As Malay I must admit that I am the son of the soil with all entities of the race as spelt and accepted by all in the Federal Constitution. Going against the Constitution is going against the nation.
For those who go against legitimate Constitution should morally find other land which they feel can give them comfort.
Whether we like it or not we are destined by our creator to live in succor in this country to respect and offer regards to this Nation which has thus far offer perfect sanctuary for harmonious living.
God exhibits his greatness by creating human being with no homogeneity and uniformity purely to respect and understand each other (race) and co-exist albeit all diversities.
There are dissimilarities in their minds, character, and personal capacity as well as looks and other aspects of human attributes and forms.
The history of each race is also different from each other; some of the races in the world exist for hundred of centuries while some race are new races which existed some centuries.
Chinese are among the earliest race of the world and its civilization started thousands of years ago. They have very long history and China is just not a great nation but it is civilization by itself and there is nothing that they don’t know in this world.
The history of China is very interesting to read and the writing of history is taken as serious subject to almost every literate Chinese.
It was a mandatory duty of every reigning dynasty then to write the history of the previous one; there are 24 of them and all have their history written and well documented for current and future generation to study.
The last of those dynasties, the Qing dynasty ruled China from 1644 until the peoples’ revolution in 1911.
The peoples’ revolution started decades before the Qing dynasty and before that revolutions succeeded many of the mainland Chinese already migrated to greener pasture.
Malaya which was then rich in tin deposits and other natural resources made the country became the essential point of the mainland Chinese migration exodus.
I am writing about the Chinese as the preamble of this article because as the race is the second biggest race in this country which contributes the development of the nation immensely and they are given the protection by the constitution even before the country achieved independence.
The Malays as the indigenous sons of the soil accepted the fact that while the Constitution provides them with special right and privileges, the Chinese are allowed to live independently as a rightful citizen of the country, free to practice their religion and faith, make proper living just like the Malays and they are protected by the constitution.
This constitutional understanding was meant to be in perpetuity and not to be questioned at any length. This has been agreed in contentious by our forefathers of all the races.
In exchange of granting citizenship, the Chinese agreed to the special rights of the Malays and not to question the immunity of the Malay Rulers as there is no Malay without a ruler.
This has been well and in politics each race was represented by each racial based party.
The Malays were represented by UMNO, the party formed after the culmination of various Malay organization with Nationalistic flavor when the Malays were threatened by many issues including the intended formation of Malayan Union by the British.
Malayan Union was purely intended to turn Malaya (the land of the Malays) to be British total Colony.
Sir Harold MacMichael landed in Port Swettenham (now Pelabuhan Kelang) on the Oct 11th 1945 to force the Malay Rulers to sign the handing over of their Malay States to the British.
The first among the Malay Rulers to sign was Sultan Ibrahim of Johore and within 2 months Sir Harold MacMichael accomplished his duty to get the Malay Rulers to agree to the proposed Malayan Union. By the 21st of December 1945 Harold MacMichael managed to convince every Malay Ruler to sign and to agree for the formation of Malayan Union.
On the 6th of January MacMichael sailed back to England to table the White Paper for the setting up of Malayan Union and the date was set to be on the 1st April 1946.
On the 22nd January 1946 the White Paper was tabled in the British Parliament and announced that The British Government’s plan to take over the Malay States from the Malay Rulers as from the 1st of April 1946.
Meanwhile the Malays were very crossed with their Malay Rulers for easily relenting to the British to give their country and government to the British.
The Malays through their various organizations met in Dewan Sultan Sulaiman Club and unanimously decided to press the Malay Rulers to withdraw their decision to surrender their respective states to the British.
These culminations of all Malay organizations called for united stand and moved towards achieving independence from the British and that was the moment UMNO was formed on the 11th of May 1946.
With the formation of UMNO (I mean the old one) the pressure on British to abandon the idea of the Malayan Union and now the Malays felt that an independent nation was the only course of movement here then.
Dato' Onn Ja'afar was unanimously elected by the Malays to lead the struggle and for the first time the Malays were united for that important mission, which was INDEPENDENCE.
Everyone knows this history but the current situation warrants some nice reminders as we are at the risk of damaging our Nation.
