It is time the Indians reclaim their dignity. It is time the Indians no longer allow themselves to be taken for granted. It is time the Indians realise that they need not succumb to threats and blackmail and that the Malays and Chinese will stand by them and defend them if they stand up for their rights.
Raja Petra Kamarudin
There is a very old joke that once made its rounds around the time the D.P. Vijendran sex videotapes first exploded onto the scene. The joke went as follows:
Samy Vellu, S. Subramanian and Vijendran decided to have a boys' night out, complete with women and everything thrown in. They checked into the presidential suit of a five-star hotel and after dinner each adjourned to one of the attached bedrooms with the women they had 'booked' for the night. After the fun and games, when the women had gone home, they sat down for a nightcap and compared notes.
“How was your woman?” Subramaniam asked Samy.
“Not very good lah. My wife is better......How was yours?”
“Mine also not that good,” replied Subramaniam. “My wife is also better......And what about yours Vije?”
“Mine also not that exciting. But you are both right, your wives are certainly much better.”
Of course, this is just one of the countless off-colour jokes about those who walk in the corridors of power, in particular involving the MIC. If we compiled all the jokes ever told about Malaysian politicians, we would be able to publish a book, maybe in many volumes.
There is another -- probably more sensitive though because it involves religion and Malaysians are not that tolerant of religious jokes -- about Indian Muslims, Christians and Hindus. The joke went as follows:
The Indian Muslims, Christians and Hindus were attending an 'interfaith' conference and during the tea-break they discussed how they raised funds for their various houses of worship.
“We collect a lot of money during the Friday congregation prayers,” said the Muslim imam, “plus we receive government funding. So we have enough money to maintain the mosque and finance our dakwah activities.”
“We do exactly the same,” said the Christian priest, “and of course this is done during Sunday mass but we do not get any government funding.”
“We are no different,” butted in the Batu Caves Temple committee chairman, “only that we throw the money into the air and whatever God wants He catches and what falls to the ground we hand over to MIC.”
Many a true word is said in jest and this could probably be why the Hindus boycotted the Batu Caves temple this recent Thaipusam. They no longer want MIC to get its hands on the millions that are collected every year. I was told that this year the Batu Caves temple collection dropped drastically compared to previous years.
Actually, the joke is rather unfair. In a sense God does get the money from the Batu Caves Temple collection. Only that this 'God' is named Samy Vellu.
But 'God' Samy Vellu is having a tough time nowadays. His disciples have turned murtad (apostates). The Indians have turned their backs on him. After 50 years, the Indians have awoken to the fact that Samy is not leading them to the 'promised land' after all as promised. All over Malaysia the Indians are up in arms. Samy, his family, and those perceived close to him, are heckled, pelted with slippers and eggs, roughed up, and many times the police had to be called lest the crowd send them home in a body bag.
Barisan Nasional is worried. In the past, Barisan Nasional used to only worry about the Malays and Chinese. The Malays and Chinese are so unpredictable. But there was no worry about the Indians though. In almost every general election and by-election, Barisan Nasional would, without a doubt, get 90% of the Indian votes. It is the Malay and Chinese voters that they have to watch.
The only 'good thing' about the Malays and Chinese is that they never both swing the same way. When one swings one way, the other swings the opposite direction. In the mid-1980s, the Chinese swung to DAP. DAP captured 24 Parliament seats in the mid-1980s general election. But the Malays swung to Barisan Nasional and PAS was practically massacred when it won just one Parliament seat against DAP's 24.
Then, slightly over a decade later, the Malays swung opposition and gave the Malay candidates from PAS and PKR 32 Parliament seats in the Malay heartland plus control of two state governments. They also gave the Malay opposition eight of the 15 Parliament seats in Kedah, more than half and mainly predominantly Malay-majority constituencies. DAP came in with only ten Parliament seats, and even then with the help of Malay voters. In some areas, PAS members were seen wearing DAP T-shirts while marching with DAP flags held high. It was very strange seeing Malay faces dressed in the colours of what many would call a 'Chinese chauvinist' party.
When the Malays swing one way, the Chinese swing the other. But since 90% of the Indians vote Barisan Nasional, and the Malays and Chinese never vote 'block' but vote against one another, this is not a major problem. It does not matter whether the Malays support the government and the Chinese oppose the government, or vice versa. Just make sure they do not unite and oppose the government together. Divide the Malays and Chinese so that if one swings away from you, you still have the other swinging your way. And the Indians can play the balancer, basically the 'king-maker' in this divide and rule strategy.
So the electoral boundaries were drawn up with this in mind. The constituencies must be designed in such a manner that if one race goes anti-government, the other would help balance it. And the Indians would deliver the crucial votes to tip the delicately balanced scales in favour of the ruling party. And that is how the Elections Commission's gerrymandering is done, and with that one purpose in mind. But today, senjata sudah makan tuan.
