The Trouble With Malaysians
By batsman
Malaysians are not perfect people. They suffer from weaknesses too like the rest of the world. To improve, it is necessary to understand our weaknesses and correct them, otherwise, we will just continue to be 3rd class people exploited by all and sundry and especially by UMNO.
For example, we are a lazy people. We prefer to let others do the fighting for us and then piggy back on any benefits or gains arising there from. Lots of foreign friends have voiced sympathy for our struggle for democratic reforms. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for Malaysians to let them do the fighting for us.
This phenomenon can be seen in daily Malaysian life. Foreigners are given much more respect than locals. In fact if you think Malays get all the privileges, you are sorely mistaken. It is the foreigners who comes first. Hotel staff especially kow-tow to them very submissively.
If UMNOputras are the Tuans, with their fierce bodyguards pushing ordinary people out of the way and their police escorts stopping traffic to let their convoys pass through smoothly, then foreigners are by default, are honorary Tuans, even more respected than UMNO because most of them try to be friendly all the time. More importantly, they are in control of funds not controlled by UMNO, whereas UMNOputras only become friendly during electioneering and distribute goodies to their preferred supporters and cronies and prejudice against all others.
The help of foreign friends are sorely needed, but they cannot take the fight on their own shoulders and lobby their governments to do something. This would have the effect of Malaysians giving up the fight and allowing foreigners to do all the work. When governments become involved, things tend to be taken out of the hands of ordinary people. Not only will Malaysians be bullied by their own government, they have to surrender the initiative to foreign governments. I fear this will prove too much.
As indicated by RPK’s latest blog (Najib has a point here), Malaysians tend to give up too easily and surrender the initiative to higher ups. For example, Ahmad Sarbani’s family has asked for a RCI to investigate his death, but at the same time, RPK has questioned why is it necessary to do this if Malaysians have already decided what caused Sarbani’s death? What will happen next is that Malaysians will only quarrel over the findings of the RCI because RCIs no longer have the trust of the people.
This is the state of justice in Malaysia. This is the unfortunate situation facing people who seek justice. Justice is not only blindfolded like the Statue of Liberty, but bound and tied hand and foot with the ISA/EO shoved down its throat. At least the Statue of Liberty has a sword in her hands giving the message that justice is blind to wealth, status and contacts. Our justice is blindfolded like the way Bosnians are blindfolded by Serb executioners.
For Malaysians to do their own fighting they have to develop new institutions and organizations of justice. Those that are able to keep the fight going even when all seems lost. If such organizations and institutions are stillborn when the fight is surrendered to foreigners to do the fighting for us, then Malaysians will never grow up and take their place among the proud and free of the world, in spite of all the advertising campaigns pushing Malaysia Boleh, 1Malaysia, Bapa Transformasi and the rest of that junk.
