Utusan Malaysia published articles condemning the Malaysian Chinese
with the headline ‘Apa lagi Cina Mahu?’ and Najib Tun Razak’s speech
after the election stating the ‘Chinese Tsunami’ has further sparked
agitation among Malaysian Chinese who have exercised their democratic
right by supporting Pakatan Rakyat.
The Malaysian Chinese played a prominent role in development of
Malaya since the Malacca days. The Chinese diaspora occurred from the
19th century to 1949. The major reason for Chinese emigration is because
of starvation, war and political corruption in mainland China. The
Chinese migrated to various parts of world as coolies to replace African
slaves. A British Guinea planter quoted that the Chinese labourers are
strong in their physique and eager to earn a living.
The Chinese in the past suffered because of the exploitation by the
Europeans. The first wave of emigration occurred in 15th century during
the Malacca sultanate. Diplomatic ties were established between China
and Malacca and Sultan Mansur married Puteri Hang Li Po (subject still
debated by historian). Puteri Hang Li Po was accompanied by a senior
state minister and five hundred youths and maids.
The inheritors of these people, mostly from Fujian province, are
called the Baba (men) and Nyonya (women) or Cina Peranakan. The culture
integration between Malay and Chinese dates back from the 15th century.
The Straits Chinese adopted the Malay culture into their lives in the
context of language, food, clothing, etc. Most notable Peranakans are
Tan Cheng Lock – founder and first president of the Malaysian Chinese
Association (MCA), Tan Siew Sin – third President of MCA, Lee Kuan Yew –
first Prime Minister of Singapore and Lee Hsien Loong – third Prime
Minister of Singapore, son of Lee Kuan Yew.
In response to Ali Rustam’s comments published by Utusan Malaysia,
based on historical facts, MCA was formed by Tun Tan Cheng Lock and he
understands the cultural integration and unity between Chinese and Malay
has been the core strength for the coalition. The founding father of
Umno recognises the Chinese contribution to this country and forged ties
with Chinese to build Malaya. On that note, as a leader you should
recognise the contributions of a community that has worked along with
other Malaysian.
If the Chinese community has rejected your leadership, accept your
defeat and work on building your reputation back with the Chinese
community. A mark of a true leader is his ability to accept defeat and
prove to the people that he is a leader capable of handling the defeat.
Mahathir and Lim Kit Siang have lost in the past. They did not blame
anyone but took it as part of a democracy system and worked harder to
win the hearts of the people. Please do not make any further racial
remarks because it sends a wrong message to the people and the modern
leadership in Malaysia requires a leader to lead based on liberal
thoughts rather than communal thoughts.
Malaysian has progressed towards a multiracial political ideology
instead of communal political ideology as introduced by the British.
Being a former Chief Minister of Malacca, you should possess greater
knowledge in Chinese-Malay relationship dating back to the 15th century
and the progression of the two communities in building Malaysia. The
common folk of Malaysia have moved on from the communal ideology to
multiracial ideology.
As a politician, in agony of defeat, issuing an official statement of
blaming a community does not promote harmony and is not in tandem with
1Malaysia programme introduced by your party. As a Malaysian, we desire
for a leader to build a stronger bond between the communities not
dismantling the ethnic relationship. On that note, please go back to the
drawing board and rework on your leadership ideology.
According to Sir Frank Swettenham, K.C.M.G. (1850-1946) in his book,
‘British Malaya – An Account of the Origin and Progress of British
Influence in Malaya’ stated that the Chinese played a major part in
developing the economy of British Malaya. The following are the
contribution of the Chinese community under British Malaya:
a The Chinese were responsible for half of the
world’s tin supply during that period because of the hard work, law
abiding and capability.
b The Chinese were the miners, traders, planters and
fisherman way before the British made way to Malaya. Before the British
invasion, it was the Chinese energy and industry that paid for the
infrastructure projects in British Malaya.
c The Chinese were the pioneers in tin mining and
went into remote jungles, cleared the forest, took the risk and made
profit for their hard work.
d The Chinese built the schools, government buildings, roads, railways, water works, etc.
e The Chinese invested their capital and brought in
Chinese labour to develop British Malaya when the British were afraid to
invest.
f The Chinese labour and enterprise were the reasons for the evolution of British Malaya.
