Desperate times calls for racial card
You definitely know that the influence of a certain political party is on the wane after the racial card is used to play up sentiments and usher in support. After all, it worked before in 1969. However, times have changed and something that I would have never thought I would say now is true…Malaysian democracy has matured. Malaysians are beginning to realise that sticking to just one coalition party is not going to help change things and we saw that awareness on March 8th 2008.
As for the chap who is in the news for a racial statement he uttered, well…all I can say is that while that may be true historically, it does not give any credence to the party he represents and has probably worsened it. Perhaps Pakatan should be thanking him because if this goes on, it won’t be long before the party in question is kicked out of power.
i am just a normal rakyat, who voted…
i recommend we should not react on his statement…
but never underestimated it too…
desperate people do desperate stuff…
Comment by davors — September 8, 2008 @ 11:32 pm
i guess historically all of us are pendatang..maybe the orang asli are truly asli…
Comment by 2 — September 9, 2008 @ 8:23 pm
Its encouraging that all Malaysians were united in condemning a Penang UMNO leader for describing Chinese as ‘pendatang’ in this country. The word may have been used during the British-ruled 19th century when hundreds of thousand of Chinese and Indians were brought in by the British to work in tin mines and rubber estates. The Chinese and Indians were then citizens of their respective homeland in China and India.
By the time of independence of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu in 1957, more than 2 million Chinese and Indian were accepted as full citizens of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu. Being citizens, they enjoy all the rights and privilages as warganegara. They are no longer ‘pendatang’. Ahmad Ismail may still be living in 19th century Semenanjung Tanah Melayu.
The granting of citizenship to such huge number of Chinese and Indians was a direct result of a ‘deal’ agreed upon by the leaders of Malay, Chinese and Indian communities, which was later described as ‘social contract’, the spirit of which was incorporated into the Constitution of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, and later, the Constitution of Malaysia.
What
Comment by tanahmelayukita — September 17, 2008 @ 1:52 am
true historically?
well my chinese ancestors have been here for 8 generations and my family tree can be traced back to its arrival here in this land since the late 1600s. How long has your javanese migrant ancestors been here for?
[MENJ: I can trace my family roots between late 1800 to early 1900. So what is your point?]
Comment by wee — September 19, 2008 @ 2:22 am