| Malaya, land of immigrants... therefore, time for neo 'bumiputera-ism' |  |  |  |
| Posted by admin | |
| Sunday, 16 November 2008 17:00 | |
| … kini kita cuma tinggal kuasa Azly Rahman "… political power is what we are only left with one that will determine the fate of our nation wealth of this nation flows into the hands of others sons and daughters of the soil suffer in solace..." I do not think we have a clear understanding of what the lyrics means. I doubt if the songwriter even understand what a 'people's history of Malaya' means. But propaganda songs will remain as propaganda materials shoved into the bright minds of Malay youth and civil servants so that they may go into trance and speak in tongues. History is a complex syntagmatic pattern of interplay between technology, ideology, culture, inscription and institutionalisation not easily reduced to simplistic lyrics as such sung to the tune of pre-war German-nationalistic-sounding compositions. History is about the complex evolution of the ruling class who owns the technologies of control. As Marx would say, at every epoch it is the history of those who own the means of production that will be written and rewritten. The winners write history, the losers write poetry or study anthropology. Back to the lyrics. After 51 years of independence, who is suffering in Malaysia? Who has become wealthy? Who has evolved into robber barons? Language of power and ideology is at play in those lyrics. The definition of 'bumiputera' is at play. It has become a problematic word in this age of deconstructionism; an age wherein as the poet WB Yeats said, "the centre cannot hold". Rock musicians will recall the Scorpions' famous song 'Winds of Change' to serenade the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of the breakdown of the Soviet Empire. We have to face the 'wrath' of the word. Process of rebirth There is an old Malay practice in Johor of renaming a child 'Buang' if his given name does not 'suit' him. My grand-uncle who passed away in the early 1970s had 'Buang' as a name. His old name did not suit him. He was often sick when he was a child 'carrying' his old name. Buang means 'discard'. I would call it with a more noble word 'reconceptualisation', so that we may now talk about the 'reconceptualisation of bumiputera-ism'. Several semesters ago, when I was lecturing an undergraduate class in African philosophy, using Chinhua Achebe's novel 'Things Fall Apart', I began to understand how similar my grand-uncle's predicament is with that of the main character , Okonkwo, of that great African novel. 'The Broadway play The Lion King' explained the concept even better. The name 'bumiputera' has to undergo 'reconceptualisation'. The Indonesians had their process of 'Buang-isation' perhaps as Bung Karno (Soekarno) had envisioned. It has to undergo 'rebirth' or karma, as the Hindus would say.  We indulge in this ritual called 'election', another problematic word, commissioned to be executed 'fairly'. When we are done with the general election, when we have shaken up the illusionary foundation of race that define 'bumiputera-ism', when we have begun to realise that it id the unseen hands of local and international corporate-crony-crypto-conspicuous-consuming capitalist class that is corrupting our material, emotional, ideological and spiritual landscape, we will start our post-mortem session on this process of 'Buang-isation' or 'reconceptualisation' of this idea of 'bumiputera-ism'.But the present regime cannot perform this process of Malaysian 'divining' and 'discarding'. It cannot conduct this 'Buang-isation' ceremony because it no longer possess a good spiritual core. Its "vegetative soul", as the Islamic philosopher Professor Syed Naguib Alatas would call it, is too calloused with the carcinogens of corruption that its "rational soul" is forever lost and transported into the yuga (spiritual age) of this materially corrupt world - the kali yuga. The ceremony must be performed by a group of philosopher-rulers whose idealism lies in the establishment of a 'republic of virtue'; one that drives its economic foundation from the accumulation of 'spiritual and metaphysical' rather than the material capital. 'Das Kapital' of the spiritual accumulation of wealth will be the product of this divination. Georg Hegel would agree with this idea of spiritual revolution. It cannot be performed by investment bankers-cum-politicians. Names connote and denote something. Words, Pinker or Lacan or any of the bio-semioticians/linguistic anthropologists would say, carry metaphors and manifestations of history, material, power, knowledge and ideology. Worse still these words become institutions and become institutionalised into architectures of power and control. Writers such as Lewis Mumford and Jacques Ellul have analysed this phenomena of architectures of power as these structure relate to the nature of Man within the context of the language in which he/she is situated.  