Takkan Melayu Hilang Di Dunia!

Is Umno dead? What the fuck is Umno anyway? According to Wikipedia:

"The United Malays National Organisation, or UMNO, (Malay: Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu), is a right-wing party and Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has ruled the country uninterruptedly since its independence. It is known for being a major proponent of Malay Supremacy or Ketuanan Melayu and mild Islamic fundamentalism, which holds that the Malays and other Muslims are the 'definitive' people of Malaysia and, thus, deserve special privileges as their birthright."

So the entire foundation of Umno rests upon the ethnocentric notion of Malay Supremacy. Which begs the question: how do you define "Malay"? At this crucial juncture in Malaysia's political evolution, it's important to examine these fundamental issues and see what can be gleaned. Friends have been forwarding an anonymous essay on this very topic. Not a particularly well-written piece, but it does contain some fascinating facts. I shall present it here, after putting in some of my own editorial touches:

How many of you have read the book entitled Contesting Malayness edited by a professor of the National University of Singapore? It reflects the anthropological view that there is no such race as the "Malays" to begin with.

Following the original migration of the Yunnan (southwestern) Chinese around 6,000 years ago, they moved to Taiwan and are today known as the Alisan; some migrated to the Philippines and became known as the Aeta; others moved to Borneo around 4,500 years ago and are now called the Dayak. The migrants also split off to Sulawesi, Jawa, and Sumatra. The final migration was to the Malayan Peninsular about 3,000 years ago. A sub-group from Borneo also moved to Champa in Cambodia around 4,500 years ago.

Interestingly, the Champa deviant group moved back to present day Kelantan. There are also traces of the Dong Song and Hoabinhian migration from Vietnam and Cambodia. To further confuse the issue, there was also a Southern Thai migration, from what we know as Pattani today (see Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula).

Of course, we also have the Minangkabau who claim descent from Alexander the Great and a West Indian Princess (Sejarah Melayu pp 1-3)

So is there really a race called the "Malays"? Most anthropologists DO NOT SEEM TO THINK SO.

Neither do the "Malays" who live on the West Coast of Johore. They would rather be called Javanese. What about the west coast Kedah inhabitants who prefer to be known as Acehnese? Or the Ibans who simply want to be known as Ibans? Try calling a Kelabit a "Malay" and see what reaction you get... you'll be glad their head-hunting days are over.

The concept of "Malay" therefore refers to a collection of peoples who speak a similar language. Even so, "a similar language" does not mean the words are similar. Linguists call this the "Lego-type" language, where words are added on to the root word to make different meanings and to impart tenses and such. The Indonesians disagree with this classification. They refuse to be called Malay no matter how you may define the term.

According to this classification, the concept of "Malay" must include the Filipinos, Papua New Guineans, Australian Aborigines, as well as Polynesian Aborigines. These peoples are part of the Australo-Melanesian migration from Africa dating 60,000 years back.

The definition of "Malay" should also apply to the Taiwanese singer, Ah Mei, whose Alisan tribe can be regarded as the ancestors of the "Malays." The Southern Chinese (of Funan Province) ought to classified as "Malay" too, since they are of the same stock that migrated south 6,000 years ago.

Are the Bugis "Malays"? Interestingly, the Bugis, who predominantly live on Sulawesi, do not even consider themselves Indonesians. Neither do they fall into the same group as the migrating Southern Chinese of 6,000 years ago - nor the Australo-Melanesian group from Africa. The Bugis are, in fact, a cross between the Chinese and the Arabs. They are descended from a renegade Ming Dynasty official who turned to piracy. His career as a buccaneer was so successful that Admiral Cheng Ho was despatched to hunt him down and put an end to his mischief. In effect, the Bugis were career pirates operating among the Johore-Riau Islands. The nephew of Daeng Kemboja was appointed the first Sultan of Selangor. That makes the entire Selangor Sultanate part Arab, part Chinese. Talk to the Bugis Museum curator near Kukup in Johore. (Kukup is located at the south-westernmost tip of Johore, near Pontian Kecil).

Let's not delve too deeply into the legend of the five warriors - Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekiu, and Hang Lekir - who shared the same family name as Hang Li Poh. And who was she? A Ming princess who was sent to marry the Sultan of Malacca. The elder son of the vanquished Malacca Sultan was killed in Johor, and the other son eventually became the Sultan of Perak. Do we detect any Chinese genes in Raja Azlan? Could he be the descendant of Princess Hang Li Poh?

