Warrior from Silicon Valley
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posted by M. Bakri Musa | 7:49 PM
M. Bakri Musa
Seeing Malaysia My Way
About Me
- Name: M. Bakri Musa
- Location: Morgan Hill, California, United States
Malaysian-born Bakri Musa writes frequently on issues affecting his native land. His essays have appeared in the Far Eastern Economic Review, Asiaweek, International Herald Tribune, Education Quarterly, SIngapore's Straits Times, and The New Straits Times. His commentary has aired on National Public Radio's Marketplace. His regular column Seeing It My Way appears in Malaysiakini. Bakri is also a regular contributor to th eSun (Malaysia). He has previously written "The Malay Dilemma Revisited: Race Dynamics in Modern Malaysia" as well as "Malaysia in the Era of Globalization," "An Education System Worthy of Malaysia," "Seeing Malaysia My Way," and "With Love, From Malaysia." Bakri's day job (and frequently night time too!) is as a surgeon in private practice in Silicon Valley, California. He and his wife Karen live on a ranch in Morgan Hill. This website is updated twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays at 5 PM California time.
Courtesy of Syed Azidi Aziz of kickdefella.wordpress.com
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Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Courtesy of www.kickdefella.wordpress.com
13 Comments:
To me, Ketuanan Melayu is the false notion of malay greatness or malay supremacy. Truth is - there is nothing to associate the malay race with greatness.
By any widely accepted standards, it will be obvious to see that the malay race does not qualify to be called one of the great races on this world. Truth is that the Chinese and Indians have a culture accomplished far greater and much more than these jokers have.
It should be Chinese and Indian supremacy in Malaysia. The only reason why malays have power in Malaysia is because they have the biggest population, and the racist rhetoric of the malay Umno politicians always sway the malay vote towards themselves.
Anyway, back to the untrue notion of Ketuanan Melayu. Let us see what malays have accomplished. Has any malay won the Nobel Prize - no. Has any malay been nominated for the Nobel Prize - most probably not.
By contrast, numerous Chinese and Indians have won the Nobel Prize and various other awards. The Chinese and Indian diaspora is widely recognized as two of the three most successful diasporas in history, the other being the Jewish diaspora. All over the world, Chinese and Indians have become successful artists, CEOs, doctors, filmmakers, scientists, writers, etc, etc.
Name one malay who is widely recognized around the world in his or her field. The only malay whose name might be recognized out of this country is Mahathir, and he is part Indian. Is malay culture recognized as a world renowned culture - no.
Malay culture, if cultures were ranked, would be close to the bottom. What is their culture compared to the great Chinese and Indian cultures that are centuries old and really rich! The Chinese and Indians have a 5000 years old history during which China and India have played a very important part in world history.
Nobody knew about malays until the Indian kings of south India first came here. That is why the oldest archeological remains in Malaysia, in Lembah Bujang, are Hindu temples.
The malay sultanate itself was started by a Hindu - Parameswara. And even at the height of its power, the Malacca sultanate was nothing more than a vassal of the Chinese emperor.
Have any malay architect designed anything worthwhile - no. Have any malay author won the Booker Prize or the Pulitzer Prize - no. Have any malay filmmaker won an Oscar - no. Have the malays achieved anything in sports - no.
Chinese and Indians have achieved all this. So there is no real Ketuanan Melayu. It is a fiction concocted by racist stupid politicians to keep the "kampung malays" happy thinking that they have had a glorious past.
They don't. Their history isn't worth mentioning. You would never find a mention of malays or Malaysia or Tanah Melayu in most books of world history while entire chapters are devoted to the history of China and India.
The discriminative constitution and law of Malaysia is just a recognition of this fact. The malay leaders and to every single malay knows that on a level playing field, the malays will never be able to compete with the Chinese and Indians.
As to the discussions, I can see some hatred in it but then none of it was untrue. I think most Malaysians have done a good job maintaining harmony and peace, but I can see how and why some may be pushed to hatred because of all the discrimination that goes on.
I mean come on, the discrimination towards non-malays is so wide-ranging that I am sure some people will feel robbed.
How do you think a Chinese or Indian student feels when he has worked his ass off to study for STPM and gets excellent result and then sees his malay friends who didn't work as hard and get as good result fly off to the England, Japan, USA etc, under JPA scholarship!
