freelunch_2020 menanyakan:
Dato’ Seri,
It has been long since your days as Education Minister (1986-1991), and even longer since your more radical days at Universiti Malaya. Throughout your political career within the establishment, what have you done to make Malaysia a more socially just country for all despite their ethnicity?
I understand that one of the first few things that you did as Education Minister was to appoint 90 teachers with no vernacular experience to head chinese schools in 1987. this led to our dear najib doing the ‘umno youth’ thing - waving the keris, and threatening to kick MCA out, which would be interesting cos then PAS may be in government.
The NEP education scheme under you has proved to be fairly disastrous.
also, may i ask, why did the malays feel so threatened till they need to kill to secure a place (all revolutions are bloody and 69 was revolutionary)?
do you think that malaysian politicians will move into the modern age, by abolishing archaic and feudal not mention blatantly discrminatory policies?
the funny thing is, the people who suffered most are the malays. for the chinese, who are used to challenges, simply viewed this as another challenge to be overcomed. the malays, on the other hand, except for a select group such as yourself, have started to BELIEVE that they ARE SPECIAL, and deserves handouts.
Do you feel that you have betrayed your cause from your earliest political campaigns  social justice for all? Or was it just another tool for your climb?
True social justice is never at the expense of another race or group. As it is now, Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah (i think) are still so poor, despite the first two states being the highest revenue generators.
Do you really believe in social justice?
Then what did you do all those years in the administration?
to be fair, i thought u did try to be less corrupt. but who knows.
also, since i am at it, what does Dato’ Seri think of Iranian president Ahmadinejad’s fundamentalist policies? Especially in light of the recently highly publicised hanging of a 16-year-old girl for ‘crimes of chastity’ or khalwat? More info on this on Hanging of 16-year-old.
reelunch_2020
Sdr perlu menyedari bahawa diawal dasawarsa 60an, isu bahasa, pendidikan, kemiskinan desa belum terlerai. Kesenjangan ekonomi dan sosial di antara bandar dan desa, kaya dan miskin begitu lebar sekali. Pimpinan tidak menampakkan kesungguhan atau keprihatinan menyelesaikan masaalah yang mendesak. Ini telah membuka ruang kapada ketegangan kaum yang memuncak.
Saya memang tegas dalam isu bahasa kebangsaan dan dasar pendidikan kebangsaan sejak saya di Universiti Malaya. Kekhuatiran kami ketika itu ialah justeru wacana di kalangan pendidik Cina ketika itu lebih kuat mempertahankan isu bahasa dan pendidikan Cina tanpa kesediaan menerima dasar dan perlaksanaan bahasa kebangsaan.
Saya akui kaeadaan sekarang banyak berubah. Isu bahasa kebangsaan selesai. Oleh itu kami bersama pendidik Cina mempertahankan dasar bahasa kebangsaan dan jaminan bahasa ibunda, Cina dan Tamil yang tidak dihormati oleh pimpinan BN.
Mengenai tindakan saya selaku Menteri Pendidikan 1987-1990, melantik pembantu guru besar, bukan guru besar SRJKC yang tidak menguasai bahasa Cina, sudah berulangkali dijelaskan.
Pertama, surat-surat dari sekolah dalam bahasa kebangsaan lemah sekali dan pembantu guru besar dikehendaki memperbaiki kelemahan tersebut. Mempertahankan hak mempelajari bahasa Cina janganlah ditafsir sebagai langkah meremeh bahasa kebangsaan.
Kedua, saya tidak melakukan sebarang tindakan yang bercanggah dengan dasar mempertahankan bahasa dan sekolah Cina. Nampaknya ini sahaja propaganda yang diwarwar oleh MCA untuk mencela saya. Mereka cuba menutup kenyataan bantuan dan galakan pengajaran bahasa Cina ketika itu.
Mengenai tindakan Dato Najib dan Pemuda UMNO ketika itu, sdr perlu tujukan kapada beliau dan MCA.
Dalam pendekatan Islam, isu perlaksanaan hukum perlu mengikut kaedah dan peraturan yang teliti, termasuk badan kehakiman bebas dan berwibawa. Saya tidak mengikuti secara terpeinci proses tersebut di Iran.
