Republic of virtue, 8/08

Again, a plea for our fellow Malaysians PDF Print E-mail
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Wednesday, 06 August 2008 08:51

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After fifty years of independence, we have still not evolved much in the way we perceive each other. Our education system has failed miserably in promoting the wonders and the wisdom of the cultures of the people of Malaysia.

Azly Rahman dr.azly.rahman@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com/

KUALA LUMPUR (times ofi ndia): About 500 angry ethic-Indians on Monday staged a protest outside a school demanding action against a teacher who allegedly hurled racial slurs against students from the community in western Malaysia's Selangor state.

According to the police report, a woman history teacher had allegedly called Indian students in a Class four and five 'Negro', 'black monkeys' and other derogatory names.

The crowd began gathering outside the Banting school's main entrance near here at noon and staged a protest for two hours.

The teacher had also allegedly said that the community members were stupid and prone to thievery, the Star daily reported on its website.

The alleged incidents took place on July 17 and 22 when the teacher had allegedly beaten up some Indians students.

A students also alleged in his report that the teacher had written the word 'keling pariah' on the board and lost her cool when the Indian students told her that they did not like being called names, it said.



Coalition of Malaysian Indian NGOs secretary Gunaraj George, who was among the protesters, said such abuse would only breed hatred and racial polarisation in schools.

"No one in his or her right frame of mind would have said these things. Given this, the best option would be for the teacher to be assigned to a desk job and not be allowed to be near youngsters anymore," he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong said the schoolteacher might be sacked if the allegations proved true. "The allegations were serious as no one was allowed to insult others, especially in a school environment," said Wee, who was asked to comment.

The ministry was awaiting an official report before taking any action, he added.


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The news story above, on the teacher in Banting that hurled racial slurs at the seemingly defenceless students hurt me as an educator. Racism is ingrained and must be dealt with through education; particularly multicultural education or multiethnic studies. After fifty years of independence, we have still not evolved much in the way we perceive each other. Our education system has failed miserably in promoting the wonders and the wisdom of the cultures of the people of Malaysia.
We need a total revamp of our curriculum -- especially in history, citizenship studies, and social sciences.

I am sharing with you the piece below I wrote some time ago, at the height of the protest by our Malaysian Indian brothers and sisters. I dedicate this piece below to any child mentally abused in schools -- especially and ironically, by teachers.


(Again) A Plea for Malaysian Indians
Azly Rahman

The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labour - not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules.
- Albert Einstein in 'Why Socialism?' (1949)


What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea. --Mohandas K Gandhi

Will Queen Elizabeth II of England pay for the 150-year suffering of Indian Malaysians? How would reparations be addressed in an age in which we are still mystified by newer forms of colonialism - the English Premier League, Malaysian Eton-clones, Oxbridge education, and British rock musicians such as the guitarist-astrophysicist Dr Brian May of the better-than-the-Beatles rock group Queen (and recently appointed chancellor of a Liverpool university)?

Who in British Malaya collaborated with the British East India company in facilitating the globalised system of indentured slavery? Will the current government now pay attention to the 50-year problems of ethnic-Indian Malaysians?

We need to untangle this ideological mess and listen to the pulse of the nation. We are hyperventilating from the ills of a 50-year indentured self-designed pathological system of discriminatory servitude of the mind and body, fashioned after the style of colonialism.

We need a crash course in the history of reparation, slavery, and the declaration universal human rights. We need to understand the style of British colonialism as it collaborated with the local power elites of any colony it buried its tentacles in and sucked dry the blood, sweat and tears of the natives it dehumanised and sub-humanised.

We need to calculate how much the imperialists and the local chieftains gained from the trafficking of human labour - across time and space and throughout history.

In short, we need to educate ourselves on the anatomy, chemistry, anthropology and post-structurality of old and newer forms of imperialism. British imperialism has successfully structured a profitable system of the servitude of the body, mind and soul and has transferred this ideology onto the natives wishing to be "more British than their brown skins can handle".

We need to encourage our children to read about the system of indentured slavery - of the kangchu and kangani and how the Malays were also relegated to becoming 'reluctant' producers of the colonial economy. The Malays' reluctance led to the British designation "lazy native".

We need to also learn from the Orang Asli and the natives of each state and how their philosophy of developmentalism is more advanced that the programmes prescribed under the successive five-year Malaysia Plans. A philosophy of development that respects and is symbiotic with Nature is certainly more appropriate for cultural dignity that the one to which we have been subjected; one that exploits human beings and destroys the environment under the guise of 'progress'.

Caged construction

Our history lessons mask the larger issue of traditional, modern and corporate control of the means of production of Malaya. We see the issue of race being played up from time immemorial; issue of convenience and necessity to the sustenance of the status quo and the proliferation of modern local oligopoly and plutocracy.

Our history classes have failed our generation that is in need of the bigger picture; ones that will allow us to see what is outside of our caged construction of historicising. Our historians, from the court propagandist Tun Sri Lanang to our modern historians written under the mental surveillance of the ruling parties, have not been true to the demand of the production of knowledge based on social and humanistic dimensions of factualising historical accounts.

We need to study the political-economy of the rubber and canning industry and the relationship between the British and the American empire as industrialisation began to take off.











