Umno’s ‘Malay Agenda’

Raja Petra Kamarudin

‘Malay Agenda will not be achieved if Kelantan is under PAS, says Khairy’. That was what Bernama, Malaysia’s official news agency, reported on 9 November 2005.

Efforts to dignify the Malay Agenda will not be achieved if Kelantan continues to be ruled by PAS, the Umno Youth vice-head, Khairy Jamaluddin, said.

“If we look at Kelantan, although more than 90 per cent of the population are Malays, they are still left out in many aspects. PAS has ruled Kelantan for more than 15 years, we know PAS has a very poor record in developing Kelantan,” said Khairy.

Khairy added that the Pengkalan Pasir by-election set for December 6 would provide the best opportunity for the people of Kelantan to give Barisan Nasional a chance to prove what the party could do.

“The Pengkalan Pasir by-election is important because if BN is able to capture the seat, PAS will not be able to sustain with only a majority of one. Perhaps, they (the voters) forget what BN can do, so this is the time for them to bring a change,” argued Khairy.

I am sure by now all Malaysians, not only Kelantanese, know what the BN government can do. Surely they don’t need to give that one state seat to the ruling coalition to find out. After all, even if they did give that seat to BN, PAS would still be ruling the state, though with a single seat majority. And in what way then would BN have control of the state? Would they buy over one or two PAS State Assemblymen to reduce PAS to a minority? Is this why Khairy said ‘PAS will not be able to sustain with only a majority of one’?

A one seat majority is still a majority any way you look at it. Even if BN wins Pengkalan Pasir and reduces PAS to a one seat majority, it and not BN would form the state government. Giving BN that one seat is not going to enable the ruling coalition to rule Kelantan. Therefore, Khairy’s argument does not hold water. The loss of Pengkalan Pasir to BN is not going to mean the loss of the whole state. PAS will still be in power.

Probably, if Khairy was to look at it from the point of view that reducing PAS to a one seat majority makes it easier to buy over one or two PAS State Assemblymen, then this would certainly make sense. Thus his comment, ‘PAS will not be able to sustain with only a majority of one’. PAS would still be able to sustain even if they have only a one seat majority. But if later they lose this one seat majority to Umno, then Khairy would be correct.

Does this mean there is a PAS State Assemblyman or two for sale? If so, who are they? I hope it is not Husam Musa, a man known to have a close and intimate relationship with Khairy.

Anyway, that is another topic altogether. What we want to note is Khairy’s comment about upholding the Malay Agenda. Can Khairy please explain what he means by ‘Malay Agenda’? Such a statement coming from someone who has been schooled overseas almost all his life is certainly perplexing.

One would have thought that for one with a western upbringing and education, racism would be totally alien to him. But apparently not! Khairy is as much a Malay racist as if he had been schooled in the kampong (village) and brought up rearing chickens and bathing in the river.

I suppose, as they say, you can remove the boy from the kampong, but you can never remove the kampong from the boy. A Malay racist would still be a Malay racist whether he was schooled in Oxford or Sekolah Kebangsaan Ulu Telemong.

Malay racists are fond of screaming and shouting that their perjuangan (struggle) is for Bangsa, Agama and Negara (race, religion and country). Notice how race comes first, followed by religion, and last of all the country. And these Malays call themselves loyal Malaysians. They declare that Chin Peng is a traitor though he fought against the British Colonialists and demanded Merdeka (independence) for Malaya. At least Chin Peng put country before race and religion. The Malays put race first and country last, with religion sandwiched in between.

Malays also declare that their version of Islam is the purest and the most accurate of all. Even the Arabs are deviants, claim the Malays. You will never find any better and purer Muslim than a Malay Muslim.

Is this so? Bullshit! Malays, in particular Umno Malays, are probably the most deviant of all Muslims. Since Ayah Pin is to be arrested for his deviant teachings, then the Umno Malays too should suffer that same fate.

