RELATING EARLY MALAYSIAN HISTORY CAN BE VERY DISTURBING, -- PART I.
… EVEN THE AMERICANS, BRITISH AND THE OTHERS DO NOT WANT TO DO IT WITH THEIR OWN HISTORY.
By Mansor Puteh
BIROTATA NEGARA AND THE HISTORIANS CAN NEVER BE RIGHT BECAUSE SOME MALAYSIANS ARE CONFUSED WITH IT AS THE SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY CONTINUES TO CHANGE.
BUT FOR SOME COUNTRIES, WHOSE CITIZENS ARE IN A STATE OF DENIAL, THERE IS NO WAY FOR THEM TO BE EDUCATED IN THE HISTORY OF THEIR COUNTRIES OTHER THAN TO TEACH IT TO THEM, SO THEY KNOW WHERE THEY ARE AND WHO THEY ARE.
MANY OF THE OTHER COUNTRIES DO IT INDIRECTLY BY CREATING FILMS, TELEVISION PROGRAMS OF ALL TYPES AND USING THE ARTS MOSTLY.
They do it almost everyday so much so that it comes as second nature to them, which also forms part of their everyday cultural and artistic activities.
Whereas in Malaysia, it has to be done in a more direct way. And since everything is new and it is related to in retrospective it becomes controversial because of that, since there are some smart people who do not want the history to be related in such a fashion as it is embarrassing to them.
And because of that they do not need to have their own version of BTN courses to educate their citizens especially those who have different racial backgrounds and affinity with the majority race.
In Malaysia, there is the official version the history of the country and now there seems to be other versions as well; and most of them are those that are being rewritten by the others who are not Melayu who want to see it in a different way altogether.
They may not be wrong. But at the same time, they may also not be right since they are looking at the whole thing in a totally different light altogether.
But since their dominant population is overwhelming, the minorities do not have much of a choice other than to blame their ancestors and parents for giving birth to them in those countries.
So countries such as Siam, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia and the others in the west do not have to face ‘racial’ problems like the other countries which have small but significant minorities who insisting on having their way all the time.
The Tamils in Sri Lanka found it difficult to exert themselves too much until after three decades they found their cause to be a lost one with the defeat and annihilation of the Tamil Eelam or Tamil Tigers or LTTE that had waged a war against the predominantly Chingala government and country.
The Tamils in Sri Lanka did not have a ghost of a chance to force their political agenda in the country being localized, marginalized and economically backward compared to the native Chingala.
But in some countries, because the minorities are economically sound – more than the native population, they can do some exerting, like their lot has not been taken care of, despite having what they have, yet they still want more.
Malaysia is experiencing a bit of a tension which arises from historical factors which are not openly debated or discussed. Some are now being mentioned openly and more so in private spaces.
The ‘social contract’ is one.
But the real ‘social contract’ is one which encourages the Chinese to pursue their business, while the Melayu look after the country, leaving the Indians still trapped in the rubber estates for which they had to take a long while before they are ‘evicted’ from them because of the less stress on rubber which used to be a very important export commodity of the country.
It had been said even by Tunku Abdul Rahman and the many other early Melayu leaders that the Chinese were to be allowed and encouraged to pursue business so they can acquire wealth, knowing how they were all poor and not having an inch of land when they first came to this country.
The idea is to give them a leg-up so that they did not feel depressed and wanted to leave Malaya to return to China, like many of them did. But the real reason was to discourage them from joining the Communists.
But somehow, this deed and ‘this other social contract’ which is not written as the other ‘social contract’ concerning Melayu rights, etc, has not been discussed by anyone, much less by the Chinese community leaders themselves.
The problem with them is that they choose what to discuss and what not to discuss like they did not want to feel embarrassed with themselves to find out how they had been given the leg-up and advantage by the Melayu and its leaders for so many years.
If they were not given this opportunity with the Melayu insisting that they also go into business, then today we can see how the economy of the Melayu to be. And surely, the equity of the Melayu in the country would have been a lot more than that of the Chinese today.
One can see how the Melayu were helping the Chinese by patronizing their businesses. And even if was only one Chinese family in a Melayu village, yet, the Melayu give them the business by patronizing their store.
In the past many Chinese kids had to work for wealthy Melayu as drivers and laborers. Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Residency staff also saw many of them working as gardeners.
But the situation has changed now that the Melayu are aware that this deed is not acknowledged. And it is not going to be good for the Chinese if they continue to harp on the ‘social contract’ while neglecting to admit the existence of ‘the other social contract’.
Maybe this is what’s making some of the Chinese community leaders feel peeved about that the Melayu have realized their folly in wanting to see the Chinese prosper but to their own disadvantage, so now we see more and more Melayu entering business engaging in petty trading as their jumping pad to do bigger things in the near future.
And we can now also see the many commercial centers which are Melayu-dominated. Just drive from Hulu Kelang to Dataran Merdeka passing through Melawati, Setapak, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and one can see how it is so.
Shahalam is perhaps the best example of Melayu economic domination.