Next question: if the Malacca Babas are part-Malay, why have they been marginalized by not being classified bumiputera? Which part of their "Malayness" is not legitimate? Whatever the answer, why are the Portuguese of Malacca accepted as bumiputera? Didn't their forefathers arrive a hundred years AFTER the arrival of the first Babas? Parameswara founded Malacca in 1411. The Portugese came in 1511, and the Dutch in 1641. Oddly enough, the Babas were in fact once classified as bumiputera, but they were "declassified" in the 1960's. WHY?

The Sultan of Kelantan had genetic roots in the Pattani Kingdom, making him of Thai origin. And has anyone come across a coffee-table book commissioned by the Sultan of Perlis wherein he claims to be a direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad? Professor Emeritus Khoo Kay Kim is supposedly the author of the book. I'd pay good money to get my hands on a copy!

Negrito women and their babies (from the Philippines)

How many of you have met an Orang Asli? The further north you go, the more African they look. Why are they called Negritos? It's a Spanish word which translates as "little Negroes." The farther south you go, the more "Indonesian" they look. And the ones who live on Cameron Highlands look like a 50-50 blend. Take the Batek of Taman Negara, who look a lot like Eddie Murphy clones. Or the Negritos who live below the Thai border near Temenggor Lake. The Mah Meri of Carey Island look exactly like the Jakuns of Endau Rompin. Half African, half Indonesian.

There was once a Hindu-Malay Empire in Kedah. That's right. The Malays were Hindu before they became Muslim. It went by the name Langkasuka. Today it is known as Lembah Bujang. This Hindu-Malay Empire flourished about 2,000 years ago, pre-dating Borobodur and Angkor Wat by about 500 years. Lembah Bujang was a mighty trading empire, and it was built by Indian craftsmen and stonemasons. Obviously, Langkasuka was a vassal of India. This should make the Indians bumiputeras too since they were here 2,000 years ago. Why have they been dismissed as pendatang (immigrants) and marginalized?

In effect the "Malay" race is essentially an amalgamation of Asian tribes. So it's totally incorrect to call this country "Tanah Melayu." Instead we should call it "Tanah Truly Asia."

For once the Tourism Ministry got it right.

Now if my memory serves me correctly, Umno actually died 20 years ago on 4 February 1988 when Justice Harun Hashim declared the party illegal, since it had breached the rules governing political parties by failing to register at least 30 branches. According to Wikipedia:

"The Tunku and former UMNO President Hussein Onn set up a new party called UMNO Malaysia, which claimed to be the successor to the old UMNO. UMNO Malaysia was supported mainly by members of the Team B faction from UMNO, but Mahathir was also invited to join the party leadership. However, the party collapsed after the Registrar of Societies refused to register it as a society (without providing an explanation)."

Two weeks later, on 18 February 1988, Mahathir formed a surrogate party called Umno Baru. Which means the original Umno established by Dato' Onn Jaafar on May 11 1946 was no longer in existence. Instead, the party became, to all intents and purposes, an extension of and a vehicle for Mahathir's own egocentricity and megalomania. And the biggest joke is, Mahathir himself once declared his own racial origins as "Indian Muslim." Ketuanan Mamak. How does THAT sound?

WE CAN ALL BE HEROES!

"Mati ayam, mati tungaunya (if the fowl dies, its ticks perish too)" - an old Malay saying.

As far as I’m concerned, Umno-BN is deceased. Finito. R.I.P. Kaput. What happened on March 8th was a gigantic Samurai sword that moved so swiftly the 10-headed hydra of Might-Is-Right that has terrorized us for the last 25 years lost all its heads. The BN survivors of the March 8th debacle are all operating in Safe Mode now, their operating systems having crashed big-time. Perhaps the Umno-BN hard drive can still be booted up a few more times and some useful data saved - but the motherboard itself is on the verge of terminal malfunction. So let's not speak ill of the dead.

Anyone who hasn’t been brainwashed by establishment pundits with vested interests can see that Anwar Ibrahim has got what it takes to steer this floundering ship back on course. And what it takes is intelligence, courage, stamina, adaptability, good humor, experience, and most importantly, ethical sense. His resilience has been proven over the last ten years by his capacity to transmute tragedy into triumph, transforming himself from victim to victor - all the while maintaining his dignity, clarity, and focus.

Whatever his early political agenda, the Anwar Ibrahim of 2008 has been forged in the furnace of personal pain and endurance. In 1998 he could have taken the money and run - become an academic or corporate CEO. But he didn’t. He stood up to Mahathir (right) and fought like a man. That’s how he gained my respect and admiration and trust. There are very few in our midst today that I can describe as “heroic.”

