The Muhammad Muhammad type Malay culture
Written by Helen Ang, Centre for Policy Initiatives
In response to Umno Youth mobbing Karpal Singh in Parliament, Umno information head Muhammad Muhammad Taib said the DAP chairman displayed the behaviour of “an old man who refused to understand Malay culture and customs”.
Mat Taib, also a federal minister, claimed the words ‘celaka Pemuda Umno fellow’ uttered by Karpal is a grave insult in Malay culture and provocative. He said: “I want to stress that Selangor Umno is behind Selangor Youth. We will foot the legal fees of Gombak youth chief Megat Zulkarnain Omardin and Serdang youth chief Ungku Mohd Salleh Ungku Abdul Jamal and others who were involved in the scuffle”.
This is not the first time Karpal has been ‘warned’. Last May, a live 9mm bullet was hand-delivered to Karpal’s law firm with the message: “Don’t try to question the special rights of the Malay people. Don’t try to question the Malay rulers’ powers. If you don’t stop, this bullet will be lodged in your forehead. Remember, Bengali, don’t forget. This is your first warning.”
The persons unknown – police were not half as earnest in tracking them as they are investigating Indian detainees – that issued the death threat could not even distinguish between Bengali and Punjabi when they referred to Karpal as the former. Cultural understanding is clearly a one-way street when Malays can’t make a distinction that those with ‘Singh’ in their names are Punjabi.
Adopting the Malay lifestyle
Who best speaks for Malay culture and custom? 
Is it the Malay Dilemma-ed Mahathir who institutionalised greed as a national aspiration with his ‘Malaysia Inc.’ drive? Or perhaps someone from the teeming ranks of Penang Umno, for example that guy who famously tore up ex-Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon’s photo?
Or Zambry Abdul Kadir put up as Umno Menteri Besar in the 28 BN-plus-3 Independents coalition in Perak, which having 27 Umno state assemblymen laments its lack of an ethnic Indian in the line-up.
Like Dr Mahathir famously implied to his interviewer Riz Khan on al-Jazeera, anyone can be constitutionally Malay. The Malays are a warm, welcoming race willing to embrace as one of their own an individual who masuk Melayu or in other words, embraces Islam.
Constitutionally, there are two other markers for Malayness besides the Muslim faith. The first is speaking in Malay and second, practising Malay customs.
