Beggars, Prostitutes, Secret Societies, Capitalists, Colonialists and Ali Babas (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Now a new controversy has erupted. And it’s about the statement that the Indians came here as beggars and the Chinese as prostitutes. Actually, if you were to really study Malayan and Malaysian history over the last 500 years or so, you will find that this country’s history is not just about beggars and prostitutes. It is about much more than that.

Malayan history has to be dissected into many periods. And each of these periods saw immigration involving almost all the races in Malaysia, save the Orang Asli (the Original People). In New Zealand, these Orang Asli would be the Maoris and in Australia the Aborigines. Therefore, anyone who is neither a Maori nor an Aborigine is a ‘pendatang’ or immigrant.

The Arabs and the Indians (Muslims from Gujarat) came to Malaya more than 500 years ago as traders and merchants. These were the people who brought Islam to this country. At that time, the locals were mostly Hindus while those from Negeri Sembilan were Buddhists, plus many who worshipped trees, the sea, rivers, mountains and whatnot. The coming of the Arab and Indian merchants exposed the locals to Islam.

In those days, the people followed their Rulers. Therefore, when the Rulers converted to Islam the people followed -- although they may not have believed in Islam or understood the religion. In fact, many till today still do not understand Islam after more than 500 years.

Then along came the Chinese and many were actually Muslims as well. Islam first reached China around 100 years after Prophet Muhammad. This means Islam had ‘migrated’ to China about 1,300 to 1,400 years ago, 800 to 900 years earlier than Islam in Malaysia. Of course, in the northern states bordering Thailand it was earlier than that. (Refer to the Batu Bersurat discovered in Kuala Berang in Terengganu).

Is it not ironical that Malays call Chinese Muslims ‘mualaf’ when the Chinese were Muslims almost 1,000 years before the Malays even heard of Islam?

Okay, now take my family as an example. The Selangor Sultanate was founded in 1745. The first Sultan, Raja Lumu, migrated here from the Riau islands in Indonesia. By then, of course, the Arabs, Indians and Chinese had already been here 200 to 300 years, some even longer.

But these Arabs, Indians and Chinese were traders and merchants, not warriors or fighters, whereas the Bugis from Riau only knew one occupation - fighting and plundering. In short, they were pirates, which was a noble profession back in those days where even Queen Elizabeth the First knighted those English pirates who plundered Spanish ships.

In fact, the Bugis came here because of a sort of civil war in their home country. There was a fight over a girl and the son of the local Ruler was killed in that fight. So the offending party was exiled and had to leave Riau. And that was when they came here in the 1700s and founded the Selangor Sultanate.

Do not members of the Selangor Royal Family fighting with their Ruler and going into exile sound very familiar to you? Yes, 300 years ago this was the ‘tradition’ and still is in my case.

Invariably, the Bugis, being fighters, took Selangor as their territory by the sheer force of its ‘army’. None of the traders, who although were here earlier, would dare resist the Bugis who enjoyed killing (some Bugis still do today, as you may well be aware). But Selangor was under Perak patronage. So Raja Lumu had to make a trip to Lumut in Perak to get crowned as the First Sultan by the then 17th or so Sultan of Perak. (Can’t remember if it was the 15th or 17th but it was around that). And he took the name of Sultan Salehuddin Shah.

Selangor eventually grew in prosperity. Actually, tin had already been discovered even before Raja Lumu became Sultan in 1745. And it was the Chinese who were working the tin mines. But now, since Selangor had a ‘government’, all the land in Selangor became ‘state property’. And therefore the Chinese had to get permission from the Sultan before they could mine for tin.

Around 100 years later, only when Sultan Abdul Samad took over as the Fourth Sultan of Selangor in 1859 (he was born in 1804) did they properly organise the tin industry. New areas were opened up in Ampang, Rawang, Kajang, and whatnot. And of course, all these tin mines were owned by the Sultan and members of his family -- brothers, sons, nephews, etc.

The Malays, however, did not want to work those mines. Conditions were hard and diseases wiped out entire communities. Those who survived these brutal conditions were the exception rather than the rule. So they needed people who were desperate enough to work those tin mines and were prepared to take the risk and probably lose the ‘gamble’.

And who else to talk to if not the Chinese who had already been working those mines for hundreds of years?

So members of the Selangor Royal Family went into ‘joint venture’ with the Chinese, just like they did in Perak, another rich tin state. The Malay Royals would 'arrange' for the tin concessions and the Chinese would provide the labour force to work those concessions. In a way, you could say that the Selangor Royal Family were the first to ‘invent’ the Ali Baba system back in the 1800s, long before the New Economic Policy in 1970.

Anyway, to reach Ampang and those other surrounding rich tin areas, they had to travel up the Klang River. Raja Abdullah and Yap Ah Loy led the first expedition and they landed on the site where the Gombak River and Kelang River meet. The place where they landed is the site of the famous Masjid Jamek in Kuala Lumpur.