Is Chandra Muzaffar a hero? He might have been once, back in the early 1980s when he left academia to battle the monstrous menace of Mahathir. But after his ISA experience in 1987, Chandra’s spirit buckled. He left Aliran to establish JUST and for a few years he continued to say the right things. But he had lost his fire, his fighting spirit. He had gone the way of Lee Lam Thye.

Is Raja Petra Kamarudin (left) a hero? Most certainly. He stood by Anwar Ibrahim in the early days of his rebellion against monumental odds and was arrested under the ISA for his efforts. He was a tireless webmaster for the official Reformasi website and that subsequently led to his launching Malaysia Today - a "no holds barred" local news portal that has played a crucial role in exposing the dark side of Umno-BN and gained an immense readership. Indeed, RPK grew to be such a thorn in BN's backside a police report was filed against him by an Umno hatchetman and he was interrogated for eight hours. He threw his energy into the Opposition campaign as a featured speaker at many ceramahs (political rallies). Although a bona fide prince, RPK has always been accessible, down-to-earth and his finger is firmly on the pulse of the people. A large part of the credit for what happened on March 8th must go to RPK.

[Since this essay was written, much has transpired that warrants the inclusion of a footnote: RPK was arrested under ISA in September 2008 and sent to Kamunting; in November a courageous high court judge ordered his unconditional release, and RPK subsequently went into self-imposed exile; recently, RPK turned petulant and began attacking Anwar Ibrahim, although it appears to be more a personal than political feud. This has dimmed RPK's heroic lustre to a serious extent, even if he remains a positive force for change.]

Is Tian Chua a hero? I would say YES! But his career as a politician is only just beginning and he has a lot of learning to do, especially in terms of his approach. Even so, his fearlessness in the face of police violence has inspired many to speak up or march for justice. There are many other heroes I can think of: Lim Guan Eng, the new Chief Minister of Penang, for example, jailed by Mahathir for speaking up on behalf of a schoolgirl gang-banged by the former Chief Minister of Melaka; Tony Pua, who sold his successful IT business to launch his political career as an outspoken blogger and DAP candidate; Sivarasa Rasiah, who has spent the last 20 years defending human rights... it so happens they are all in the Barisan Rakyat.

And then there's Steven Gan, managing editor of Malaysiakini, who stuck to his guns as a political journalist and quit The Sun when he rubbed the establishment up the wrong way. In 1999, at the height of Reformasi fervor, Steven teamed up with Premesh Chandran to launch Malaysia's first news portal. Over the years Malaysiakini has survived several police raids and the confiscation of its computers. For invaluable services rendered to truth-loving Malaysians, this news portal deserves a standing ovation - and a thousand-fold increase in subscribers!

But to my mind nobody can match what Anwar Ibrahim has accomplished: he has led us through the Chapel Perilous of racial politics and now, for the first time since Merdeka, we can look around and appreciate the beauty of our own diversity and say, “Vive la difference!” On March 9th I was blissed out by a tangible feeling that we are no longer stuck in the rut of ethnocentric tempurungism, that we have finally outgrown all that “Bangsa-Ugama-Tanahair” hot air. I went to town and felt the genuine goodwill and jubilation that shone from every face I saw - Malay, Chinese, Indian, Orang Asli, Dan-lain-lain!

What has been missing all these decades is the possibility that we can love one another as humans, regardless of skin color or creed - that’s because cold-blooded ambition and ruthless greed have no use for empathy and warm feelings, nor does it encourage compassion, kindness, and spontaneous joy. No, it feeds and fattens itself vampire-like on fear - other people’s fear. And now, on that bright Sunday morning after GE12, the fear had dissipated like a bad smell in the winds of change. PKR flags fluttered proudly against a glorious blue Selangor sky, proclaiming that the people's eyes were open at long last.

In the climate of fear Mahathir created during his 22-year reign, anybody who dared speak the truth became a hero - or martyr. Anwar Ibrahim, more than any other political icon in the country, succeeded in transcending his own childhood prejudices to embody the universal values that will unite rather than divide us as a nation. That is indeed the mark of a hero. Let us honor this hero (who nearly became a martyr) by giving him what he fully deserves - the chance to serve as prime minister (at least till he tires of it or we tire of him). At the same time, let us all aspire to become heroes too, so that we will no longer be scared children in need of a grown-up to lead us across the street. Let us each become, in time, self-governing individuals whose relationship to our political leaders is akin to an orchestra’s respect for the conductor, knowing full well that his job is to create a symphony from the potential cacophony of so many different instruments.


