A Cry in the Dark
Like many others I have written on the issue of the cow head incident. The episode has reached all round condemnation. Unchecked, the condemnations and our own approbation can lead to generalisations such as categorising ALL Malays are like that. Once it has reached that level, the danger is that genuine and legitimate fears and anguish of the Malays are trivialised and worse, ignored. I hope it will not. Our empathy can also cause a lynch mob atmosphere and extinguish a legitimate cry in the dark. I have personal knowledge that the PM is very concerned about this and has directed the police to investigate and take appropriate action. If the instigators were from UMNO, the application of the law will not be any relaxed if the act was carried out by non UMNO members. He is personally disgusted at any attempts by anyone or group seeking out to disparage the religion of others. He has complete empathy with those at the receiving end. Let us not doubt his sincerity over this issue. Barely half an hour ago, at the beginning of my sahur, I got this comment in response to the essay I wrote on the subject. I have reproduced it here because, to me, this sounds like a cry in the dark. It is an expression of grief as well as anguish at a sense of powerlessness. If the PM reads these comments he must know that his 1Malaysia needs to assuage and comfort the feelings of the Malays while at the same time giving as much latitude for constitutional rights of others. Both have legitimacy and are equally defensible. Anonymous said... dt sak,, 31 August 2009 05:00 I want to remind myself and others, while we be repulsed by and indeed have expressed our disgust at the patently insensitive and inappropriate expression of hurt and insecurity of the Malays, we must not go overboard as to treat our compassion as though it is a requiem on the legitimate hopes and despair of the Malays.
i dont know why but i cried when people make so much noise about this demonstration.
issue here is when it comes to MALAYS RIGHT,, we are called racist,and so many other name.
kuil,babi,arak,judi are things untouchable issue to other races but to when they demand everything that is our birth right,, we are made to look acist,stupid,backward and whatnot..ever wonder why kandang babi never built in their community but near malay kampung also,, orang kampung tak buat bising pun..always being told to sabar
now they want to built their temple at our doorstep, is it wrong to protest.why can we protest,its our right too to voice our anger and frustration..other races protest at the slightest issue concerning their community, remember issue like azan (disturbing them they said,, mind you their dog bark at all times near our community),songkok issue,baju kurung,baju melayu.WHY CANT WE PROTEST.
Like the chinese newspaper branding utusan melayu so many names but what they said about us in their newspaper and blog are worst.we keep quite too.
you know, we malays have feeling too.jangan sampai kita orang melayu lupa diri dan pegangan sehingga kita kabur apa yang perlu kita lakukan
28 comments:
Dato,
I feel exactly the same way too.There is too much sentiment against Malays...anything that we protest or is unhappy about is twisted into "racialism".
Maybe its the result and backlash of the posturing of "Ketuanan Melayu" espoused by UMNO.Maybe its the general populace anger at the failures of UMNO to manage the country in an open and transparent manner.its the voices of the few over riding the many.
For a fact 90% of Malays have not received any more benefits then the other races.And for a fact 90% of Malays wants exactly the same things as people from other races too i.e to earn a decent wage,live in a decent place and bring up a family in a decent community.
Its the 10% of the society thats getting all the fat and it cuts through boundaries.Its also the 10% thats inciting the issues that is cropping around the country.
Its wrong for the PM to encourage the 10% by sloganeering that BN will capture Selangor.Lets have a matured democracy.
And I must suggest that the PM should accept that there is a strong opposition at the Federal level AND some states are controlled by the "same" opposition.PM must practise what he preaches...many races but 1Malaysia,Strong opposition but 1Government.Please set up a consultative committee to enhance the Federal/State administration.
Until then,,the political posturing by the few will continue to divide the people.
Let Merdeka means freeing our minds to achieve a better future.
We need the right balance..we need to demarcate the boundaries.
Caning >>thats a Muslim issue and non Moslems should not make comments.
Hassan Ali Beer police>>Thats a moslem issue..why shld other ppl comment.
Black eye Pea >> thats a Moslem issue..and others shld not comment
Beer in Shah alam >> why is Toyo suddenly very Islamic whereas for last umpteen years thats never an issue?