The ethnic-Indians in Malaysia have all the right to ask for reparation and even most importantly they have the rights as rightful citizens of Malaysia to demand for equality and equal opportunity as such accorded to the 'bumiputera'. Every Malaysian must be given such rights.

Failure to do so we will all be guilty of practising neo-colonialism and we will one day be faced with similar issue of reparation; this time marginalised Malaysians against the independent government of Malaysia. How are we going to peacefully correct the imbalances if we do not learn from the history of international slavery, labour migration and human labour trafficking that, in the case of Hindraf, involved millions of Tamils from Tamil Nadu province?
I once wrote a piece calling for all of us to help the least privileged of our fellow Malaysians - the Indians. The piece called for the leaders to stop fighting and to help each other as well.

I wrote a passage on the need to help each other in the spirit of selflessness and collaboration: "It is time for the other races to engage in serious and sincere gotong-royong to help the poorest of the poor among the Indians. It is time that we become possessed with a new spirit of multi-cultural marhaenism. The great Indonesian leader Ahmed Soekarno popularised the concept of marhaenism as an antidote to the ideological battle against materialism, colonialism, dependency and imperialism. The thought that the top 10 percent of the richest Malaysians are earning more than 20 times compared to the 90 percent of the population is terrifying. What has become of this nation that promised a just distribution of wealth at the onset of Independence?"

Not a Hindu problem

Now we have a better scenario - we have the rights group that is beginning to pull together,-close ranks and demand for their basic human rights that have been denied. Not only their rights to be accorded places of worship and economic justice, but also the rights to look at history and ourselves and interrogate what actually happened and who actually was responsible for the misery, desolation and sustained abject poverty to which they have been subjected.

It is not an ethnic-Indian nor a HINDRAF, nor a Hindu problem - it is universal problem that cuts across race and religion. If we believe in what religion has taught us about human dignity and the brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity, we will all be speaking in one voice rallying for those who demand for their rights to live with dignity.













In the protest movement, I believe there are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Catholics, atheists, Buddhists, Sikhs, Bahais, Jains, etc rallying for the cause. In other words there are human beings speaking up for peace and social justice. It is the right of every Malaysian to lend support to their demands.

We have let the ethnic-Indians in Malaysia suffer for too long. We ought to have a programme of affirmative action in place. We ought to have a sound programme for alleviation of poverty for the Indians and radically improve their conditions through political action, education and cultural preservation. We ought to extract the enabling aspects of culture though and perhaps reconstruct the our understanding of the relationship between culture and human progress.

Worse, we humiliate and shame innocent children in schools, out of own ignorance of the idea that each child is a gift of God -- a "fitrah" as a Muslim would say, and that each child, as Prophet Muhammad would say, cannot be discriminated based on race, creed, religious background, status, etc. How much damage will continue to be inflicted on the child's mind if daily, he/she is violently abused through words that dehumanizes the self, degrades culture, and destroy self-esteem? Teachers should know this best.

But can the current political paradigm engineer a solution to the problems of the ethnic-Indian Malaysians, as long as politics - after 50 years - is still British colonialist-imperialist-oppressive in nature? We have evolved into a sophisticated politically racist nation, hiding our discriminatory policies with the use of language that rationalises what the British imperialists brutally did in the open.














But our arguments cannot hold water any loner. Things are falling apart - deconstructed. The waves of demands, the frequency of rallies and the excavating of issues drawn from the archaeology of our fossilised arrogant knowledge - all these are symptoms of deconstructionism in our body politics. It is like the violent vomit of a rehabilitating cocaine addict undergoing treatment in a Buddhist monastery somewhere in northern Thailand.

We cannot continue to alienate each other through arguments on a 'social contract' that is alien from perhaps what Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote about some 300 years ago - a philosophy that inspired the founding of America, a nation of immigrants constantly struggling (albeit imperfectly) to meet the standards requirements of equality, equity and equal opportunity especially in education.

How do we come together, as Malaysians, as neo-bumiputeras free from false political-economic and ideological dichotomies of Malays versus non-Malays, bumi versus non-bumi and craft a better way of looking at our political, economic, social, cultural, psychological and spiritual destiny - so that we may continue to survive as a species for the next 50 years?

As a privileged Malaysian whose mother tongue is the Malay language and as one designated as a bumiputera, I want to see the false dichotomies destroyed and a new sense of social order emerging, based on a more just form of linguistic play designed as a new Merdeka game plan.

Think Malaysian - we do not have anything to lose except our mental chains. We have a lot to gain in seeing the oppressed be freed from the burden of history; one that is based on the march of materialism. We are essentially social beings, as Einstein would emphasise. Our economic design must address the socialism of existence.