How do you think a Chinese or Indian contractor feels when his superior contract bid loses out to an inferior bid by a malay company!
What is going on in Malaysia is wrong. We should work towards creating a pure meritocracy, because history has shown that only meritocracies prosper and survive. It seems now that the Chinese or Indians don't even get fair representation in legal matters, as illustrated by the Moorthy case. Things need to be changed before bad things start to happen.
Many malays don't like to admit it, but once upon a time, they were not Muslims like everyone else!
Malays were part of the migration of Polynesian peoples whose original home was Yunan in China to South-East Asia in what is known as Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia……….
At that time the Orang Asli were already well settled in the malay Peninsula, so that makes them the most legitimate of the bumis.
Malays were animists then for hundreds of years until Indians crossed Bay of Bengal to South-East Asia and spread Indian and Hindu culture to the peoples there.
Hence we had the great Hindu kingdoms which later also became Buddhist kingdoms of Srivijaya, Majapahit, Langkasuka - but main thing to note is that racially the peoples were malays and speak old malay language.
Islam only came to South-East Asia from 1400 after foundation of Malacca by Parameswara. Again from India crossed Bay of Bengal and spread Islam to South-East Asia. Malacca sultans were among the first converts and the rest is history.
Please note that the malays have been Muslims for only 600 years and have been Hindus/Buddhists very much longer - at least 2000 years. Malay culture is very much influenced by Hindu culture including Sanskrit words like the wayang kulit, raja, maharaja, etc.
Unlike Javanese, who are proud of their Hindu/Buddhist past reflected in great empires like Srivijaya and Majapahit, malays are generally ashamed to dwell on their pre-Islamic Hindu/Buddhist past.
On the contrary some malays try to be like the Arab wannabes, trying to cleanse the malays of their Hindu/Buddhist past - in this even the songs and films of P Ramlee become victimized!
If Islam had not come to South-East Asia, malays would still be Hindus/Buddhists like the Balinese which is not a bad idea, as Balinese are considered very peaceful people.
I am a 10th generation Chinese in Malaysia and my ancestors and I have known only Malaysia as our home.
And yet everyday, I hear malays calling me 'pendatang' and unpatriotic. I find this totally unacceptable because I am a law-abiding citizen who pays my taxes diligently. Citizens should not be treated differently based on race.
Similarly, if an ethnic Chinese student has performed well, he should be awarded scholarship just as an ethnic Malay student who has performed equally well is awarded one. Is it too difficult to understand that not all Chinese are rich and not all malays are poor?
If a malay feels that he has the right to call me 'pendatang' and tell me to migrate because he feels his ancestors have been here long enough, by the same logic, I too have the same right to do that to him.
Orang Asli is the general name given to different groups of indigenous people of this land. Take the Negrito, for instance. They are definitely not the same as the malays. The languages of the Negrito and Senoi are related to the indigenous languages of Burma, Indochina and Thailand.
The only group of Orang Asli which shares similarities with those whom we know as the malays of today are the Proto-malays, who had arrived at this land much later than the Negrito and Senoi.
Those whom we know as malays today are Deutro-malays who arrived even later. Thus, malays are also outsiders who migrated to this land just like the non-malays. The only difference is the malays migrated earlier.
However, this sweeping statement that all malays and Orang Asli are one and the same cannot stand since only a minority of Orang Asli have become Muslims and there are even fewer who have fulfilled all three constitutional requirements.
The Umno is either obfuscating or confused. Why would we want to remove the political boundaries that delineate the countries of Southeast Asia? The different countries of this region are a political reality. To imagine that these nations do not exist is mere wishful fantasy.
When we say malays, we refer to the ethnic groups who live in the malay Peninsular, east Sumatra, Brunei and some parts of East Malaysia. These ethnic groups speak the various dialects of the malay language. Our constitution even defines what is a malay. It attaches a religious condition.
How the present-day malays came to the malay Peninsular is no mystery. There were ancient kingdoms such as Langkasuka. However, it was the Malacca sultanate that firmly established the malay institution and culture in Peninsular Malaysia. This was in the 1400s. Subsequently, there was periodic and gradual migration from Sumatra, Sulawesi and Java.
