NELSON MANDELA THE CONFUSING INTERNATIONAL HERO – OF WHAT?
…DOES HE KNOW THAT TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN WAS THE LEADER WHO HAD CALLED FOR THE EXPULSION OF THE APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA FROM THE COMMONWEALTH WHICH CREATED A CHAIN REACTION CAUSING THE COUNTRY TO BE SEEN AS AN INTERNATIONAL PARIAH STATE?
By Mansor Puteh
IF NELSON MANDELA IS KNOWN FOR ANYTHING, IT IS FOR BEING THE PERSON WHO WAS SUPPRESSED AND OPPRESSED BY THE WHITE APARTHEID REGIME OF HIS COUNTRY.
IT IS DEFINITELY NOT AS A PERSON WHO SUPPORTS THE PLIGHT OF THE SUPPRESSED AND OPPRESSED AFTER EVERYBODY HAD SUCCEEDED IN RELEASING HIM FROM PRISON AND FREEING HIS COUNTRY.
HAS HE AND SOUTH AFRICA THANKED THOSE WHO HAD CONTRIBUTED TO ITS SUCCESS?
He was the benefactor of other people’s support and charity, but who does not know how to reciprocate by showing his personal concern for the plight of the others, especially those in the Middle East and other courtiers.
Mandela is not doing what he should have done, to support the expulsion of foreign forces in the Middle East and other countries.
This is depressing. And those who had supported him and his country have the right to feel disappointed with him for looking elsewhere and not take any interest in their well-being.
Mandela got a lot of support from Muslim countries and leaders that finally allowed him to leave prison after twenty-seven years.
It also caused the collapse of the apartheid system that was imposed by the white minority in his country.
But he doesn’t seem to care for the plight and miseries of the others, especially those in the Middle East and those Muslims who had supported him all this while.
Is he not grateful to them without the Muslim asking him so?
Why is Mandela not doing anything about this? So that he can be in the good books of Uncle Sam?
Mandela is therefore no real hero. He benefited from the charity and support of Muslims. But he did not reciprocate by showing his support for their cause. He has not said anything on the plight and persecution of the Palestinians.
He only cares for himself and his own country, and also for the Fifa World Cup which must be his personal triumph.
South Africa is now an independent country with African black majority and a shrunk white minority.
They seem to be living in peace and basking at the success of the Fifa World Cup which was also unfortunately the reason why his thirteen-year-old granddaughter died, in a car crash after the opening ceremony last June.
Despite that Mandela seems to be happy with the attention he has got from his birthday celebration.
But what has Mandela done to those who had supported him and his country?
Does he know or care that our first prime minister and Father of Independence, Tunku Abdul Rahman was the first leader of a Commonwealth country which had called for the boycott of South Africa and its expulsion from the group?
Did he give thanks to him and the other leaders and countries for fighting his cause, to force the apartheid regime to free him from prison and give his country back to the African Black majority?
No, he didn’t.
Mandela has never given any tribute to Tunku or even make any official visit to Malaysia.
And I am sure his country does not have a special recognition for Tunku in the form of it being done to rename a street in Tunku’s name.
They also do not teach their schoolchildren about Tunku and how he had managed to force Apartheid South Africa to be incarcerated for so long, and as long as Mandela was also incarcerated.
No, Mandela had not done any of these. He had become the first president of Free South Africa. He had extolled the virtues of America, a country which did not fully support the Apartheid regime.
And he had conveniently forgotten Tunku, Malaysia and the others who had supported their cause.
He only remembered Muamar Ghadaffy and made an official visit to Libya.
This is despite the strong reservations the George W Bush administration had on his planned trip to that country. He said and told the Americans off by saying, ‘We don’t forget who our friends were in our times of need’.
That put the Americans and the White House off their back. They fell for his tirade and Mandela was able to go to Libya to meet with Ghadaffy.
But why didn’t he also meet the other leaders and visit those countries, especially Malaysia which had steadfastedly stood behind him and his country?