The continuation of this compressed history will be in two to three days time.
Thanks………………………………………………..Aspan Alias
I agree with you Aspan that knowing history can make you better citizen like the Chinese in China.
ReplyDeleteBut in contrary Malaysian especially our own race forget even our own history of their leaders and they are just the conduits to the reigning leaders.
I am happy that you are open in views without qualms.
Waiting for your continuation.
Hak keistimewaan orang Melayu memang tidak boleh dipersoalkan dan saya bersetuju dengan saudara.
ReplyDeleteTetapi masalahnya sejak dua puluh tahun dahulu hanya segelintir orang Melayu yang untung sedangkan orang Melayu yang ramai-ramai sudah tidak menikmati keistimewaan itu.
Yang menggunakan keistimewaan itu adalah beberapa orang yang rapat dengan Dr Mahathir semasa Mahathir menjadi PM.
Hanya beberapa orang yang menikmati semasa Abdullah dan juga semasa Najib. Jadinya orang Melayu yang ramai tidak merasa apa-apa tetapi rakan kita bangsa Cina ingat kita dapat segala-galanya.
Jadi orang Melayu jadi 'lebai malang' sahaja.
Mr Aspan Alias,
ReplyDeleteI have a question which I would like to pose to you.
How can an Indonesian say he comes to Malaysia to live and he has a son and the son becomes a Malaysian.
How can that son be considered a son of the soil??
Did he or his whole family tree fight for independence?
And a Malaysian chinese born of 3 generations in this land is not.
Does the above make any sense ?
I am talking about 'Immigrant' sons of the soil. Not of course you fellas.
hei aspan,
ReplyDeletemy wish is to see only one bangsa in this country that is MALAYSIAN.
we had been carrying this baggage for so many years and i hope one day this baggage will be dump into the sea. only the selfish politician is benefiting from this baggage.
australia might be a good example.
how,
ReplyDeleteI have never been a racist and I never want to be one.
BUT i am saying this now because there are too much of name callings and unfriendly comments that is not civil splashing around in this country now.
what i was saying was just history and i never say that the current non Malays are not Malaysian.
what i was saying was just that there were agreements among our forefathers that the Malays are recognised constitutionally to have special rights, thats all.
If the chinese were not agreeing to the terms we maight not have the independence until today.
with the agreements now we managed to be independent so just stay put as where we are and don't question the constitution.
If the Malays whom you think to big baggage to you were the ones who allowed the immigrants to become citizens.
The Malays may have problems among themselves now but let the Malays solve their own problems.
Bro how, as i have said many times we are not created in homogeneity by god, and this is where we have ot co-exist in tolerance.
I am also sure that the Malays are also tolerating the idiosyncratic nature of the non Malays.
I always emphasize that understanding and t0olerances are the key to the nation's harmony.
I reckon the young are not appreciating the uniqueness that we have.
Some are not grateful.
Mr Aspan,
ReplyDeleteYou did not answer my question.
Did our forefathers also envisage donkey immigrants coming from Yemen, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and what have u half past six countries and giving birth in Malaysia and their offspring suddenly becomes Malay and thus sons of the soil also.
Isnt this what is happening now?
Tell me then, is this what our forefathers or say your forefather agreed to?
brother aspan,
ReplyDeletesorry if my earlier post had offended you. reading your blog prove that you are not a racist but still ..
that is the problem in this country that everytime when discussion is on race, each individual of any particular race will definately want to defend his race. That is why it will be the best if we only have one race in this country that is m'sian.
I believe you had a lot of friends from different culture and background that make you more open and understanding towards other.
My "BAGGAGE" in earlier post do not refer to malay. It refers to a group of politicians who keep on using the race issue to justify their existence. why can't we have NEP that is meant only for deserving malay and malaysian?
there will always be good and bad people of any ethnic background in our country. what is want is more good people and less and less bad people here, who cares whom they are.
Yang susahnya Pan yang ungrateful tu lah..ini yang problem besar..mereka tak mahu nak faham apa yang you maksudkan...mereka buat buat tak faham dan akan terus menegakkan benang yang basah.Setuju dengan apa yang you katakan sepatutnya mereka yang tak mahu menerima perlembagaan negara ini cari negara lain .orang macam Kapal dan Anwar...cari lah negara lain ,balik asal ...Kita cakap tentang mis management dimana mana negara pun boleh berlaku dan kita mahu perbetulkan, bukan perlembagaan yang tak betul yang perlu di ubah...