'Bumiputera' is one such word. A problematic word. A word that assumes race and religion as one. To say that a Malay is generally a Muslim and hence a 'bumiputera' and therefore have special rights and privileges is an imprecise way of explaining a concept. It is an old-school approach to defining that word.We must find ways to enrich the concept better so that it will become inclusive. Who toils for the soil? Labour, more than language, seems to be more a more linguistically just way to look at the definition of bumiputera and how we will go about the 'Buangi-sation' process. We need a premise for this process though. Let's begin with this phrase: "We hold these truths to be self-evident and Divine-ly sanctioned that All Malaysians are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator the inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, happiness, justice and social equality… and we shall resoundingly declare that from now on we will be constructed as equal and be called 'the new bumiputera'... Sounds like a Rousseauin, Lockean, and Jeffersonian ideal locked in one, with a Malaysian ethos as its foundation. Sounds like what the Quran, Bible, Bhagavad Gita, Sutras, Puranas, Tao Te' Chng , Granth Sahib and Tibetan Book of the Dead would advocate. That can be our premise for this radical change. Now the second stage of the 'Buang-isation' process can begin. Critique the ideology We must do something different to ourselves if we are to move to the next level of evolution as Malaysians.  Let us reconstruct the old concept of 'bumiputera' so that we will have a better foundation in preparation for a redefinition in the Federal Constituition - so that the constitution can now protect all rather that the few. Isn't democracy for the powerful few only good for plutocracy?Yes - who is a 'bumiputera'? After 51 years this term should have evolved and changed. The base and superstructure, the ideology and material foundation, and the body and spirit of this nation-state called Malaysia have changed. The old definition has run its course. It is fine to see this as the right time to change. We must remember that words get refined and redefined in the course of history. Ask any linguist in Universiti Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia, or even Universiti Utara Malaysia. Words like democracy, freedom, justice and equality get reconceptualised after every social revolution. Words like Malays, Indians, Chinese, East and West Malaysians used as classification systems are good during the colonial period and in the early years of independence. They have lost their connotative and denotative power as we celebrated our 51st. year of independence. Language is reality - words become flesh, inscriptions become institutions. Redefine what 'bumiputera' means, so that we will not be forced to sing more propaganda songs. After 51 years of Merdeka, aren't we all bumiputera now? Is not Malaya a land of immigrants whose bounty and beauty is to be shared by many whose grandfathers toiled on it for centuries? Ah.... we still have not understood the philosophy of history. We are not ready to design a blue ocean strategy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [OUR USUAL REMINDER, FOLKS: While the opinion in the article is mine, the comments are yours; present them rationally and ethically. AND -- FREE ALL I.S.A. 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Comments (28)  ... written by Midvalley, November 16, 2008 17:39:06 Once you die you become son of the soil. When Malaysia son of the soil become 90% or more of the population than each and everyone is son of the soil. report abuse disagree 0 agree 23 ... written by ylcc, November 16, 2008 17:55:32 Dr. Azly Rahman ... if only our present UMNO leaders are as learned as you .... report abuse disagree 1 agree 59 ... written by shamadz72, November 16, 2008 19:15:46 This is a very brilliant article. We should accept every Malaysian as one bangsa which is bangsa Malaysia. The next step would be to come out with a law against racial discrimination to cover law on employment etc. We need to abolish any race based society or organization (such as Dewan Perniagaan Melayu, Dewan Perniagaan Cina) which cause disadvantage to other races due to limitation on who can be part of it etc. Also please ensure only 1 type of schools for all which is good for integration. No more Malay schools, Chinese schools, Indian schools etc. Just Sekolah Kebangsaan for all Malaysian. Are you guys ready for it? report abuse disagree 5 agree 54 ... written by Loh, November 16, 2008 19:35:44 ///After 51 years of Merdeka, aren't we all bumiputera now? Is not Malaya a land of immigrants whose bounty and beauty is to be shared by many whose grandfathers toiled on it for centuries?