Buah Pala >>thats a land/legal issue..let the Courts decide.But Samy Vellu n MIC played the racial hand without offering a solution.
Section 23 temple>> thats city planning ..allow the process to work transparently.But myb some elements in UMNO saw that as a means of further destabilising the Selangor Govt?
There's no need to turn every issue along racial/religious divides...but this can happen only if processes are transparent,channels are open and the government practises consistency.
The storming of Perak is the prelude to the current spirit of lawlessness.
Sir,
I think Anon did not asked one relevant question.
Why did it not happen in KELANTAN?
If he did, surely his answers would all be related to UMNO and not Islam.
Saya pernah dengar Mushidum AM PA Nik Aziz berkata bahawa "kita tak boleh larang mereka ......kerana itu hak mereka". That is from a well renown Muslim and Malay and is from an area with overwhelming (99%?) Malay majority.
Compared to areas under BN rule, it would normally be "tak boleh. Ini hak kita. Mereka mencabar KETUANAN MELAYU. Balik negeri kalau tak suka".
See the major difference?
Sir, my main worry is that UMNO agent provocateurs will start 'destabilising" this country to force an emergency government which will allow UMNO to remain in power and GE13 postponed.
Saya berdoa ia tak akan berlaku. Na'uzubillah.
Kesabaran itu separuh daripada iman.
"i dont know why but i cried when people make so much noise about this demonstration.
issue here is when it comes to MALAYS RIGHT,, we are called racist,and so many other name."
Sorry but I can't agree.
What Malay right is it to not have a temple built near your house? Don't confuse intolerance with Malay rights..that's a dangerous precedence.
Dear Dato, I think a sizeable group from both divide has a stereotypal view of each other. This stereotypal image has developed from a composite of the worst pictures catapulted mischieviously from irresponsible media coverageof society over many years. Alas, a few segments of society has been brought up to regard other races with suspicion, suppressed hatred, jealousy, contempt. Malaysia sorely lack community leaders who are able to genuinely unite the rakyat.
Hi Dato,
My circle of Malay friends is getting smaller and smaller these days. Except for one(who has a chinese wife) I/he will go to great lenghts for each other's welfare the rest are now out of my circle of close friends. I think it is because they feel that I harbour comtempt towards them which is really far from the truth. Sadly this is what Malaysia has become. I now live overseas but keep in touch daily with internet news. It is sad to read (sometimes locally) the negative news coming out of Malaysia.
Dato Sak,
Please read Khalid Samad's explanation here
http://www.khalidsamad.com/2009/08/peta-lokasi-berhubung-kuil-seksyen-19.html
Peta pertama menunjukkan kedudukan Seksyen 19, 20, 22 dan 23 serta kedudukan kuil di Seksyen 19, tapak cadangankan asal oleh BN di Seksyen 22 dan tapak yang dicadangkan di Seksyen 23. Harap diberi perhatian bahawa Seksyen 22 merupakan kawasan Industri berat (berwarna gelap) tanpa adanya rumah berhampiran sepertimana peta yang kedua. Dakwaan Seksyen 22 adalah kawasan majoriti masyarakat India adalah dakwaan palsu.
Peta ketiga menunjukkan ‘close-up’ Seksyen 19 dan bagaimana Kuil berkenaan dikelilingi rumah. Jarak di antara rumah terdekat dan Kuil adalah lebih kurang 20 kaki iaitu selebar jalan.
Peta keempat adalah ‘close-up’ lokasi di Seksyen 23. Harap diberi perhatian bahawa kedudukan yang dicadangkan adalah dipinggir kawasan Industri Seksyen 23. Jarak rumah terdekat ke Kuil adalah 200 meter atau 600 kaki iaitu 30 kali lebih jauh dari di Seksyen 19. Begitu juga dengan jarak dari tapak cadangan kuil ke surau. Di antara rumah dan kuil terdapat dewan orang ramai dan taman permainan kanak-kanak. Di antara Surau dan kuil adalah rumah pencawang TNB dan taman permainan kanak-kanak yang sama.
