with premission from Dr Bakri Musa
www.bakrimusa.com

The “Ugly Malay” Becoming the Norm

In summoning Klang Municipal Councilor Zakaria Mat Deros to the palace over the issue of the illegal building of his private mansion, the Sultan of Selangor did the right thing but to the wrong person. The Sultan should have summoned the state’s chief executive, Chief Minister Khir Toyo, instead.

The sultan should demand from Toyo what and when he knew of the affair, whether he believed it was an aberrant incident or part of a more extensive pattern, and what he intended to do about it.

Rest assured that such flagrant flaunting of the law reflects long established behaviors that has been tolerated if not encouraged by the authorities. It also mirrors the Third World mentality of being above the law that is so prevalent among our leaders.

Being only the symbolic head of state, there is not much more that the sultan can do except merely express his displeasure. Were he to go beyond that, he would risk setting a dangerous precedent and raising significant constitutional issues, quite part from sidetracking the matter.

There is one act that is well within and sole prerogative of the sultan. He could strip Zakaria of his datukship, assuming of course that the sultan awarded the honor in the first place. As Malays are still very much a feudal bunch, that would carry significant shame. That such a slimy character was so honored to begin with says much about the current state of Malaysian, in particular Malay, society. That however merits a separate discussion!

Curiously “Uncurious” Khir Toyo

That such a huge mansion could have been built to near completion right in the center of a highly visible part of town is indicative of the sorry state of Malaysian institutions, in this particular case, the Klang Town Council.

There are hosts of other associated questions. That he managed to secure a prime real estate from the council for way below market price should interest the chief minister and the Anti Corruption Agency. It would also be very revealing to trace who authorized the non-competitive sale of that valuable public property.

Of even greater interest is how this previously poor, ill-educated villager could acquire so much wealth so quickly so as to be able to afford the mansion. I am certain that if some enterprising journalists were to demand to see the cancelled checks from Zakaria or copies of the bills from the contractors and vendors for the work done, there would be none. This again reflects the pervasive corruption.

The remarkable aspect to the whole shenanigan is the curiously “uncurious” Khir Toyo. As the state’s chief executive, I would have expected him to be demanding answers from the Council officials. Alas we now have the sultan having to take that highly unusual initiative.

This dentist-turned politician of humble beginnings has absorbed only too well the Sultan Syndrome, enjoying the trappings of his office but is otherwise clueless about being an effective executive.

The sultan should strip Khir Toyo of his datukship for his incompetence. That would be a powerful symbolic gesture. The sultan would effectively be challenging the prime minister to get rid of this joker. Khir Toyo is obviously fit only to fill in dental cavities, not the chief executive suite.

Lack of Outrage

Equally shocking is the lack of public outrage, especially in the Malay community, in particular, its establishment. Malay commentators and intellectuals showed no interest, much less expressed their abhorrence. This Zakaria mess (and many more yet to be revealed) is far more destructive and corrosive to the fabric of our society than the current wildly publicized tiff between Abdullah and Mahathir.

I can appreciate the reticence of non-Malays to this Zakaria scandal. For one, there is always the fear of being branded as anti-Malay, a particularly damaging accusation. For another, they could be just as guilty in tolerating as well as participating and thus encouraging such corrupt practices. One wonders how many of the contractors working on that mansion also have simultaneous government contracts and at what inflated prices.

For Malays however, the damage is considerable. We are sending precisely the wrong message to our people. That is, in order to succeed or afford a mansion and other trappings of the “good life,” we do not have to study diligently or work hard but merely ingratiate ourselves to the powerful in order to hog our own little spot at the public trough.

The message we send to non-Malays is equally destructive. That is, we Malays are a race of rogues. We tolerate such nonsense because we harbor our own secret ambition to be like them. This more than anything is what makes me mad and angry with these scoundrels.

By Aristotle’s Nichomechean ethics, it is not enough to be angry. That is the easy part. We have to be angry at the right people, at the right time, for the right purpose, and express that anger in the right way. Slimy characters like Zakaria and his superior Khir Toyo make it easy. We cannot be angry enough at their types. We must totally abhor them. They bring dishonor to our race and nation.

Let me assure non-Malays that the Zakaria Mat Deroses and Khir Toyos are not representative of my race, at least not yet. These “ugly Malays,” to borrow Syed Hussein’s phrase, are fast becoming and will be the norm if we do nothing, by in effect tolerating them. We do have our share of the hard working, the honest, and the frugal. Yes, we are fast shrinking, that we sadly agree.

It is in the interest of all, Malays and non-Malays alike, not to tolerate such sinister and shady characters. Unchecked, they would soon spread to all Malaysians.

The Sultan of Selangor has conveyed his displeasure. He has no wish to be the Sultan of the “Ugly Malays.” It is up to us to pick up on that signal, amplify and transmit it widely. Such slimes are a blemish on and have no place in our society. They are not to be tolerated. We do not have to wait till the elections to demonstrate our collective repugnance.