As an extension of this warped reasoning, most Indonesians and Filipinos can migrate to Malaysia. When they do, and if they are Muslims, then they are malays. Therefore they will enjoy the privileges accorded to the bumis in Malaysia. It does not matter if they just migrated yesterday.
The most unbelievable thing about this episode is that there are actually people like somebody who feels the need to defend this bigotry. That as the man says, 'how low can you go?'
Lead your Malaysia country by example! Unfortunately: when no all but one of the ministers has a university degree, this example shouldn't down spiral the level of education for the next generation.
It is true that ignorance of the masses keep who is in power. Sad way of playing democracy……….
Wow you got guts! Happy to say, people are not coming back to this wretched land, having the government turn its back upon them. The last word, I heard of Bangsa Malaysia……….all they know is to talk, and then go on for the next NEP. Stupid!
Who in his sane mind to come back to a country which their lawful, taxpaying parents waste their tax on lazy people? Furthermore, the brainy-one will become the future feeder of lazy people and had his own children rights denied. Weird!
I am absolutely agree with you. Malaysia is strictly for those malay pig………..they are so stupid pig, yet the government want to aid them on their all those university places - 80% is reserved for higher education to these so called bumis (actually just the generation of the pirates originated from Indonesia).
Since the government doesn't appreciate us as talented person, then we shouldn't support this lame government anymore.
Remember! When the election comes the next time, please use your head to vote and not your emotion or your racial sentiment
A good government is one with good opposition - electing the opposition doesn't mean you against the ruling party or agree with the opposition.
There need to be balance, check and counter check. We cannot just depend on Mr Lim alone to fight!
I can relate to you in many ways. I have just found out that the best way to deal with bad things, is to turn a blind eye and ear to them. Ignore them, and they will leave you, soon enough. Allow them to spew their insults, it doesn't matter what they say anyway, it is us who are in control of our feelings and how we feel, not them.
I know you malays are pissed off too in your own way because you are too lazy and selfish to share. It is clear……….It is a hard thing to change from a lazy and selfish creature to a human. It is understandable.
If the word "democracy" has been followed properly according to the meaning, there will be no existing problems at all. Where is the freedom of speech on the Malaysia media? Why is there discrimination if people want to practice equal rights?
All of this issues leads to not democracy and racism! The word democracy is used to keep the happy image in the eye of other countries, so it won't effect the economy!
About the Polynesian persons……….yes, there were everywhere. Like Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand and etc, hey what you know? Polynesian originally from Asia Taiwan. Even malays are from Jawa. That makes them a native people from Polynesian island, but not natives of Malaysia.
I still believe that the people (Malaysians) are the ones who drive this country. Not corrupted politicians, racist cunts or other selfish groups. We could make changes. And changes we shall make for a brighter future. Peace out!
If you look around you, you'd see that some of our malays have distinctive Mongoloid features. Discrimination against races is disgusting, laws favoring our malays is an insult to us!
Malaysia belongs to the ethnic Chinese as much as the malays. The malays are not the original aborigines in malay Peninsula. They have only arrived in Malaysia just a few hundred years earlier than the Chinese who have been there since the Tang Dynasty or earlier.
And there are many other indigenous peoples in Sabah and Sarawak who are not related to malays at all. Therefore Malaysia is not the country of the malays alone. It is just as much the country of the Chinese and the many other races from the Indians to the many aborigines and indigenous peoples.
For the Chinese - the British colonial era was much more beneficial than the current malay bully era. During the British colonial era the malays were polite and the Chinese held just about all the highest positions in the government and the police.
Now there is hardly any Chinese left in the government and the police. And while the Chinese were allowed to do any business during the colonial era, they are now not allowed to do anything other than own a few shops.
The society was also much safer during the colonial era. There were hardly any crimes when the efficient Chinese police officers ran an efficient police force to minimize crimes.
And the Chinese were very safe being able to call on the protection of the Chinese dominated police. And the government was also very clean, corruption free and efficient under the British rule.
Now the government is just a cesspool of corruption where nothing is done. Therefore, for the Chinese - the malays are the daggers in the heart. If Malaysia had remained under the British rule, it would have grown as rich as Hong Kong. The worst thing that has happened for the Chinese is independence.