ReplyDeleteKaum Cina melalak nakkan hak sama rata...nakkan Bangsa Malaysia....Malaysian Malaysia....TAPI, bila diajak berunding supaya diadakan satu sekolah untuk semua....Depa tentang habis habisan....apakah matlamat yang mereka tuju sebenarnya? Chinese Malaysia?
ReplyDeletezb
"Chinese are the earliest race of the world"
ReplyDeletethe statement is incorrect.btw,read more on the hans culture to have better understanding of the chinese mind,it's the same as the racist aryan ideology .
Salam bro.
ReplyDeletePermulaan yang merangsangkan untuk didebat kerana ia bercagarkan ilmiah dan intelek. Syabas bro.
Maka perlulah ramai lagi orang seperti bro yang mengasak dengan bertubi-tubi untuk menganjakan paras intelek.
Kita sedang memasuki ke dalam satu ruang baru yang mana pertempuran minda akan menjadi pendekatan ke arah penyelesaian permasalahan tertunggak yang diamalkan secara tradisi.
Ini yang menampakan kejanggalan yang sedang berlaku apabila pemimpin dan kerajaan masih mengula-gula rakyat seperti berlaku di setiap pilihanraya.
Fitrahnya manusia tetap sama tapi yang berubah hanya persekitaran. Cabarannya ialah bagaimana hendak mengimbangi formasi semasa.
Jadi untuk mengurus dan mentadbirkan pelbagai variable ini kepimpinan yang ada perlulah peka dan mempunyai kualiti yang hebat.
Kalau masih bebal dengan rungutan dan ide-ide baru, nyahkan saja. Kita sudah tidak ada masa untuk melayani kerenah-kerenah pemimpin yang tidak faham akan rakyat didahulukan.
Yang saya setuju sangat dengan bro yang mana asal-usul dan daripada mana kita, faktor-faktor sejarah perlu diterima dan difahami oleh semua yang mengaku diri mereka rakyat Malaysia sehingga kita dapat kecapi sebagaimana yang kita ada sekarang.............
Bro, kita sedang berhadapan dengan yang pandai tapi tak celik. Ketaasuban yang tidak ada hujung- pangkal. Oleh itu bagaimanakah boleh bro membawa mereka ini to next level of thinking?
Aspan,
ReplyDeleteI like your article, I like the heading you use. I’m awaiting your continuation. Meanwhile, a few comments:
A slight reservation to your statement, “the Chinese are allowed to live independently as a rightful citizen of the country … and they are protected by the constitution.” I would add: they should, in turn, respect the Constitution and live by the Constitution. By and large, they do. But the chauvinist, so-called “Malaysian Malaysia” adherents and the subversive Chin Peng and MCP-loving ones don’t.
I don’t understand that comment by Anon of 6 July 16:37. What is he trying to imply. Can he give details on the Indonesian and the Chinese he referred to?
I wonder if Anon of 16:43 has read Demi Negara and the proposal for the creation of a united and cohesive Bangsa Malaysia through the Satu Sekolah untuk Semua (SSS). I also hope he has signed the Petition there.
To your statement in the comment section, “I always emphasize that understanding and tolerances are the key to the nation's harmony”, may I also add that there must be a give and take, a two-way street relationship between the Malays and the non-Malays? There have been many instances of the non-Malays asking for more and more, yet Tun Tan Siew Sin had said in 1969 that the Malays Have been “generous enough”. I am concerned that the Malays appear to be endlessly giving more, the latest being connected with the liberalisation of the economic sector.
I think Anon of 19:18 is asking rather nasty questions. Perhaps I could take him up in later comments as this one is already long enough.
Dot.
Anonymous of 06 July 2009 19:18:00 MYT.
ReplyDeleteMay be if you keep a civil or at least a decent tongue in your mouth then you deserve an answer.
Some people do not know what civilization is.