Let us restructure of policies to help the ethnic-Indian Malaysians - they are our lawful citizens speaking up for their fundamental rights. Let us help restructure the lives of the poor before they restructure the lives of the rich.
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written by Cikgu Bedah, August 06, 2008 09:16:39
A brilliant piece, Encik Azly.
Now can someone please translate this into Bahasa Malaysia so the Malays who are still obsessed with Ketuanan Melayu can understand that there is no superior race? Even the Quran doesnt say there is such race, so who are we to say so?
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written by BORN FREE, August 06, 2008 10:02:47
Yes so true, change our mindset and think MALAYSIAN !
Those that are in powers are the ones manupilating the racial issues
and making a mess out of it. Subjects on racial harmonies should be
taught in school now as children are the pillars of the next generation
who will make Malaysia a better place.
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written by mafiaa, August 06, 2008 10:23:36
sorry!!! melayu will forever...looks for sabsidi...bantuan...pinjaman...makan gaji...pencen...makan suap....
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written by mafiaa, August 06, 2008 10:26:53
as they said...tak judi bukan cina, tak mabuk bukan india,tak hutang bukan melayu...no...tak rasuah bukan melayu...
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written by temenggong, August 06, 2008 10:56:47
Dear Dr. Azly,

The Malays have been infected with a terminal virus called race and another called religious bigotry. We are seeing today the open displays of its symptoms. Even the educated and legislators are infected and are woofing and coughing all around, infecting the others in turn.

The whites and christian colonisers had this disease before and we know what it led to - 500 years of wars, pogroms, ethnic cleansing and genocides before it burnt itself out.

Islam has massively failed to cure the disease. There is no solution in that path. Education is an answer but not the restricted one we had before. We need a new open curriculum as you say.

More than that we need a few new Soekarnos from the Malay community who will relentlessly speak out and rally the people.
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written by Alice, August 06, 2008 11:00:04
Often in government functions where a minoriti of Indians do work and exist, are required to attend functions whereby food will be served . The insensitivity of the organisers are unbelievable. Beef is top on the list and even beef in some vegetable dishes and there were times the Indians had no choice but not to eat!! When this is highlighted what they say is
Oh tak makan daging ke. Sorrylah lupa !!!!
Imagine if it had been pork!!! ABSOLUTELY TIRED OF THIS MENTALITY!!
The Malays in the government are totally living in a box and totally insensitive to the feelings of the non Malays. Its a pretentious unity and harmony. This is even passed on to the students.

TOTALLY INSENSITIVE
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written by Awaken64, August 06, 2008 11:14:50
The power of healing is the Harmonious Perspective. To Azly Rahman, do take a step back and reflect all the benefits colonialism brought.

Will you be writing this comments in perfect English if not for the British? I declare I am not pro British but have learned to take a holistic view of not having the benefits only there are opportunity cost in any decision made.

As for the teachers mentality it is the summary of her CURRENT action based on the CURRENT socio political dogmas , propagated by the leaders and the MSM as the proganda tools. History is a good teacher if you contemplate the issues and LEARN TO undo the past poor judgment calls Malaysia will really be a fun and loving nation.

Education is the core essence to unite but Man's destructive nature and ignorance and greed is leaving all of us in very sick state.
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written by skc, August 06, 2008 11:15:30
Dear Dr Azly,
Good piece, but i wonder how many here in Malaysia, who is reading above article can see beyond the colour barrier ? This colour thing is getting worst and worst as days go by, be it Malay, Chinese or Indian, each and everyone has a problem with it, very sad to say this but Malaysian is actually getting worst and worst, we need help and soon, or all will go up in flames.
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written by HARIMAU BIN ABDULLAH, August 06, 2008 11:25:55
The teacher has pig-brain, and she has the gene of a wild-boar.
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written by PeacefulMalaysia, August 06, 2008 11:43:41
Let them change the education system back to Bahasa Malaysia
I will be the happist person becos the chinese and indians will have 3 languages while the Melayus will have ONLY 1
Shabas
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written by Dr Azly Rahman, August 06, 2008 12:30:16
Wonderful comments, folks. Keep them coming. Racism in schools must be eliminated.

To "Awaken 64",

Wonderful comments as well on whether English is the language of the colonials. Well actually, this Indo-European lingua franca started off from an obscure language of a tribe in Central Russia, before undergoing centuries of transformation and finally stabilized as a language of the Anglo-Saxon an next spread through conquest and through "guns, guts, and glory". One has to study the philology and the geneaology of the language to decide if indeed it is the language of colonialism.

Colonialism has at least 13 different styles analyzed historically and not only pertaining to British colonialism; thus you have different languages associated to different time periods of colonialism.

Malay can be a colonial language as it "colonizes" the Nusantara, and as it becomes the language of mental colonialism in this modern era. Mandarin can be termed of a language of the colonialist too if we look at centuries of struggle for hegemony in East Asia. Sanskrit can be a colonial language in ancient times, the list goes on in our analysis of what is colonial language and what is not.

Let us say that English is also a language of anti-colonialism; through the greatest speeches, essays, pamphlets, novels, poems, etc. of anti-colonialism and ant-imperialism were composed. Marx write in English to enlighten us of imperialism and capitalism, Gandhi was extremely articulate in the English language later using the language to bring the British Empire down to its knees, George Orwell wrote strings of novel, amongst them Animal Farm, Shooting and Elephant, and 1984, to critique colonialism.

I love the English language particularly and other languages in general. I did not learn English from the British colonials, now were my early English teachers British.

In fact my love for the language was nurtured by my Chinese, Indian, and Malay teachers -- Ms. Tan, Chan, Ms. Varma, Ms. Rahmah, Ms. Yap, Mr. Ng, Mr. Ambrose. These are excellent teachers who were anti-colonials. In fact they are anti-racism and teach with the purest dedication as radical educators for social change and for the improvement of the lives of poor and kampong Malays. That's the spirit of anti-colonialism taught through the English language.