The Chinese have migrated to Malaysia and other Southeast Asia places as early as the Tang Dynasty more than 1000 years ago. For instance, Mountain Kinabalu means Chinese Widow (Mountain Kinabalu is in Sabah, East Malaysia).
This shows how long Chinese peoples have been in Southeast Asia. Chinese have certainly earned the right to feel they are rightful citizens of any country and place in Southeast Asia.
Furthermore, United Nations does not discriminate against immigrants in any country. The UN does not sanction a set of rights for so-called immigrants and natives. All have the same rights. Even in UK no Chinese or Indians have to pay more for food or for housing. But in Malaysia they do. Therefore, the Chinese and the Indians don't need to tolerate this.
It is also bad logic to say the Chinese are recent migrants to Malaysia. As indicated above, the Chinese have been in Malaysia hundreds of years before America was even 'discovered' by Columbus.
If the white Americans are entitled to consider themselves masters of America, then certainly the Chinese have even more moral right to consider themselves masters of Malaysia.
As I have pointed out before, Sabah and Sarawak are not homelands of the malays. The Chinese were in Sabah and Sarawak long before the malays were ever there.
The Chinese have been there longer than the whites have been in America. The Chinese have been in Sabah and Sarawak even longer than the malays. The Chinese have been responsible for most of the wealth of Malaysia. Therefore, they are entitled to consider themselves equal owners of Malaysia.
As I said, the Chinese had been in the government, the military and the police under the British but are now out of the government, the military and the police under the malays. The Chinese were also allowed much more freedom to do business under the British than under the malays.
In fact, the Chinese can now do no more than own small shops. So it is obvious that the Chinese had been better treated by the British than by the malays. Just because the British had created division between the Chinese and the malays does not mean the Chinese are now treated better by the malays.
I have no doubt at all, that if the British had not left, Malaysia would be just as developed and prosperous as Hong Kong or Singapore. The stupid malays have ruined the Malaysia economy while robbing the Chinese.
I didn't see the Chinese fighting the malays under the colonial rule. If there were any fighting - it started after the British had left when the malays started killing the Chinese in the May 13 incident in 1969. And now the malays are constantly threatening the Chinese with more massacres similar to the May 13.
In an inspiring documentary produced by Discovery Channel tracing the origins of the human 'Eve', archeologist Dr Majid established that the present-day Negritos are the descendants of the earliest human migrants from coastal Africa. This is based on mitochondria DNA as well as material history.
Does this mean that the Negritos, being the first inhabitants of a geographic space that is now known as Malaysia, are the real 'Bumi'?
Historians would have us believe that a second wave of migration from the Asian mainland saw the displacement of the Negritos by another group, also known as the Proto-malays. Today, we do not distinguish between the two groups and collectively call them all Orang Asli - the original peoples.
Since this is a malay term and not a neo-colonialist construction, it simply means that the malays themselves acknowledge that they are not the original peoples as they had encountered the Orang Asli on their arrival in the malay Peninsula and differentiated themselves from this first two groups.
Present-day malays, constituting a third wave, came much later, hence the term Deutro-malays. This means that successive waves of migrations have left sediments of beliefs, culture and linguistic imprints here in Malaysia. But because of the coherence of malay culture, the whole region came to be known as the malay world or 'Alam melayu'.
This world was at the crossroads of international trade and the malays were active participants of this exchange of goods and services. Their world was open-minded, plural and tolerant. From animism, to Buddhism-Hindu and latterly Islam, the malay world was open to foreign influences.
Without any doubt, the Chinese and the Indians have been welcome here for many centuries. Some traded, married local women and established long-standing ties with the malays. Some of these 'Peranakan' communities have been living in modern-day Malaysia far longer than some Indonesian communities.
But to the malays, Indonesians of all shades whether Batak, Javanese or Mandailing are of the same root. They are not seen as immigrants although with the rising rate of crime in Malaysia and its attribution to Indonesian migrant workers, this view may soon change.
There is no question about this underlying malay cultural context to modern Malaysia and Indonesia. The latter maybe a bit different due to the great influence of the Javanese but is essentially part of the malay world. With the emergence of the nation state, we have to define what is Malaysian.