Saya sendiri tidak mendukung semua tindakan Presiden Iran. Namun keputusan kita tidak harus dipengaruhi oleh propaganda Amerika saperti menafikan hak mereka mempunyai kuasa tenaga nuklear. Walhal.Amerika, Russia, Cina, India dibenarkan dan sebahgian mereka tidak pun menandatangani perjanjian nonproliferation. Dan yang lebih membingungkan ialah bahawa di Timur Tengah, hanya Israel yang dibenarkan mempunyai tenaga nuklear.
Inilah diantara hal yang menimbulkan kemarahan umat Islam dan negara dunia ketiga.
hey dato seri’
terima kasih kerana menjawab soalan-soalan saya.
maaf jika bahasa melayu saya kurang baik sebab pada masa saya masih di sekolah, terdapat terlalu banyak kontroversi mengenai perkara ini. dan sebagai seorang cina, saya mempertahankan budaya saya dengan menyokong bahasa inggeris:D memang cina di malaysia tidak ada apa=apa loyalti except for peluang untuk berjaya la…
lagipun, sebab saya dinafikan biasiswa dari pelbagai jabatan dan agensi kerajaan walaupun saya mendapat 8A dlm SPM, dan 7A dlm SRP. Jadi pada masa tu, saya dah berputus untuk meninggalkan Malaysia sebab polisi negara memang kolot dan pelajar-pelajar yang mendapat biasiswa kerajaan memang tidak menghargainya. Tapi saya setuju bahawa polisi itu, walaupun kejam, memang diperlukan untuk memajukan bangsa Melayu.
pada pendapat saya, ok i can’t already. i would need to write in english now.
in my opinion, the malays biggest problem is their lack of confidence and the need to have an identity that is bigger than themselves. but this is not unique to your race. most people need to believe in something bigger than themselves - be it God, a cause, politics, social work, money, family, etc. And they fear not being able to cope with globalisation so they subconsciously would like to create a false sense of community.. to be safe…
Thus, the attractiveness of Islam. With this, they can feel part of something bigger - Arabs, etc, etc.
I don’t want to patronise and admit that i am generalising. But i do hope that one day that Malays or non-Malay, that people will just realise that the colour of your skin, your family, your kampung, or anything like that DOES NOT DEFINE YOU.
You are who you are.
There is no need to fight for Malays to be this that that this…
All these are artificial.
A competent, kind, good, (all good qualities) will be RECOGNISED by everyone.
i don’t look at Mahathir (i know your political enemy) and make comments like, “dia mamak, sebab tu la dia tamak.”
and i don’t see u as a ’successful, modern Malay’ or the term that you prefer ‘a moderate muslim’ but really simply someone that is driven and successful.
——————-
on another note, the more serious question is that of your fundamentalistic roots and rumours that you were a supporter of the Iranian revolution even visiting Ayatollah Khomeini in Teheran (who knows what to believe on the internet..).
This is a BIG issue. Ayatollah is
1. a paedophile - one wife was 8? 13? still gross
2. psycho - anyone who kills in the name of religion is - I believe God would prefer you to believe something else than be killed, at least u have time on earth to change…
3. obviously psychologically impaiired, why else would someone believe that males n females must be separated?
4. and only came into power bcos of the bloody americans anyway - so is effectively a puppet of the west
i am fearful of islam because of certain elements in your doctrine that inspires violence, and suicide.
to me, it’s just too dangerous to mix religion n politics cos religion has the power to blindly control MANY. n it is just a tool to control people.
freelunch_2020,
I was just reading your questions and answers with DSAI, and wonder if I can be of benefit to you in answering your curiosity about Islam.
As a Muslim myself, I feel the need to clarify several fallacies that I found in your mail above as my brother in humanity.
First, Malays did not embrace Islam to have God or anything else as an identity bigger than themselves. Islam first came by way of Yemeni traders who were businessmen with excellent conduct. Thus that attracted initially the rulers and subsequently the locals. None of them went to Arabia to have the Arab World as bigger identity to be part of.
