Malaysia is a beautiful land where Malays, Chinese, Indians, Sikhs, Orang Asli’s, Sabahans, Sarawakians, etc. have been living in relative peace ever since this nation came into being.
The reality that we are a multi-ethnic, multi-faithed, multi-cultural melting pot of various races is something that many of us failed to realize and the policymakers of the ruling coalition party @ Barisan Nasional simply failed to take into considerations and they simply got fat and big headed over the years since Malaya got its independence from the British Colonials in 1957.
Back then, Malaysians were mostly on almost the same economic status and there was mutual respect for one another.
The Malays were mostly engaged in agricultural activities and most rural Malays were padi farmers and lived a simple life. Indians were employed in rubber estates and the Chinese were involved in tin mining and ran small businesses in the towns and cities.
Life for Malayans was relatively average and most people just got along fine with the social contract prevalent at those times.
After Independence, the Malays who could afford it started to send their sons and daughters to higher academic institutions in an effort to improve the quality of their life’s.
A large majority of Malayan Indians were content to remain working in the rubber estates as most of them were descendants of immigrant laborers from South India particularly Tamil Nadu.
The Chinese as usual were the enterprising lot and they quickly established themselves as those who excelled in commercial activities and settled down in the small towns and opened up trading businesses nationwide.
Other races such as the Ceylonese were quick to move in to clerical jobs in the various government service and Sikhs proved themselves at home in the legal fraternity.
Life for Malayans were relatively easy and all Malayans were content to improve their lots according to the opportunities that came their way or by the fruits of their labor in pursuing their own individual goals and objectives.
We all know how Malaya became Malaysia when Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak joined the Federation of Malay States in the Malayan Peninsular in 1963.
When did things start to go wrong for Malaysia?
From my point of view, when our forefathers resorted to divide ourselves into being Malays, Chinese, Indians and Others?
That was the planting of the seeds of apartheid in the framework of the infant nation.
Yes, we are different ethnically and religious wise but we are Malaysians aren’t we?
When we start differentiating ourselves based on race and religion, the internal divide is then set into our mindsets and we start to be apprehensive towards those who aren’t from our own ethnicity and faith.
Automatically we will tend to discriminate between fellow citizens and as proven by the way the nation has come to be where it is now, we grew apart socially, culturally and most obviously in the economic areas.
Right now, the country is going through a purging of its political system and changes that are taking place are of the kind that no one would have thought possible to ever occur in Malaysia?
Lim Kit Siang, Anwar Ibrahim and Tuan Guru Hadi Awang sitting side by side announcing a People’s Alliance!
Something that the BN used to joke about and ridicule the Malaysian Opposition for so many years before this?
DAP working together with PAS?
Never in a million years was what the saying used to be!
Today, it is UMNO, MCA and the MIC who are getting whupped by the rakyat!
UMNO will no longer get to lord it over the rest of the coalition parties in the BN because frankly speaking we Malaysians are just sick and tired of having to differentiate ourselves according to race!
Religious wise we are still different and I don’t think we will ever merge faiths but politically, we are heading towards a two party system that would no longer bother about racial divides?
Racists can just wait to be swept away in the next Malaysian GE!
Time for Malaysians to start looking into getting the country back into shape and forge a better future for all.
We can do it Malaysia! All it takes is to realize that we are all the Children of Adam and are all in this together.
Let’s work towards making Malaysia a great place to live again!
As for UMNO, you folks just saw the shenanigans that took place at Hotel Singgahsana’s MYKMU UMNO ‘Pow Wow’!
Pow Wow indeed! Malaysians were shocked to see such gangsterism and hooliganism erupt in a meeting of supposedly concerned educated and professional Malays?
The way things took place that day, UMNO is headed towards its ultimate end! Do you agree?
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Social Contract, imperialism was created by British and Barisan Nasional conveniently followed this concept to their maximum advantage. The problem is that when the country is prospering, a few complained. The great losers of course the poor Malays, Chinese and Indians, Sabahans and Sarawakians.
Low Salary for plantation workers as little as 300 ringgit. Bloody hell. How can they run a family with this kind of salary when owner is making thunderous profit now days. The irony government owns majority of plantation estate here. Can I say apartheid here?
Dear Mahaguru,
Indeed you are right.
No place for racist and religious fanatics here.
we want a united Malaysia.
Mahaguru what you said is so true.
Racism should be wiped out and let all Malaysians work together to build a strong,fair & prosperous nation free of the Umno divide & rule racist policy of bumis /non bumis and Umno constant echoes of threatening non malays !
looked up some history books when you mentioned “Ceylonese” in your blog.
Indeed I found out that the Ceylonese were the elite during the British rule here.
They stayed mainly in the Government quarters all over the country and contributed to bring about a first class civil service in Malaysia.After the NEP was introduced in 1970, most of them were ” ethnically cleansed ” from the Malaysian civil service and those who existed were never promoted. Thanks to the UMNO Govt.
Hence they had to move to other professions and fields. Now most of them are self made professionals and successful businessmen.
Notable among them are Ananda Krishnan, Tan Sri G Gnanalingam, D.R Seenivasagam, Sir Clough Thuraisingam who was our first Minister for Education.
Many of our early Director Generals were Ceylonese people who were mainly Jaffna Tamils.
Maybe Mahaguru should do write ups on our minority ethnic groups. It will be informative and interesting.
Oh !! how I wish we could all live in harmony as one and yet preserve our diverse cultures.
i usually agree with you but you view is too optimistic
have you read the paper regarding racism in kids as young as 2 years old
two dolls are put infront of a a group of babies. one is a white baby doll and the other a black baby doll.90% of the time the babies that participated in the test chose the white doll over the black
humans sees the difference in each other. not the simmilarities. thats a fact. when you are walking down the street in Jalan TAR you will quickly notice the odd pakistani or myanmar. they stood out. i was not actively looking for the difference but my eye quickly single them out in the crowd.
that is just how we are wired
i don’t believe that racism can be stemmed and eradicated. i see myself as progressive but once in a while the racist within will boil up to the top. especially when driving on malaysian roads. ” ^%&^&%&^ driver $#@#$@$#”. i thought i was the only one with this problem. turns out after much reading, most people show their racist self when driving. this is not exclusive to malaysian. it is in fact a normal human trait
yeah. i’m full of negativity. at least i wont be dissapointed if things didn’t turn up hunky dory yes?
i guess the only way to way to end racism is to make sure every single one of us is mixed blood. then you have no reason to be racist coz you are a mongrel! LOL
hey i mean it in a good way man!