From there they marched overland through the jungle into Ampang. And thereafter Kuala Lumpur was never the same again. It prospered and continued to prosper over more than 200 years from the 1800s.

Yap Ah Loy bought up a lot of land in Kuala Lumpur and built his business empire. He opened bars, brothels and all sorts of businesses, legal as well as illegal (illegal by today’s standards though). Even the British Colonial ‘masters’ would patronise Yap Ah Loy’s brothels to sample the latest ‘China Dolls’ brought in from the mainland.

Of course, the normal customers would have to pay for these vices. The British masters, however, could enjoy all these services for free. Yes, even back in the 1800s the Chinese businessmen were already bribing the government officials.

Now, while Yap Ah Loy has been entered into the history books as the ‘Founder of Kuala Lumpur’, Raja Abdullah is never mentioned. The only thing associated with Raja Abdullah is that road in Kampong Baru that carries his name. Yap Ah Loy may have been the capitalist who opened up Kuala Lumpur. But he was only able to do so because he had a ‘sleeping’ partner, Raja Abdullah, who gave him all this land to develop.

Okay, that is the Chinese story. So, yes, some did come here as prostitutes working for Yap Ah Loy. But that was incidental. Whenever frontier land is opened up the girls servicing these frontier-men follow -- like in the Wild West of America. Would you say that the White immigrants to America were all prostitutes?

Now, over to the Indians. As I said, the Indian (and Arab) traders and merchants first came here more than 500 years ago and even brought Islam to this country. But the ‘other’ Indians, the workers, came at about the time that Yap Ah Loy and Raja Abdullah were turning Kuala Lumpur into a thriving metropolis.

At that time, the British planters were in Ceylon (Sri Lanka today) growing cocoa. Then a plant disease spread throughout the island and all the trees died. But this disease not only killed all the trees but contaminated the land as well. This means the land was now useless and it was not a matter of just replanting.

Then the British looked at Malaya and decided that the conditions (land, climate, etc.) in Malaya were the same as in Ceylon. So they relocated their cocoa estates to Malaya. But there was no way they could get the Malays to work these cocoa estates. Furthermore, the Ceylonese workers were well trained and had been doing this work for years.

So, in the mid-1800s, the British brought the now unemployed Ceylonese cocoa workers to this country to work the Malayan cocoa plantations.

Then disaster struck. Brazil over-planted cocoa and this triggered a worldwide glut. It was no longer economical to plant cocoa. The price you would fetch for your cocoa was lower than your production cost. The British had no choice but to close down the cocoa plantations.

Around that time, the British, who had mischievously smuggled rubber seeds out of Brazil (which was a crime then), successfully grew rubber trees in the Kew Gardens in London. They also did some research and discovered a better way of planting rubber trees where the trees would give a better yield compared to the trees in Brazil. Rubber planting in Brazil was haphazard and not properly organised.

Since Malaya had to close down all its cocoa plantations and it now had idle plantation land and surplus Ceylonese workers, the British planters decided to switch over to rubber. And because the British took advantage of research and technology, the Malayan rubber trees were more productive and profitable. Eventually, Malaya dislodged Brazil as the top rubber producer in the world.

So, from the mid-1800s to around 1920, Indians and Chinese came to Malaya in great numbers. This was more or less the second wave of mass migration. And it was for economic reasons and to provide the labour for jobs that the Malays would never do. But there were earlier and other migrations as well.

For example, around the late 1800s and early 1900s, the British set up English medium schools for Malays. One such school, the Malay College Kuala Kangsar, was a school exclusive for sons of Royalty and the Malay elite. Invariably, they needed schoolteachers who were proficient in the English language. And India offered a good source of English medium schoolteachers (Malays could not speak English yet at that time).

On the commercial side, there were many Indian businesses, workers and whatnot. But there was no way they could qualify for loans from British owned banks. So the Indians from the Chettiar community came here to set up money-lending businesses to service their community.

When the Malayan rail network was being developed, where else to get the workers if not from the country with the largest railway in the world, India?

And so on and so forth.

That is the history of Malaya’s immigration. As I said in an earlier article last month, those who seek public office must first be made to sit for a history test. Only when they pass the test should they be allowed to become ministers, political secretaries, press secretaries, etc. This will avoid them making stupid statements like what many of the Umno people are now doing.

I can go on and on. But let me stop here, as this article is already getting very lengthy as it is. I trust, however, that this brief history of Malaya can enlighten you on the truth. Never accept what Umno says without first checking with me.

ADDENDUM

Rubber in Malaya began with Hugh Low

RUBBER is one of the most important commodities in Southeast Asia and is an important natural resource for export. Rubber has been in the area for more than 150 years, however the rubber tree is not indigenous as it originates from the South American continent.