The question is now for our education system is this: how do we get our children to love this language and to master it so that they may travel farther and come back to their roots to speak not only about anti-colonialism and Malaysia's race-based policies, but also to better understand why and how others have progressed educationally and we are still being ultra-nationalistic about language. We are still arguing if it should be "Bahasa Melayu" or "Bahasa Malaysia"!

BTW-- I can still write in Jawi and my first Jawi teacher was actually Mr. Wong, a Chinese!

Isn't language beautiful? smilies/wink.gif
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written by smpadayachi, August 06, 2008 12:56:35
Dr. Azly you've seen the real proof of diversity where you're at the moment, and you been a Malay and have given a solid frame of mind, why is it something of pluralistic society of Malaysia ethnic makeup the Malay majority in Malaysia don't seem to understand the word diversity? Explain to us if you can that is.. what part of the word diversity is becoming so apparent for Malaysian Malay not to understand the true meaning of diversity? Given the nature of each individual on this planet to be gifted, and talented, and to contribute in their own little way..why in this growing pain of human suffering to excel why Indians in Malaysia are targeted? Malay, Chinese, Indian and our indigenous brothers & sisters from Sabah & Sarawak are equally good in achieving to put Malaysia where it belongs, and yet the country is reeling towards hate & anger streamlined in the academics and political environment? How can a teacher who manifest the true gift of giving, and yet calling names that makes each of us as Indians no matter where they're to take this insult after insult in Malaysia, let alone the veiled Malay woman in Perak parliment made a puking remark that not anyone can be easily forgotten.

Given the nature you're in the academic environment, is it possible if you can make a meaning and eventful contribution to stem out racial prejudices that is subjected towards marginalized communities like ourselves. I think this will be great service you would do been a Malaysian. It would be a great asset if you can step in a put a stop in this name calling in front of growing adults in their prime age to emulate behaviours that will better represent them as a people and not quantified on the genetic marker or makeup. What would your White, Black, Hispanics, Asian colleagues in your present academics environment would make of this and determine the horrible nature Malaysia is spiraling into this cataclysmic rapture?
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written by chiongguo, August 06, 2008 13:35:57
It is perhaps time for malays to realise that ketuanan melayu can only be achieved through ketuanan rakyat. It is imperative for them to realise that all races and all religion in malaysia has a shared destiny. It is this destiny that binds all of us together. If we only speak of ketuanan melayu we will only slow down our progress. This means malays themselves will be held back by unnecessary baggages. It is like a group of people in a boat all fighting to move ahead. In their fighting the boat gets rocked and its path become eratic. We tie ourselves down in all kinds of in-fighting.

If we work together to get this boat moving in the right direction the malays themselves will also be propelled along the same path. In order for this to happen there must be certain basic principles that we adhere to.

Contrast this with ketuanan melayu paradigm what we have is a group of people championing this to actually further their own ends. They use this excuse to fatten themselves and their family members and rob the nation blind.....all in the name of ketuanan melayu. The fact that the malays are worst of today is a testament to the failure of this approach to eradicate social injustice. We can never eradicate one injustice with another injustice. That is a truism that had been provern over and over again in history of mankind.

When will the malays realise this simple truth ?

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written by Tom n Jerry, August 06, 2008 14:35:11
These are egregious examples of ways that education been used to instil hatred,wit the help of fanatical leaders,theological or secular who shape peoples lives.he twnty first century starts with the dramatic case of some Islamic fundamentalist schools that follow in this traditon of molding the lives of children for careers of hatred & violence.Our fundamental aspiration is to inspire educators and leaders to embrace the important alternative formof education in fostering prosocial,empathic and cooperative behaviour-with insight into the destructive forces of human experience-that can provide the basis for a peaceful world in the long run!
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written by AlwaysFair, August 06, 2008 15:24:07
Badawi ada nama baru.
Bukan saja Bodohwi.
Busuk Bodoh Buta Bodohwi macam Babi, sama dengan Najis dan Khairy.
Semua tidak boleh dipercayai, pengkhianat negara.

Hidup PKR! Hidup Anwar!!
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written by Siapabohong, August 06, 2008 15:37:12
I think those who simply attacked everything negative about the Malays is not giving due respect to Dr. Azly Rahman who conributed the above writing, and how about RPK, DSAI and DSWAWI?.I believe these individuals and many more Malays outside there, who are not as what many of us in this space perceive and said about. Actually the Malays are very nice people. Only those who look at themselves as 'elites' or those who most of us branded them as 'amoputras' are the culprits that created the present state of situation in this beautiful and bountiful country. The same must be said to the few 'idiot' and 'greedy' Chinese and Indian and 'others' whom we took them as the community leaders who gave and still giving ways to these Malays elites to manipulate the affairs of the country to the core and to their advantage. These are the few Malay, Chinese, Indian and 'lain-lain' whom we the citizen should 'attack' and not the whole Malay and the non-Malay communities. They accused the British colonial master who ruled this country as the robbers and the cuprits who brought in the 'pedatang' that cause them the problem now. But they are the worst 'robbers' than the colonial master and to the core. Therefore I beg to those in this space to be more precise and tactful when 'attacking' the power that be by not 'attacking the whole community of any particular race especially the Malay. Give some respect to Dr. Azly, RPK and off course DSAI and all those in PR if we believe they can make the change to the present situation.
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written by Awaken64, August 06, 2008 16:22:40
Dear Dr Azly Rahman,

Thank you for the gist of the origin of the English language,Interesting.