In the case of the latter, we have failed to achieve a consensus. If the divide between the bumi and non-bumi is to be enshrined as part of the national identity, then there is no such thing as 'Malaysian'. If a Malaysian is anyone with a Malaysian passport, then there needs to be equality among the ethnic groups.
The real challenge is to think out of this box. Does it really matter if one's ancestor came from China, India or Indonesia? What really matters is the commitment to Malaysia and loyalty to the state, our imagined community.
Malays are a diverse group of Austronesian peoples inhabiting the malay archipelago and malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia.
The original Austronesians from southern China crossed the strait of Taiwan and settled modern day Taiwan around 8000 - 4000 BCE.
These first settlers landed in northern Luzon in the Philippines. Over the next thousand years up until 1500 BCE, their descendants started to spread south to the rest of the Philippine islands, Celebes, northern Borneo, Moluccas, and Java.
The settlers in Moluccas sailed eastward and began to spread to the islands of Melanesia and Micronesia between 1200 BCE and 500 BCE respectively. Those that spread westward reached Sumatra, the malay Peninsula and southern Vietnam by 500 BCE.
According to the Encyclopedia of Malaysia, the Negritos, who number approximately 2000, are regarded as the earliest inhabitants of the malay Peninsula.
They are of Australo-Melanesian affinity and probably descend from the people of Hoabinhian cultural period, with many of their burials found dating back 10000 years ago.
They speak Austroasiatic languages, as do their Senoi agriculturalist neighbours. The Senoi and Proto-malay arrived much later probably during the Neolithic period.
We can talk about this till the cows comes or pigs fly. But the inhabitants of Malaysia were once from Southern China, and the inhabitants of Southern China were probably from somewhere else too, maybe Siberia? Too long to trace and no records that I'm aware of :D
My theory is that somewhere in between these migrations, these inhabitants also mixed with Africans, Indian, Middle East etc people which they met halfway.
FYI, the natives of Borneo today have closely similar customes as that from the natives of Indochina, Taiwan and Hainan even till today. Batik is found in Yunnan, China. Some food for thought. Let's not argue who came first...
Kenapa masih ramai nak argue ttg hak milik bumi Malaysia, hak keistimewaan masing2? Apa yg saya lihat, semua kaum dapat hak yang sama rata di Malaysia. Kalau nak cakap ttg Bumis/ Malays diberi keistimewaan lebih utk placement di University... saya tgk yang ramai di local Unis is Chinese, sedikit Malay n seorang dua Indian. I am saying this through my experience, I am lecturing in a local public U. My students sit in rows in the class, there were abt 8 rows, I can say Malays filled 1/4 of the row, the rest is chinese and Indian kadang2 ada seorang yang terselit antara chinese students. Nak kata Chinese tak dapat scholarship.... ramai juga yang datang minta sign saya bila nak hantar borang scholarship. Bukan setkt baru nak apply, tapi utk extension. Students yang dah grad n nak sambung Master, yang layak semua dapat. Byknya Chinese students. Yang dah grad Master, sambung pulak PhD pun ada. I am talking about Chinese. Malay pun ada. India ada tapi tak seramai Chinese n Malay. Beberapa tahun adala seorang. Yang further study, usually attach as tutor, so dapat gaji tutor. Basic RM19++ and total abt RM26++. Then after finishing, ada yg diserap jadi lecturer. Semua diberi hak yang sama ikut achievement. Ada juga chinese lecturer dapat buat PhD di Purdue, of course dia dpt scholar dari US tapi gaji di Malaysia(UM) masuk mcm biasa every mth. Ada juga Malay lecturers dpt masuk top Universities like Kyoto Uni, n other BTU. So, semua dapat hak yg sama. Kalau nak kata byk Malay di local Uni pun mungkin di UiTM. Apa lagi hak yang tak dapat. Lim Kok Wing University is Chinese's, Kolej TAR dah naik taraf, n most of the students are Chinese. I remember when Kolej TAR was near Wardieburn Camp, every weekend nights, the students play their band so loud sampai dengar dlm W. Camp. Takde pulak Malay dalam Kem tu mengamuk. Kalau dlm Kem tentera mmg ramai Malayla. What else? All religion can built their temples, church, mosque sebesar2 segrand yg boleh. Mosque boleh azan, Indians also can pray, Batu Caves tu selalu jam, takde pulak org Melayu nak pergi mengamuk tiap2 kali or write in blogs complaining. Chinese bakar colok, bau tengit, takde pulak org Melayu/ Muslim sakit hati sampai nak complain pada seluruh dunia Muslim ditindas di Malaysia, etc. etc. Coz I read in TIMES Mag. here (not in Malaysia), non Muslim complaining being ditindas in Malaysia.
