UTUSAN MALAYSIA SHOULD BE DECLARED A NATIONAL HERITAGE. -- PART I.
…IT’S THE MOST MALAYSIAN AND MOST NATIONALISTIC NEWSPAPER OF THE COUNTRY THAT REFLECTS THE VIEWS, ASPIRATIONS AS WELL AS CONCERNS OF MALAYSIA AND THE VAST MAJORITY WHO ARE MELAYU AND MUSLIMS.
By Mansor Puteh
UTUSAN CAN NEVER BE FAULTED FOR DOING WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN DOING ALL THESE YEARS, WHICH IS TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THE CONSITUTION AND THE SPECIAL RIGHTS OF ISLAM, THE MELAYU AND THE SULTANATES IN THE COUNTRY.
THIS IS NECESSARY SINCE THERE ARE STILL SOME WHO IGNORE THIS AND WANT TO BELITTLE IT TOO.
THEY DO IT LIKE NO OTHER PAPER DOES. AND FOR THAT THEY HAVE BECOME A TARGET OF SCORN FROM THOSE WHO DID NOT WANT TO REALIZE WHERE THEY ARE AND WHO THEY ARE.
In America, because the media is dominated and controlled by the minority, the whole country has been turned upside down, since the views and concerns and the interests of the majority are not being written about or heard.
America therefore exists only to protect this special minority, while the majority and the other minorities who are in larger sizes are neglected.
And in Malaysia, the situation is not much different, since the minorities are also dominating the media so there is topsy-turvy and many unnecessary discourses and controversies.
The situation is made even worse by the bloggers who seem to think they are above the law for to them blogging is everything; they don’t care for general elections, the democratic process and the mandate.
But the buck stops with Utusan. This is why Utusan becomes their convenient punching bag for many including those who claim to be democratic. They are not democratic; they are just confused and who believe in anarchy.
So it is not an irony that the other papers which are controlled by the minority groups seem to have a lot of gripe against Utusan for being entrusted with this special role of educators and especially of the voice of the Melayu, majority race in the country.
And regardless of what these papers and the bloggers of their communities say, their views are those of the minority. In any democracy, the views of the majority reign supreme.
In fact, Utusan was formed for such a purpose and for no other so that the views and concerns of the majority are trusted and made known.
While the other papers were formed mostly to act contrapuntal to it, to contradict what they say most of the time, so that their own agendas are promoted in this way, with their editorial policies mostly acting against those of Utusan and the majority.
What the other papers and their readers should do is to appreciate what Utusan is doing and accept the truth and change accordingly, and not to belittle it since their unnecessary act of defiance and self-denial won’t endear them to the majority.
So when one of its columnists, Zaini Hassan wrote something for which he received some brickbats from, it didn’t mean anything since they came from the unknown writers in blogsphere who are so few in numbers compared to the many Melayu and other non-Melayu who agreed with what he had written.
Worse, when those papers always try to promote un-Malaysian social, cultural as well as political cultures into the thinking of their readers, by over-emphasizing Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, India and American or western cultures.
This is done by also neglecting to publish stories on the Melayu adequately, so much so most of the papers look as though they were funded by foreign agents.
In this aspect, Utusan could also do away with those foreign reports and not compete with the other papers just to attract the attention of their unique readers, who can be served by Utusan carrying more stories from the Melayu World and Islamic World, which are abundant with them.
Utusan knows that their place in the country is special; they represent the majority who are Melayu and Muslims. So they can never be charged for things that the other papers which represent only the views of the minority and the some individuals of those groups had against them.
So it is not easy to be a Melayu newspaper that tries to represent the majority views in the country, as there are loud and shrill minority voices that have their minority report organs to do their bidding for them who only aim to challenge the constitution while Utusan aims to uphold its principles.
This is the main difference between Utusan and the other papers, especially the vernacular mandarin and Tamil ones in that it always reflects the thinking and interests of the majority, while the other papers only reflect the concerns of the minority in the country.
Therefore, this puts Utusan ahead of the other papers and what they say mean a lot more to the country than what the other papers say since they only reflect their personal views and those of the minority groups they represent.