Aspan
ReplyDelete“Chinese are among the earliest race of the world and its civilization started thousands of years ago. They have very long history and China is just not a great nation but it is civilization by itself and there is nothing that they don’t know in this world.”
I don’t dispute you there. But, in case some Malays, in wanting to
speak up for their race, may get over-awed by that statement, I wish to state, not with ill intent or in a demeaning manner, that their history and their civilization has not been without their strong and weak points.
No doubt, civilizations have perished or degenerated throughout history; the Egyptians, the Persians and a host of European and Latin American ones can be quoted in this regard. The Chinese have been beset by endless wars and rebellions, corruption, nepotism and cronyism, were conquered and bullied by foreign powers; the Manchus ruled them for a few hundred years, the British returned Hong Kong to them only over a decade ago. When the Communists took over China, they were isolated; China, in fact, has been regarded as a pariah state until only 1-2 decades ago.
The Malaysian Chinese keep harping on corruption, cronyism etc in Malaysia. True, these are despicable trends and must be minimised, if not rooted out.
But some of them use these to try and erode the New Economic Policy. They confuse or don’t differentiate the NEP concept from the implementation weaknesses. The Malays must not be over-awed by the Chinese civilization and overvalue the Chinese contribution towards this country, and must keep defending their rights.
Others use these as an excuse for not being loyal to the country. The leaders must carry out civic measures to educate and get them to understand what loyalty requires of them (e.g respect for the Constitution) and what patriotism means (e.g willingness to sacrifice for the country).
I’ve read arguments such as, “I’ll become loyal only when I get what I want from the country.” This is a non-starter kind of argument. It’s even pathetic. Similarly, comments suggesting that they either don’t understand what loyalty and patriotism are, or they simply choose not to bother about those. These are simply unacceptable in a 52 year-old independent nation.
"""""""""""""I don’t understand that comment by Anon of 6 July 16:37. What is he trying to imply. Can he give details on the Indonesian and the Chinese he referred to?""""""""""""""
ReplyDeleteThe easiest example is Khir Toyol. His father is Indonesian , probably an illegal immigrant. And he was born here in Malaysia first generation post Merdeka.
Is it fair he is considered Bumi?
What about chinese born here pre Merdeka?
So is Khir Toyol type of Bumiputa agrred to by our forefathers as stated by Mr Aspan Alias?
Even today Yemenis and Indoneisans settling down in Malaysia and then giving birth , just because they are Muslims, they are now considered Malaysian Bumiputras!!
Dont you even realise whats happening!@!!!
Dear Aspan,
ReplyDeleteMuch have been said about Bumiputra rights, but I found those who champion this issue are Malays rather than the Bumiputra of Sabah and Sarawak. It is important to remember the term Bumiputra includes the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. The only distinction between these two are the aspect of religion primarily. Suprisingly there is a clause in the constitution to define "Malay". Again this is partly due to the legacy in the formation of the Malaysia. Prior to this there was only "Perseketuan Tanah Melayu" in which the Bumiputras are mainly the Malays and some indigenous tribes. For the interest of the readers, I shall repeat what the constitution has to say about being a Malay. A malay is define as a Muslim who speaks the Malay language and pratices the Malay culture. By this definition, regardless whether you are a son of an immigrant or some orang putih or orang Cina or orang India, as long as you can prove that you are a muslim,you can speak the malay language and you have a malay way of your life; you are a Malay according to the constitution.
Because of this definition, you can observe how people like Khir Toyo or Hamid Albar can be defined as Malays thus enjoy the Malay rights. And it would be easier for many other Indonesian Muslims because of the common shared culture and language, especially before 1970s. Albeit the same cannot be said to Arab settlers/immigrants, but being a Muslim make it easier.
I am not aware of a similar definition allocated in the constitution for the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. But I understand you dont need to have the religion and language requirements as per Malay. You only have to prove that you are a descendant from the native tribe, or you parents are native. because of this, you can observe how even if you identify yourself as chinese or indians but if one of your parents are native or you have some natives blood, you can qualify for Bumiputra rights.
Hence my fellow Malaysian, in summary there are two ways in which one can enjoy the son of soil status, if you want to become a Malay, then you have to convert to Islam. This is by far the easiest route. If you love your religion you are out of luck, but you can adopt a native parent hehe. Or perhaps marry a native and your children can enjoy Bumi rights without becoming Muslims.