Hai... kenapalah manusia tak pernah berpuas hati. Malaysia tu mmg hak semua. Nama pun Malaysia, bukan lagi Persekutuan Tanah Melayu. Semua orang mmg ada hak masing2. Tapi lojikla Melayu/ Bumis dapat hak lebih, itu pun tak byk. Hak utk jaga Agama Islam sbg Agama rasmi. Hak yg lain, business, education etc2, hanya on papers je diberi lbh kepada Melayu, tapi realiti, siapa yg kaya? Siapa yang bijak pandai n menang awards?
Everytime I read blogs, especially by non Bumis complaining not getting enough, ditindas in Malaysia, saying harsh words to Malay, I always want to reply and say my anger. But I know it will not do any good. The best thing for me to do is just to strive for excellence in any good things I do or going to do and contribute to others.
Another thing I want to say is about definition of Malay. Everyone is correct abt Malay is actually mix of Chinese, Indians, Arabs and others. That is Malay. Chinese is Chinese, Indians is Indian, Arabs is Arabs etc. The definition of Malay is excepted worldwide. Why Malaysians want to deny it? I am a Malay, I know my ancestors is from Arab, married with Siamese and come to Tanah Melayu. Then we all became Malay. Kalau tanya 'Mat Saleh' di UK pun tau kewujudan bangsa Melayu. Esp. those who are familiar with Malaysian history. In fact, penjajah dan pedagang yg datang Tanah Melayu pandai cakap bahasa Melayu. Walaupun bahasa Melayu adalah dari pelbagai bahasa (Sanskrit, Belanda, India, Cina, etc), so does English. For eg. cat is actually from Arabic. Japanese words, byk yg dari English, Deutsche, and etc. Bahasa Perancis, English, Deutsche, Spain, Austria..... semua ada yg overlap. I admit, Cina mmg Cemerlang Gemilang n Terbilang dari dulu sampai sekarang. I am not just saying, many references I read for my research are written by Chinese, where the research is done in China. Same with India. My colleague went to India to buy a machine for his research. The machine was cheaper with good quality maybe better than other makers. He told me his experience in India, esp. in the kilang where he bought the machine. Women engineers with Saree, men engineers working in a very simple space. No air cond., only fans. Of course there are great Japanese, Koreans, Americans, Europeans, etc. Malays are also good, but we r not many. A few individu are well known, like Tun Mahathir, others who have served UN, etc. Good companies like CTRM, Petronas, and I must say PROTON. Don't say Proton tak ada kualiti. Ramai Malaysian (all those who are not patriotic but want to claim Malaysian) tidak beri peluang kpd PROTON utk benar2 membangun, PROTON R&D was open only in 1993, tak sampai pun 20 thn, jgnlah nak compare dgn Korean cars yg lebih lama wujud. Tak payahla nak compare dgn Jepun, US, Europe. I must say WAJA is a good car. It is not easy to produce something from scratch esp cars. A lot of research has to be done. Research for the material, the engine, the design... And for the engine, a lot of parts, the transmission, the cylinder, inside the cylinder, cylinder ring, cylinder material, the lubricant, etc, etc. But Malay.... Malaysia has come out with WAJA n Gen-2. I am proud to be Malay n Malaysian. The engineer who lead the research for CamPro engine is a Malay.