The above reflects the contribution of the Chinese community in
Malaysia. The ‘Chinese Tsunami’ comment does not recognise the hardship
that the Chinese community endured towards building this country. It was
not a Chinese tsunami but rather a Malaysian tsunami as stated by Lim
Kit Siang. However, passing a racial remark on a community that has been
an integral part of this nation destroys the Malaysian sentiment in
Chinese community. The political leaders should take the responsibility
for the defeat in the election, instead of passing racially provocative
remarks towards a community that has suffered building this country.
Relating to the historical evidence and role of Chinese community in
socio-economics activities, they have contributed significantly. Their
participation in socio-economic activities has uplifted the country.
These contributions must be recognised and as a democratic nation, it is
their right to choose leaders. MCA and Gerakan have failed in
addressing Chinese community issues and the component parties of Barisan
Nasional should tackle the issues delicately without stirring racial
sentiments.
Relating to comments from Saravanan (MIC), in a democracy the people
have the right to choose. No one put a knife to your neck and asked you
to serve the community. The choice of career in politics in decided by
the individual, and part of the political career is ability to accept
the people’s choice. Despite the blunder at the electorate, Barisan
Nasional is still the government and the leaders are required to deliver
the manifesto promised during the election. We request political
leaders to commence activities that have been promised in the manifesto
instead of making harsh remarks on Chinese community.
The Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Iban and others have decided
that the way to move forward is through multiracial cooperation. The new
generation identifies themselves as Malaysian first before anything
else. The election has proven our desire to be governed by liberal
leaders with progressive thinking instead of traditional communal
backwards leaders. The political ideology by PKR, DAP and PAS has
captured the hearts of the young Malaysian. The popular votes have
proven the rise of Generation Y in deciding the direction of this
country.
We urge the coalition leaders to stop these racial remarks on our
Chinese brothers. We stand united to defend the rights of every
Malaysian regardless of his ethnicity. As a Generation Y representative
and on behalf of decent Malaysians, we require the coalition leaders to
nurture the Malaysian spirit in their political agenda. We have rejected
two racist leaders from Perkasa and if the racial propaganda continues,
Malaysian will not hesitate to reject race based leadership. The people
have trusted the coalition with another mandate and we require the
leaders to deliver it open heartedly.
To the Chinese and Malay community, we appeal for you to ignore the
remarks on ‘Chinese Tsunami’ and ‘Apa lagi Cina mahu?’. We have rejected
racism and a paradigm shift has taken shape in mind of the Malaysian.
History has proven that the Chinese and Malay community share a close
bond since the Malacca Sultanate. Let’s continue to foster the
relationship instead of falling for a racial political ploy. The British
invented the ‘divide & rule’ system to segregate the Malay, Chinese
and Indian in the past, we have matured as a society and the system is
no longer applicable.
History has proved the role and contributions of Chinese society in
this country. The Malaysian public has sufficient knowledge and
understands the importance of racial harmony. The real power is with the
people and no one can take that away from us. We continue to exist and
fight for our rights regardless of the condition. We have come a long
way to give up on the Malaysian dream. The Inikalilah spirits lives on
with us and it was a Malaysian tsunami not Chinese.
Natesan Visnu - FMT
Charge the racist!
PETALING JAYA: The DAP will back any move to take action against
local Chinese dailies for stoking racial sentiment if there is proof,
said party adviser Lim Kit Siang.
“We welcome any action and will
give support for Chinese newspapers to be charged with sedition if the
Prime Minister can pinpoint which newspapers are responsible and the
articles,” he told reporters at the DAP headquarters here yesterday.