Intelligent forefathers, you bet. I for one feel sincerely sorry for the Bumiputra of Sabah and Sarawak.
-Son of Soil -(according to the constitution i.e)
In case the Anon concerned still reads this posting's comments, and for the record:
ReplyDeleteIt’s not nice to make wild accusations on specific individuals. It’s OK for you to ask nicely.
How do you know Khir Toyo's father is Indonesian, or an illegal immigrant? Even so, if "he was born here in Malaysia first generation post Merdeka", he is a Malaysian citizen. The citizenship status for Malays and non-Malays was spelt out in the Constitution of the country which was adopted at independence.
You did the right thing by at least asking if he is Bumi? The answer is all Malays are Bumis. The definition of a Malay is written in the Constitution.
You asked, what about chinese born here pre Merdeka. All Chinese born in Malaya before Merdeka were not citizens. They were in fact stateless. That was under British colonial rule.
But during the talks for independence the Malay leaders agreed they be given citizenship after Merdeka and, in exchange for that, the non-Malay leaders agreed that the Malays have their Special Malay Rights and these were written in the Constitution. After Merdeka, the non-Malays - Chinese and others - were given citizenship certificates.
So the non-Malays, having got citizenship, should not grudge at the Malays having Special Rights under which NEP was carried out and special educational facilities were provided.
You would understand things better if you learn the history of the country.
So the non-Malays, having got citizenship, should not grudge at the Malays having Special Rights under which NEP was carried out and special educational facilities were provided.
ReplyDeleteExcuse me, special positions, not rights nor privileges my friends. As please, read again the related provisions in the Constitution regarding special positiosn and assistance extended to the Malays and Bumiputera Sabah Sarawak.
When you talk about special positions, of course you are referring to Article 153 of the Constitution.
If you have read through the Constitution to look for an answer to these Malay "rights", perhaps the first thing that has struck you is that, familiar terminologies such as Malay "special rights", Malay "special privileges" or Malay "rights" are no where to be found in the Constitution. Instead, we only find the term "the special position of the Malays", which appears twice, in Clause (1) and Clause (2) of Article 153, which is titled "Reservation of quotas in respect of services, permits, etc, for Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak".
Article 153 of the Federal Constitution recognizes the special position of the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak needing help and therefore, allows the Government to render special assistance to Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak by reserving such proportion as may be reasonable in 5 areas namely positions in public service, scholarships, exhibitions, educational or training privileges and permits or licences for operation of trade or business to assist them.
The keyword here is "reasonable". Article 153 states:
- The quotas reserved must be reasonable and the reservation of licences and permits for Malays and natives must be of such proportion as may be deemed reasonable.
- The scope of the reservation of quotas is only with respect to positions in public service, scholarships, and other similar educational or training privileges accorded or given by the federal government and;
- The special reservation of quotas must not affect the rights of other communities.
This rights of other communities are also guarded in the Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which provides for equal treatment of all persons irrespective of race or religion.
Article 8 states:
- All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.
- No public authority shall discriminate against any person on the ground that he is resident or carrying on business in any part of the federation outside the jurisdiction of the authority.
- There shall be no discrimination in favour of any person on the ground that he is a subject of the ruler of any state.
Article 153 should always be interpreted together with Article 8 in that all Malaysians must be dealt with fairly and treated as equal. While the position of the Malays is respected and their heritage not forgotten, a section of them are not meant to be the guardians of wealth and collectors that usurp all money, oil and some natural resources till they are left dry.
Please understand, the sons and grandsons of the 'immigrants' never deny the fact that Malays and the natives are the owner of the land nor the special positions accorded to help them compete with other races. They also aware of their history, how Chinese in the past worked with the communists and their immigrant origins. We cannot dispute the historical facts, what differs maybe just the interpretations.
So, do you understand the Constitution? The Constitution was worded very carefully to avoid confusion and misinterpretation by opportunists. The lengthy post on the historical events doesn't help if we don't understand the spirit of the Constitution. The fault is not with our Constitution, but with our politicians twisting, misinterpreting and abusing it.