But heaven forbid that the Indians swing the other way. Heaven forbid that 90% of the Indian votes go to the opposition instead of to the ruling party as has been so for 50 years. And heaven forbid that the Malays and Chinese actually unite and vote the same way instead of swinging opposite to each other. This was what happened in 1969, and if it happens again in 2008, then Barisan Nasional will see its two-thirds majority in Parliament disappear, as it would in states such as Penang, Perak and Selangor, plus in the Federal Territory, while Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis might see opposition-led governments in the State Assembly.
Samy Vellu is now a liability. But Samy Vellu refuses to retire. He still wants his last hurrah. But that may not happen. Instead, this may prove to be his last tango. But the Indian anger must not be against just Samy Vellu. This was what happened in 1999 when the Malay anger was channelled to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. When Mahahir retired and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over as Prime Minister, the voters swung back to Barisan Nasional and gave it the largest majority in Malaysian election history, 92% of the seats in Parliament. Even the mighty Mahathir could not achieve this in his 22 years at the helm of Barisan Naisonal.
Samy Vellu must be declared irrelevant. Whether Sany Vellu retires or continues must no longer be the issue. The Indians must be angry with Barisan Nasional, in particular MIC. The Indians must be made to realise that Samy Vellu is not the problem. The problem is the system and Malaysia's political structure. It does not matter who leads MIC. As long as MIC is part of Barisan Nasional, and all the other 13 coalition members serve Umno, then whoever leads MIC will not change anything.
I remember 20 years ago when the Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry met Samy Vellu at the height of the mid-1980s recession. I was then a central committee member and we lamented about the lack of contracts and how many Malay businessmen were facing bankruptcy. Samy Vellu replied that he is already doing as much as he could by dishing out contracts to Malay companies.
“I am not a Minister for the Indian community,” replied Samy Vellu. “I am a minister for the Malays. I look after the Malays more than I look after the Indians. It is the Malays who vote me into office. Without the Malay votes I would not be in power. So I care more for the Malays than the Indians. What more do you want me to do?”
Samy Vellu uttered this most surprising declaration 20 years ago in front of more than 1,000 Malay businessmen. Ahmad Sebi Abu Bakar, then the CEO of TV3, agreed with what Samy Vellu said.
“We put him in JKR so that he can privatise all the projects to Umno. If we put a Malay as a Minister it would be very sensitive. With an Indian as a Minister the non-Malays cannot say anything.”
Samy Vellu's usefulness to Umno was further demonstrated when he switched portfolios with Leo Moggie. As the new Minister of Tenaga, Telekom dan Pos, Samy Vellu corporatised TNB, Telekoms, Pos Malaysia, etc., and Umno, plus those who walk in the corridors of power, became beneficiaries of the shares and made billions. After there was nothing left to sell, Samy Vellu and Leo Moggie again switched portfolios where until today he remains as the Minister of Works.
Yes, Samy Vellu is there for only one purpose, to make Umno and those who walk in the corridors of power filthy rich. And he has done his job well. He has loyally served his Umno master to the hilt. In Samy Vellu's own words, he serves Umno, not the Indians. And 90% of the Indians gave his MIC and Barisan Nasional their votes every election for 11 general elections.
Sure, I used to look down on the Indians. I never tolerated any Indian 'nonsense'. I would never hesitate to call them 'Keling Pariah'. That was of course very mean of me and extremely racist. But I harboured this attitude not because they are Indians. I am no racist. My best friends in school were Rajadurai and Yim Seng, not Abdullah, Ahmad or Ali. And I hung around Brickfields and the railway quarters of Bangsar, mixing with Indians my entire secondary school years. In fact, that is where I met my wife, in Jalan Thambi Abdullah in Brickfields.
My reason for looking down on the Indians was because they are so stupid. They treat Samy Vellu like God. They give MIC 90% of their votes. And they do this while Samy Vellu laughs at them and tells us, the Malays, that he is a Minister for the Malays and not for the Indians and that his job is to serve Umno.
But that is now all in the past. Two nights ago I went 'home' to Jalan Thambi Abdullah to ceramah after abandoning my 'kampong' since 1974. It took me 34 years to return to Brickfields. But I am now 'home' and I intend to stay home. But if, again, 90% of the Indians of Brickfields give their votes to Barisan Nasional, then I will never again step foot in Brickfields for as long as I live, which may not be too many years left anyway.
I hope the Indians have now woken up. I hope the Indians have finally realised how MIC has sold them to Umno and played them for suckers. I now look at the Indians as my brothers and sisters and no longer as 'Keling Pariah' who allowed themselves to be cheated, yet still became the 'king-maker' by throwing their support behind Barisan Nasional.
It is time the Indians reclaim their dignity. It is time the Indians no longer allow themselves to be taken for granted. It is time the Indians realise that they need not succumb to threats and blackmail and that the Malays and Chinese will stand by them and defend them if they stand up for their rights. Make us proud of you. Show us Malays and Chinese that you are nobody's baruah. And, if you need help, just shout and we Malays and Chinese will be there by the thousands to ensure that no harm comes to you.
Live people's power, don't just shout it. Suara rakyat, suara keramat. Makkal Sakhti.
No comments:
Post a Comment