Multi Racial Politics - Scare mongering!

What is actually wrong with the Malaysian population of multi ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs that will one day (maybe) blow-up in our faces? As far as I can tell, nothing much really. I'm not saying that everything is rosy and fine for where in the world is there complete euphoria of joy and nothing else?! No, I don't think the general public need worry too much about ordinary people turning against each other because their children failed to get into a University, or their loan application was turned down by one of the banks or that their employer has decided to move to China or India.



What's wrong the above picture? NOTHING!

There are 3 types of social layer in Malaysia - the haves, the have-nots and the sometimes have but mostly not! The ethnic diversity in Malaysia is really quite large but the main race groups are the Malays, Chinese and Indian - with the same order in the number of population. Amongst the 3 main races, all fall into either one of the 3 layer social strata. Realistically, the middle group (the mostly dont have group)has the largest number of population and by simple statistics comprise mainly of Malays. The number of have-nots are also shared by the 3 race groups. The haves comprises of all the races too, perhaps with the elite Chinese having more numbers because they have businesses of their own which with the big economic cake that Malaysia has, this is not unexpected. The elite Indians are expected to be lower in number than the elite Malays simple due to the differences in the total population of each race.

In any society it is the rich who dominate the poor and the middle class. In Malaysia the middle class actually refers to those who barely make a saving at the end of their pay check day. Most people would be paying all that they had owed for the previous month the moment the pay check is banked-in. There might be some who are upper middle-class i.e. they have some money left after paying all the bills. Some still need to borrow even after receiving their salary and these are the lower middle class.

The poor are actually really poor in all sense of the word. The Chinese poor fair slightly better than the Malay and Indian poor because they can still resort to their 'family association' if things get really bad. The Malay poor are rather disadvantage as Malays do not have 'family associations' and rely solely on government aid which are very meager. There should be a Islamic based welfare aid but those aren't really functioning as one would like them too. The Indians have a tough time because they are smaller in numbers and only recently beginning to develop 'family type associations' similar to the Chinese. Nonetheless, the unfortunate poor in Malaysia from whichever race is simple that - UNFORTUNATE!

Theoretically, given the wealth that God has bestowed upon Malaysia, the population in general should at least be in the middle class i.e. having no saving or little of it at the end of the month. A good government could have elevated everyone to the upper-middle class status. But that would be asking the government to be a socialist state which Malaysia is not. Malaysia is also not an Islamic state because little of the economic strength that should have accompanied the 'zakat' system ever percolated down to the truly poor, muslims or otherwise!

Malaysia is a true blue capitalist state that allows for free market and competition. Oh there are those that pretend it is a Malay Muslim dominant government when it is actually quite plural in the 'opportunities' for the elitist group of the population. If this wasn't so how can we even see or hear or read of multi-millionaires even billionaires of various races albeit more Chinese than Malays or Indians.

The politics of race is actually just that POLITICS! People with personal agendas come together to form various political factions of the society and then deal amongst themselves to share the produce of the nations at the expense of the majority of each of their own race. Propagating the 'race divide' serves well for them, their families and friends. Those who happened to be out of that elite circle can wait till the Moon turns red before they can get a bite of the economic cake!

Malaysia is doing very well in the race relations sector and has been doing so for the past 50 years. You see, the poor Malays, Chinese and Indians appreciate each other's malady and are quite friendly with one another. You don't see the poor Malays or Chinese or Indians fighting in the rural villages. They are all struggling to survive. The middle class Malays, Chinese and Indians are quite chummy with the urbanised living they have. And of course, the elite Malays, Chinese and Indians are very proud of their associations with each other.

The only problem is, those racial friendliness do not transcend across the different social strata and one should not expect it to be so really. This is because the rich would not find themselves immersed in the difficulties of the poor nor would the poor be allowed room to mingle with the rich. The middle class group are the ones that are easily fooled into believing that the 'status quo' must remain. Scaring the middle class Malaysian in believing that changing the current arrangements will bring racial chaos and disharmony is like telling children ghost stories! They believe it will happen tonight!

