The Silat Bullies

ARCHIVES 2011

By admin-s On Jul 25, 2011

For a long-term martial arts practitioner (i.e. a Mahaguru or a Grandmaster) like Omardin Mauju to say what he said- “…cannot guarantee emotions of his people…”, “…taught to act…”; ranks him the stature of a street gangster and not of a Mahaguru. All sifus teach their students to control emotions and not the other way around.

By Resident Wangsa Maju

“Sebagai orang silat, kita akan bangkit menentang pengkhianat. Saya akan tiupkan semangat kepada anak-anak 1Malaysia supaya menentang habis-habisan pengkhianat negara,”
“…adalah menjadi tanggungjawab pengamal seni silat untuk mempertahankan negara sejak zaman pemerintahan kerajaan Melaka lagi…”
– Tan Sri Omardin Mauju, with reference to Bersih 2.0.

Spoken like a true thug, for the reasons below.

I was a martial arts instructor for 4 years, following my ‘retirement’ from competitive martial arts. Having the opportunity to meet martial art practitioners of other types, I found a similarity amongst the oriental martial arts. They all have these virtue in their respective ‘tao’ or tenets- be faithful, exert self-control, attack only when attacked, respect others and so on. The martial arts which I myself practiced had these points in its creed as well, repeatedly drummed into me by my masters as a ‘way of life’. When time came to me, I as a coach too, ensured my students practiced the creed.

On June 29th I spotted a press release on Mahaguru of Pertubuhan Seni Silat Lincah Malaysia Tan Sri Omardin Mauju’s intention to lead a pack of silat lincah practitioners against the Bersih 2.0 activists on July 9th. This group deem themselves as the ‘third line’ of defense, after the police and the military. PM Najib himself endorsed this idea a week later. Quoting from Utusan Malaysia, Omardin Mauju said, “I cannot guarantee I can control the emotions of my members because they have been taught to act when faced with opposition…”

Why a thug?
Firstly, most of the Bersih 2.0 participants are (presumably) not martial arts people. To me, as a martial artist, whacking someone without martial arts not in self-defence is not acceptable. Not when they are standing up for democratic reforms. Secondly, for a long-term martial arts practitioner (i.e. a Mahaguru or a Grandmaster) like Omardin Mauju to say what he said- “…cannot guarantee emotions of his people…”, “…taught to act…”; ranks him the stature of a street gangster and not of a Mahaguru. All sifus teach their students to control emotions and not the other way around.

There is also this reference to “defending Malacca” (circa 1511) by Omardin. Everyone knows the Portuguese captured Malacca by force in 1511. This is not the sort of reference one would want to make- it downgrades silat. Thankfully silat is redeemed by this silat practitioner with the name of Abdul Razak Endut. Abdul Razak is a member of PAS’ Unit Amal volunter corps, deployed to protect the Bersih 2.0 front liners from teargas and FRU assault. A video clip on his speech is below.