Here you actually confirmed my first point of the benefits of the British imperial colonization brought about. [ forget the Brits that are still leaving in past glory] In fact my love for the language was nurtured by my Chinese, Indian, and Malay teachers -- Ms. Tan, Chan, Ms. Varma, Ms. Rahmah, Ms. Yap, Mr. Ng, Mr. Ambrose. These are excellent teachers who were anti-colonials So am I

Subconsciously you proofed my point of that the ENGLISH language has unified so many different races and religions to a common understanding. We are clearly understood and appreciate the aesthetics of the language.

If we continue to seek superiority in ethnicities of a certain religion/culture/race ect what befalls us are the introversion of vision and ill will to propagate our superior stand, did Hitler succeed? Mahathir never new this fact or was to egoistical due to this same fact.

Having travelled all the continents except Americas I pledge this is still one of the best countries to be in as the serenity of the East coast and vibrancy of the West have got a balancing factor of free choice and preference.

The major issue is the education policy and the lack of a concerted non political approach in the system.

Let's face facts ever wondered what happened to the Mr Ng, Mr Ambrose, Ms Varma? well in todays tokoh guru they will be non entities even Pn Rahmah if she could not dance to the tune of Kerismudin and his merrymen she too will be out of contention.

This is where the good teachers just become the silent majority and the suppressive few hold the fort and infiltrate it with their cronies to strengthen their position. Thus messing the whole education system.

Gone are the days of educationists like Tan Sri Dr Yahaya Ibrahim , who could speak off the cuff on the depth of the education policy and direction. Currently what direction or perspective lies in the education policy? A yo-yo on weather it ought to be in Malay or English and a bi partisan jibe for the continuation of venecular interest.

Who suffers ? off course the masses. The administrators that are flexible to the Kerismudin and his merrymen enjoy astronomical career advancement, like what u see in many Uni websites some of the deans and research recipients look more apt at gardening than holding the forth, not to be discriminative I have had various meetings with some of these so called scholars and the truth is they themselves don't know what the bloody hell is going on and succumb to the political masters whims on any new directives with out any resistance or even brainstorming.

Here lies the seemless for projects to be implemented, however stupid it seems within the system. Of course the $$$$ recipients
are the cronies.

If there are less righteous people like you who are race impartial and aspire for a cross cultural Malaysia in practice rather than theoretics[ sandiwara] the faster this reorientation of hate, distrust and agony settles.

Watch EVITA coz I see a bourgeois population of Malaysian leaving with half the nations wealth soon.
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written by Awaken64, August 06, 2008 17:22:17
To sum up for everyones benefit ...

We need to disassociate race perspective from our viewpoint. Argue on merits without taking stand point based on ethnicities. The outcome makes the decision very illogical. So call a spade a spade

It will also put politics and politicians in the right track
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written by fireduck, August 06, 2008 17:35:59
Think Malaysian - we do not have anything to lose except our mental chains.

Dr Azly, a lot of us do, and want to Think Malaysian. A lot of us see ourselves as Malaysian first and foremost, but of different ethnic origin. But Malaysian nonetheless.

But it is hard to do so, when our leaders keep telling us otherwise. It is hard to do so when our leaders judge us not by our character and qualifications but by our skin color and kulification.

And it is frustrating to know that we have beautiful people out there like yourself, Petra, etc., who do not view issues through colored glasses.....but they are all not in positions to catalyse such necessary changes! Where are the colorblind people of utmost integrity? How can you guys get into positions in the Govt to institute such changes?

Or must power always corrupt? Will a person of integrity naturally succumb to the evils that power baggage along? I don't think so, as we have seen for ourselves that there were many distinguished men and women who served so unselfishly back in the old days --- from Tunku to the teachers who taught us in our missionary schools. People like Manikavasagam, HS Lee, Tan Siew Sin, Tun Dr Ismail, etc., worked for the betterment of the people unlike this present day govt that is willing to let the country go down the drain, as long as they remain in power. So, if they have to play the racial card, they will.

Sigh. Very frustrating indeed, to be a Malaysian. smilies/sad.gif
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written by Limau, August 06, 2008 18:32:44
THINK MALAYSIAN, BE MALAYSIAN, MALAYSIA WILL BE WITH LOTS OF LOVE.
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written by alarcarte, August 06, 2008 21:06:10
Do not point your guns at the Malays, many Malays are our best of friends, and see through the game played by this stupid Government (UMNO), the Civil Servants mostly work in an institution where almost all the staff are Malays, and it is in this environment that they influence each other that eventually most of them turn against other minority groups.
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written by SUV, August 06, 2008 22:48:20
we need 2 study the indian class system...we need 2 study why the community is "loose",no unity..we need to study the solid rock intertia that has poisoned,stone walled the progression of the community,generation after generation..racism excists everywhere..n barisan najis is under the influence of falsehood,so dont expect them 2 b-have like mother teresalah..and what has the elite group of the indian community done to raise their fallen brothers n sisters ?balls!!(sorry doc..i cant help it) smilies/angry.gif
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written by SUV, August 06, 2008 22:52:09
doc,
me thinks the hindrafs leaders r malayalis n telegus..
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written by Rhan, August 07, 2008 00:40:03
Awaken 64

I think you awake in 1964 and get back to sleep in the same year and never wake up again until 2064. Do you know that in 2007, Hong Kong lowered the British flag and raised up the China flag? And in the new century, diversity is the road ahead and this would happen in country like China, India and US. Nations are not supposed to be differentiated by language and ethnic.