WHAT ARE THE MELAYU AND MALAYSIA TODAY WITHOUT UTUSAN MALAYSIA AND UTUSAN MELAYU?
And many Melayu men and women have been given due recognition for their fight for Independence or Merdeka, with roads also named after them. Some of them were lesser and relatively unknown heroes.
Yet, Utusan has never been given due recognition for its role in fomenting the spirit of Merdeka amongst the Melayu intelligentsia and ordinary ‘rakyat’.
Maybe it is not too late for the government to do this and declare the editorial office of Utusan in Jalan Lima, off Jalan Chan Sow Lin a national heritage building.
Till today, this paper has been playing a pivotal role to ensure that the Constitution and whatever that contains inside of it are given due respect, while the other papers continued to become commercial entities whose only role it seems is to make profit.
Has a documentary on Utusan Melayu and Utusan Malaysia been produced for everybody to see?
And not surprisingly, for doing this, some of the editors and journalists of this paper had been slammed. Yet, not surprisingly, too, Utusan’s staff has not balked and take whatever that comes their way like true heroes who dare to confront those who only wish to belittle their efforts and also the Constitution.
Not many people will want to see it this way though, because they mostly fear the exhortations of Melayu rights and the rights that are enshrined in the Constitution because they feel a tinge of guilt each time when this happens especially when they tend to have their own funny versions of some of the clauses in it.
But the truth is that Utusan is the most Malaysian of all the newspapers in the country, anyway you look at it. Only that they do not seem to realize this yet.
They have been playing an important role in shaping the thinking of the majority of people and country like no other newspaper has ever done before, instead of those that pander to the minorities only. They have kept the Melayu involved in the politics of the country and the non-Melayu their part in it.
The function and role of Utusan will further increase with the increase of the population of the Melayu in the country in the near future so much so that this country can have a more pronounced Melayu and Islamic presence in all areas.
And for doing just this, they often get slammed from some people who could stand how this paper is willing to suffer indignities just for trying to defend the constitution, Islam, Melayu rights and the sultanates.
Utusan writes to reflect the aspirations and needs of the majority – the Melayu. The other papers, especially the English language and vernacular Mandarin and Tamil ones do not have such an aspiration at all.
So their slogan, ‘Penyebar Fikiran Rakyat’ is true, as it reflects the aspirations of the majority, who are Melayu. Whereas the English language and vernacular Mandarin and Tamil newspapers only reflect the aspirations of the minority. So they are the ‘minority report’ which does not reflect the true situation of the country.
They should change their slogan to, ‘Akhbar yang berani mempertahankan Perlembagaan’ or ‘The paper that dares to defend the Constitution.’
There is no county in the world where the views and aspirations of the minority communities are being trusted in such a fashion as in Malaysia. The reason why this came about is that the other media is dominated by the minority, with ‘the other media’ being the English language and vernacular Mandarin and Tamil newspapers.
Worse, when the English language papers concentrate on the demands and needs of the urban, who are at the moment Chinese, but in time it will be Melayu, too, with the change in demography in the country as it is also showing now.
In fact, one of the early Mandarin papers published in the 1960s, whose headquarters then were in Singapura had this slogan, ‘The guardian of the overseas Chinese’.
I’m afraid this is still what the Mandarin papers are doing, even though they do not dare have such a slogan, because almost everything that they publish is on Hong Kong and China.
Unfortunately, the present generation of Chinese does not seem too fascinated with both of the countries, and I have actually met some of them who did not care for Hong Kong and China and refuse to visit them.
On the other hand, I had found myself visiting China together with a group of Chinese-Malaysians who also felt like strangers in this country.
It’s just the Chinese opinion leaders and their community as well as political leaders who are intent on keeping the Chinese in Malaysia not to lose contact with the country of their ancestors.
In fact, of all the early journalists and editors who have become recognized as champions of independence, all of them were from Utusan and Berita such as A Rahim Kajai and A Samad Ismail. Other nationalists include Zainuddin Maidin (Zam), Mazlan Nordin and A Samad Said and the others.
