Ethnic Cleansing in Government sector in Malaysia: A Brutal Reality
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/76537
Some truth in 'ethnic cleansing'
Ken | Dec 31, 07 5:44pm
The prime minister and his team spared no effort in rubbishing Hindraf's claim that ethnic cleansing is taking place in Malaysia. They found ready support from many respected commentators and observers who have also criticised Hindraf for using such a strong label.
They are right if we accept the term with reference to what happened in Bosnia, Darfur, Rwanda and other places - the deliberate elimination or killing of a particular ethnic/religious group from a country or region so as to confine that place to solely one community. This is certainly not taking place in Malaysia. But if we look at the 'ethnic cleansing' term from a broader perspective, we would have to agree with Hindraf's use of the term, at least in a qualified way.
Compare Malaysia (Malaya) at independence and Malaysia today:
- The multi-racial but Malay-dominated public sector at independence has been 'cleansed' of non-Malays. Today the public sector, for all intents and purposes, is Malay-dominated with token representation of non-Malays occupying less significant positions. Ethnic cleansing has certainly taken place in the civil service particularly since the early 1980s.
- In the 1960s and 1970s, Universiti Malaya and Universiti Sains Malaysia were the only universities in the country. Their student population and faculties were multiracial. Even though there are numerous public universities today, their students and faculties are far from being representative of the Malaysian ethnic composition. 'Ethnic cleansing' has been taking place since the 1970s such that the public universities are practically Malay-majority.
- National schools in the 1960s and 1970s were multiracial with pupils and teachers from all ethnic groups. The curriculum was balanced and catered for all. But since the 1980s, schools have been progressively cleansed of non-Malay teaching staff. Their curriculum and administration have been Islamisised to such an extent that non-Muslim pupils feel excluded with most now attending Chinese and Tamil schools.
- Malaysian history, as taught in 1960s and even 1970s, included Hinduism's impact and influence on the Malay states more than 1,000 years ago. The history books mentioned that the Bujang Valley was the centre of an ancient Hindu civilisation in Malaysia. History lessons today only make cursory mention of Malaysia's Hindu heritage.
Museum Negara is certainly wanting in comprehensively reflecting the country's actual history. Malaysia's history has been progressively cleansed of Hindu segments. Today, Malaysian history begins with the arrival of Islam to Malaysia. The early contributions of the Chinese and Indian civilisations are rarely mentioned while the Arabic influence is emphasised and celebrated. No one can deny that the official version of Malaysia's history has been subjected to ethnic cleansing.
The above-mentioned realities lend credence to the term 'ethnic cleansing' used to describe the developments that have taken place in this country. Hence, the prime minister, all Umno/BN ministers and politicians and some of our moderate commentators should not keep harping on Hindraf's usage of the term 'ethnic cleansing' to conveniently label the group as extremist and racist.
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1 comment:
The aim of the political masters is to ensure that the country produces imbeciles over the years in our schoold and universities so that they would not have the brains to question the piccadillos of the politicians. That is the way to 'rule' a country. Look at Burma. Why can't Malaysia too be like Burma. Events seem to give a foretaste that this is what is going to happen when we have imbeciles in the Government and Public sectors and more imbeciles roaming the streets with no jobs or no job satisfaction because what they have studied so far would not fit into anything except being uniformed jagas.
During the Emergency, a few hundred Chinese in the jungle kept over 450,000 Commonwealth troops at bay. Push the communities too hard and as the old saying goes 'Even the worm will turn'. Now that the NGOs have tasted blood and gained a sense of strength in numbers and the mass media being avoided like the plage in favour of the Internet, the stage is already being set for whatever is going to happen next. Stories of PERJUANG and fighting for the Independance of Malaya with blood is all bull shit. The British just lumped the country and walked away because Britain was already bankrupt after the Second Great war. No one actually spent one drop of blood for our so called Independance and it is high time that the Politicians learnt that the Public are no fools when they make such PERJUANG cries and uncalled for utterances.
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