///-- Azly Rahman TDM's grandfather came from India, and he is bumiputra. AAB's grandfather came from China, and he is bumiputra. Khir Toyol's grandfather was still in Indonesia; only his father came from to Malaysia, and yet he is bumiputras. Most Chinese and Indians have their grandfathers and their grandfathers' ancestors come from China and India and they are not bumiputras. Bumiputrtas born on the day of independence are 51 years old, and they have been enjoying the special privilege for 51 years, right from schooling through jobs, professions and businesses. They are now entering the retirement age, and no further assistance is needed. For those who were at school at independence, they would have retired, and others in their adulthood then have lived a full life with privileges. Two and a half generations have passed, and people should live as equal and face the real challenge in the real world. It is time to classify all Malaysians as bumiputras. And if the government is still worried that those in their fifties are still a threat to Malays, then limit only bumiputras to those born as Malaysian on the independent day in 1957. TDM would of course claim that it will take another hundred years, after his reincarnation and completion as PM once again before equality should begin. report abuse disagree 5 agree 76 ... written by cheekymate, November 16, 2008 20:38:50 Dr.Azly Rahman, A truly thought provoking article, leaving no stones unturned. Sadly though, it would take more than our mighty pen to tear down the rampant misdeeds of our present leaders. Their obssession for power and henceforth to corruption galore has become a passion greater than life itself. They are merely servants to the devil. We need to put a leader who believes in the ideals that our land is a land for every Malaysian. We all pledge our undivided loyalty to our King and country, plough our land with toil in order that we may reap its profits. We are all Bumiputeras. report abuse disagree 1 agree 46 ... written by jchantw, November 16, 2008 20:49:45 Let me borrow a phrase from Barak Obama and rephrase it to suit our country. "There is no a Malay Malaysia, a Chinese Malaysia, an Indian Malaysia, an Iban Malaysia, an Umno Malaysia, there is and always will be a Federation Of Malaysia" report abuse disagree 2 agree 46 ... written by Eskay Lim, November 16, 2008 21:31:40 It's all about attitude. When the leaders from the major ethnic group who have been in political-power for over 50 years just refused to allow its citizens to grow and move forward with the times on their own strength but insisted they be pampered and be put on crutches, the end result would be "a special breed" of people that constantly requires help & assistance in every level of their life. report abuse disagree 0 agree 33 ... written by OverseasMsian, November 16, 2008 21:32:22 Dr Azly Rahman, I find it very discouraging that published Malay opinions are at either extreme of being silly like the keris wielding Hishamuddin, and the Penang UMNO guy, or super intellectual like yours and a few others. The issue is actually much simpler. At independence, the Malays and Indians were poor, while the Chinese held a disproportionately large share of the economy. Should this imbalance be addressed? Only the very selfish and short sighted would say no. Have we succeeded? Probably not as much as we should have. What should we do about from now on? Well thats where we need responsible debate and effective, responsible leadership from all quarters. Articles and views such as yours detract from the real issues at hand, which are: 1. The imbalances remain, and 2. The various ethnic groups remain as separate parallel societies, and no real effort at integration has been made. Even schools remains only partially integrated. report abuse disagree 35 agree 10 ... written by ahmadneil, November 16, 2008 21:48:50 This land belongs to all who are called Malaysian.Those who resides here shall always call this land our home, no matter what you say ,you can't force us to leave.We shall stay and leave as we like. report abuse disagree 2 agree 24 ... written by onnetline, November 16, 2008 22:15:25 What religion allows their followers to make false claims or lies .... as bumiputeras or Malays ? Are they not outright liars or sinners ? report abuse disagree 0 agree 22 ... written by Sabahfan, November 16, 2008 22:29:47 HOOOOOIIIIIIIII what about the natives of sabah, KDM and the natives of sarawak, ibans dayaks and espcially the proven natives... PENANs who lived in the jungles for centureies... ARE THEY PENDATANGS.... fukkk you hell you PENDATANGs who have become the tuans.. remember the pendatang white rajahs was the tuan in sarawak, now they are gone UMNO ganti as Pendatang tuans..... report abuse disagree 5 agree 33 ... written by Loh, November 16, 2008 23:35:42 ///Articles and views such as yours detract from the real issues at hand, which are: 1. The imbalances remain, and 2. The various ethnic groups remain as separate parallel societies, and no real effort at integration has been made. Even schools remains only partially integrated///--OverseasMsian One wonders whether the writer regrets that he was not in the same