*This article I wrote are some personal feedback after I read the cover story of Aliran Monthly 2006 Vol:26 No. 6. The article was written entitled The Slide in Ethnic Relations: Are we on a New Threshold? written by Johan Saravanamuthu.

The ‘threshold’ term that he used I believe refers to the religion. If for the last 20 years, Malaysians are battling for their right accodring to their races, and now the new battle for rights in religion has just begun. This is what the writer would refer as ethnic relations. Many of the past events that they sparks this issue to surface.

1)The Shamala case
Syariah Court law states that in May 2003 Shamala’s husband was able to take custody of thier two children whom he converted to Islam. Shamala’s appeal to nullify the conversion from the Court of Appeal in the present status. Both of the parent are applying for sole custody.

2)The Moorthy case
He was once hailed as the hero of the country once he manage to put the Jalur gemilang at the highest peak in the world. After his death, he was buried according to Hindu burial rites. But once Islamic authorities mentioned he converted into Muslim before his death. The widow, Kaliammal Sinnasamy had sought the right in civil courts to bury her husband according to Hindu rites. She added despite her husband had converted into muslim, he still practising Hindu. On 28 December, the Appellate and Special Powers division of the high Court ruled that it has no jurisdiction over the Syariah court decision. On the same day, Moorthy was buried according to Islamic rites.

3)The Kamariah Ali case
The 51 year old Kamariah Ali publicly renounced Islam after being continually prosecuted and jailed by religious authorites in Kelantan who accused her of deviating from the faith. Her case is currently with the Terengganu Syariah Court after a Federal Court ruling that it had no jurisdiction over her case.

4)The Nyonya Tahir case
Nyonya Tahir was born in 1918. She was raised by her Malay grandmother and her Chinese grandfather who had converted to Islam. She married a Chinese man when she was 18 and practised Buddhism most of her life. The Syariah court declared her a non-muslim and she was buried according the Buddhist rites.

5) The Lina Joy case
This case is a current event. She a Muslim who embraced Christianity in 1988. Sha appealed to change her religion is her IC but disallowed by the National Registration Dep(NRD). When she made an appeal to High Court, the High Court ruled against the change of religion matters only lies solely in the hands of Syariah Court. Her case now is with the Federal Court pending a ruling.

Article 11
When all of the above cases happen, one united organisation form by the Hindus, Sikh and Buddism get together to demand the goverment to form the Inter-faith Comission or simply IFC. They strongly demand that the article 11 which stated ‘kebebasan beragama’ to be amended. Forums on article 11 has been held to discuss about the current demand. Almost 10 000 of Muslims gathered at the Masjid Wilayah on 24th to oppose such amendment. Among the personalities who spoke at the forum entitled ‘The Syariah and Current Issues’ were former Bar Council president Sulaiman Abdullah and Zainur Zakaria, Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria, constitutional expert Abdul Aziz Bari and Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia(ABIM) president Yusri Mohamad. Other speakers were Syariah lawyer Kamar Ainiah Kamarulzaman, former Penang mufti Sheikh Azmi Ahmad, and former chairperson of Malay Advocacy Group teras, Azmi Abdul Hamid.

‘Ketuanan Melayu’ or ‘Ketuanan Islam’?
The writer before he end his article simply write “In the old days, is was ‘ketuanan Melayu’. is it now ketuanan ‘Islam’?”. He also wrote that the matter produce a spark but there’s no fire at all.

The Lamps are different, but the Light is always the same.
If u watched Gubra, the movie who many says should have lost to the real-best-movie Puteri Gunung Ledang in Anugerah Festival Filem Malaysia 2005, the last quote above were mentioned in the end of the story. I can’t remember who quote it. But it seems the movie itself are more to race collision rather than religion. My point is, no matter what religion or race u are, let us together keep peace among us. All we need is a bit of tolerance and space so that everybody could have a very wonderful life during they lifetime while they are live in this world created by God.

Then what about Justice? When the Justice gonna prevail?!
Be advised. Always remind ourselves that this is Malaysia, a multi racial, cultural, and religion country. You want full practise of Justice, The United States of America always welcomes u.

no more issues that can threaten our peace
Our beloved PM has already advised the Malaysians not to talk about any sensitive issues esspecially when it involving race and religion. Why? Some people expect solution from the goverment. But they didn’t know that this matter will the solve until the judgement day. But some still don’t understand. These group of people even consider themselves not fully ‘merdeka’ yet. How dumb they were that the didn’t realized the land they step on is Malaysia (which belongs to the Malay Archipelago, i repeat Malay Archipelago). These people whereever they go will never satisfied to what they have. To obtain peace nowsdays aren’t the same as our fore fathers achived if for us 49 years ago. In other words, please listen to our beloved PM.

Even if we look to the Western develop countries until today faces the same problem which concerns human rights. What matters the most is to keep peace and please understand if this matters didn’t surfaced, we still go to work and can feed our family just the way it is. It’s just some people who are very selfish who only think about their own rights, not Malaysians rights.