Can Najib do that. Is he himself so clean?”
help the Sarawakians, probe Taib and if guilty, impound his wealth, seize his assets, prosecute him to the highest courts and show Malaysians that no one is safe from such excesses of power abuse and corruption,” PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat said today he could not bring himself to accept the Barisan Nasional (BN) victory in the two by-elections yesterday because the government machinery was allegedly biased
The 1Malaysia concept introduced almost two years has become a symbol and term that has boosted unity and patriotism, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The prime minister said on Thursday, March 17 that since he launched the concept when taking over office on April 3, 2009, its acceptance by the people had been very encouraging.
"Now whether in rural or urban areas, in fact abroad, shouts of 1Malaysia can be heard from Malaysians at functions and community activities," he said when replying to a question from Zulkifli Noordin (Ind-Kulim/Bandar Baru) at the Dewan Rakyat.
Zulkifli had wanted to know if the government had any plans to repackage the concept so that it is not twisted around by irresponsible quarters to cause confusion among the people because of varied interpretations.
How much more abuse should Malays receive from the likes of Mahathir and the Umno elite?
First. Former Prime minister Mahathir Mohamad told us that the country belonged to the Malays and everyone else had to accept the culture and language of the dominant community.
He said, “This country belongs to the Malay race. Peninsular Malaysia was known as Tanah Melayu but this cannot be said because it will be considered racist. We must be sincere and accept that the country is Tanah Melayu”
Second. Mahathir said that Malays will feel less threatened if the country adopted the concept of “Bangsa Malaysia”. According to him, “Bangsa Malaysia” would allow better co-operation between the different races and thus guarantee the future of the country.
Third. Mahathir said that the race affirmative programmes such as the New Economic Policy (NEP) were still important as the Malays were still weak economically.
“We must not reject every government effort to help us. We must push away the crutches and realise that we are still limping.
Mahathir has not disappointed us. He is as divisive as ever and many Malays, his target audience, simply cling onto every word.
So, when will Malays understand that this man is insulting our intelligence?
Mahathir made the comments during his talk “Malay race and the future", at the Tun Hussein Onn Memorial. He is insulting the memory of Hussein Onn who was called ‘Bapa Perpaduan’ for his unceasing efforts in promoting racial unity.
Where is our integrity and Malay pride that we continually allow him to abuse us? He tells us this is our land and at the same time manages to insult us by saying we are too stupid and incapable to hang onto it.
He said the Malay community may risk losing the country without the affirmative action policies.
He alluded to this: “Which is better? To be dependent on policies which will save us or depend on others hoping that they will save us? Sooner or later, we will be under their rule”.
When he said that the Malays owned Tanah Melayu, he callously ignored the Orang Asli, the Sarawakians and Sabahans. He managed also to slight the non-Malays without whose help, we would not have gained our independence from the British.
Why are Malays condoning the various acts of discrimination?
Isn’t it time we took charge of this country, wrestle it from the likes of Mahathir and others like him, and tell them that their ingrained prejudices against non-Malays and non-Muslims are unacceptable?
Mahathir claims we are weak. Why do we continue to take orders from a non-Malay?
Why do the majority of Malays keep quiet when racist leaders divide us?
At some point in time, Malays must alter their mindset. Now, would be perfect.
We have been conditioned for decades by leaders who only wanted to promote their own interests.
They told us we were weak and that we could not think for ourselves.
They offered to do the thinking for us and make decisions on our behalf.
They softened us with their policies which made us lazy and gave us incentives which meant we need not work as hard.
They denied us a good solid education and flip-flopped in between policies. They broke up the mission schools which was once the bedrock of education.
They encouraged large families and allowed polygamous husbands to proliferate and act irresponsibly, so that many children lacked a father figure and thus were denied a solid family unit. Single mothers had to manage on one income and struggled to support their children. Some children became feral. Large families lacked adequate health-care.
These Umno leaders control the Malay mind. They realise the importance of influence over the Malays.
They dominate and control the Malays, by keeping us in a hopeless and continually pessimistic state. That is what Najib, Mahathir and the other leaders are doing to us.
First, they frighten us and second, they demoralise us.
