Mahathir says Chinese resist racial integration

It is time Malaysians accept this fact, just as the Prime Minister has, and not live under the fallacy that we are all Malaysians. We are NOT all Malaysians. We are Malays, Chinese, Indians or whatever. And if we want to maintain peace and racial harmony, then we need to stay out of each other’s way and not try to tell the other race what he or she should do or believe in (such as Chinese telling Malays that Islam is outdated and silly).

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Speaking at a monthly staff gathering in the Prime Minister’s Department today, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, “We inherited a situation where our nation is multi-racial. We found that today, these races have not united as we hoped for.”

He said when Malaysia became independent, it was hoped that the country would be a single people speaking a single language, practising a single culture and living in harmony. “But because some races wanted to maintain ties with their motherland, we accepted the fact that our country would not become a nation where everyone comes from a single race.”

Mahathir says Malaysians have not united into a nation where everyone comes from a single race

Now, it is very interesting that Mahathir said this…for many reasons.

First of all, when Malaysia (or Malaya then) was granted Merdeka by the British, the newly-independent country was given a written constitution. (Britain itself does not have any written constitution but just laws based on precedence over 1,000 years since the Normans took over in 1066, the Magna Carta being one example).

The Federal Constitution, however, had to be read alongside the 11 State Constitutions, now 13. And in some cases, the State Constitutions differ in spirit to the Federal Constitution (such as matters involving Islam).

Most Malays want to be Muslims and not Malaysians

To make matters worse, there are many contradictions or ambiguity in the Federal Constitution. For example, you have freedom of religion, but…You have freedom of assembly, but…You have freedom of association, but…

There are so many ‘buts’ in the Federal Constitution that in the end all your freedoms are cancelled out by the ‘buts’. I sum it all up as you have freedom of speech but no freedom AFTER speech.

To make matters worse, the Federal Constitution is designed to give the Malays ownership of the land (which is actually what Ketuanan Melayu means, and not ‘Malay Supremacy’ as the DAP people mischievously say) while the non-Malays are guaranteed a place under the sun.

The Chinese also want to be Chinese and not Malaysians, as Mahathir pointed out

If you were to read and understand the Federal Constitution, in essence the British created a one-country-two-peoples (or one-country-many-peoples) situation. There is no integration. There is only tolerate-one-another and live-and-let-live.

In short, Malays will continue to be Malays, Chinese continue to be Chinese, Indians continue to be Indians, etc., and each will live within their own communities, and every one stays out of each other’s way.

This worked in the beginning when Malays lived in kampungs, Chinese in new villages, and Indians in estates. But after a while when boundaries began to expand and overlap, there would be interaction between all the races but no integration.

The Indians are more interested in their temples than on developing their community

That is when problems start.

Mahathir summed it up well in this sentence: “But because some races wanted to maintain ties with their motherland, we accepted the fact that our country would not become a nation where everyone comes from a single race.”

Yes, in short, Malays will continue to be Malays, Chinese will continue to be Chinese, Indians will continue to be Indians, and so on, and no one is going to be Malaysian in the real sense of the word.

It is time Malaysians accept this fact, just as the Prime Minister has, and not live under the fallacy that we are all Malaysians. We are NOT all Malaysians. We are Malays, Chinese, Indians or whatever. And if we want to maintain peace and racial harmony, then we need to stay out of each other’s way and not try to tell the other race what he or she should do or believe in (such as Chinese telling Malays that Islam is outdated and silly).