Mungkin bagi orang-orang tertentu tiada bezanya di antara Seksyen 19 dan 23. Kedua-duanya kawasan majoriti ummat Islam. Namun harap maklum, Kuil Seksyen 19 dipindahkan BUKAN kerana Seksyen 19 merupakan kawasan majoriti ummat Islam. Ia dipindahkan kerana Kuil tersebut berada di depan rumah orang (20 kaki). Kawasan itu juga tidak mempunyai tempat parkir kereta dan ini menyebabkan kesesakan berlaku apabila pihak Kuil mengadakan upacara mereka.
Terdapat juga segelintir golongan yang bagaikan tidak sanggup ‘melihat’ kuil dan tok kong. Walau jauh macam mana sekalipun, sekiranya mereka buka jendela rumah dan dapat melihat ‘bumbung kuil atau tok kong’, mereka menjadi bagaikan dirasuk. Adakah wajar sikap ‘ekstrimis’ yang seperti ini disebuah negara yang diwarnai dengan kepelbagaian kaum dan agama?
Happy Merdeka Dato',
The section 23 proposal. Let us put a face to it. Where are the users to this proposals?
We have the supporters - Khalid Samad & Rodziah.
We have the complainants - the Malays of Section 23.
We have the turnaround man - YAB Khalid Ibrahim.
But where are the users? On this issue, I think the protem committee or the existing section 19 should come out and explain. Once we put faces to the issue, then I am sure things will get better.
Like - why not section 22 in the first place?
I agree with Keith, it should not be a race issue. It is not a race issue - it is a class issue, the quiet, low income Malays that nobody want to listen to. And the way the decision was arrived at showed exactly that.
Like the chinese newspaper branding utusan melayu so many names but what they said about us in their newspaper and blog are worst.we keep quite (sic) too.
Sorry, but you are rehashing the same tired "siege-mentality-woe-is-me" mentality about Chinese newspapers saying "bad" things about Malays.
Why don't you start by asking a trusted Chinese friend translate the articles for you? Then, compare that to those written in Utusan.
Then tell us who's doing the inciting? Why don't you grow up?
The word Malay Right seemed to be a blank cheque. Are you saying building a mosque or surau in a 90% majority non-Muslim area and the non-Muslims just kept quiet all these years is akin to respecting Malay Rights? It's facing the political reality rather than being given an option.
I think ALL of us here is not saying dont protest.
Please by all means go ahead. Protest the site itself.
But pls dont lah insult and try to stoke religious sentiments.
Was the cow head really really necessary????
Protest peacefully if you want.
Candles and black T shirts witha NO would be welcomed.
Oh wait. Our FRU is totally against candlelights!!!!!!!!! Cow heads okay but never candles !!!!!!
I am shocked that you have highlighted a concern bya comments that has got it all wrong Dato Sak.
Objecting to temple located 300m from your residential area is not a 'right' and doing it by insulting another religion dragging a bloodied cow head is also not right. People can voice their anger at such actions, can't they? Why must this beseen as affecting the rights of the Malays?
Do Malaysians of other races object to the location of suraus in their housing estate? Located right at the doorstep? My house in SS5C Kelana Jaya is side by side to the mosque and on Friday afternoon, my children have to alight from the school bus 100 metres away because of the congested road and our house entrance ebing blocked.
I think we need to leave out emotions and be level headed. Malays have thir rights and this does not include insulting other races this way, I am sorry.
Dato' the comment you published sound more of UMNO lazy brain. Up in his head is mahu "AMOK".
What you should tell this guy is, go ahead if he thinks that he will be elevated as a Malay warrior rather than trying to get Najib to fathom the comments.
This guy should not only cry in the dark but also cry while easing himself in a public toilet that is just stinks!!!
Salam Ramadhan, 69513AMOKY
Dato'
Everything that we are seeing now has been coloured by Political Plays as a backlash by UMNO supporters frustrated at the results of the last general elections...
What DS Najib SHOULD HAVE DONE FIRST AND FOREMOST is to rally the UMNO members under its banner before charting new agendas and actions...
Imagine an Army in disarray after losing several battles, its rank and file demoralised and lost being suddenly confronted by new orders from its Chief contradicting all original directions and mandates!!