If you ask people about how the rubber industry arrived in Southeast Asia, they will probably mention the name Ridley. Henry Nicholas Ridley (1855-1956) is often called the "father of Malaysian rubber industry". Although Ridley well deserves the credit for promoting the cultivation of rubber as a commodity, it was actually Sir Hugh Low Jnr (1824-1905) who introduced South American rubber to Malaya some ten years before the arrival of Ridley.

Low had a distinguished career in government service, but is also remembered for many botanical achievements. His father, Hugh Low Sr, ran a nursery near London and in 1844 sent his 19-year-old son to Malaya and Borneo to collect plant seeds. This was the start of extensive botanical studies, beginning with orchid collections from Johore.

Low Jr then went to the Riau Islands where he collected Pitcher plants (Nepenthes) as well as nutmeg, mangosteens, butterflies and animal skins. From Riau, he moved on to Borneo where he discovered many new species of Nepenthes, orchids and rhododendrons. Because of Low's efforts, orchids became a specialty in his father's nursery.

In 1847 Low was made Governor of Labuan and became Consul-General for Borneo. He stayed in Labuan for 27 years. Then, following James Birch's assassination in November 1875, he became British Resident in Perak in 1876. He remained in Perak until 1889 when he retired and returned to England.

During his years in Malaya, Low maintained a keen interest in economic horticulture, conducting experiments with coffee, cinchona, pepper, tea, sugar, rice and rubber. He is remembered for the introduction of the Balinese pomelo, and Jersey and Alderney cattle into Malaya. And of course rubber.

There are differing stories about how rubber left Brazil. One says that in June 1876, 70,000 seeds left South America — about 1,900 of those plants went to Ceylon, others went to Singapore but were dead on arrival and the rest went to Low's nursery. The following year more went to Singapore, where they did well.

Another report says that in 1876 the first seeds of this tree were smuggled out of Brazil by Henry Wickham and brought to Kew Gardens in London, where they were planted. About 22 seedlings were sent from Kew to Singapore. It was probably Low himself who took the 1877 batch to Singapore. He had gone to England in 1876, soon after the seeds arrived there and began to germinate.

In October 1877 Henry Murton of the Singapore Botanic Gardens took 10 Hevea brasiliensis plants which had been obtained from Ceylon to Kuala Kangsar in Malaya, and 9 of these were successfully planted in the Residency garden. Low probably accompanied Murton, as it is Low who is accredited with introducing and planting the first rubber in Malaya.

The seedling flourished, grew into healthy trees and in their turn produced seed. In February 1879 Low reported his trees to be 12 to 14 feet tall. In 1880 a tree flowered, aged two years. From then on, Low continued to collect and propagate the seedlings, and make test plantings in different parts of the state.

He obviously saw the economic importance of the new crop. The vulcanisation of rubber had already been discovered, in Brazil in 1839.

Whilst in Perak, and even before that in Labuan and Borneo, Low had been looking into indigenous Asian rubbers, but the South American type turned out to be much better. Low visited England in 1884-1885 and left his stand-in, Swettenham, with 400 seeds to plant out. It was these seeds which ultimately produced the trees for the rubber plantations of Malaya.

Ridley meanwhile had arrived in Singapore in 1888, where he took up the post of Director of the Botanic Gardens, from 1888-1912.

He was proud of the small collection of rubber trees and continued the planting of rubber and initiated the first really successful tapping in 1889.

Ridley was the first man to conceive the possibilities of plantation rubber as a prosperous industry, and he used to visit the coffee-planters and urge them to plant his seeds. One of his first recorded visits to Malaya was in 1889 when he went to Batu Caves and the nearby coffee plantations.

Some planters took them as curiosities. Few planters however took Ridley seriously, and among the planting community, he was generally referred to as "Mad Ridley".

Ridley acknowledged Low's work in horticulture when he wrote in 1911, "Sir Hugh Low was indeed a great agriculturalist and must rank next to Raffles as the greatest man we have had there".

So in fact both Low and Ridley contributed hugely to setting up the rubber industry in Malaya, and both should be remembered for their respective roles in making this natural resource such an important part of the area's economy.

The Brunei Times

Translated into Chinese at: http://ccliew.blogspot.com/2010/02/blog-post_04.html

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Comments (46) Add Comment

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written by hitam had, February 06, 2010 09:32:40

YM RPK,

It was in the year 628 AD that a party of Arabs, who came by sea to Canton to bring a message from the "Prophet of God" , a message similar to the one sent to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius and to Kavadh in Ctesiphon.

The Chinese Emperor assisted them, it is said, to build a mosque for the Arab traders in Canton. (ie. during the Prophet's lifetime) It is to be noted that Arab traders had been in China possibly before coming of Islam.

Pax.

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written by harimau, February 05, 2010 15:12:55

RPK must write The Idiots Guide of Malaysian History. I learn some new stuff even from this simple article.

