Malaysiakini (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Malays are their own worst enemies , 18 February 2010
by Mariam Mokhtar
A new year, a new beginning. Or so it should be, except many Malays prefer to cling on to their old world, where nothing changes and where they are the only victors.
They are duped into the government's “social engineering” drive which gives preference to only one race. Like it or not, the ordinary Malay is the most oppressed in the country.
The Malays who claim supremacy call the shots. The ordinary Malay hopes one day to call the shots too, but the reality is that most of them never will. Malays suffer from crab mentality.
Why, and for how long, should we continue with these exclusive 'Malay rights'? God gave us natural talents and ability, coupled with a brain with which to shape our own destiny.
Instead, we conjured ways to avoid making full use of available opportunities. A muscle that lacks exercise becomes weak.
Rising to the challenge
In a similar fashion, we'll waste away because we lack motivation and aspiration. We are spoon-fed and breed generations of Malays blaming other races for our under-achievements.
We repeatedly gravitate to the stereotypical image of 'laid-back civil servant Malays corrupted by hard-working, business driven, money worshipping Chinese'. How about rising to the challenge?
The pioneering spirit of our forefathers which took them to northern Australia, the Cocos Islands, and South Africa to establish colonies is lost.
Being 'bumiputras' is like scoring an own-goal. It transformed us into close-minded people.
Instead of the world being our oyster, we seek refuge under the tempurung (coconut shell). We adopt the parochial, rather than a global outlook.
We are junkies, addicted to the ganja of NEPs and the like. We become violent when we are denied our fix.
The government acts as a dealer and uses it to control or subjugate the masses.
We are 'conditioned' to depend on government hand-outs, accept government inspired platitudes, and told 'to stop other races gaining the upper hand lest they overpower us and sell our country to the foreigners'.
Ironically, little bits of Malaysia have literally been sold to Singapore to increase the island-state's lucrative land reclamation and development projects.
Who were the perpetrators of this illegal sale and smuggling of sand? Low-level Malay officials.
Persecution complex
Sadly, we swopped an enquiring mind for a persecution complex. We remain in denial, and exude self-pity. Being cocooned in our self-importance limits progress.
Moreover, our extreme sensitivity to criticism restricts growth. Adopting discriminatory Malay/bumi rights is like a community that practices in-breeding; defects are pronounced.
Malays wonder why they should work; they want riches obtainable with little effort. Rather than being productive, they get lazy.
It is similar reasoning that drives millions in Britain to depend on welfare aid, rather than work; where girls deliberately get pregnant because as a single mother, they are first in the queue for a free council house. Privileged bumi rights eroded our self-respect.
We must dispense with preferential treatment in education, jobs, banking, housing, etcetera.
Would your child learn to tidy his room if the maid cleans it for him? If you complete his schoolwork, he gets top marks but is eventually 'exposed' when he fails his examinations.
This dependence is wrong. It is like undergoing a nose job. The reflection may be good, but it is not the 'real' you.
You may be proud of your cute retrousse nose, but the truth will be revealed when you give birth to a child with an enormous conk – if the genetic trait of bulbous noses runs in your family.
The NEP and other perks, is like the surgeon with the knife. He shapes you into what you desire, but he can't alter what you really are. Isn't it better to capitalise on what you have? It's all a question of attitude.
Misplaced pride
Modern Malays have misplaced pride. Their arrogance with Ketuanan Melayu and brandishing the keris look infantile and repulsive.
They show contempt of others by fire-bombing non-Muslim places of worship, and desecrating the cow's head.
Will the Malays be able to shake-off their complacency? The political elite will not relinquish their share of the economic pie.
And as the Malay population increases, the proletariat will each have a smaller share of the pie, thus the poor will become poorer.
That is why we see increasing numbers of dirt-poor Malays.
Many have finally realised that they are a pawn in the political machinations. They are aggrieved that the politicians are destroying their children's future.
Only last week, a friend told me that his son had applied for a job, for which he was well-qualified.
The job went to the son, of another Malay with political clout, who called-in a favour from the boss of the company. He was employed despite being unqualified.
Some Malays refuse to accept a vision of Malaysia for all Malaysians. They also undervalue the concept of earning respect.
The ethnic Malay believes he is a first-class citizen; the Chinese, Indians and other races are immigrants.
So are the few Malays who dare question Malay rights considered persona non-grata, perhaps?
Despite all the claims of supremacy, we fail to acknowledge that Malays constitute the highest percentage of drug addicts, divorce rates, incest, domestic abusers, abandoned babies, HIV/AIDs sufferers. These are nothing to be proud of.
If Malays want a united Malaysia, then they must boost their self-confidence.
You don't need special privileges to succeed. And forget race-based politics – they only serve to divide and conquer.
For decades, we were brainwashed into thinking we were not good enough. Low self-confidence is self-destructive.
It manifests itself as negativity. Self-confident people are more positive and believe in themselves and their abilities.
They are successful and happier. Isn't it time for a change so we can hold our heads up high in public and the wider world?
・MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In 'real–speak', this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.
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