schools with the people who surround him now. If Malaysians who are overseas now have no complain against the people who have to deal with on a daily basis even when they did not go to school together, why should Malaysians living in Malaysia go to the same school just to be able to get along? The parallel societies started because the people are not treated with the same rights by the government. Biro Tata Negara trained the civil servants to be racists, and non-Malays feel discriminated not only in education opportunities but in jobs and trades. That causes the divide, and we pretend not to know the cause. One can bring the cow or bull to the river, but you just can make it to drink. The efforts at integration such as the national service were just jokes. People think with their heads and the do thinking based on experience. Getting the people together will not make them ignore the fact that they are not treated equally. The imbalances in economy get worse among the Malays with the NEWMalays depriving bumi Malays of opportunities the government said it provided to Malays, while preventing non-Malays from participating. The so-called TDM’s style of negotiated contracts from the government went only to Malays. And those who got the contracts are people linked to the power. Look at the faces of the people in the supreme council in UMNO, and tell us if you meet them outside Malaysia, would you think that they belong to bumi Malays. There cronies are the persons who cause the imbalance in wealth distribution in the Malay society. The government has made used of the argument of imbalance among the different races, and the writer just conveniently say that the imbalance exists. The trouble was the government made use of racist policies to create vote banks for the politicians. For that they have to have concerted efforts to make Malays believe, just like the writer that Malays are economically vulnerable. They needed UMNO to protect their interest. UMNO is their protector as proven by the fact that they were able to bully the non-Malays who were weak and had not migrated. So the NEP remains forever, and in the name of NEP no ministers are less wealthy than the former Lord President who has been paid a RM 5 million compensation. TDM said that for that amount the former LP has to receive pension for 60 years. But UMNO minister have not worked for 60 years, and that their salary are not much larger than the former IGP, and they have usually large family to keep. Can their saving come out to 5 million ringgit within the time in service of less than 60 years? Do the arithmetic. Azly Rahman has the suggestion out of his nostalgic feeling of what the Malaysian society was like when he was young, and wishes that environment to continue. Judging from the comment from the writer who claims to be Overseas Malaysian I must commend Azly for his courage to say what he thinks. He is lonely holding that view because all others hope in their dream to be a member of UMNO supreme council. The days of Tunku are like the river of no return. The non-Malay elders treat themselves as the connoisseurs of Malaysia among the silver hair group without hope that their children overseas will ever return. The younger are working hard so that they can send their children overseas. Malaysia will have soon a society with Malays holding all the important positions in the government taking the role as entitled consumers of government resources. When there are in commerce and industries, they should always be in the monopoly positions else Petronas will have to be ready to bail them out. The non-Malays that remain will be no different from the foreign manual workers. Yet they will be credited with the ability to control the economy with neither knowledge nor capita. It will take as long as NEP had been implemented to bring Malaysia back to its days when diversity was strength if neo-bumiputra-ism is introduced now. report abuse disagree 1 agree 22 ... written by borneoman, November 17, 2008 04:31:04 BUMIPUTRA = IMIGRANT MALAYS A.K.A.SETENGAH MELAYU eg.mahatir,khir toyol,syed albar ets. My apology to the original malay a.k.a melayu asal,orang asli and all the natives of borneo. report abuse disagree 2 agree 17 ... written by Malaysiaputra, November 17, 2008 10:13:54 written by OverseasMsian, November 16, 2008 21:32:22 ." The issue is actually much simpler. At independence, the Malays and Indians were poor, while the Chinese held a disproportionately large share of the economy." == Hah !, you are still brainwash and stuck in the mental rut that the Chinese has a disproportionately large share of the economy. Do you think that falls onto the lap of the Chinese ?. They have to work hard to survive, how else ? when every opportunities is only for Malays ?. After some 38 years of NEP and billions spent, you would still claim the Malays are backwards, the Malays are poor as if all are and the non Malays especially the Chinese community has no share of its poor and have