Political fuddle and racial jumble
Will Dr Mahathir’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia continue with the misleading definition of ‘Malay’ as seen in Umno all these years?
Farah Harith, Free Malaysia Today
Perhaps because my mixed ancestry makes me look ambiguous, people often ask me about my racial background. One particular occasion has remained stuck in my memory for several years because of the reaction of the questioner when I told him, “I’m a Malaysian Muslim, mostly Indian, but really rojak.”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “You can become an Umno member.”
I just smiled out of politeness because I didn’t know him too well. What I wanted to say was, “No thank you, I am not confused like you.” He happened to be an Indian Muslim and a proud member of Umno.
The exchange made me realise how Umno, despite all the good it has done for the nation, has committed a grave injustice to the melting pot that is Malaysia. It has propagated racial confusion. If you are a Muslim, you will qualify as a Malay, enabling you to join Umno.
What if I want to join MIC? What if I think of myself more as an Indian than a Malay? Or what about a person whose grandparents came here from China, had a child who then marries a Malay and converts to Islam? Their children would be Muslims, and it won’t matter if they think of themselves as more Chinese than Malay. They can become Umno members.
We have been raised to be confused, and the more confused we are the better it is for Umno. For folks in Peninsular Malaysia, the actual race classification is Umno, MCA and MIC. Malay, Indian, Chinese are actually just politically correct words.
As if all that is not confusing enough, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a person of mixed racial background, who was an Umno member for most of his life, has formed a new party for Bumiputeras, called Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
Is Mahathir’s understanding of the word “pribumi” based on Umno’s distorted interpretation or on the dictionary definition? If we went by the dictionary definition, Mahathir himself would not qualify as a member of the party.