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written by Equal, February 05, 2010 14:30:55

To all MT readers, please print out the article and send to as many people as you can.
A big THANK YOU to RPK for the history lesson. I am very sure the younger generations never even heard something like that. It can not be found in our history books !
Save it in your thumb drive, cd or what ever. Better still print it out and give it to your siblings, your relatives, your colleagues and friends who are eligible to vote. Thank you RPK. Take care

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written by Statesman, February 05, 2010 13:52:23

Dear Raja Petra,

You are a natural for the Pulitzer prize.

You have indeed rescued Malaysians from the diseased ruling Government by enlightening them with your news articles and reports. It is indeed a pleasure reading your articles and believe me, it hasn't gone un-noticed by the International Community.

A once wonderful country, Malaysia is now a haven for the corrupt and vices alike. It perhaps escalated from the time Dr.Mahathir became Prime Minister and now it's a full blown disease and the only cure could come from a new Government from the Opposition parties coalition.

The ruling Government is already orchestrating the demise of the Opposition Front as it's now in the midst of sealing Mr.Anwar Ibrahim's fate. Only time will tell but for now Malaysia is on her knees.

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written by Buayanegara, February 05, 2010 11:26:38

RPK,
the history of MALAYA / MALAYSIA is written in many ways !!!
the factual one, the BTN and unmo one and lastly the balls carrier one !!!
Well, lets say what Nasir Safar said is correct and IT MUST BE SO because the mad hater said
" it is not correct for Nasir Safar to say such hurtful things even if it is true "
By this statement the mad hater therefore agrees and endorses the comment of this Racist.
Now , is the mad hater agreeing that his father is a BEGGAR ? his father is also PENDATANG !!!
By the same yard stick is the mad hater inferring that the ancestors of AHMAD BADAWI r PROSTITUTE ?
as Ahmad Badawi is of Hailam (Chinese) descent .

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written by justice seeker, February 05, 2010 09:25:03

Those who seek public office must first be made to sit for a history test. Only when they pass the test should they be allowed to become ministers, political secretaries, press secretaries, etc. This will avoid them making stupid statements like what many of the Umno people are now doing.

ALL I CAN SAY IS "WOW". WONDER IF DEWAN BAHASA DAN PUSTAKA WILL EVER DARE TO
CORRECT THEIR "VERSIONS". WILL BTN INCORPORATE THIS BIT INTO THEIR CURRICULUM?

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written by casper, February 05, 2010 07:53:00

Top of the morning cheekhiaw

"..... So Hang Tuah was probably Han Tua or Big Han" - your clarification to Awang Hitam certainly has 'legs' but one that can easily be confirm through a search in either the archives where Imperial records are kept (meticulously) in Beijing or even similar research done at Museum of *Antiquities in Taiwan

(Chang Kai-Shek and Co. managed to squirrel away vast hoards of imperial records, scrolls, jade, porcelain etc during the civil war - besides the tons of gold Finance Minister Henry Hung carted away from Mainland reserves across the Straits).

The Star has a high profile 'stringer' based in Shanghai, so perhaps the task of sifting through records from the archives should be undertaken by the 'sor hai' and just once in his life time, bloody earn his keeps.

I afford the 'sor-hai' a tad of courtesy by not mentioning his name but I was told he was on the receiving end of a shake up in management, eventually paving the way for high profile cunt Linda Ngiam to step up as Executive Director and COO together with other strategic appointments like that whothef*ck is Clement Hee ????

It was believed the cunt made a better UMNO bitch than those wearing pants directing editorial content - by all counts makes sense doesn't it.

So, my plea(which I'm sure meets your approval cheekhiaw) to the 'sor hai' manning the China desk, make your way to Beijing for this little assignment that in many ways provides you the opportunity to spite your secondary masters in UMNO and current bosses as well.

A personal note has me thinking the many bones to pick with the few distinguish names above and in fact, the entire board of directors currently in Star Publication - all bloody UMNO dogs who continue to prop up an evil UMNO on a daily basis.

I catch myself thinking, the day UMNO sinks, I'll have no problems beating a path to their respective office to give them a piece of my mind as shareholder(didn't buy but inherited a few lots). Same goes for that royal piece of shit Prof Koo Kay eff Him, freaking disgrace to God, King and country, this quintessential 'Cina UMNO'.

Think of it, of all the asses to kiss, all these able body individuals choose to kiss UMNO's arse and help them rewrite contemporary history that our forefather's fought for. Bloody disgrace the lot of you effing UMNO mongrels, you wait - you just wait for me to show up to shame each and every one of you, royally.

Regards cheekhiaw and all.

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written by cheekhiaw, February 04, 2010 22:50:06

RPM, yes Admiral Cheng Ho was a Muslim and a very great Chinese Muslim voyager who provided trade and protection to the malacca sultanate. Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat were Chinese warriors from the Hang clan to protec Hang Lipo,

----

Awang Hitam,

As some people observed, Hang Lipo was probably an trasliteration for Han Lipo (or the Han by the name of Lipo). The 'Han' here being the 'Han' that most Chinese Chinese call themselves til today.