nots. Like wise with other non Malay communities. The obsession today is with the Malays wanting and wanting more but without having to work hard like the other communities. First generation of Malays who benefited under the NEP, enjoyed their benefits amd have grown complacent and "fat" as the good life has fallen form the sky !. The second generation grows up expecting the same good life to fall from the sky. This goes on. Without having to struggle, they never learn to fend for themselves. Like wild animals reared in the enclosures that could not fend for themselves when released back into the wild. The Malays are in such a situation today. ==== " 1. The imbalances remain, and 2. The various ethnic groups remain as separate parallel societies, and no real effort at integration has been made. Even schools remains only partially integrated." --- Yes, the "imbalance" will always remain , even 200 years down the road as this is the only way to pepetuate the NEP for only the Malay race. Without caliming imbalance and backwardness etc, the NEP cannot be a never ending policy. Most sadly, the slogan "Ketuanan Melayu" is now coined to support this policy. You are making a big joke to say there can be full integration. The idea behind integration is basically for the non Malays to embrace Islam. This of course is untenable for the non Malay non Muslims. Full integration is just a fallacy. report abuse disagree 2 agree 26 ... written by Lostsoul12, November 17, 2008 11:10:09 Ever wonder why the new generation of Malaysia does not know who are Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat (and others) that once we are so proud of????? report abuse disagree 0 agree 2 ... written by renoir, November 17, 2008 13:40:09 Shamadz72 wrote: >We need to abolish any race based society or organization (such as Dewan Perniagaan Melayu, Dewan Perniagaan Cina).... Also please ensure only 1 type of schools for all which is good for integration. No more Malay schools, Chinese schools, Indian schools etc. Just Sekolah Kebangsaan for all Malaysian. Are you guys ready for it?]] Absolutely!!! And in the same spirit of oneness, we must, as suggested by Dr.Azly in all his articles, erase the vicious, racist bumiputra - nonbumiputra dichotomy. Just as the so-called Malay bumiputra (not all bumis are equal)now comprises the biggest middleclass in the country, so should the "non-bumiputra" AND OTHER marginalized bumis such as the dyaks, kadazans, as well as the genuine owners of this land, the Orang Aslis, strive for the largest share of political power. It's time, therefore, for a 51-49 division of parliamentary seats in favor of this "non-bumi plus non-Malay bumi" category. And to be fair to the most downtrodden group, the Orang Asli, whose people not too long ago had seen their church razed to the ground during the Christmas season, the new PM should come from them. This new revolutionary spirit of oneness must mean the immediate abolition of monopoly of one race in schools, the civil service, and the military. It must return the GLCs to all the people, and not just to one specific group or, worse, to one small predatory group called the UMNOputras. I've discussed before the genesis of the Malaysian schools system, how the well-run missionary schools were undermined when they were taken over as fully-aided government schools. Not only were their syllabi determined by the ketuanan bureaucrats, their merit-based enrolment policies as well the their entire administrative staff were decided by the pejabat or kementarian pelajaran. In their place came measures that privileged one ethnic group, one culture, one religion, one version of history, over all "Others." This religio-racial-cultural conversion had been noted by none other than Tun Mahathir as a reason why many non-bumis opted for vernacular schools. To be continued report abuse disagree 1 agree 6 ... written by renoir, November 17, 2008 13:40:47 Continued But the greater reason is probably the drastic and rapid decline of educational standards. The intellectual vandalization of mission schools, on a scale unheard of since the barbarians brought the Dark Ages to Rome and consequently the whole of Europe, forced even very poor families, INCLUDING THOUSANDS OF MALAY FAMILIES, to send their kids to vernacular schools, especially the better-funded but still overcrowded Chinese schools. Meanwhile, the children of richer families, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF UMNOPUTRA ORIGIN, avoided these sekolah kebangsaan like the plague. For these privileged few, international schools, even those located overseas, are their destination (a notable exception are the children of DSAI - he of true prime ministerial material - who bravely experienced the UMNOputra-created AND ABANDONED system and emerged as cultured individuals. But then, not all children have parents as educated and enlightened as Anwar and Wan Azizah). In order to attract future students of all races to our national