I myself sometime am not satisfied with Malaysia. I even plan to work in Sweden (or other country), coz I heard it's a very nice country. Very environmentally friendly, flexi working hour. U can choose to come early to work and go back early or come late and go back late. Pendptan tertinggi n terendah tak byk beza. There are mosque... So perfect. In fact there's a Professor doing a research I am very interested in. There are many Malaysians migrated or work in other country because that other places offers what they want. So, unsatisfied Malaysian, if the thing you want is not offered in Malaysia, go find it somewhere else. If you care abt Malaysia and want to improve, do your work good and tak perlu ckp byk menyakitkan hati orang. Mmg ada Malay yg threat peristiwa 13 Mei 69 boleh berulang. Tapi kalau takde yang menyucuk orang Melayu, takde orang Melayu yang nak mengamuk tak tentu pasal. The same happened in 1969.
Aduuuh, byknye nak tulis. I don't usually write a lot esp. in this kind of blog n neither talkative. This may be the first n the last writing n replying to this kind of blog. So all, enjoy writing. Let's live in peace. Life is short, we don't know when we r going to die. Lets do good things so we can also rest in peace.
Sincerely,
Malaysian Malay woman, daughter, wife, mother n student.
Ruyom,
you forgot, some Mat rempits have jumped glided down the North Pole! hahahahahah
anonymous,
aduh! banyak lah menulis.. I am glad you wrote about things that are close to your heart, and are written in sincerity. Trouble is anon, you are about one in a million of the Malaysian malay who does NOT feel insecure! If you are a non M, on the receiving end of the Malaysian govt bureaucracy, you might temper your views.. But one thing I would strongly suggest, and you will agree, is the abolishment of vernacular schools, and the compulsroy attendance of National schools, which should also shed its "islamic" image! Forced integration, similar to what we are doing in the NAtional service! We need to act, and we know the ordinary Malay and Chines have real fears.. The other thing is to abolish racial parties and put those keris wielding politicians in Jail.....
It's been interesting to read such free-flowing comments on an all "Malaysian" free for all. While we are on the subject, how many of you have read the book entitled "Contesting Malayness"? Written by a Professor of National University of Singapore. Cost S$32 (about). It reflects the Anthropologists views that there is no such race as the "Malays" to begin with. If we follow the original migration of the Southern Chinese of 6,000yrs ago, they moved into Taiwan, (now the Alisan), then into the Phillipines (now the Aeta) and moved into Borneo (4,500yrs ago) (Dayak). They also split into Sulawesi and progressed into Jawa, and Sumatera. The final migration was to the Malayan Peninsular 3,000yrs ago. A sub-group from Borneo also moved to Champa in Cambodia at 4,500yrs ago.
Interestingly, the Champa deviant group moved back to present day Kelantan. There are also traces of the Dong Song and HoaBinh migration from Vietnam and Cambodia. To confuse the issue, there was also the Southern Thai migration, from what we know as Pattani today. (see also "Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsular")
Of course, we also have the Minangkabau's which come from the descendants of Alexander the Great and a West Indian Princess. (Sejarah Melayu page 1-3)
So the million Dollar Question... Is there really a race called the "Malays"? All anthropologists DO NOT SEEM TO THINK SO.
Neither do the "Malays" who live on the West Coast of Johor. They'd rather be called Javanese. What about the west coast Kedah inhabitants who prefer to be known as "Achenese"? or the Ibans who simply want to be known as IBANS. Try calling a Kelabit a "Malay" and see what response you get... you’ll be so glad that their Head-Hunting days are over.
In an article in the Star, dated: Dec 3rd 2006
available for on-line viewing at:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/12/3/focus/16212814&sec=focus
An excerp is reproduced here below:
"The Malays – taken as an aggregation of people of different ethnic backgrounds but who speak the same language or family of languages and share common cultural and traditional ties – are essentially a new race, compared to the Chinese, Indians and the Arabs with their long histories of quests and conquests.
The Malay nation, therefore, covers people of various ethnic stock, including Javanese, Bugis, Bawean, Achehnese, Thai, orang asli, the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak and descendants of Indian Muslims who had married local women.
Beneath these variations, however, there is a common steely core that is bent on changing the Malay persona from its perceived lethargic character to one that is brave, bold and ready to take on the world. "
The definition of “Malay” is therefore simply a collection of people's who speak a similar type language. With what is meant by a similar type language does not mean that the words are similar. Linguists call this the "Lego-type" language, where words are added on to the root word to make meaning and give tenses and such. Somehow, the Indonesians disagree with this classification. They refuse to be called Malay…. Anyhow you may define it. Watch “Malays in Africa”; a Museum Negara produced DVD. Also, the “Champa Malays” by the same.
