17 Nov, 2008
Call it what you want, Ketuanan Melayu is racism just like Apartheid. A rose by any other name, as Shakespeare would say. There is no way you can water down Apartheid by calling it Ketuanan Melayu.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
First read this news items from the Jakarta Post of 29 October 2008.
Indonesian anti-discrimination law
The House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bill that terms ethnic and racial discrimination as serious crimes.
Deputy Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar, who presided over the House's plenary session to approve the draft law, said Indonesia no longer had any room for any form of racial or ethnic discrimination.
Chairman of the House's special committee deliberating the bill, Murdaya Poo, said the endorsement of the bill should put an end to the long-standing dichotomy between indigenous and non-indigenous people in the country.
"A man cannot choose to be born as part of a certain race or ethnic group, and therefore discrimination must cease to exist," said Murdaya, who is Indonesian-Chinese.
He said the House proposed the bill as part of its effort to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination, which has been enacted since 1999.
Under the new law, leaders of public institutions found guilty of adopting discriminatory policies would face jail terms one-third more severe than those stipulated in the Criminal Code.
Citing an example, Murdaya said the governor or government of Aceh could not ban a gathering held by Javanese ethnics in the province.
He said the deliberation process had been delayed by a disagreement on whether imprisonment should be made the minimum punishment.
Jail as a minimum sentence is typically sought for serious crimes, such as corruption, terrorism, money-laundering or drug abuse.
"We decided to set prison as the minimum sentence to deter people from committing racial or ethnic discrimination," said Murdaya, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
The bill was passed on the same day Indonesia celebrated the 100th anniversary of Youth Pledge, which Murdaya said should encourage Indonesians to uphold the diverse nature of the nation.
Malaysia can’t allow western-style absolute freedom and democracy, argued Dr Mahathir, where people are free to carry guns and shoot each other at will or indulge in gay marriages or sunbath nude on the beaches or have sex on park benches in full view of the public and whatnot. Granted there are some things that should not be allowed but to ban the good so that one can prevent the bad is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Today, Indonesia allows equal airtime on national TV for opposition parties and makes it a mandatory jail sentence for the crime of racial discrimination. How far Indonesia has come since its cowboy days, the image it used to carry for a long, long time.
Malaysia has many Acts. Publishing and Printing Press Act, University and University Colleges Act, Societies Act, Police Act, Sedition Act, Official Secrets Act, Internal Security Act, amongst just some of our draconian laws, and all these Acts were passed by Parliament after Merdeka. Therefore it is not true when our leaders argue that these are old British Laws inherited by our country.
The old British laws are called Ordinances, such as the Emergency Ordinance, which also allows for detention without trial. In fact, Malaysia has many duplicate laws -- Acts and Ordinance -- and both are still being applied. In other words, the Ordinances have not been repealed in spite of the newer Acts that have been passed which should have replaced the old British laws.
As an example, although we have the newer Anti-Corruption Act, Anwar Ibrahim was charged, convicted and sentenced to six years jail under the old British Ordinance in 1998-1999. They chose to charge Anwar under the old Ordinance rather than the newer Act because it was easier to get Anwar convicted. They felt under the newer Act they might have problems convicting Anwar.
There are certain laws still being applied which actually violate the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. But then there is a provision in the Constitution which allows Parliament to pass unconstitutional laws in the event the country is facing an emergency. In other words, if Malaysia were under ‘attack’ it would be legal for Parliament to pass ‘illegal’ laws. This is called the ends justifying the means or matlamat menghalalkan cara.
Emergency was actually declared back in 1962 when Indonesia declared war on Malaysia and we went through a period of Konfrontasi. Though the confrontation with Indonesia ended later on, the emergency was never lifted and when race riots erupted in may 1969 the government just ‘rode on’ the emergency already declared in 1962 and which was never lifted.
Technically, Malaysia is still ‘under emergency’ although Indonesia is now our friend and the May 1969 race riot has ended and the Communist Party of Malaya officially ended the war and signed a peace treaty with Malaysia in Haadyai, Thailand, in 1989.
In other words, Malaysia has ‘officially’ seen peace for almost 20 years now (though unofficially we have had about 40 years of peace) but the emergency still remains and Parliament can still use the ‘special’ provision in the Constitution to legally pass illegal laws that violate the Constitution. Boleh ke macam ni? Mesti boleh because in Malaysia semua boleh.
South Africa too used to be just like Malaysia and at one time Malaysians were banned from travelling to South Africa (plus to Israel, China, Russia, North Korea, North Vietnam, etc.). Today, South Africa no longer has an Internal Security Act and instead has a Bill of Rights. Apartheid ended in South Africa a long time ago and there is no longer any racial discrimination in that country. Lawyers from South Africa, in fact, look down on Malaysia’s laws and judicial system. Is that not an irony of sorts?
The last few months since the recent general election have seen racism on the increase. Barisan Nasional appears totally blur that it did badly in the 8 March 2008 general election because of its racist policy. Instead of toning down racism it is stepping up the race rhetoric. It has not learnt from the election beating that it received at the hands of the voters, 50% who voted for the opposition parties.
Call it what you want, Ketuanan Melayu is racism just like Apartheid. A rose by any other name, as Shakespeare would say. There is no way you can water down Apartheid by calling it Ketuanan Melayu. Ketuanan Melayu is Apartheid by another name but Apartheid just the same. And Barisan Nasional had better get this through its thick head if it knows what’s good for it.
Racism in Malaysia should be made a crime just like in Indonesia and it should attract a mandatory jail sentence also just like in Indonesia. And anything that smacks of racism should be banned and made illegal. And that should include Malaysia’s version of Apartheid going by the name of Ketuanan Melayu.
Anwar Ibrahim has replaced Ketuanan Melayu or Malay Supremacy with Ketuanan Rakyat -- the people are supreme. This must be our mission and vision statement. And all those who oppose this must be rejected in toto. Let that be the swan song of all Malaysians, irrespective of race. And you are either with us or you are against us, as President Bush would say.
"A man cannot choose to be born as part of a certain race or ethnic group, and therefore discrimination must cease to exist," said Murdaya, who is Indonesian-Chinese.
ReplyDeleteThis writer is a shithead. He wrote Murdaya, who is Indonesian-Chinese.
Is this not a subtle racism? Why can't he just write Murdaya Indoesian minister?? So don't preach about racism where you yourself indulge.