Second,it was not the Malays who first embraced Islam, rather the Chinese. Islam reached China as early as the 8th century C.E. The most prominent Muslim Chinese is probably Cheng Ho, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_He. He was the greatest admiral ever in Chinese history. And when the Malacca Sultanate was on the verge of collapse, aid had been sent by Ming Dynasty to the last Sultan, but did not reach on time.
I agree that Malays do suffer from lack of self confidence but the graver illness is materialism, and following that envy towards fellow Malays. They generally, from businessmen to normal people are infected with the illness of lifestyle, so obsessed with appearing wealthy even though having little or nothing in bank accounts. I personally judge wealth from net assets, not from Mercedes or big mansions.
The Chinese have their own setbacks too, but to be honest as not as serious as the Malays.
I do agree that NEP is racist in essence, it makes the indigenous Malays more dependent on the Government, and also widens social gap between races.
Your citation of Iran and Khomeini as example of Islam is actually against you, as many reliable contemporary scholars of Islam consider Khomeini as out of Islam. His divergence from the original teachings of the Prophet Muhammad is not known to many. In Islam, only the teachings of our Prophet can be imitated fully.
Khomeini follows a religion called ‘Shiism’ which actually is an off-shoot of Islam, not Islam itself. Shiism is a religion of violence and extremism.
Finally, due to shortage of time, I would like to advise the Chinese in Malaysia (in general) the following:
First, we must take Islam as originally understood by the Prophet Muhammad himself. He did not bring ‘hudud’ or cutting of hands first in approaching non-Muslims, rather he strengthened understanding and love of The Creator. To know more about Islam please visit http://www.harunyahya.com and http://www.thetruereligion.org
Second, God stated in the Quran that ‘to every nation there was sent a messenger’. Confucius, Mencius and Lao Tze had probably been messengers sent to the ancient Chinese.
Third, the Chinese have been here for decades, it’s time they start integrating more with Malays regardless of racist Governmental policies or narrowmindedness of Malays. We must be proud more of Malay, as national language of our country, Malaysia. We are Malaysians now and not Chinese like our forefathers. I myself speak English (because of my long stay in the West) like a native speaker but deep in my heart I am always proud of the Malay Language. English is a poor language to me. It is better to have excellent command of English without feeling any pride for it or even worse looking down on Malay.
Thanks a lot.
Ahmad Mokhzani Abdullah.
AMA
i don’t look down on Malays but Malays always look down on themselves. so, always they say i look down on them.
i respect a lot of malays like anwar, rehman rashid, ahmad radzi (BH), amir muhammad, yasmin ahmad, sofia jane, even khairy jamaluddin but sorry not mawi or siti and def not ina. everyday i work with malays and prefer to do this than with chinese. it is a nicer experience.
regarding intergration with malays, i actually wrote an article about this but now i am under secret identity….ke ke ke
tks for clearing up the bit about Khomeini. it is good to hear that from a muslim.
re embracing islam. agree that in the beginning it is as u explained but became more politicised and influenced by iranian revolution. ask dato’ seri, he was a student activist at that time. also, you can do some research.
my point is, and i may be wrong, is religion is being used as a tool in politics and hence is very dangerous.
as a previously almost fanatical christian, i can say this. cos belief in God, is a very strong motivation to do a lot of mindless things.
let me offer you the christian worldview (although i am more of a liberal christian now…as in i integrate many other elements from other religions into my own religion), christians are freaked out by islam.
cos we live in fear that there will be some revolution and Muslims will massacre us ‘cos we are after all erm pro-israel because of doctrine…n a lot of preaching, think of all the ceramah at mosques, church is very much like that, reinforces this view…just like the ceramahs at the mosques talking about the world agaisnt muslims….n zionist conspiracy…in church, they talk about muslims persecuting them and protecting israel.
so, imagine someone at the podium with v good public speaking skills telling us day in day out..that ‘we need to save the muslims from the deception’…christians (not me) truly believed that muslims are LOST and vice-versa…
the christian n modern muslim experience is very similar. i have enough muslim friends and attend enough dominantly malay functions to know this. but somehow the doctrine opposes each other..
