The Third Force interview with Raja Petra Kamarudin
THE THIRD FORCE
Following is an interview conducted by TTF with Raja Petra Kamarudin:
Q: I am sure you have been asked this question many times before. Your critics call you a traitor and a turncoat. What is your response?
A: Those who supported the British during the American War of Independence (which the British called a rebellion) were also called traitors and turncoats. If the British had won the war these American traitors and turncoats would instead have been called patriots. But the Americans won, so those on the side of the British remain traitors and turncoats. As far as history is concerned the pro-British Americans were on the wrong side of history.
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and his Team B comrades, who later formed and/or joined Semangat 46, were mentioned on the Umno website as traitors who tried to destroy the party and Malay political interest. Later, when Semangat 46 closed down and most of the ex-Semangat 46 people rejoined Umno, that part of Umno’s ‘history’ was deleted from the website.
History is written by the victors and is merely your interpretation of events. Joginder Singh Jessy called the Indian insurrection of 1857 as the Indian Mutiny or the Indian Rebellion. Rebellion and mutiny are negative words. Why did Joginder not call it the Indian War of Independence like what they call the American fight with the British as the American War of Independence?
Well, that is because the British won and the Indians lost so the British decide what to call it. And the Indians who lost were traitors while Gandhi who opposed the British 100 years later is not also called a traitor. Why?
So do not be too concerned about what they call me. After all many Chinese view Chin Peng and his bunch of killers as heroes. So do we really care what these same Chinese think of me? The Chinese love Mat Sabu because he said the Communist Terrorists were freedom fighters. And he even got arrested for saying that. What if Mat Sabu had said he agrees with what Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa says? Will the Chinese still consider him as their hero?
I have long ago stopped worrying about what the Chinese think or say about me. Would you care about what ISIS or the Taliban think or say about you? And if ISIS or the Taliban say you are a great person would you get very excited about that and feel you are the luckiest man alive? These people are so small-minded if they think their opinions mean so much and have great value.