schools, we must return the administration of mission schools to their original owners - the Churches that built them. This is the best way to ensure the hiring of qualified staff, the inculcating of proper spiritual and ethical values that promote not only respect for all peoples and religions, but also thrift and hard work. For former government schools that were not religious institutions, such as Ipoh's Anderson School or Taiping's King Edward, a conscious hiring of qualifed personnel, especially alumni from those schools during the 50s and early 60s, might do the trick. Whatever the case, we've to get rid of the highly disproportional race-based ratio in the teaching staff, as well those in higher administrative positions. A proper, diverse workforce not only instils more competition and better work habits, it also restrains extremist behavior like the recent incident which saw a poor Indian girl insulted for no reason other than the color of her skin. I will touch in detail the matter of private businesses later. A quick suggestion here is that, since many Chinese businesses apparently seem to be the envy of certain quarters, perhaps a mutual exchange of businesses could be conducted. In short, let the UMNOputra go or send their relatives to take over the noodle or DVD shops at Petaling Street, while those smalltime vendors take charge of the GLCs. I for one am confident that the noodle sellers would make better corporate personnel than the present government-appointed CEOs who, every few years, demanded bailouts from the country's taxpayers. And talking of taxpayers, if we exchange the business of one community with the other, the Malays would - logically - be the ones to pay 90 percent of the taxes, not the Chinese. What that happens, the Chinese community can no longer complain, and peace and harmony will then reign in Bolehland. LChuah report abuse disagree 1 agree 8 ... written by speakofthemind, November 17, 2008 17:04:46 Let us start by merging all Chinese and Indian based schools into only 1 public school system! All ethnic based societies/organisations in schools, universities and public life must be merged to reflect our Malaysian identity rather than only one particular ethnic! We need to do this now, so that at least in 20 years to come we can at least create a more integrated society. By then probably the word 'Bumiputra' would have its new meaning. report abuse disagree 1 agree 5 ... written by Loh, November 17, 2008 20:42:41 ///Truly Malaysian politics have not been decoupled from racial sentiments and loyalties. And it is going to remain so for as long as the different races prefer to be separated and divided, prefer to strongly uphold their languages, cultures and their historical origins and links. All that is said about reforms and liberalism is mere lip service.///--TDM in http://test.chedet.com/che_det....html#more TDM is at least correct in saying that racial politics will not go away because UMNO will not allow it to. It is because the Chinese wanted to retain their mother tongue, so UMNO will have to insist that the discriminatory policy would stay. In fact, to UMNO, as long as you become Malay, assimilated like TDM claims that he has been, then you will be one of them and you are also party to discriminate against other non-Malays. To TDM he has made the right sacrifice to forgo his race, and had reaped the greatest benefit in claiming lineage along his mother’s line, unlike what has been the practice of Islam, he will give other non-Malays no chance to go any other routes. Having decided that with numbers UMNO can rule as bullies TDM does not even bother to say that with time and through Article 153, and when Malays has developed level playing field for the weakest in the community, NEP would go, ane people of different races practicing different religions can live together in peace, and equality. TDM now says that if non-Malays are not converted into Islam, and even converted would not be Malays, they have to be discriminated because they choose to retain ‘their languages, cultures and their historical origins and links’. So, whenever they choose to retain their identity as separate races, they are said to prefer to be separated and divided, and the policy of separation and division stays with the ruling government controlled by UMNO. By that token, no country which has people of different races living together has not their people of different races separated and divided. Yet when TDM was the PM, he told people outside the country that Malaysians of different races lived in peace. Has TDM an axe to grind now? The head of government in countries which have written constitution swear to uphold the constitution as his sacred duties when he ascends the throne. It is apparent that TDM either did not bother to uphold the constitution or was ignorant of the provisions. He should be told that Malaysian constitution guarantees non-Malays the right as citizens equal to other races even if they