The fact is, the only thing that might blow-up is the anger of the suppressed against the suppressors whichever race those are. The Malaysian government hire some 1 Million civil servants of which about 80-90% of them are Malays. This means that there are some 11 Million Malays, 8 Million Chinese and 2 Million Indians (adults and their dependents) who do not earn wages from the government.

Whoever gets to govern must therefore ensure justice is served and fairness prevails. Opportunities, whether business or education; gains, whether material or spiritual; growth, whether personal or community-wide must no longer be monopolized by the few forsaking the many. Only then, can Malaysia be like it was in the early days of Merdeka - ever ready to develop, sincere and without pretension!

We are all Malaysian after all!

I have to admit I was wrong early this morning when I predicted that the HINDRAF massing will get safe passage to the British High Commission. I really thought that Malaysian Police will refrain from reacting to the HINDRAF gathering. I must say that the Police showed that they have no favorites nor do they have qualms against certain races. Clearly, today's events have shown that we are all truly Malaysian - therefore subject to the same chemical laced water-cannon, tear gas and baton charge!

The Hindus/Indians in Malaysian today are just as Malaysian as the Malays in getting a a wallop from the riot police. The Chinese though have so far been spared the high -speed free-bath sessions. If I am not mistaken, the pig farmers gathering to prevent their farm from being demolished did not get the 'bathing' they rightly deserved as Malaysian. Either the police considers the pig farmers not yet Malaysians so as to deserve their 'drenching' or some 'triad' chief have already secured the safety of those farmers.

Anyway, today once again we see the little people making their say. And if the people upstairs be they Malay, Chinese or Indian leaders say that the little people are wrong then they will see more and more of these street protests. Maybe the tourism minister is thinking of making these demonstrations as the 'new attraction' for foreign visitors particularly those who are just starting out in the journalism arena. After all, where else in the world can you get soaked in chemical water and tear gas then gladly run up your 5 star hotels to deliver your 'real-life' drama yet non-life threatening situation across the globe?

Heck, if the government play their cards right, it can even negotiate with various political and NGO organisations to 'hire' them to provide 'street protest' at predetermined time and location! You see, when people in power think very lowly of th little people's grouses and pains they are but calling for confrontation that they would never believe possible. Little people when massed in numbers will eventually become strong - maybe not physically because no one can stand unmoved by the pressures of water cannon or a speeding bullet for that matter - but strong in their aspiration to want changes. And if the government is adamant that there is nothing wrong with the rising cost of living, cut in subsidies and rampant crimes and expecting the 'rakyat' to swallow every 'good' news that the government tells them, then we are in for a long weekend every weekend from now till election day. What good is it for the people if the country's is a net exporter or that the foreign reserves have double or Petronas can sell their oil at USD100 per barrel when all the people get is a lecture on how to spend less and be thrifty when what they now have is already insufficient!





The coming General Election will be something different I believe because previously it was always the opposition pitted against the government. This time it will be between those who wants to stay in power and those who want changes in the country. The reality is that the little people - Malays, Indian, Chinese and Orang Asli - no longer wish to be hoodwinked by politicians who have only themselves at heart.

The Hindu's March

In a few hours time, HINDRAF will garner their supporters and make their protest cum London-court-case support a reality. They will gather and shout slogans venting their steamed-up anger at SAMY, MIC, the Malaysian Goverment and the British Government. Street protest is the in-thing nowadays for Malaysian it seems. After all, the lawyers marched, BERSIH marched and why not HINDRAF? I suppose they had applied for permit and naturally no permit is forthcoming. The demonstration will go on nonetheless.

AP,BBC and Al-Jazeera will be there to record for media prosperity the true colors of the democracy Malaysian style. I'm sure most will be expecting the water cannon, baton charge and tear-gas will again make their show. After all, had not all this be brought in to disperse the crowd before?