There are so few Chinese businesses in this area. There are some who operate restaurants but they try to pass for Melayu establishments.
By Mansor Puteh
BIROTATA NEGARA AND THE HISTORIANS CAN NEVER BE RIGHT BECAUSE SOME MALAYSIANS ARE CONFUSED WITH IT AS THE SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY CONTINUES TO CHANGE.
BUT FOR SOME COUNTRIES, WHOSE CITIZENS ARE IN A STATE OF DENIAL, THERE IS NO WAY FOR THEM TO BE EDUCATED IN THE HISTORY OF THEIR COUNTRIES OTHER THAN TO TEACH IT TO THEM, SO THEY KNOW WHERE THEY ARE AND WHO THEY ARE.
MANY OF THE OTHER COUNTRIES DO IT INDIRECTLY BY CREATING FILMS, TELEVISION PROGRAMS OF ALL TYPES AND USING THE ARTS MOSTLY.
They do it almost everyday so much so that it comes as second nature to them, which also forms part of their everyday cultural and artistic activities.
Whereas in Malaysia, it has to be done in a more direct way. And since everything is new and it is related to in retrospective it becomes controversial because of that, since there are some smart people who do not want the history to be related in such a fashion as it is embarrassing to them.
And because of that they do not need to have their own version of BTN courses to educate their citizens especially those who have different racial backgrounds and affinity with the majority race.
In Malaysia, there is the official version the history of the country and now there seems to be other versions as well; and most of them are those that are being rewritten by the others who are not Melayu who want to see it in a different way altogether.
They may not be wrong. But at the same time, they may also not be right since they are looking at the whole thing in a totally different light altogether.
But since their dominant population is overwhelming, the minorities do not have much of a choice other than to blame their ancestors and parents for giving birth to them in those countries.
So countries such as Siam, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia and the others in the west do not have to face ‘racial’ problems like the other countries which have small but significant minorities who insisting on having their way all the time.
The Tamils in Sri Lanka found it difficult to exert themselves too much until after three decades they found their cause to be a lost one with the defeat and annihilation of the Tamil Eelam or Tamil Tigers or LTTE that had waged a war against the predominantly Chingala government and country.
The Tamils in Sri Lanka did not have a ghost of a chance to force their political agenda in the country being localized, marginalized and economically backward compared to the native Chingala.
But in some countries, because the minorities are economically sound – more than the native population, they can do some exerting, like their lot has not been taken care of, despite having what they have, yet they still want more.
Malaysia is experiencing a bit of a tension which arises from historical factors which are not openly debated or discussed. Some are now being mentioned openly and more so in private spaces.
The ‘social contract’ is one.
But the real ‘social contract’ is one which encourages the Chinese to pursue their business, while the Melayu look after the country, leaving the Indians still trapped in the rubber estates for which they had to take a long while before they are ‘evicted’ from them because of the less stress on rubber which used to be a very important export commodity of the country.
It had been said even by Tunku Abdul Rahman and the many other early Melayu leaders that the Chinese were to be allowed and encouraged to pursue business so they can acquire wealth, knowing how they were all poor and not having an inch of land when they first came to this country.
The idea is to give them a leg-up so that they did not feel depressed and wanted to leave Malaya to return to China, like many of them did. But the real reason was to discourage them from joining the Communists.
But somehow, this deed and ‘this other social contract’ which is not written as the other ‘social contract’ concerning Melayu rights, etc, has not been discussed by anyone, much less by the Chinese community leaders themselves.
The problem with them is that they choose what to discuss and what not to discuss like they did not want to feel embarrassed with themselves to find out how they had been given the leg-up and advantage by the Melayu and its leaders for so many years.
If they were not given this opportunity with the Melayu insisting that they also go into business, then today we can see how the economy of the Melayu to be. And surely, the equity of the Melayu in the country would have been a lot more than that of the Chinese today.
One can see how the Melayu were helping the Chinese by patronizing their businesses. And even if was only one Chinese family in a Melayu village, yet, the Melayu give them the business by patronizing their store.
In the past many Chinese kids had to work for wealthy Melayu as drivers and laborers. Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Residency staff also saw many of them working as gardeners.
But the situation has changed now that the Melayu are aware that this deed is not acknowledged. And it is not going to be good for the Chinese if they continue to harp on the ‘social contract’ while neglecting to admit the existence of ‘the other social contract’.
Maybe this is what’s making some of the Chinese community leaders feel peeved about that the Melayu have realized their folly in wanting to see the Chinese prosper but to their own disadvantage, so now we see more and more Melayu entering business engaging in petty trading as their jumping pad to do bigger things in the near future.
And we can now also see the many commercial centers which are Melayu-dominated. Just drive from Hulu Kelang to Dataran Merdeka passing through Melawati, Setapak, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and one can see how it is so.
Shahalam is perhaps the best example of Melayu economic domination.
There are so few Chinese businesses in this area. There are some who operate restaurants but they try to pass for Melayu establishments.
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