strongly uphold their languages, cultures and their historical origins and links. The constitution does not forbid Malaysians in that regard. I am flabbergasted that TDM would even write the above paragraph since he knows very well that the basic human rights under the United Nations convention include the right to education in the mother tongue based on the choice of the parents. TDM reveals his true person as a dictator, and a racist leader at that. TDM has not presented a case on why people of different races with each keeping their own language and culture should ever be harmful to the country when they are not less law abiding as citizens than any other persons. What harms are there to the citizens when they should have more ability to acquire more languages than the national language. Indeed, is there a law against a person who happens to be illiterate? If one is legally entitled not to learn any language at all, for the sake for argument, why should the government consider learning their mother tongue an act against national unity? report abuse disagree 1 agree 4 ... written by renoir, November 17, 2008 22:14:47 speakofthemind wrote: >Let us start by merging all Chinese and Indian based schools into only 1 public school system!]] To repeat, I support this suggestion wholeheartedly. As I implied above, so that all students would benefit, the hiring of administrative and teaching staff of such a public school system should be based on meritocracy. This probably involves a thorough examination of all existing personnel. Of special importance is a strict examination of all teachers on their knowledge of subjects they're required to teach, as well as their understanding of educational theory and pedagogy. This examination must be carried out by internationally recognized bodies. Those who passed would be permitted to continue teaching. Failures ought to be given a couple of months' salary and asked to leave the profession. One quick way to put all students under one system is to evaluate the prevailing standards in both national schools and vernacular schools. Let the best system be adopted for every Malaysian. If, for example, the Chinese vernacular system proves superior, then the national schools ought to be converted to Chinese schools with one caveat: the best Bahasa Malaysia teachers from national schools should be retained to teach all students under this new system. This way, all students would be guaranteed a sound foundation in the national language. Meanwhile, the vernacular Chinese schools would be called national schools and the existing national schools, if they're to be remain open, would be called Malay vernacular schools and financial support for such schools should be generous, that is, on par with what has been given to vernacular schools these past decades. Of course, we can predict the screams of UMNOputras at the idea that the Chinese vernacular school system be adopted for all Malaysians, however much better that system might be when compared with the existing national schools system. This is because the call for a single school system has never been for the purpose of benefiting any ethnic group. Rather, such calls are made merely to spite other communities and to use the vernacular education bogey as justification for their ketuanan ideology. That the kampung Malays might benefit has never entered the calculations of the UMNOputras, who has long ago given up the national school system when they made arrangements for their own children to study in other school systems. Therefore, it might be better to adopt a middle way, which as I said above, is to reactivate the mission schools and leave the hiring and firing, as well as the selection of teaching materials, to the Churches. Gradually, perhaps over five years or so, these schools will replace national schools as an institution for all Malaysians. Bahasa Malaysia, like Tamil and Chinese, will continue to be taught, but English will be prioritized in order to keep pace with a globalized world. LChuah report abuse disagree 2 agree 4 ... written by MalaysianUnited, November 17, 2008 22:44:12 michael chick, Macam mane dengan perkataan 'India' dan 'Cina'?.. Siapa Cina dan siapa yang sebetulnya India?..apakah betul slogan yang dipakai oleh MIC, MCA dll persatuan berbentuk kaum?.. _______________________________________________________ ___________________ Saya hairan bila aspek teori diberi penekanan lebih dari aspek logik dan praktikal. Sememangnya kita adalah bangsa yang bersaudara..kenapa masih dengan ideologi kaum-kaum?.. betul2 tak faham dengan orang2 lama lahir era 1920-an,1930-an,1940-an,1950-an,1960-an,1970-an.. Moden?..perkataan yang digempar-gempur sebagai peralihan ke ketamadunan manusia yang lebih tinggi..realitinya, majoriti Malaysia maish terperangkap dengan minda perkauman. report abuse disagree 1 agree 3 ... written by minds, November 18, 2008 00:29:17 What privilege for bumiputra? its makan minum shoping also entitle 5% discount? you