So Hang Tuah was probably Han Tua or Big Han.

xxx

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written by cheekhiaw, February 04, 2010 22:37:45

RPK,

Tha Tang dynasty built the mosque in Kwangtung upon establishment of relations with the caliphate (it took the caliphate amost 100 years to reach Xinjiang where they meet the Tang power), and the mosque was meant for muslim traders (plying the Silk Route) from that empire and not for the Chinese.

As you said, the Chinese then would 'rather' follow their ruler to avoid the fury of his sword - just like the Christian and Muslim world of the dark ages (and to almost the same extent by some country even till today).

So that structure was more akin to a trade rep office of a foreign power (we all know that religion and politics are the same thing in the muslim world till today).

It is very different from what you were impying which is Islam as a religion has taken root amongst the Chinese in China.

Another way of looking at this is this : finding that there is a Malaysian trade rep office in Shanghai in 2010 does not mean that Ketuanan Melayu had 'migrated' to China and accepted by the Chinese.

Zheng He was a Muslim and a Hui Chinese. And he appeared 1,000 years after Muhammad - by then, the Hui people of Xinjiang and surrounding areas had been under Chinese rule for more than 1,000 years and had been accepted as part of China and thus spread throughout China.

Zheng He is an example of how meritocracy regardless of race & religion was practiced in China. History will not deny both their contributions.

xxx

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written by AtanSian, February 04, 2010 19:51:21

And may I add.....
With the exception of Malacca, Selangor, Johore definitely, and perhaps Pahang, all the other Sultans/States were invented by the British. They were nothing more than impoverished little Kampong Ketuas at river mouths. It suited the British to create the fiction of theses Sultanates with whom they could, for a few thousand pounds gift plus a few crates of scotch, make a "treaty" and steal huge swaths of land from the then weakened Siamese empire. Trengganu, Kelantan Kedah, Perlis for sure, were all inventions of convenience by the Briitish so that they could consolidate a discrete amount of territory. The fiction of a federation of independent sultanates, is the fig leaf they use to avoid accusations of outright theft of terrritory from Siam. Of course the exploitative East India Company's employees can, in the mean time be Lords and Masters here (in the model of the Brookes in North Borneo) and as hinterland for exploitation of natural resources and export back to England via the 2 ports, Penang and Singapore. All these is recent history, 120-180 years back, max.

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written by capricorn, February 04, 2010 16:42:41

So the scumbag Nasir has resigned. Well and good. Next he should go and join the frog at PERKASA. So at least we know where all the racists and bigots are holed up in.

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written by Nixcloud, February 04, 2010 15:42:45

if the chinese comes here as prostitutes (as per pasir safer's comment), so does this mean that all the malays then patronised the brothels? so, sodomy already exist in malaysia at least 500 years ago (the first chinese immigrants were afterall, men).

why were the men that committed sodomy then allowed to roam freely on the street whilst Anwar has to be locked up? and how many rotan is that for visiting a brothel?

pasir safar to pass history test - look at his face - it has "I AM STUPID" written all over it....no wonder Jibby's got no hope, look at his top aide

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written by imanj, February 04, 2010 15:22:02

First I would like to state to the Ministry who have over time intimidated the bloggers for various blogs that is thiought to promote racial incitings,that I am taking offence to the branding of Indians as beggars and Chinese as prostitutes in their journey to this country in History...!!

As my child is an offspring of both races,it would mean her generations before her has a tainted mark in History.It is surely insulting and uncalled for and the Prime Minister should be held responsible for the remarks made by his subordinates,in this case a personal aide..!

As for Raja Petra's article,this and many more aritcles,should appear in tabloids all over the country and the world. It would help many the old and new generations to read and judge the truth..As most of us already know the true history that maketh the formation of this country,there are many details that one has no knowledge off and this aritcle by RPK and I would like to see more of the kind by him,would make many Malaysians find a sense of belonging to the many contributions of the Arabs,Indians and Chinese that have been here hundreds of years ago..As much as we the non-Malays are considered immigrants,so are the Malays who are also a production of different races... The point to consider is amid all the negative input immgrants and the occupation/invasion of the whites and japanese would have had,it was the very immigrants and whites together with the japanese lords that brought an upgraded civiliasation to Malaya and hence Malaysia..The Malays have in good light to acknowledge History and not in anyway shun the positive progression that was achieved from the contributions of many non-Malays of the past..History all over the world was never about a live that was easy..It involved the very hardships of many people and without the kind of modern technology or behaviour of today's world.So who are we now to suggest that an Indian or a Chinese was such a thing,just coause we think we can?!...

