The problem with Perikatan Nasional is Malays are petty

You can drag the Malays screaming and kicking out of the kampung and give them a modern education. But you will never be able to drag the kampung out of the Malays. The Malay mindset will always remain feudal and stuck in the 1500s. There is no such thing as a forward-thinking Malay. Malays by nature will remain backward-thinking. And that is why Perikatan Nasional has failed.

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Raja Petra Kamarudin

I have lived in the UK, Kuala Lumpur, Kelang, Petaling Jaya, Kuala Terengganu, Subang Jaya, Sungai Buloh, and now, back in the UK again. In my 71 years, I have had the advantage of living in various communities, both Malay as well as mixed. Even here in the UK I live in a mixed community that has quite a large non-white population.

Living in a Malay community has taught me that Malays are very petty and sensitive, even if they are educated and have had experience living overseas or in a western society.

Take one example — when you give a speech or deliver an address. When you address an audience, you need to mention each and every guest by his or her proper title and full name. Your opening address alone may take five minutes or longer if there are many VIPs in the audience. If you accidently miss one person, that person would be very offended and would take it as an insult.

One IGP once joked (this was some time ago) that even in prison there is a new protocol when making an announcement to prisoners because so many ‘big shots’ are now being sent to prison. “Tun-Tun, Tan Sri-Tan Sri, Datuk Seri-Datuk Seri, Datuk-Datuk, Yang Mulia-Yang Mulia, Yang Berbahagia-Yang Berbahagia, Yang Berhormat-Yang Berhormat, Tuan Haji-Tuan Haji, dan banduan-banduan sekelian.”

Malays by nature are very feudal, traditional, class-conscious, and very sensitive to rank, seniority and position. You need to sit or stand in your proper or rightful place and not cross the line or jump the queue. Any breach of protocol or violation of tradition and customs would be interpreted as you are biadap and are not showing respect.

And any demonstration of biadap or of not showing respect would be considered a declaration of war.

Take Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s current trip to Saudi Arabia as an example. The non-Malays are not even taking that as ‘news’, but the Malays on both sides of the political divide are making a big issue out of the fact that the PM did not drag PAS President Tok Guru Abdul Hadi Awang along with him as part of his entourage.

So, Muhyiddin did not include Hadi in his entourage, so what?

“So what?” So Muhyiddin has just slapped Hadi in his face. Muhyiddin is saying Hadi is not important. Muhyiddin is saying Hadi is not good enough to be in his entourage. Muhyiddin membelakangkan Hadi. Muhyiddin menghina Hadi. Muhyiddin is telling PAS to go to hell.

Yes, leave it to the Malays to come out with their own negative interpretation of why Hadi is not also in Saudi Arabia together with the PM. And now they are using this as ‘satu lagi dalil sebab apa PAS tak boleh kerjasama dengan Bersatu di dalam PRU15’. And trust me, they will be able to extend that justification list to ’50 dalil’ if they want to.

As what PM5 Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, Malaysia is a country with first-world infrastructure but third-world mentality. And this is very true, particularly amongst the Malays. The Malays are still stuck in the era of Queen Elizabeth the First and find it very difficult to accept the fact that, today, Queen Elizabeth the Second is sitting on the British throne. The Malays are still living in the past, 500 years in the past to be exact.

And this is why Perikatan Nasional is in such a mess. Umno is very feudal and old-fashioned Malay. Umno was formed in 1946. Umno gained Merdeka for Malaysia. Umno has ruled Malaysia for 63 years from 1955 to 2018. PPBM or Bersatu is the new kid on the block, not even five years old and less than three years in office.

In short, because of ‘seniority’, Umno has to sit in the front row while Bersatu must sit in the back row. But now it is the other way around. And this is very un-Malay. It breaches protocol, tradition and customs. It is not what feudalism is all about. It is biadap. It is just like not including Hadi in Muhyiddin’s trip to Saudi Arabia.

Yes, the Malays will tell you, biar mati anak, jangan mati adat. That also means, biar mati Melayu, jangan mati adat. Biar mati Malaysia, jangan mati adat. Biar mati ugama, jangan mati adat. Biar mati Perikatan Nasional, jangan mati adat.

You can drag the Malays screaming and kicking out of the kampung and give them a modern education. But you will never be able to drag the kampung out of the Malays. The Malay mindset will always remain feudal and stuck in the 1500s. There is no such thing as a forward-thinking Malay. Malays by nature will remain backward-thinking. And that is why Perikatan Nasional has failed.