He said there should not be any double standard in punishing those guilty of stoking racial sentiment.
On Tuesday, commenting on Utusan Malaysia's front-page headline
Apa Lagi Cina Mahu? in a press conference,
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
had said: “You blame Utusan but what about the Chinese papers? Are you
saying that they (Chinese newspapers) are saying the right things all
the time?”
Lim urged Najib to retract and apologise over his
remark attributing the election results to a “Chinese tsunami” and the
Chinese dailies.
He refuted the Prime Minister's statement that
the Chinese had been duped by the DAP into believing that they could
change the government via their ballots.
“This is not the truth
as DAP has never said that the Chinese were able to change the
government,” he said, adding that the call for change was made to all
Malaysians via Pakatan Rakyat.
Lim warned Najib against “playing
with fire” by racialising the election results, including using this to
bolster his image for the coming party polls in Umno.
Barisan
Nasional leaders, he said, should instead focus on revamping the
electoral system by asking members of the Election Commission to resign.
- The Star/Asia New Network
Thousands protest Malaysian election results
PETALING JAYA: Opposition leader
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim called on Malaysians to protest the results of the general election by wearing black.
“I
urge all Malaysians to wear black every day from Saturday,” he said in
his speech during a rally to protest against the general election
results at the Kelana Jaya Stadium last night.
Anwar also questioned the targeting of certain segments of society for the results in GE13.
“The
Malays, Chinese and Indians as well as other races want to defend their
rights and reject cheating and deception,” he said to tens of thousands
of opposition supporters who attended the rally.
He said Pakatan Rakyat leaders would be gathering in Penang on Saturday night for another rally.
Among those present were Bersih co-chair
Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang.
Fashion statement: Anwar urging Pakatan supporters to wear black during the rally at the stadium. — AFP
Hundreds
later spilled onto the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP) in front of the
Giant Hypermarket after the rally ended at about 11.30pm to cheer
passing cars as well as raise flags.
Coupled with the rally
participants who parked their cars illegally on the LDP near the
hypermarket, this caused a major traffic gridlock over several
kilometres.
There was no police presence to control the situation.
Earlier, motorists expressed frustration at being caught in the jam as people made their way to the stadium.
A
part-time kindergarten teacher who was caught in the jam near the
Puchong-Sunway toll plaza said she left work at about 7pm and only
reached home at 10.30pm.
“At first I thought it was a police roadblock, but I did not see any police, only people in cars and on motorbikes waving flags.
Fully prepared: Pakatan supporters using umbrellas or raincoats at the stadium during a drizzle.
“The
elections are over, so why is there a need to demonstrate and cause so
much inconvenience to the public?” asked the 56-year-old who only wanted
to be identified as Nor.
Meanwhile, social media users used their time spent in the jam to describe the congestion.
“It's so jammed here @ sunway toll that drivers are just chillin outside their cars,” @hellsen tweeted at 10.30pm.
User
@EwinEe posted a picture showing those attending the rally parked their
vehicles along the North Klang Valley Expressway, causing the
three-lane road to be reduced to one lane.
By REGINA LEE, FARIK ZOLKEPLI, YUEN MEIKENG and YVONNE LIM
newsdesk@thestar.com.my
Related posts:
It is a Malaysian tsunami not Chinese tsunami, based on new aspirations and reality reflected in GE 13 outcome
The Chinese in Malaysia want an honest relationship,a genuine partnership...
Malaysian Chinese tsunami !
One man, many posts: Ooi showing the long list of various state departments and agencies chaired by Lim, apart from being chief minister, Bagan MP and Air Putih assemblyman
Fall from grace: Lim, who is facing two charges of corruption alongside businesswoman Phang (left), will continue as Chief Minister with the full support of his party. (Inset) The prosecution team is led by Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.