Mandela should have at least paid a tribute to all of them and especially Tunku. But this he never did.
Mandela and all South Africans must be taught that it was Tunku who had caused the apartheid government to feel cornered by his calling for the expulsion of the Apartheid regime from the Commonwealth.
This caused the country to become a pariah state.
But they persisted and were able to do more harm still for a while more before they succumbed to international pressure.
Mandela was freed. But Malaysia and Tunku were forgotten.
This is a very important part in the history of their country and their students must be taught about this.
And not doing it means that the new free South Africa is in self-denial.
Mandela was not yet an old man when he was released from his prison; he was able to walk out of it like a hero and dancing with everybody with joy.
He left prison intact. But there are still many in the world, especially in the Middle East who are still trapped in prisons and yet Mandela doesn’t seem to care about it.
The experience he had while in prison had not taught him to care for the well-being of the others now that he is a free man. He left that to look ahead and assume the presidency of his country.
He did not care for the plight of those whose countries had been destroyed by the western imperialists. He only cared for himself and his own country.
Mandela can therefore be seen as the hero of the oppressed in his own country, but he cannot be seen as the champion of the oppressed in the others, especially those in the Middle East.
In fact, he was just the icon of the South Africans who did not do much since he was incarcerated in prison, with the job having been initiated by Tunku.
The truth is Mandela was confused by the adulation America and the Americans gave him. He wanted these more, despite the fact that America did not really caused his country to be free but the others which Mandela and South Africa have not bothered to thank.
Maybe it’s still not too late for them to consider having something to admit they were wrong. A small gesture of gratitude would be sufficient. There are some ways that can be used to achieve this.
One of which is to organize an international cultural event in South Africa by bringing in cultural groups from those countries which were friendly to the country when they were under Apartheid rule so the South Africans can find out who they are and be able to learn more about each other’s culture.
This should be sufficient.
The other way is for South African television to have special programs to highlight the programs such as television dramas and documentaries on these countries, to achieve the same result on a regular basis so the annual cultural event can be better promoted and that it can be come a major feature in the cultural and social lives of the ordinary South Africans.
We have similar stories to share for our people to relate to.
By Mansor Puteh
IF NELSON MANDELA IS KNOWN FOR ANYTHING, IT IS FOR BEING THE PERSON WHO WAS SUPPRESSED AND OPPRESSED BY THE WHITE APARTHEID REGIME OF HIS COUNTRY.
IT IS DEFINITELY NOT AS A PERSON WHO SUPPORTS THE PLIGHT OF THE SUPPRESSED AND OPPRESSED AFTER EVERYBODY HAD SUCCEEDED IN RELEASING HIM FROM PRISON AND FREEING HIS COUNTRY.
HAS HE AND SOUTH AFRICA THANKED THOSE WHO HAD CONTRIBUTED TO ITS SUCCESS?
He was the benefactor of other people’s support and charity, but who does not know how to reciprocate by showing his personal concern for the plight of the others, especially those in the Middle East and other courtiers.
Mandela is not doing what he should have done, to support the expulsion of foreign forces in the Middle East and other countries.
This is depressing. And those who had supported him and his country have the right to feel disappointed with him for looking elsewhere and not take any interest in their well-being.
Mandela got a lot of support from Muslim countries and leaders that finally allowed him to leave prison after twenty-seven years.
It also caused the collapse of the apartheid system that was imposed by the white minority in his country.
But he doesn’t seem to care for the plight and miseries of the others, especially those in the Middle East and those Muslims who had supported him all this while.
Is he not grateful to them without the Muslim asking him so?
Why is Mandela not doing anything about this? So that he can be in the good books of Uncle Sam?
Mandela is therefore no real hero. He benefited from the charity and support of Muslims. But he did not reciprocate by showing his support for their cause. He has not said anything on the plight and persecution of the Palestinians.
He only cares for himself and his own country, and also for the Fifa World Cup which must be his personal triumph.