The Malays say that their Holy Book is the Qur’an. They say they put the Qur’an above everything else. If you insult and defile the Qur’an, the Malays will rise up in anger and probably put you to death. No one had better defile the Qur’an if they would like to go on living.

Again, bullshit! This is but mere lip service. The Malays do not follow the Qur’an’s teachings. They in fact go against the Qur’an’s teachings. And let me explain how.

The Qur’an says that one must not propagate racism. Racism, such as that expounded in the Ketuanan Melayu concept, is forbidden. But the Ketuanan Melayu is exactly what the Umno Malay-Muslims uphold. So the Umno Malay-Muslims are violating the Qur’an’s teachings.

And that is why Khairy has asked the Kelantanese to vote for the ruling party. So that they can uphold the Malay Agenda, says Khairy; the Ketuanan Melayu. And they claim to be good and pure Muslims, even better than the Arabs it seems.

The Qur’an tells us about the first racist, Iblis, and how he thought he was superior to man. The Qur’an explains that Iblis’ racist attitude resulted in him being evicted from Heaven and would have been sent immediately to Hell had it not been for a ‘stay of sentencing’ that Iblis requested and which God agreed to give. This is related in chapter 15 (Al Hijr), verses 26 to 44 of the Qur’an, as follows:

We created man from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape; And the Jinn race, We had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind. Behold! thy Lord said to the angels: “I am about to create man, from sounding clay from mud moulded into shape; “When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him.” So the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together: Not so Iblis: he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves. (God) said: “O Iblis! what is your reason for not being among those who prostrated themselves?” (Iblis) said: “I am not one to prostrate myself to man, whom Thou didst create from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape.” (God) said: “Then get thee out from here; for thou art rejected, accursed. “And the curse shall be on thee till the day of Judgment.” (Iblis) said: “O my Lord! give me then respite till the Day the (dead) are raised.” (God) said: “Respite is granted thee “Till the Day of the Time appointed.” (Iblis) said: “O my Lord! because Thou hast put me in the wrong, I will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them on the earth, and I will put them all in the wrong,- “Except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by Thy Grace).” (God) said: “This (way of My sincere servants) is indeed a way that leads straight to Me. “For over My servants no authority shalt thou have, except such as put themselves in the wrong and follow thee.” And verily, Hell is the promised abode for them all! To it are seven gates: for each of those gates is a (special) class (of sinners) assigned.

Dr Tarek Al-Swidan, a renowned Middle Eastern scholar, explains the meaning of the above verses of the Qur’an as follows:

In short, if one disobeys Allah’s command, he is regarded as rejecting Allah and falls within the category of those who reject Allah’s religion, a most serious crime in Islam.

The first disobedience is arrogance. Every form of disobedience starts from arrogance, while arrogance originates from vanity — the very crime Iblis is guilty of. According to Prophet Muhammad, anyone, even with the slightest streak of arrogance, will not enter Paradise.

Arrogance can be present in our dressing, in the homes we build, or even in pride of our heritage or lineage. Pride also brings about disobedience.

Prophet Muhammad was against any form of pride about which race one came from or one’s status in life. It did not matter whether one was born from a noble family or if one is of high position. Iblis, the first creature to disobey Allah, fell from grace because of pride.

As Dr Tarek Al-Swidan said, pride in our heritage or lineage is forbidden. Ketuanan Melayu is exactly that, which means it is forbidden in Islam. And that is the ‘Malay Agenda’ Khairy and Umno are talking about, something absolutely forbidden in Islam.

And the Umno Malay-Muslims say they are better and purer Muslims, better even than the Arabs. Sure, Iblis thought so as well. And see what happened to him.

Hey, I am not saying this. The Qur’an is. And the Qur’an is supposed to be the most revered Holy Book of the Muslims, Umno Malay-Muslims included.

Should the Kelantanese therefore vote for Umno so that they can uphold the Malay Agenda, the Ketuanan Melayu, a concept propagated by Iblis? Maybe Khairy should go read the Qur’an again before opening his mouth; that is if he has ever read it before.