It is all about power. Control the Malays and power is all theirs.
These uninspiring leaders cannot afford to lose their domination over the Malays.
Without the weak Malays, they are nothing.
They know that educated, healthy and confident Malays are much harder to govern.
Najib said there were certain quarters who only thought about their own political interests and were always looking for ways to twist around the facts concerning the 1Malaysia concept for political mileage.
He said even if explained a thousand times and despite the concept getting the support of the majority of Malaysians, there had been unending attempts by some quarters to create confusion about it in trying to mislead the people.
"This people should just be ignored. What is clear is that the majority of Malaysians are attracted to and accept the 1Malaysia concept as a concept that brings Malaysians of all races closer to each other, besides boosting the spirit of patriotism, which are its main objectives," said Najib.
He said at the initial stage, some quarters had attempted to manipulate the concept to give rise to polemics for their own political interests.
"However, with detailed explanation to all strata of society, it can be seen the concept has gained wide acceptance among the people," he said.
To a supplementary question from Zulkifli whether the concept's slogan should be changed from "People First, Performance Now" to "Country First, People the Priority", Najib said the matter needed to be explained in more detail.
Friday's announcement, thought to be aimed at appeasing Saudis calling for Egypt-style protests that forced the president out of power, came as unrest rocked Gulf countries where protesters are demanding political reforms. In a speech broadcast live on Saudi television, the ageing Abdullah - who returned home in February after months of treatment in a New York clinic - read the announcement in a soft trembling voice and rarely looked up from his notes. The numbers announced were large: $66.7bn would be spent on 500,000 housing units and $4.3bn on more medical facilities. The sweeteners also include an additional two months' wages for all government workers and two extra payments for university students worth around $500. King Abdullah raised the monthly minimum wage to $800 and announced a monthly payment of around $260 to the country's unemployed. Unemployment in the world's biggest crude exporter was 10.5 per cent last year, but was as high as 30 per cent in the 20-29 age group with an estimated 450,000 Saudi citizens without jobs. The monarch promised millions more capital for the government's housing loan fund and raised the maximum loan for homes to around $130,000. Security praised He also praised security forces for blocking protests planned by the country's Shia minority who complain of marginalisation, saying: "You are the hitting hand against whoever considers undermining the nation's security and stability." Abdullah also appeared to thank Saudis for not having taken to the streets in large numbers, ignoring calls on social media sites. "I am so proud of you. Words are not enough to describe you," he said. "You are the safety valve of this nation and you struck at that which is wrong with the truth and at treachery with loyalty ..." Almost no Saudis in major cities answered a Facebook call for protests on March 11 and the kingdom deployed security forces in large numbers to deal with those who dared venture on the streets. Though protests in Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia have been tiny and were swiftly quelled, the monarchy apparently fears they could escalate as have others around the Arab world - particularly in the neighbouring island of Bahrain, where Saudi troops lead a 1,500-strong Gulf military force against Shia demonstrators. Saudi protesters have mostly come from the Shia-dominated eastern quarter of the kingdom. They share similar grievances as their Shia brethren in Bahrain, and the Sunni powers fear their unrest will give an opening for Shia Iran to expand its influence on the Arab side of the Gulf. The king vowed to fight corruption by setting up a new body answerable directly to him. He promised billions for the health sector - announcing new research centres around the country, homes for medics and thousands of new hospital beds. He also promised an extra $40m for private hospitals. Cosmetic changes But the changes announced by Abdullah did not loosen the tribal monarchy's tight hold on power - a key demand of Saudi opposition figures - and were viewed by some as cosmetic. "I was seriously disappointed to be honest," said Mohammed al-Qahtani, a prominent reformist. "The least we expect is to establish a constitutional monarchy and freeing [political] prisoners. Is this going to be enough for the people? I don't think so." The gesture also overlooked requests by intellectuals to release political prisoners and reform the country's decision-making process. There was no word either on a much-anticipated reshuffle of a cabinet where the main posts are held by senior Saudi princes, some of whom have been in the job for over four decades. Saudi Arabia is dominated by the Saudi royal family, political parties are banned and there is no elected parliament. |
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