South Africa is now an independent country with African black majority and a shrunk white minority.
They seem to be living in peace and basking at the success of the Fifa World Cup which was also unfortunately the reason why his thirteen-year-old granddaughter died, in a car crash after the opening ceremony last June.
Despite that Mandela seems to be happy with the attention he has got from his birthday celebration.
But what has Mandela done to those who had supported him and his country?
Does he know or care that our first prime minister and Father of Independence, Tunku Abdul Rahman was the first leader of a Commonwealth country which had called for the boycott of South Africa and its expulsion from the group?
Did he give thanks to him and the other leaders and countries for fighting his cause, to force the apartheid regime to free him from prison and give his country back to the African Black majority?
No, he didn’t.
Mandela has never given any tribute to Tunku or even make any official visit to Malaysia.
And I am sure his country does not have a special recognition for Tunku in the form of it being done to rename a street in Tunku’s name.
They also do not teach their schoolchildren about Tunku and how he had managed to force Apartheid South Africa to be incarcerated for so long, and as long as Mandela was also incarcerated.
No, Mandela had not done any of these. He had become the first president of Free South Africa. He had extolled the virtues of America, a country which did not fully support the Apartheid regime.
And he had conveniently forgotten Tunku, Malaysia and the others who had supported their cause.
He only remembered Muamar Ghadaffy and made an official visit to Libya.
This is despite the strong reservations the George W Bush administration had on his planned trip to that country. He said and told the Americans off by saying, ‘We don’t forget who our friends were in our times of need’.
That put the Americans and the White House off their back. They fell for his tirade and Mandela was able to go to Libya to meet with Ghadaffy.
But why didn’t he also meet the other leaders and visit those countries, especially Malaysia which had steadfastedly stood behind him and his country?
Mandela should have at least paid a tribute to all of them and especially Tunku. But this he never did.
Mandela and all South Africans must be taught that it was Tunku who had caused the apartheid government to feel cornered by his calling for the expulsion of the Apartheid regime from the Commonwealth.
This caused the country to become a pariah state.
But they persisted and were able to do more harm still for a while more before they succumbed to international pressure.
Mandela was freed. But Malaysia and Tunku were forgotten.
This is a very important part in the history of their country and their students must be taught about this.
And not doing it means that the new free South Africa is in self-denial.
Mandela was not yet an old man when he was released from his prison; he was able to walk out of it like a hero and dancing with everybody with joy.
He left prison intact. But there are still many in the world, especially in the Middle East who are still trapped in prisons and yet Mandela doesn’t seem to care about it.
The experience he had while in prison had not taught him to care for the well-being of the others now that he is a free man. He left that to look ahead and assume the presidency of his country.
He did not care for the plight of those whose countries had been destroyed by the western imperialists. He only cared for himself and his own country.
Mandela can therefore be seen as the hero of the oppressed in his own country, but he cannot be seen as the champion of the oppressed in the others, especially those in the Middle East.
In fact, he was just the icon of the South Africans who did not do much since he was incarcerated in prison, with the job having been initiated by Tunku.
The truth is Mandela was confused by the adulation America and the Americans gave him. He wanted these more, despite the fact that America did not really caused his country to be free but the others which Mandela and South Africa have not bothered to thank.
Maybe it’s still not too late for them to consider having something to admit they were wrong. A small gesture of gratitude would be sufficient. There are some ways that can be used to achieve this.
One of which is to organize an international cultural event in South Africa by bringing in cultural groups from those countries which were friendly to the country when they were under Apartheid rule so the South Africans can find out who they are and be able to learn more about each other’s culture.
This should be sufficient.
The other way is for South African television to have special programs to highlight the programs such as television dramas and documentaries on these countries, to achieve the same result on a regular basis so the annual cultural event can be better promoted and that it can be come a major feature in the cultural and social lives of the ordinary South Africans.
We have similar stories to share for our people to relate to.
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