When Malays adopt Chinese values
What happened along the way was that the Malays were told they must become wealthy to be successful. They were told they must copy the Chinese and become rich like the Chinese. So the Malays looked at the Chinese and copied the Chinese and now only talk about money, money, money. And the Chinese no longer like these new Malays that are so different from the Malays of 60 or 70 years ago.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
When we read the comments in the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, the Blogs, etc., we wonder what type of person these people are. They are so rude and bigoted it boggles the mind that such people even exist. And this sickness is not confined to just one race. Stupidity is colour-blind.
Are they like that because they are Muslim? Or is it because they are Chinese, maybe? Race and religion play no part in why people behave the way they do. It is upbringing that shapes the mind of these people. And these people are what they are because of a very poor upbringing. In other words, their parents and society made them into the type of person they are today.
And that was one of the reasons the British colonial masters decided to set up schools like the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) slightly over 100 years ago. The British realised that the Malays are a very feudal-minded community (I would rather use ‘community’ than ‘race’). Hence it would be very difficult to change the Malay mindset (to make them get rid of their feudalistic attitude). Instead, you try to turn them into ‘modern feudalists’ (if such a thing even exists since feudalism is an ancient concept).
The British did not want to eradicate Malay values, customs and traditions, or make the Malays less Islamic. They wanted the Malays to maintain these old values but also adopt modern values in the British tradition. Hence what you would get in the end would be ‘brown Englishmen’ — Malays who remained Muslims (prayed five times a day and fasted during the month of Ramadan) but also played cricket and rugby, had tea and crumpets at 4.00pm, and maybe even a glass of brandy after dinner to go with your cigar.
“I say, old chap, care for a glass of sherry?”
“Thank you so much, old bean. I think I will stick with my single malt. It’s so smooth.”
“Yes, I prefer Chivas to Macallan myself. I think Macallan is a bit overrated.”
“Couldn’t agree with you more. By the way, you joining us for poker this weekend?”
“I’m afraid not. I’m driving up to Ipoh this weekend for the races. Got some money on a horse that’s a hot favourite.”
No, that is not a conversation between two ‘white skins’. It is a conversation between two ‘brown Englishmen’. And this would be how they would talk back in the 1930s or 1940s, maybe even still in the 1950s. And those of you in your 70s or 80s would understand what I am talking about because you people of that age still look back on the Malays of that era as being wonderful people and extremely different from the Malays of today, 60 or 70 years on.
So, what changed? Well, society is what changed. Malays became more ‘religious’, or at least they think they are, and also became more materialistic, the result of the indoctrination by Umno that Malays can only be considered successful if they are rich and if they are not then Malays would be considered failures.
Hence success became equated with wealth. The Chinese (meaning Malaysian Chinese) are successful because they are so wealthy and pay 90% of the personal income tax (this is what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said but we are not sure whether this is true). So, to be successful like the Chinese, the Malays, too, must be wealthy.
How many of these ‘successful’ Chinese have written 25 books? How many of these ‘successful’ Chinese have discovered a cure for cancer? How many of these ‘successful’ Chinese have improved agriculture to ensure that the millions who die of malnutrition every year can be saved?
That is not how we measure success. Success is measured by how much money you have in the bank. And this is what the ‘modern’ Malays of the post-Merdeka or post-NEP era have been taught. If you want to be successful like the Chinese then you have to be rich like the Chinese. So we need to pursue wealth by whatever means possible, fair or foul.
“Never mind whether it is a black cat or a white cat as long as the cat catches the mouse.”
“To get rich is glorious.”
That was the battle cry of modern China of the Deng Xiaoping era in the 1980s. And today, 25-30 years on, China has achieved what Deng dreamed about. Chinese students in the UK not even old enough to have sex are spending on luxury goods like there is no tomorrow. Money is flowing like water and one shopping trip totals more than what the Brits make in take-home pay in a month.
That is what is called success. And if the Malays want to be successful like the Chinese then the Malays must also become rich like the Chinese. This is what the Malays have been taught. So the Malays no longer play cricket or rugby, or sip sherry or brandy after dinner. They also no longer play poker or go to the horse races. The Malays of today are good Muslims who pray, fast and go to Mekah every year without fail.
And the Malays of today also aspire to become rich like the Chinese, or richer than the Chinese if possible, because if not the Malays would be seen as failures and inferior to the Chinese.
Many Chinese post comments in Malaysia Today telling me that I am a failure. They insult and vilify me and try to shame me because I am not rich and live the life of a poor man. “How do you survive in the UK? You have no money. So you must be a crook who has sold his soul to the devil because you need money to live and you are too poor and do not have money.”
I know these Chinese think lowly of me. And they do so because I do not have money like them. And they think if I do not have money then the only way I can survive would be to prostitute myself. It is always about money as far as these Chinese are concerned.
And the Malays have also become just like the Chinese where everything is about money. This is what the Malays have been taught since the time of Merdeka. So those of you who are in your 60s, 70s or 80s no longer like the Malays of today. You reminisce about the pre-War or pre-Merdeka Malays and tell us what wonderful people the Malays were back in the old days. And you tell us that the Malays of today are very different from the Malays of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.
The Malays of the old days may have been Muslims but they were a different type of Muslim. Just watch those old P. Ramlee movies to understand what we mean, the old folks tell us. The Malays of those days enjoyed life and lived in harmony with the other races. The Malays of that time were not greedy or corrupted or always thought about wealth. What happened along the way?
What happened along the way was that the Malays were told they must become wealthy to be successful. They were told they must copy the Chinese and become rich like the Chinese. So the Malays looked at the Chinese and copied the Chinese and now only talk about money, money, money. And the Chinese no longer like these new Malays that are so different from the Malays of 60 or 70 years ago.