I believe UMNO members are still in disarray and lost whilst its Chief keeps hammering about Change and how important it is to give way to other races etc. etc....
So, What do they Do!
Like the lost children they are....THEY CRY..
Bro
I agree that the S23 residents had every right to protest. That is their Constitutional right and no one is objecting to that. I totally concur there is no call for invoking the ISA against them.
What most are objecting to are the cow's head and that the Police stood by and did nothing. The miserable excuse of 'volatile situaton' is not acceptable. Not when elsewhere they waded in with tear gas and pepper-water spray for much less!
Now the Nation's image has been tarnished because it's all over the world on Youtube!
Many are now spinning that it had nothing to do with insulting Hinduism, but that it was to drive home a point about the State administrations' stubborness.
That's plain BS.
The protesters must be JANTAN about it. After all it was not a spur of the moment incident; it was well planned. They talked also about defending their rights with their blood!
If you are brave enough to publicly protest then admit your intentions. Perhaps they got carried away. That's human. We can accept an apology. There's no need to charge them with Sedition.
What they should now do is call for a sincere dialogue with all parties to resolve the situation.
The S23 residents must realise that others have Constitutionally protected rights too.
Remember, it takes 2 to compromise!
As Churchill said "Jaw,Jaw! Not War, War!"
dp
We are all of 1 race, the Human Race
Yes, sir, it is not only the Malay right, it is the right of property owners there, including the residents.
What is wrong in asking government not to put up a facility that may affect the value of surrounding land. In this country there is no such thing as blight planning compensation , so how this adverse planning approval could be protected if there isn't any protest.
I am sorry to say, there are a lot of things here were put into a wrong perspective. It has of course in my view nothing to do with religion. No man, no.
The society in Section 23 is a younger generation of Malaysian, they know what they want in their surrounding environment. If that facility would dampen their property value growth in the future, do you as a member of the society would be willing to give part your tax to the government as compensation to this society as the whole?.
Or would you be willing to pay for other things in your life.
It is their right to protest. Be it Malay, Indian, or Chinese. But in this instance it is the Malay who live there.
Thanks
Where is zorro & eyes wide open to say that this article is a level headed one?
Anything that benefit them, they will shout 'hurray datuk sak'.
Let see if they have an ounce of empathy with regards to the contents of this article.
This is the hypocrisy that rule those racist Pakatan people.
ZICO
Dear Sir, maybe you can refer to this article to show that this is NOT Malay or Islam at all: http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/26300/84/
Well said, Dato'.
The TEST has reached the CLIMAX for NAJIB.
Bukan senang jadi PM, Jib... at least Pak Lah lima tahun bertahan sambil meranap, awak tu saya bagi 1tahun kalau tak tahu manage conflicts.
My advice simple " Vital few, trivial many"
'Addressing the nation in his first National Day message as the prime minister, Najib said the passing of time saw the bridges, which were painstakingly built by the nation's founding fathers, becoming shaky due to attempts by certain quarters whom he described as opportunistic groups out to exploit frictions among the people."
Opportunistics ?? Biasalah tu Najib. It is your job to fix these VITAL FEW problems... kalau tak gaji buta LOL !
1CLUELESS.
Salam Ramadhan Datuk Sak
Pelik tapi itulah sikap orang melayu and itulah juga sebab kenapa peristiwa 13 Mei boleh berlaku pada tahun 1969 - orang melayu suka dengar cakap orang tanpa usul periksa, mudah terpengaruh dengan emosi tanpa usul periksa dan berfikiran waras.
Kita orang melayu marah bila akhbar kaum lain kata Utusan Melayu atau Ugutan Melayu. Kenapa kita tak fikir apa mereka rasa apabila pemimpin orang melayu panggil mereka pendatang? Kenapa kita orang melayu berdiam diri bila pemimpin kita mengusir mereka pulang ke negeri asal mereka sedangkan ini tanah air mereka juga, dimana atuk moyang mereka berpernat jerih membangunkan tanah ini?