know what its mean. report abuse disagree 0 agree 2 ... written by renoir, November 18, 2008 02:07:41 A little late, and am very tired after a long day. I've written the above to show how many ways one could look at the situation, and to expose the rantings of UMNO proxies. The fact is that the ruling party has played their ugly racial games long enough, and this has to a large extent colored the entire political discourse. It has kept hidden the face of Capital, the complex relationships between local and foreign power centers, the reproduction of a narrative that has seen modifications, but no significant change ever since the first Western cannons blasted the Melaka sultanate. Will trace that some other time. LChuah report abuse disagree 1 agree 5 ... written by KuntaTobey, November 21, 2008 11:47:28 Hi All, When TDM want's to implement one school system few years back, do you know who agains it ? The Chinese............... In the MT, we can read mostly Chinese talking on Bangsa Malaysia. In order to change, we have start from the small. So the best is we start from the schools. Even this small teory was disagree by the chinese comunity. Talk on Bangsa Malaysia. The chinese are the actual racist in the first place. report abuse disagree 3 agree 5 ... written by Rozlan, November 22, 2008 11:51:55 I dont think ketuanan bangsa is an issue..Singapore originaly was a malay land.However they hav a ketuanan Cina over there.Did Singapore Chinese will accept a malay to be their Prime Minister in future.Pulau Pinang is predominantly chinese with a chinese Ketua Menteri.If I am not mistaken in 1986 (Please correct me about the year) GE,Gerakan lost lots of seat to DAP.So UMNO had more seats in Penang.BY right UMNO ADUN should become the new Ketua Menteri.Did Penang chonses accept it? Iwas made to understand that the Penang chinese had throw pig remains all over the streets in Penang island.Why didnt they accept a malay Ketua Menteri? After all Pulau Pinang is originally a malay land? So to say that chinese are non racist,do gooder,uncorrupt are too far fetched.They are as corrupt and as racist as some malays.If the malays discriminated non malays in civil service,they chines in return had been discriminating malays in corporate world where they are dominant. The non malays had to accept the fact that Malaysia will always be a malay dominated country.Similar to ketuanan siam in Thailand,Ketuanan Jepun in Japan,Ketuanan China in China,Ketuanan china in Singapore even though Singapore is formerly a malay land..The unwritten law will not change.. So non malays must decide between malays who will bring justice to all or malays who will discriminate everybody including their own race.. report abuse disagree 5 agree 4 ... written by dassky2000, November 23, 2008 19:35:31 Illegal immigrants who entered Malaysia in the 70"s and 80's are enjoying ketuanan melayu. I born in Malaysia, schooled in Malaysia served the Malaysian Armed Forces, and just because my complex is brown and am a Hindu by religion, I could not enjoy the same benefits the illegals get. This is unfair. If the Malays say that they are the pioneers in this land and they wanted the NEP and be ranked as Ketuanan Melayu okay lah. But any tom dick and harry who come into Malaysia and ask to ucap / recite the quran get the mykad and ketuanan melayu status is very very unfair lah. Boleh kah kerajaan asingkan pendatang dan yang asli melayu di malaysia sekarang???? So kerajaan better give this prevalage to all. KETUANAN RAKYAT. ALL ESLE MELAYU WILL ALWAYS BE PINCANG AND AWAIT GOVERNMENT ALMS. report abuse disagree 1 agree 5 ... written by Xrap11, November 25, 2008 18:25:57 I found most of the commentator within this MT is anti-UMNO and anti-Bumis. This is a good article but I am not sure where exactly is this leading us to. I am up for federation, singular society which disregarding the ehtnic origin. But let me ask my chinese and indian friend, are you ready for this too? Abolishing current practise, below are some of the direct consequences: 1. Single stream education system. Are you ready to lose or share you so called superior system Sekolah Cina? 2. Single law. As Malaysia still will renounce Islam as main religion, so will be the law. Hence, some sports such Sport Toto, Lottery and good level of entertainment abolishment such night club, pub and possibly alcohol and pig farm to be made illegal. 3. We are free to call each others with names, you know what I mean as the race became insignificant in Malaysia. 4. Change of festivities holiday entitlement. 5. Change of 'Malaysia truly Asia' theme. Therefore, as much as I am with you, I can't be fully with you in this ideology, cause you yourself is not ready for it. How about just drop this issue for a while, and do some mind relaxing activity instead. http://pangcingengland.blogspot.com report abuse disagree 0 agree 2 |
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Origins of the Malays can be found on the above link.