[Illustration by Antares from Two Catfish in the Same Hole; photos pinched from various sources]

Can Anwar become Prime Minister in the next few weeks?

This is how my son-in-law Marcus responded to an article I circulated with the headline "Can Anwar become Prime Minister in the next few weeks?":

You must be joking. He comes from the same breed and is just a lamp (sic) in a wolfs outfit. Hope u are not serious.

I am absolutely serious, Marcus. There has been a systematic attempt to undermine Anwar's credibility by those who recognize that he is indeed the most intelligent, adaptable, and charismatic leader to emerge from Umno's ranks. Mahathir's vicious attack on him which led to Anwar's 6 years of humiliation, imprisonment and intense suffering was the furnace that remolded the man into a prime ministerial candidate that I personally endorse. I have no fear of Anwar Ibrahim and am pleased to have him (as well as Lim Kit Siang) as Facebook friends :-)

An important factor people who irrationally hate and fear Anwar seem to have forgotten is that PKR is no longer just Anwar Ibrahim. He is surrounded by many good people - Syed Husin Ali, Sivarasa Rasiah, Elizabeth Wong, Nathaniel Tan, to name just a few - who will immediately quit PKR if ever Anwar's dark side begins to reassert itself and turns him into a monster. Anyway, having survived and outlived the Greatest Monster of Them All (yes, I mean Mahathir) we can deal with any wannabe Monsters that show up!

Having met Wan Azizah and Nurul Izzah during the Reformasi days, I have no doubt that they are very fine people and will always have a moderating effect on Anwar.

Since September 2, 1998, the day Anwar Ibrahim was fired, I have been monitoring the man closely and his every move and utterance has impressed me favorably.

We are living in a whole new era now, Marcus. All those who have spoken negatively about Anwar Ibrahim can only warn about his ambition and lust for power - and they say he was just like the other Umno politicians before he got sacked. Anwar Ibrahim WANTS to be PM. He has always said so. He was, in fact, next in line for the job before September 1998, having been groomed by Dr M for 16 years. Nobody can say the PKR has no experience governing. I have no quarrel with people who are ambitious - so long as they have what it takes to be at the top, and what it takes is a willingness to learn from their own mistakes and to keep their minds open to feedback from others. The recent elections was largely won through a free flow of information via the blogs and news portals like Malaysiakini.

Bloggers are a very vocal bunch. If Anwar becomes PM and starts regressing into authoritarianism he will hear about it immediately. In any case, I will personally hold him accountable to his pre-election promise of abolishing all repressive laws (ISA, OSA, etc). Once those laws are gone, the mechanisms by which citizens can keep their elected leaders in check will be restored.

Your nervousness probably comes from the views of so-called experts who move in power circles. They all suffer from the same disease: hero-envy! They are secretly envious of Anwar because he has the capacity to reinvent himself - from victim to victor within 10 years. Remember those images of Anwar from early 1999, with black eye, frogmarched around by policemen, in constant pain from a spinal injury, attending his mother's funeral in a wheelchair, not allowed to seek medical treatment in Germany... slowly poisoned by arsenic mixed into the paintwork of his Sungai Buloh cell. Look at him today. I for one am very impressed and will publicly name him a national hero. He showed Malaysians you can defy Mahathir - and live!

Cheers & Hugs,
Antares
~^@^~

P.S. In any case, there isn't anybody from Umno who qualifies as PM. Certainly not Najib, the urbane sleazeball with blood on his hands and Lady Macbeth on his back! Hishamuddin is a braindead lout and Khairy J is definitely the most hated Malay in Malaysia (people believe he had to cheat to win in Rembau). All the old farts are out - and none of the newer faces has a personality or even a known opinion outside of Umno party dogma, viz., the Malays need Umno to defend their special rights. No PAS leader is acceptable as PM - not yet - because they are too closely aligned with a religion. The DAP leaders may be sincere for the most part but many are from the ranks of hawkers and sundry shop owners - a bit uncouth and unsophisticated when it comes to dancing with the complex Malay psyche. This leaves PKR - the first workable multi-ethnic party in Malaysian history - and I'm extremely pleased Selangor is now managed by PKR! No, I am not a card-carrying member - though in 1999 I paid my RM2 to join KeADILan in KKB. Unfortunately the schoolteacher who was acting as treasurer absconded with all the money collected and later rejoined Umno - so I was never registered :-)

Antares
Magick River
44000 Kuala Kubu Baru
Malaysia