None of them were from the other papers.
By Mansor Puteh
UTUSAN CAN NEVER BE FAULTED FOR DOING WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN DOING ALL THESE YEARS, WHICH IS TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THE CONSITUTION AND THE SPECIAL RIGHTS OF ISLAM, THE MELAYU AND THE SULTANATES IN THE COUNTRY.
THIS IS NECESSARY SINCE THERE ARE STILL SOME WHO IGNORE THIS AND WANT TO BELITTLE IT TOO.
THEY DO IT LIKE NO OTHER PAPER DOES. AND FOR THAT THEY HAVE BECOME A TARGET OF SCORN FROM THOSE WHO DID NOT WANT TO REALIZE WHERE THEY ARE AND WHO THEY ARE.
In America, because the media is dominated and controlled by the minority, the whole country has been turned upside down, since the views and concerns and the interests of the majority are not being written about or heard.
America therefore exists only to protect this special minority, while the majority and the other minorities who are in larger sizes are neglected.
And in Malaysia, the situation is not much different, since the minorities are also dominating the media so there is topsy-turvy and many unnecessary discourses and controversies.
The situation is made even worse by the bloggers who seem to think they are above the law for to them blogging is everything; they don’t care for general elections, the democratic process and the mandate.
But the buck stops with Utusan. This is why Utusan becomes their convenient punching bag for many including those who claim to be democratic. They are not democratic; they are just confused and who believe in anarchy.
So it is not an irony that the other papers which are controlled by the minority groups seem to have a lot of gripe against Utusan for being entrusted with this special role of educators and especially of the voice of the Melayu, majority race in the country.
And regardless of what these papers and the bloggers of their communities say, their views are those of the minority. In any democracy, the views of the majority reign supreme.
In fact, Utusan was formed for such a purpose and for no other so that the views and concerns of the majority are trusted and made known.
While the other papers were formed mostly to act contrapuntal to it, to contradict what they say most of the time, so that their own agendas are promoted in this way, with their editorial policies mostly acting against those of Utusan and the majority.
What the other papers and their readers should do is to appreciate what Utusan is doing and accept the truth and change accordingly, and not to belittle it since their unnecessary act of defiance and self-denial won’t endear them to the majority.
So when one of its columnists, Zaini Hassan wrote something for which he received some brickbats from, it didn’t mean anything since they came from the unknown writers in blogsphere who are so few in numbers compared to the many Melayu and other non-Melayu who agreed with what he had written.
Worse, when those papers always try to promote un-Malaysian social, cultural as well as political cultures into the thinking of their readers, by over-emphasizing Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, India and American or western cultures.
This is done by also neglecting to publish stories on the Melayu adequately, so much so most of the papers look as though they were funded by foreign agents.
In this aspect, Utusan could also do away with those foreign reports and not compete with the other papers just to attract the attention of their unique readers, who can be served by Utusan carrying more stories from the Melayu World and Islamic World, which are abundant with them.
Utusan knows that their place in the country is special; they represent the majority who are Melayu and Muslims. So they can never be charged for things that the other papers which represent only the views of the minority and the some individuals of those groups had against them.
So it is not easy to be a Melayu newspaper that tries to represent the majority views in the country, as there are loud and shrill minority voices that have their minority report organs to do their bidding for them who only aim to challenge the constitution while Utusan aims to uphold its principles.
This is the main difference between Utusan and the other papers, especially the vernacular mandarin and Tamil ones in that it always reflects the thinking and interests of the majority, while the other papers only reflect the concerns of the minority in the country.
Therefore, this puts Utusan ahead of the other papers and what they say mean a lot more to the country than what the other papers say since they only reflect their personal views and those of the minority groups they represent.
WHAT ARE THE MELAYU AND MALAYSIA TODAY WITHOUT UTUSAN MALAYSIA AND UTUSAN MELAYU?
And many Melayu men and women have been given due recognition for their fight for Independence or Merdeka, with roads also named after them. Some of them were lesser and relatively unknown heroes.
