be grateful to UMNO for Malaysia Boleh, 1Malaysia and peace in this country, though we have been doing just that since Merdeka. But behind the screen lies destruction in the making by these same bastards who insist on dividing the people.
Egypt is surrounded by history and mystic. Millions and millions of tourists travel to see the Pyramids known as the Seven Wonders of the World even though the Ministers does nothing but spend lavishly on holidays in the name of promoting the country and enriching themselves similar in many ways to our own Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen and Ministers before her. NYY and her entourage including her toy boy travels, stays in five stars hotels and eat first class. They spent millions and millions claiming it was necessary to bring in tourists. But one must never forget we do not need such unnecessary spending because Malaysia is already famous for easy access to drug, drug mule, human trafficking, imitation goods, pirated CDs, safe haven for terrorists and their money, money laundering, Royalties gambling, drinking and adultery, cronyism, corruption, injustice, killing and murders, forge Universities Degree, purchase of titles and anything else money can buy.
For the past 25 years I have seen acquaintances, friends and neighbours who share similar fate like Mohammed because they have no connection to projects, financial aid to business or study or run a decent trade. So how can you say UMNO can and has changed, UMNO/BN is the only government who is capable of running this country and whatever fart one can think of that UMNO/BN can do?
The only way to make a difference to our lives and have a better future is to get rid of UMNO/BN and their cronies before we lose our clothes on our back.
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