You over glorify English and even dare says it is a benefit of colonialism, and surprisingly our Dr try to sing the same tune, why not our Dr please comment a bit on view like “ENGLISH language has unified so many different races and religions to a common understanding.” If this is the case, I think it is not wrong if the two Tuan in Malaysia to apply the same concept and tell that the Malay language and Islam could unify us?

About the aesthetics of language, share with you on Chinese language. The Chinese poem can hardly translate into other language or even into the simplify Chinese (白话), because the main wording is implicit or metaphor, and base on the arrangement of Chinese character (方块字) in a poem that lead to vagueness and ambiguity, it would create an emotion that include visualize.

“君不见黄河之水天上来，奔流到海不复 回。君不见高堂明镜悲白发，朝如青丝暮成雪,
人生得意须尽欢，莫使金樽空对月。天生我材必有用，千金散尽还复来….” 李白。

As for aesthetics in English, I believe it is mostly due to the culture, history and knowledge that attach to the 26 letters.

You should learn to appreciate language other than English.
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written by Rhan, August 07, 2008 00:44:15
sorry, i mean 1997.
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written by temenggong, August 07, 2008 09:36:23
We may be in luck.

This govt has inadvertently made Anwar a hero or a martyr in the likes of Nehru, Rizal or Aung Sang Su Kyi. After this morning, if Anwar is denied bail, we can proclaim that we have a new Soekarno, a Malaysian Bung Karno!

It would be up to academics like you to make that statement!
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written by skc, August 07, 2008 10:53:32
Dear Dr Azly,
You see how hard it is for Malaysian to look past the skin ? Here you are talking about a love of a language (refering to your comment, and not the article) and people is translating it into races and religions.

Pointing guns, and how beautiful other language is or how unique it is, how racism excists (Where does it not ?). Is there anything we can all agreed on ? Build a country call Malaysia together ? Without a different outlook ? Maybe only in your dreams. If we do not try to improved our own outlook then all this is just so much hot air.

Quote "Let's face facts ever wondered what happened to the Mr Ng, Mr Ambrose, Ms Varma? well in todays tokoh guru they will be non entities even Pn Rahmah if she could not dance to the tune of Kerismudin and his merrymen she too will be out of contention. " Unquote.
How much racism alone is in this above statement ?

Work together and try to help each other ? hahahaha, what a sad life I have been born into. smilies/sad.gif smilies/cry.gif smilies/cry.gif
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written by skc, August 07, 2008 11:02:17
Quote
" Siapabohong, August 06, 2008 | 15:37:12

I think those who simply attacked everything negative about the Malays is not giving due respect to Dr. Azly Rahman who conributed the above writing, and how about RPK, DSAI and DSWAWI?.I believe these individuals and many more Malays outside there, who are not as what many of us in this space perceive and said about"

Unquote

See, you are seen as a malay first and as Dr Azly a second. Why is race pride so improtant ? ( I am not saying I am any different - What is there for such as us in the future ?)
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written by skc, August 07, 2008 11:05:51
"Macam Kacang lupakan kulit" See how hard it is for us to look beyond the skin.
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written by skc, August 07, 2008 11:11:03
Sorry feeling a bit depress today. smilies/sad.gif
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written by Dr Azly Rahman, August 08, 2008 09:31:29
Dear "skc"

Don't be depressed. The world and the nation is already a depressing place. Go watch some P. Ramlee movies, especially Pendekar Bujang Lapok. I love the opening scene at the jetty. Tells us so much about politics and human nature. Perhaps someone can post the link and those depressed here happy. Or, go watch the Monty Pyton video clip I posted on my site. The address is above, below my photo.

Dear all,

Sharing a comment on our topic sent emailed to me by a reader. An excellent comment indeed:

_______________________________________________________

Your latest article titled 'Again, a plea for our fellow Malaysians' really tells me that they still don't get it that race is a non-issue. The issue is us - our attitude or lack of knowledge or ignorant of knowledge. Be it knowledge of this world or knowledge of the hereafter. On both accounts we failed miserably. And being a teacher to that really saddens me further. That person (whoever he or she is) is not fit to be a teacher. To teach is to learn twice. But, is there any learning on the part of that person. Zilch. Nada.

There is nothing wrong for people in Malaysia (or all over the world) to be different. Al-Qur'an's Al-Hujarat 49 : Verse 13 " O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (not that you may despise each other)....." Hence, that person, or whomsoever behaves as such, is pure ignorant of the knowledge that one should have as a learned people.