Most then, will be quite disappointed! I think, this time round the demonstrators will have their way. Their representatives will have safe and clear passage to deliver their 'grouses' to the British Ambassador. There will be lots of noise and traffic congestions BUT there will be no violence from the police. I dont think the police will want to pick a fight with the Hindus. Fighting the Hindus could deteriorate the safety and security of everyone in the area and elsewhere quite rapidly. I dont think the security heads are going to risk that.

I mean if it were the Malays demonstrating then just a baton charge will make them run helter-skelter. After all, the Malays only talk but the dont dare do anything stupid like endangering themselves. Malays only talk of 'syahid' and 'jihad' and other sabre-rattling stuff but they actually have 'shrunken balls'. Also, the Police knows that whatever they do to the Malays, no one will dare reprimand them. This is after all, Tanah Melayu - there are no other power or country that's going to be angry or will threathen the Malaysian government if them harm the Malays. The government WAS elected by the Malays (well, by a good number of Malays that is) so they can do what they (the Government) likes to the Malays.

Harming other races, well that's a different thing all together. If they harm Indians or Hindus, they better watch out because mighty India can be quite angry if their fellow kins are hurt. The same goes for the Chinese, harming them might bring the wrath of China to bear upon the Malay-led government. Remember the video recording case of a girl being abused by the Malaysian police. A minister was sent out to China to apologise when it was thought the girl was of Chinese origin. Though it turned out the girl was Malay, the government has already shown that they were not ready to offend other races.



That's the one drawback of being 'sons of the earth' in Malaysia - you either tow the line or end-up taking on the might of the security forces. Harming the Malays is only expected if there's a need BUT public display of brute force towards other races even if they are Malaysian invites untold repercussions of unending duration. Hence, I say the Hindu's will have their way tomorrow! Just as they do during Thaipusam.

Why not blame the Government?

There are occasions that we will hear 'thinking' people discuss amongst themselves regarding who is to be blamed - either for the malady that is currently besetting Malaysia or for some problems that a section of the population is suffering from.

Of course, one side will say that it is the people who brought problems upon themselves really. While others may say it is the government who is to be blamed.This issue is quite easy to resolve actually. Take for example, a father who gambles away his salary then goes home to blame his wife for not having food on the table, cares not the well being of his children then the blame falls squarely on that man's shoulders. Consider a man who goes out to sea in his little boat to catch some fish and after selling his catches still find difficulty in feeding his family and schooling his kids then surely someone authority needs to be questioned if not blamed!



The monsoon cup has a organisation budget of RM250 million. A small fishing boat costing about RM25 thousand would have been made available to 10,000 fishermen. If we add up the numbers, 3 years of hosting the Monsoon Cup could have given each of the 10,000 fishermen 1 RM25K boat each and RM20K cash over 2 years to support their earnings.



But apparently, to prioritise the social welfare of the poorer group in a community isn't as glamorous as having a world class high-end sports regatta for some leaders. And so we see from time to time photo opportunity visits by so-called caring leaders to the poor and under-priviliged at their derelict houses. When a wave of the magic wand could have built the poor family a proper house, this is replaced by a few bags of rice and a hamper of goodies. Again, it seems changing dramatically to better living for the poor peasants is not good philosophy lest these people become too dependent on the government. And so year after year, we find photo-ops splashing the front pages of national tabloids with happy smiles of the poor still in their derelict homes.




In the meantime, the show goes on! We build RM250 thousand holiday villas to greet our foreign guests while our own 'rakyat' carry on with their mundane, sorry life gazing at the fast yachts that zoom across the sea in front of them.

Ordinary people needs ordinary government - a government that can provide them shelter, a chance to earn a living and a better future. If people should take care of themselves than why bother having a government? What good are all the hype and grandious buildings if the people can have no taste of it? Yeah, why not blame the government BUT first blame yourself for letting it all happen!

IF YOU BELIEVE THE VIDEO BELOW - YOU'LL BELIEVE ANYTHING!