To all Malaysians,if you still live a life to insult and forgo the very past that makes your present and hence to go forth into the future that would be the result of your 'negative formula ' of ignoring the past,you have no one to blame for current and eventual situations....

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written by popuri, February 04, 2010 13:52:26

If those in public office right now, are asked to sit for history test. They will all fail miserably. I don't think most of them can even pass the English test.

It was a great article, by the way. I hope people who read it will be enlightened by it as it does for me.

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written by lynn, February 04, 2010 13:42:14

Talking abt history - I often wondered, did the late Sultan of Selangor family lineage had chinese blood?
I saw HM at a party a long time ago, thought he was a distinguished well-to-do chinese businessman.
As it turned out, he was the Sultan of Selangor. Alamak, HM was so putih! Like you, RPK.

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written by lynn, February 04, 2010 13:37:36

Talking abt political prostitutes, chinese, hah, nasir is at least accurate in this aspect where hee yit foong is concerned. Dat woman is worse than a pross; her smelly vagina is sitting on her ugly face! bitch!

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written by avancc, February 04, 2010 13:11:34

A great History lesson, YM RPK, However, it makes me sad knowing that the so called "royals" once robbed and took over properties of locals, then claiming soveirgnity over it. How the mines and lands were taken etc... Also how Yap Ah Loy used to set up brothels, how "sleeping partner" existed way back then, etc etc.

However that was history, and that was the true account. I trully respect you for writing it in its true-complete sense without beautifying it like what the BTN and Tun M does.

People had their ways to build something... And that was history, It was how we get to what we have today. I learnt a great historical lesson today, where we will never learn in Malaysian school. Thanks again.

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written by capricorn, February 04, 2010 12:36:51

Well done Pete. I like your statement "Never accept what UMNO says without first checking with me"...hahahah. On a serious note though, how many of our leaders in the current govt. are really smart and have vision to lead the country???? Heck I can't even name one. And when the PM has such scumbags like Nasir around him as advisors, God help us. No amount of history teaching can help.

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written by IbnAbdHalim, February 04, 2010 12:35:33

Salam Pete,

Perhaps you're right. They have to sit and pass the history paper first but it seems that those from UMNO who had PhD are worst than morons. They talk crap and bullshits. You know exactly who they are and what crap they uttered. One such person is Puad.

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written by Lyon, February 04, 2010 12:23:32

Dear Rpk,

Well written and worth the read. Yes public officials should know the country's history before assuming positions in the govt and it should also be the same for politicians.
I liked this statement,. "None of the traders, who although were here earlier, would dare resist the Bugis who enjoyed killing (some Bugis still do today, as you may well be aware). It made me chuckle when I read it hehehehehe.

Cheers & Shalom

Lyon

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written by Awang Hitam, February 04, 2010 12:19:52

Sorry Pete. Typo error it should be RPK and not RPM. !!! Maaf. Hamba mohon Raja maaf.

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written by Awang Hitam, February 04, 2010 12:16:26

RPM, yes Admiral Cheng Ho was a Muslim and a very great Chinese Muslim voyager who provided trade and protection to the malacca sultanate. Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat were Chinese warriors from the Hang clan to protec Hang Lipo, the Chinese princess married to parameswara's son (I maybe wrong here) as a gesture of peace and support by then Chinese emperor.
Do we know our history book have Hang Tuah removed from the syllabus by racist umno run education ministry?
Now, history to umno is just crap and they'll change anything to suit their evil ways.

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written by bambooman, February 04, 2010 12:04:32

uncle pete ah,

your history lesson is good.....but mahathir has erased them and replaced with BTN!!!!.......and that is more than 20 years ago!!!!......so you see......they have forgotten them already!!!!!......therefore now umno is writing their own history......like Allah is special to only umno!!!!........umno will burn churches and the rakyat pay for it......umno only can stage protest and they are the victims of circumstances......umno members only can take younger looking wife like our bung mokhtar...when his wife is bocor!!!!.....english is weird to umno for business dealings!!!!.....and they can easily change mode!!!!

tiew niamah umno!!!!

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written by magickriver, February 04, 2010 11:39:32

Pete, I salute you for being not only the ultimate weapon against the arrogance of Umno's ignorance and stupidity - but also for being a rich source of true history (as opposed to the BTN version)! Thank you, sir! smilies/grin.gif

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written by batsman, February 04, 2010 11:15:44

Not surprised if Hang Tuah's ancestors had a small part to play in converting Parameswara to Islam.

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written by SoundMan, February 04, 2010 10:19:14

The Malay - read Umno - mind is overwhelm by thoughts of women,their vaginas and the limited joys of unbridled sex. The insane desire to let loose their raw passion, uncontrolled without a care of consequences is one of their 'must do'.

