Claims from the Other?

I refer to the last three days article in Utusan Malaysia, where journalist, Abdul Aziz Harun, Massita Ahmad, Zairulliati Mali & Prem Kumar Panjamorthy interviewed the former prime minister, Tun Mahathir Mohammed on several topics especially on the ethnic claims, general election and motoring issues.

However, one segment that caught my attention most was Tun Mahathir’s words on the ethnic clash that should be understood by many.

I wouldn’t notice the interview published in Utusan on 17^th February if not being informed by my secretary, Sanisah, a tip of the hat to you. 

Here’s the summary which is based from my understanding.  I’ve gone to great lengths to maintain their original meanings since there are differences between Malay language and English.

The Malays are in dilemma in facing various claims from the non-Malays.  Sometimes they still criticize the position of the Malays.  If the Malays want to react in defending Malay’s position, then they would be accused of being racist.  In return, they show their anger as a result to avoid the accusation.  However, the method deems to be ineffective. This is a problem for the Malays and any other races in Malaysia because it seems that the division between the races at present is much more prominent than in the past.

Although the present Prime Minister Najib aggressively promotes 1Malaysia but it is not more than just a slogan.  It is argued that it is imperative that the idea should have received warm welcome by all communities.  However, in reality, only the Malay, by majority celebrates the idea.

The government thus far has dealt with so many claims from the non-Malays.  If the claims are always fulfilled, then there will be even more demand when they thought that they are the winning factor in the upcoming election.

Since the Independence Day in 1957, the cooperation between the Malay-Chinese-Indian through the coalition political parties of UMNO-MCA-MIC has brought a lot of progress for the country. This collaboration has resulted a stable nation.  This is due to the three parties that agreed to share political power in order to ensure there is no internal conflict within the country.  Hence, in that way then the country can be developed.  On the contrary, if one ethnic group wishes to have all their demands being fulfilled by government, then it might trigger dissatisfaction among other races which might turn the country topsy-turvy.

If this occurs, no progress would be possible because the economy cannot thrive in chaos. Therefore, there will be no one that could benefit from such critical incidence. Tun Mahathir emphasized that such situation should be understood by everyone, especially for the Chinese because they cannot execute their business in a volatile country.