so, one day, i told myself, i need to find out for myself and decided to find out more about this malay race beyond my elite circle of rich malay friends whom i never really saw as malays but more of like modern malaysian like me… :D
and actually, i really admire malays, even more every day. the propaganda that malays are lazy and stupid etc etc is just that propaganda…everywhere u have lazy n stupid ppl..some ppl just like the kampung life…like beach bums in hawaii…and the white thrash that i met in the UK gee…
from my analysis, malays are actually a very determined people. they have worked hard to make sure that they will not be bullied by immigrants at that time and SUCCESSFULLY reinstated their political dominance. reverse the roles, and the chinese would have done exactly the same. even worst probably, kill ALL. hahhaha
i really admire your nationalism. all the corruption n bullshit in politics apart. but people like anwar who actually fought for the malays, a bit fascist la actually anwar in office. n generally reinstating your identity with language but don’t agree with the economic policies that really amounted to day-light robbery in many cases..eg chinese banks, but let’s not get into this
n people are just people. as a group of people, you have done really well…
1. you have increased the education level
2. amassed great wealth
3. and are generally better people in terms of compassion, easy-going, honesty - i wrote another article about malay cab drivers and how they are more honest and some malays on the lower income scale that i know hold 2 jobs to survive. so it is a myth that malays NEED HELP - i wish UMNO n politicians would stop spreading this lie - there was a v good article in Berita Harian on tuesday by Ahmad Razi on this
what have the chinese done? BESIDES getting richer? generally a ball-less bunch in msia. but maybe got some scientific, economic, technological breakthrough..
think of how far we have come as malaysians. and now it’s time to move forward even more.
re islam and advice to chinese.. i agree . a lot of misinformation.. n i really think the ABOLITION of vernacular schools as THE FIRST STEP TO INTEGRATION. do immigrants complain when they have to go to american schools and learn english??
but msia is a bit more complicated than that cos the chinese did a lot and are still doing a lot to build the economy. why are we ahead? generally not because of our skin colour but mainly bcos of our collective experience.
eg. let’s say my dad is a businessman, so is my grandada n most of my family. so from a young age i have a lot of business ‘experience’,knowledge and savvy. it is not because of my skin colour but my environment…
i prefer english by far. because it has a rich tradition and a longer history. but i am fluent in malay. to me all languages and culture are interesting and unique. this is my natural inclination. i like to find out about more people, diff people, and hae been to many countries from the czech republic to china to america to thailand..
and you know what i discovered?
cliched but true.
that people are the same everywhere. strip away all the politics, all the bullshit, all the stress reactions
they all want to be happy.
to be loved.
to feel love.
and to love.
think about it. most of the things we do are driven by this.
ps. Dato’ Seri apologies about this but malaysia-today and lim kit siang’s blog are getting overcrowded so i am venturing to new territory
ps2. AMA, let’s end our discussion on religion here. i’ve been through it many times. let each of us believe what’s best for us, and let each of us find our own salvation. i’ve studied most religions for a long time, and have moved on from that phase some time ago.
DSAI,
Semenjak meraikan kemenangan demi kemenangan sepatutnya Datuk berwajah ceria dan terserlah namun kenapa setiap kali melihat Datuk saya perhatikan semacam ada satu bayang-bayangan wajah yang mengerunkan terpampang. Pernah sekali semasa di Bandar Tun Razak seolah-olah ada satu wajah hitam tiba-tiba muncul dimuka Datuk. Adakah Datuk mempunyai saka? Saya ada bertanya dengan seorang pengamal tradisional dan beliau memberitahu, kebiasaannya orang yang mempunyai saka atau membela jin biasanya akan muncul dengan wajah begitu. Patutlah orang semakin tertarik dengan Datuk.Rupanya Datuk bela jin. Tak apa jin pun jinlah, atas dunia peduli apa. Janji dapat tawan Malaysia. Dalam lubang kubur besok bukan orang dengar kita kena belasah. Tahniah, teruskanlah inspirasi syaitan itu. Mudah-mudahan jadi ahli neraka jahanam, kekal abadi. Amin!