The exploits of their leadership in this arena proves this, conclusively. Their women lie back and allow the men to flout their 'power' - in parliament laws passed giving Muslim men mastery over their women. And what did these umno women parliamentarians do? They allowed louts like Bung Moktar and his irk in various shades of infamy, to debase them and womankind in general, by writing into law, Muslim men right to polygamy, forgiveness when they fail to pick up the family household tabs, and most importantly take control over the woman's independent finances.

......loose their raw passion? Umno's history is replete with the sexual peccadilloes from first PM Abdul Rahman to our PM Abdul Razak. Some of these 'peccadilloes' turned explosive (pardon the pun).

What has this to do with rubber trees? Well, umno is taking the nation on a journey from wise and careful decision making for social economic growth for the good of all, to that narrow field where lust of the flesh reigns.

So you do not mistake 'lust of the flesh' to just sex...it also embraces the foolishness of one-upmanship. Tallest building, crooked bridges, space tourists, Datuks' title given to all and sundry and many such...with no flaming economic nor social value whatsoever. Include in this my pet peeve: the outlandish expenditures from the public coffers for ministerial and government servants 'kenduris' and public feasting !

Story of the last days of many a great kingdom and even empires... smilies/cry.gif

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written by malsia1206, February 04, 2010 09:03:37

And one prominent blogger in his blogsite remarked Nasir Safar's resignation was 'honourable'. Figure it out. Was that resignation 'honourable' in the circumsatances? Making him somewhat a local hero of a racist villian right under the purview of the PM with his trumpeted 1Malaysia? That blogger must have enjoyed it when someone else grandma could have possibly sold her body maybe some 100 years back when she came to Malaysia.

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written by educationist, February 04, 2010 06:53:15

Dear RPK,
I choose to differ on your assertation a history test for those who seek public office will make a diiference !!
These UMNOputras who made stupid statements do so, for their own political gain, mileage in the ketuanan Melayu agenda and because they think they can get away with it!!
TQ for the history lesson.

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written by Better My, February 04, 2010 05:16:25

Thank You for refreshing our real Malaysian history, not written for any divisive political party or royalty.
We are poorer for it by ignoring our true history.

We could have celebrated truly with all the rakyat and Malaysia would have been built on a much stronger foundation than it is. All the rakyat would be proud of their heritage and contributon.
We will have much less of the problems than we have today.
We could have been a developed country by now.
Instead, we keep sliding away.

I thank you for saying the way it was, as a few educated writers have done today, including A Rahman, on the uncelebrated unsung heroes of the past.

For Malaysia.

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written by Motherchell, February 04, 2010 04:20:00

Pete, this is a gem of a piece of History lesson. Truth and facts are more important than UMNO's shying away to suit their agenda. No wonder Malaysia never holds any positions in UNESCO and other world bodies.
We have to many Phd's to suit UMNO's propaganda and get connected for commercial purposes. BTN lectures need to take a pinch of cyanide to accept the truth. Now we know why they cleansed all the street names in the 70's to local names . Example:The main commercial street in IPOH was HUGH Low Street , now it carries a name connected to ALTANTUYA.---Jalan Tun Abdul Razak!!--------too many to be refered all over the country!!
UMNO truly massacred history. I feel at a loss for the new generations. It looks like Najib paper chased his Degree.

CAN MALAYSIA EVER HAVE A KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY???

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written by Super Admin, February 04, 2010 00:52:50

Dear cheekhiaw, the oldest mosque in China is in Canton (Kwangchow) and was built around 100 years after Prophet Muhammad. I have been there and prayed in it. By the way Admiral Cheng Ho is said to be a Muslim.

RPK

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written by Fart Fart Wah, February 04, 2010 00:48:12

rpk..YOU WRITE the true history. ..but when it comes to our UITM profesor Muddy Yah..they make things muddy and change it to UMOONO keristory. Our profesor very good one..they can even plagiarise ..western writers and come off as full fledged profesor Mud..dy yah....
In the final analysis...I would like to say to that A*****e aide of Najib that if chinese women were brought in as prostitutes ...malay women were working as prostitutes for the orang puteh too...quietly..and even today you can still can find many malay women prostitutes...especially in UMOONO...and to crown it all we have also boy prostitutes who shout LIWAT !!..saya kena liwat!!!!! Gee I am sick of these UMOONO dogs who keep putting their fingers into their A*****es and then shout Liwat saya kena liwat...and then drag Anwar into it...bloody Mahathir must have found it finger licking good....to pass it on to these Umoono goons.

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written by Wudang, February 04, 2010 00:36:07

Any fool can make history but it takes a genius to write it – Oscar Wilde

First there was the great Malay Buddhist Empire of Srivijaya in Sumatra, followed in the 14th century AD by its conquerors and successor, the Hindu Empire of Majapahit in Java. The military and political expansion of these two Empires meant also the theological expansion of Buddhism and Hinduism in the peninsula. These early states left a living legacy, traces of which can still be found in the political ideas, social structures, rituals, languages, arts and cultural practices of the Malays.

