Part 1: The beginning of a dynasty
Dynasty: a tale of two premiers
By The Malaysian Chronicler
It was not easy to oust the prime minister who guided the country through independence and led the chants of ‘merdeka!’ on behalf of seven million Malayans. Finally, after 13 years as prime minister and 19 years as the president of Umno, the main partner in the ruling Alliance coalition, the man known as Bapak Merdeka or the Father of Independence has been sent to pasture and now the Young Turks can finally take over and reshape the country. Much blood needed to be spilt and lives lost to achieve it. But then does one not need to break the shell to fry an omelette?
The original Young Turks led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk helped end the 1,300-year-old Islamic caliphate and replaced it with a secular republic. This is the fate that now awaits Malaysia. But first unhappiness against Malaysia’s monarchy must take place. That, however, has to be a matter for later.
Much has been lost over these two decades and the Malays have had to sacrifice everything. Malaysia’s population, that used to be just five million, is now seven million. Two million Chinese and Indian labourers brought in by the British over the last 120 years were given overnight citizenship at the behest of the British. And Umno had agreed without consultation and the agreement of the majority Malays. How can five people decide on behalf of five million?
Umno and Malaysia are still very much feudal. Democracy exists in name only. And it is the Malays who decide what happens. That must change.
He remembers what happened 35 years ago when he grew up in Kedah, an 1,800-year-old Hindu-Buddhist kingdom. The Sultanate of Kedah, however, has existed for just over 800 years when King Phra Ong Mahawangsa converted to Islam and adopted the name Sultan Mudzafar Shah. Kedah is as feudal and as Malay as they come.
Not being either Malay or a member of the ruling elite, growing up in Kedah was not easy. Even with a Malay mother he was regarded as Indian. The Indians, however, would not accept him as one of their kind. A mixed-breed lived in no man’s land and was shunned by both sides of the racial divide.
Only when he totally rejected his Indian roots and assimilated into Malay society did he find his place under the Malaysian sun. He even changed his name to reflect his Malay heritage but even then Bapak Merdeka treated him with suspicion and rejection. For almost 20 years he prayed the day would come when Bapak Merdeka would receive his just deserts. And that day has come and he is never going to look back on the painful road he has had to travel to get to where he is now.
He looked at his children playing, the eldest only 13 years old. He is going to make sure they would never have to go through the pain of rejection. To make it in Malaysian society, you need to be either Malay or Chinese, not Indian. So, they will have to become more Malay than the Malays themselves. Hence Tamil must never be spoken under their roof lest they suffer an identity crisis.
But it is too early for them to make their grand entrance. The key to open the door to political power is economic power. First must come the money, then the position. But just as the road to wealth lies in political power, the road to political power also lies in wealth. It is not about whether it is the chicken or the egg first. It has to be both simultaneously.
Now that the deputy prime minister has taken over, he needs to position himself properly in the line of succession. He will give himself ten years and then he must take over. Only then will his dreams come to fruition. Malaysia will be the epitome of a third-world nation achieving greatness. Monuments will be built to his name. And the country will be shaped in his image.
Most importantly, his dynasty will emerge to continue his legacy for many generations to come. Kedah survived for 1,800 years, 800 years as a Muslim Sultanate. His dynasty must live on through his children. That will come, in due time. But first, the money.
TO BE CONTINUED