I heard a story from a friend about one Malay teacher that was to teach at a Tamil school. Everybody told him that he is not going to make it through that school. Nobody can teach those kids anything. He went into the class and told the class that they are now a teacher, and he, a student. So, he started learning one word of Tamil each day until he gained the trust of the students in that class. Later, he not only able to teach the students but teach them in Tamil. And that is what I want see in teachers (and us rakyat) today - thinking outside the box and with creativity.

But, that is still lacking in all of us Malaysians be it teachers/lecturers/managers...etc., and most importantly politicians.

We need to change. We need PKR to be the new government. I am sick and tired of this present government. They are blinded with power.....but they forget that we only live once...so, when one has power one should do it right the first time....in our case do it right the only time.....

-----------------------------------------------------------

Now, I am sure there are so many stories of hope and inspiration in teaching.
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written by Dr Azly Rahman, August 08, 2008 11:44:08
Folks, here's more information on the protest:

Malaysian Indian parents protest racial abuse in school
Malaysia Sun
Tuesday 5th August, 2008
(IANS)

About 500 angry parents and other members of the Malaysian Indian community gathered outside a school to stage a protest the alleged use of racial slurs by a teacher against ethnic Indian students.

The incident took place Monday at Banting, the principal town of Kuala Langat in Selangor state. The crowd began gathering outside SMK Telok Panglima Garang's main entrance from noon and dispersed about two hours later, The Star newspaper reported Tuesday.

The headmaster was on leave so some teachers accepted on his behalf copies of the police reports made by two students. The reports also alleged that the teacher had beaten some students.

Coalition of Malaysian Indian NGOs secretary Gunaraj George, who was among those who handed over the reports, said such abuse would only result in breeding hatred and racial polarisation in schools.

Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong said the teacher might be sacked if the allegations were proved true. He added that the ministry was awaiting an official report.

Ethnic Indians constitute eight percent of Malaysia's 28 million population.
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written by Awaken64, August 08, 2008 15:47:19
Dr Azly,

Keep up your effort towards unity.....

The failure is among us individuals that are ignorant and unable to reorientate our thoughts away from our mental thoughts, ideology and opinion.

Well if we could be impartial we will be very much a kin to everyone and a onepointedness or civility beacons.

Thank you for your articles I look forward for more.
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written by SUV, August 08, 2008 22:53:11
doc,
wat i heard 2day is about 5.8%..n yeah,so many protests,but at the end of the day,this same "thing" continues..but what r the problems that has afflicted the indian community,n stonewalled their progression..how long has this been going on?and is this a unique malaysian indian phenomenon or indians in general/indian talivars,tak kira malayali,benggali,singh,gujarati,tamilian,marathi,telug u,hindustani..mai turun,bincing!!
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written by Dr Azly Rahman, August 08, 2008 23:17:21
Dear all,

Below is a proposal from the Malayian Indian Coalition of NGOs which I believe must be paid attention to by the government:

Proposal
Under the purview of:
1.
Non Political Independent Task Force

1.1.
Establish an independent, non-political Task Force made up of 9 members to help the Prime Minister design and develop specific programmes based on the following proposals. The terms of reference of the Task Force should include undertaking the programmes, monitoring, evaluating and submitting periodical reports on the implementation and progress.
Prime Minister’s Office
2.
Temple demolitions: moratorium pending guidelines

2.1.
Short term:


2.1.1 Moratorium on demolitions of places of worship throughout the country pending the formulation of comprehensive guidelines in consultation with the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (“MCCBCHST”) and relevant authorities
Ministry of Housing & Local Government
State Government
Local Authorities

2.1.2 Gazette qualifying places of worship as heritage sites under the National Heritage Act 2005
Ministry of Culture, Arts & Heritage
2.2.
Long term:


2.2.1 Need to ensure land is alienated for all existing established places of worship, and allocate land for the places of worship of all communities in new developments with funding by the developer or the authorities concerned
Federal & State Governments
3.
Education: Towards national unity and integration

3.1.
Short term:


3.1.1 All Tamil schools to be fully funded by the government.
Ministry of Education

3.1.2 Pupil’s own language lessons should be made available from the 2008 school year in all national secondary schools irrespective of the number of students.
Ministry of Education

3.1.3 Increase the proportion of non-Malay students in residential schools. Residential schools should be a model of all aspects of multi racial Malaysia. In particular, places of worship for students, food, culture, composition of teaching and administrative staff and all other areas must reflect the diversity of Malaysia’s population.
Ministry of Education

3.1.4 Increase the number of Indian students admitted into vocational and technical schools.
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Human Resources

3.1.5 Increase by way of recruitment and promotion the number of non Bumiputeras, especially Indians, employed in decision making positions in the education service at all levels - national, state, district and school. This would be a proactive measure to create national unity amongst students in schools and end ethnic polarization.

Ministry of Education
3.2.
Long term:


3.2.1 Acquire/Alienate land in areas with high concentration of Indians, so under-enrolled Tamil schools can be relocated to serve the needs of the community.
Ministry of Education

3.2.2 Increase the number of places at public universities for marketable degrees while maintaining global admission standards for deserving students from all races. More equitable participation in tertiary education for Indians, especially in critical courses.
Ministry of Higher Education

3.2.3 Admission to public universities should be based on a common entry exam.
Ministry of Higher Education

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written by Dr Azly Rahman, August 08, 2008 23:18:35
Proposal contd.