Yet, Utusan has never been given due recognition for its role in fomenting the spirit of Merdeka amongst the Melayu intelligentsia and ordinary ‘rakyat’.
Maybe it is not too late for the government to do this and declare the editorial office of Utusan in Jalan Lima, off Jalan Chan Sow Lin a national heritage building.
Till today, this paper has been playing a pivotal role to ensure that the Constitution and whatever that contains inside of it are given due respect, while the other papers continued to become commercial entities whose only role it seems is to make profit.
Has a documentary on Utusan Melayu and Utusan Malaysia been produced for everybody to see?
And not surprisingly, for doing this, some of the editors and journalists of this paper had been slammed. Yet, not surprisingly, too, Utusan’s staff has not balked and take whatever that comes their way like true heroes who dare to confront those who only wish to belittle their efforts and also the Constitution.
Not many people will want to see it this way though, because they mostly fear the exhortations of Melayu rights and the rights that are enshrined in the Constitution because they feel a tinge of guilt each time when this happens especially when they tend to have their own funny versions of some of the clauses in it.
But the truth is that Utusan is the most Malaysian of all the newspapers in the country, anyway you look at it. Only that they do not seem to realize this yet.
They have been playing an important role in shaping the thinking of the majority of people and country like no other newspaper has ever done before, instead of those that pander to the minorities only. They have kept the Melayu involved in the politics of the country and the non-Melayu their part in it.
The function and role of Utusan will further increase with the increase of the population of the Melayu in the country in the near future so much so that this country can have a more pronounced Melayu and Islamic presence in all areas.
And for doing just this, they often get slammed from some people who could stand how this paper is willing to suffer indignities just for trying to defend the constitution, Islam, Melayu rights and the sultanates.
Utusan writes to reflect the aspirations and needs of the majority – the Melayu. The other papers, especially the English language and vernacular Mandarin and Tamil ones do not have such an aspiration at all.
So their slogan, ‘Penyebar Fikiran Rakyat’ is true, as it reflects the aspirations of the majority, who are Melayu. Whereas the English language and vernacular Mandarin and Tamil newspapers only reflect the aspirations of the minority. So they are the ‘minority report’ which does not reflect the true situation of the country.
They should change their slogan to, ‘Akhbar yang berani mempertahankan Perlembagaan’ or ‘The paper that dares to defend the Constitution.’
There is no county in the world where the views and aspirations of the minority communities are being trusted in such a fashion as in Malaysia. The reason why this came about is that the other media is dominated by the minority, with ‘the other media’ being the English language and vernacular Mandarin and Tamil newspapers.
Worse, when the English language papers concentrate on the demands and needs of the urban, who are at the moment Chinese, but in time it will be Melayu, too, with the change in demography in the country as it is also showing now.
In fact, one of the early Mandarin papers published in the 1960s, whose headquarters then were in Singapura had this slogan, ‘The guardian of the overseas Chinese’.
I’m afraid this is still what the Mandarin papers are doing, even though they do not dare have such a slogan, because almost everything that they publish is on Hong Kong and China.
Unfortunately, the present generation of Chinese does not seem too fascinated with both of the countries, and I have actually met some of them who did not care for Hong Kong and China and refuse to visit them.
On the other hand, I had found myself visiting China together with a group of Chinese-Malaysians who also felt like strangers in this country.
It’s just the Chinese opinion leaders and their community as well as political leaders who are intent on keeping the Chinese in Malaysia not to lose contact with the country of their ancestors.
In fact, of all the early journalists and editors who have become recognized as champions of independence, all of them were from Utusan and Berita such as A Rahim Kajai and A Samad Ismail. Other nationalists include Zainuddin Maidin (Zam), Mazlan Nordin and A Samad Said and the others.
None of them were from the other papers.
Comments
Well said and meant.With a big touch of honesty, frankness and a loud'cry of anak watan.'What good is progress and richness if one is alienated from one's roots and soul?What good is it if we wake up and finds everyting not us the way we want to be us? Congrats.Its luvly!!!Tq for notifying me to read. So even when I quarell with you 40 times a year and make-up 40 times also, you are still my friend. He he he.Mansor take care.