With this classification, they MUST also include the Phillipinos, the Papua New Guineans, the Australian Aboroginies, as well as the Polynesian Aboroginies. These are of the Australo Melanesians who migrated out of Africa 60,000yrs ago.
Getting interesting? Read on...
"Malay" should also include the Taiwanese singer "Ah Mei" who is Alisan as her tribe are the anscestors of the "Malays". And finally, you will need to define the Southern Chinese (Funan Province) as Malay also, since they are from the same stock 6,000yrs ago.
Try calling the Bugis a "Malay". Interestingly, the Bugis, who predominantly live on Sulawesi are not even Indonesians. Neither do they fall into the same group as the migrating Southern Chinese of 6,000yrs ago nor the Australo Melanesian group from Africa.
Ready for this?
The Bugis are the cross-breed between the Chinese and the Arabs. (FYI, a runaway Ming Dynasty official whom Cheng Ho was sent to hunt down) Interestingly, the Bugis were career Pirates in the Johor-Riau Island areas. Now the nephew of Daeng Kemboja was appointed the First Sultan of Selangor. That makes the entire Selangor Sultanate part Arab, part Chinese! Try talking to the Bugis Museum curator near Kukup in Johor. Kukup is located near the most south-western tip of Johor. (Due south of Pontian Kechil)
Let's not even get into the Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekiu, and Hang Lekir, who shared the same family last name as the other super famous "Hang" family member... Hang Li Poh. And who was she? the princess of a Ming Dynasty Emperor who was sent to marry the Sultan of Malacca. Won't that make the entire Malacca Sultanate downline "Baba" ? Since the older son of the collapsed Malaccan Sultanate got killed in Johor, (the current Sultanate is the downline of the then, Bendahara) the only other son became the Sultan of Perak. Do we see any Chinese-ness in Raja Azlan? Is he the descendant of Hang Li Poh?
Next question. If the Baba’s are part Malay, why have they been marginalized by NOT BEING BUMIPUTERA? Which part of “Malay” are they not? Whatever the answer, why then are the Portugese of Malacca BUMIPUTERA? Did they not come 100yrs AFTER the arrival of the first Baba’s? Parameswara founded Malacca in 1411. The Portugese came in 1511, and the Dutch in the 1600’s. Strangely, the Baba’s were in fact once classified a Bumiputera, but a decided that they were strangely “declassified” in the 1960’s. WHY?
The Sultan of Kelantan had similar roots to the Pattani Kingdom making him of Thai origin. And what is this "coffee table book" by the Sultan of Perlis claiming to be the direct descendant of the prophet Muhammed? Somehow we see Prof Khoo Khay Khim’s signature name on the book. I’ll pay good money to own a copy of it myself. Anyone has a spare?
So, how many of you have met with orang Asli’s? the more northern you go, the more African they look. Why are they called Negrito’s? It is a Spanish word, from which directly transalates “mini Negros”. The more southern you go, the more “Indonesian” they look. And the ones who live at Cameron Highlands kinda look 50-50. You can see the Batek at Taman Negara, who really look like Eddie Murphy to a certain degree. Or the Negritos who live at the Thai border near Temenggor Lake (north Perak). The Mah Meri in Carrie Island look almost like the Jakuns in Endau Rompin. Half African, half Indonesian.
By definition, (this is super eye-opening) there was a Hindu Malay Empire in Kedah. Yes, I said right… The Malays were Hindu. It was, by the old name Langkasuka. Today known as Lembah Bujang. This Hindu Malay Empire was 2,000yrs old. Pre-dating Borrobudor AND Angkor Watt. Who came about around 500-600yrs later. Lembah Bujang was THE mighty trading empire, and its biggest influence was by the Indians who were here to help start it. By definition, this should make the Indians BUMIPUTERAS too since they were here 2,000yrs ago! Why are they marginalized?
So, in a nutshell, the “Malays” (anthropologists will disagree with this “race” definition) are TRULY ASIA !!! (main continent and West Asia included)
We should stop calling this country “Tanah Melayu” instead call it, “Tanah Truly Asia”
For once the Tourism Ministry got it right….
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