Source : http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/early.htm

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written by archie, February 04, 2010 00:34:12

This article is about the real history of the country.

But UMNO people only know about the "1Malaysia" history they learned from BTN.

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written by storm62, February 04, 2010 00:24:45

past - Founder of Kuala Lumpur, Yap Ah Loy
today - Founder of Sodomy, Mamak kerala.

past - They plant cocoa and rubber.
today - They plant C4 and semen.

did i past my history?

+148

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written by Rockstar2000, February 03, 2010 23:52:45

If Malaysia wasn't built by all those pendatangs and traders over time and history as you so clearly put it RPK, I wonder what our UMNO brothers and sisters would have inherited today? Probably a waste land similar to Somalia or Afghanistan?
The Malay people forget that it was the hard work of many of our fore fathers that turned this land into the land of Honey & Milk which they are enjoying right now.
All these are being called to question now because UMNO has putar belit the history of this country to suit their evil agenda to stay in power.
Only way to solve this problem is to vote them out in the next GE.

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written by ak_malaysia, February 03, 2010 23:42:57

Excellent piece!

Now all my knowledge of Malayan History comes back with all those great names that you wrote about. I totally agree: "Never accept what Umno says without first checking with me." and all politicians, political secretaries and what not should pass a history test lest they talk rubbish!!

Trouble is, these bn/umno clowns don't know that they are stupid and churn out rubbish. Either that or they think the Malaysian public is stupid. Also, it is possible that they re-write history or learnt their history erroneously or have been indoctrinated or brainwashed at the BTN courses into thinking that Indians are beggars whilst Chinese women are prostitutes! Such generalisation underscores their naivety, lack of proper knowledge and narrow-mindedness! It just goes to show the poor quality of our educational system in which rote learning is the norm, questioning and creative thinking is not encouraged. Our students have been dehumanised and reduced to robots and non-thinking animals, just blurting out trash and not even feeling ashamed of it cos they still think they are right "because the teacher says so!

Good work! Thank you for enlightening us. And take good care. God bless and protect you and your family!

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written by cheekhiaw, February 03, 2010 23:36:48

Not all Chinese but the Han Chinese which is the majority of Chinese in China and Malaysia.

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written by Divine, February 03, 2010 23:36:24

just wondering...is there documented proof that Indians from Gujerat brought Islam to Malaysia?

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written by by2020, February 03, 2010 23:29:05

Dear RPK,

A good history lesson, thank you! Your history lesson will make Professor Khoo Khay Kim look like "COPY CAT"!

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written by cheekhiaw, February 03, 2010 23:28:04

RPK,

Islam never made it to China proper at those stated times. Islam was stopped by the Tang dynasty at the place today known as Xinjiang. Xinjiang's native people are Turkic like those in Afghanistan.

Instead the Chinese today call themselves 'Tang Ren' - people of Tang. Good grief!

As to Malays, some historians' view is that they were from areas that today is known as Cambodia, Laos etc. but where forced to flee south from those areas because of 'pressure' from the north (you guess who). They in turn occupied lands further away from the 'big boss' like Malaysia etc. from, like you said, the Negritos etc.

Today, those losers are trying to be 'boss'.

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written by earthman, February 03, 2010 23:18:12

Never accept what Umno says without first checking with me. - Raja Petra Kamarudin.

Did you all Umnoputras read that? Be humble and learn from a humble man full of wisdom and knowledge . Dont give excuses when you choose to be ignorant and follows blindly the Umno kings and elders.
But then Petra, for you have mentioned a few times that the Malays do not want to work here or there, what would make them come and ask you? All they want is to be Ali Babas and enjoyed the easy hands out.

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written by rocky, February 03, 2010 23:09:37

the problem is some of these guys in govt and UMNO are truly dumb(Disneyman) and some who are smart have become dumb due to thirst for money and power that they forget what was taught to them even in good schools like St.John's eg KerisMoodin. to top up it, they think the people are even more stupider than them thus that makes them smart...what idiots

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written by Aming, February 03, 2010 22:43:08

No doubt that they did attend history classes, but unfortunately these lessons were conducted by BTN. Hence stories of beggars and prostitutes abound.

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written by davidquellsgoliath, February 03, 2010 22:42:46

Dear RPK
Your History lessons are based on historical facts & evidence including "........Yap Ah Loy has been entered into history books as the 'Founder of Kuala Lumpur'".
These were already written in history books before they were re-written & altered by the AMENO Gomen.
You are a wise man & a seeker of truth.

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written by singhkris, February 03, 2010 22:42:11

This being the history of Malaya, what makes the pendatangs Mamakthir and Rusdi Mus claim that they are natives of this country? If they are natives I am as much a native as they as are many Malaysians. Good for you RPK. Keep churning these history lectures to educate Malaysians who have been corrupted by 50 years of UMNO tailored history books.