------------------------

4.
Economic measures: Empower the urban disadvantaged

4.1.
Short term:


4.1.1 Ensure that suitable and affordable housing is made available on an equitable basis to disadvantaged Indian households.
Ministry of Housing
State & Local authorities

4.1.2 Provide sufficient financial assistance, grants, training and credit facilities to all deserving and disadvantaged groups so that they may grab the ladder of opportunity and become self reliant. For example, facilities and privileges now given to Bumiputera petty traders must be extended to Indians and all other deserving applicants.
Ministry of Finance
Entrepeneurship Ministry

4.1.3 Provide sufficient trade licenses (e.g. taxis, hawkers, petty traders etc) to all deserving applicants irrespective of race, with a particular emphasis on ensuring equitable distribution to Indians.
Relevant ministries & Local authorities

4.1.4 Implement specific, tangible and targeted anti-poverty programmes to uplift and empower urban low income groups, in particular displaced and disadvantaged Indians. For example, extend the skills training programmes currently available to Bumiputera to all deserving youth and young adults. Mechanism to be set up to publicise, educate and enlist Indians to participate in such marketable skills training programmes.
Ministry of Education & Ministry of Human Resources
4.2.
Medium to Long term:


4.2.1 Implementation of the policies in respect of the Indian community which were approved by the Majlis Perundingan Ekonomi Negara 1991 (MAPEN 1991) and the 9th Malaysia Plan. A comprehensive plan of action for this should be announced within 3 months.
PMO
Task Force

4.2.2 Implementation of an affirmative action programme in Malaysia for all disadvantaged Malaysians.

5.
Other measures

5.1.
Establish a Community Development Fund under the Prime Minister’s Office to be administered by the proposed Task Force. Provide incentives to independent, non political NGOs to implement community empowerment programmes. Among the areas of concern are the problems affecting single mothers, orphans, homelessness, and squatters. Indian based NGOs in particular should be given funding and other incentives to address problems where Indians are disproportionately affected.
PMO
Task Force
5.2.
Implement the legislative reforms proposed by the MCCBCHST in their Memorandum dated 20 October 2005 entitled “Respect the Right to Profess and Practice One’s Religion” immediately. At the moment, these reforms are being considered by the Law Reform division of the Attorney General’s Chambers.
Attorney General’s Chambers
5.3.
Religious programmes on State owned radio and television, in Bahasa Malaysia and in all the vernacular languages, should recognize similar values preached in other religions and not suggest that the universal values shared by all religions are only unique to Islam. There should also be religious programmes on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism.
Ministry of Information
5.4.
All national schools to ensure religious and cultural classes for non Muslims, by teachers sanctioned by the religions concerned, as part of the curriculum. In addition, civic studies should be introduced for all students irrespective of race and religion.

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written by DontPlayGod, August 09, 2008 01:25:13
The teacher is a product of UMNO's racist, ketuanan, NEP, and BTN training and propaganda all her life. Don't worry, there are many more like her out there. UMNO and its its leaders normally keep quiet on such cases(they know its their handiwork). They normally leave it to a non-Malay assist. education Minister to handle such cases as is what is happening now.
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written by teo siew chin, August 10, 2008 17:36:44
did it occur to anybody that a survey was done which revealed that the amount of reading that malaysians do average about 2 pages a year?
2 pages of god-knows-what!
and i believe the surveyor was just being generous!

and on that premise, can we expect the ordinary malaysian to be well-informed much less make a right decision?

ooops correction. if the ordinary malaysian do read, it will be the MSM so....
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written by teo siew chin, August 10, 2008 17:57:01
".... malaysian indian phenomenon ..."
--------------

hmmmm u mean they are so by design?
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"Sorry feeling a bit depress today. smilies/sad.gif"
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totally understandable! but dont be depressed - be ANGRY and fight! smilies/wink.gif
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written by eastmalaysian, August 10, 2008 22:45:25
And of the 39 comments above, not one included the 'lain-lain' when referring to 'Malaysia's multi-ethnical races'.

So you guys all need to go learn about what races make up Malaysia before commenting on race-related articles.
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written by Hakim Joe, August 10, 2008 23:53:52
Even though our education system has failed miserably in promoting the wonders and the wisdom of the cultures of the people of Malaysia, you can bet that the Tourism Board is singing another tune and saying otherwise.
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written by SUV, August 11, 2008 15:39:27
hehe @ teo san.wanna know somethin?atavism is the root cause of all sorts of problemo afflicting the indian race group..and we can see it everywhere,in the indian subcontinent,indians in trinidad..n oso here....BUT,d race group very ol lah,n in their genes,they got a 'glorius past" which i hope will push dis race group in d right direction..someday,dis will appen.. smilies/grin.gif
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written by VIPER, August 12, 2008 13:34:01
coildn't agree more. we are so good at copying. we had shows like david letterman, oprah winfrey and the lists goes on. Why can't we copy the education system. any system which is better than ours. It is for our childrens future. a future they will have to live in a globalise world. Are actually preparing them for that with our present education system? I don't think so....
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