Pelik tapi benar. Kita orang melayu bising bila kuil ingin dibina. Alangkah bagus kalau kita rasa tawaduk bila melihat kuil itu terpaksa dibesarkan kerana ramai pengunjungnya. Kita umat islam ada masjid besar dan banyak tapi hanya penuh tatkala sembahyang jumaat dan raya. Adakah agama islam semakin terpencil dek sikap 'melayu mudah lupa' kita?
Kita marah bila franchisee sebuah produk hanya terbuka untuk orang bukan melayu tapi kita tak pernah terfikir apa rasa orang kaum lain bila kaum bumiputera (khususnya orang melayu) mendapat pelbagai diskaun dan keutamaan.
Pelik tapi benar. Kita tahu marah tapi kita tak tahu malu bila hak orang kita yang ambil. Kita 'angin satu badan' bila orang lebih dari kita (walhal usaha jauh sekali). Kita 'berkecil hati' tanpa berfikir secara 'rasional'.
Cry in the dark? It is more like 'being in the dark all these 52 years'.
p.s. can we protest about this? Why not about the draconian ISA? why double standard then?
Come on dato coming from you i am surprised when u say a cry in the dark,this sounds more like a umno war cry.As i am now watching a docunentry on dicovery on the plight of the bajau people in sabah i feel so sorry for them.Malaysia in order for her to move forward should first stop all the plundering which is happening or are you also turning a blind eye.
Salam Dato' Sak,
Tidak salah untuk membuat protest tapi cara yang digunakan tidak kena (ikut pandangan saya lah).
Di negeri kita Malaysia ni, banyak perkara yang kita protes... harga petrol naik, ISA, kebersihan pilihanraya, kawasan ternak khinzir, kekejaman Israel di Gaza dan macam-macam lagi. Tetapi reaksi pihak berkuasa terhadap setiap protes itu adalah berbeza. Kenapa agaknya?
Dato,
As I've said earlier..when it comes to babi, kuil, arak etc...the Muslim get together..this is not about Malay right or what is written in the constitution.
We have become a society that needs regulation or law in order to perform our duty as a human being. We give to much emphasis on law and suddenly everybody loves to sue everybody. Can we cannot perform as human being without law and regulation?
Some of your readers touched on the subject of tolerances. They even suggested that the malays/muslim are not tolerance enough when they the non Muslim are the one that have high tolerance level. We all know that this isn’t true, in fact the Malays have been very tolerance since the beginning of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu.
Lets forget about the law and regulation. Tolerance is about your heart and your feeling. No law can dictate that. So when the Malays wish for arak not to be sold in Malay majority area, they were asking your tolerance mechanism to start working..instead you go for the law that stated its legal to sell arak anywhere.
Dato,
I read your blogpost wherein you sympathised and shared the empathy of Anonymous who said that arak,judi,etc. are things untouchable issue in Islam. I think all religions find in general arak and judi against their religious precept. So I challenge our PM to be bold and listen to religous suggestion from all religions that emphasize that the only way to tackle this problem it to nip it at its root and suggest that our Government close down all gambling 3D, 4D, Sports Toto and other gambling and gaming outlets including Genting which are only profiting UMNO / BN crony capitalist and billionaires. Next we ban all sale of alcoholic drinks in hotels and our local airlines. Next we close down all the beer and other alcoholic drink breweries which is the source of the alcoholic problem. Then we ask all banks to strictly ban usury and just follow the Islamic banking concept in total. Once we have tackled these problems which are urgent, only then perhaps should we look at other lesser evils.
When I was a big time CEO/businessman I have lots of people who invite me for dinners, wants to talk to me,wants to play golf and listen to my views.
It was very 1Malaysia..got Chinese,Indians,Sarawakians/Sabahans,Mat Sallehs...
But when I lost it all , the only friends I have are those from my surau.
Its not racialism but common interests.
Coming from a privileged background our PM will never be short of "friends"
If we want to "argue" from the religions' angle, the it will never end and can bring forth more chaos.
Jurusalem is a good case study for thousand of years but mankind never learns.
The whole damn thing smells of politics. It has nothing to do with residents rights or religion. It is a political party rabble rousing at its worst.
How come the police did nothing? Except excuses after excuse. Why is Hisamuddin not on the ground? Does it need the PM to give him a kick.
Dato,
Well, other races said the Malays are not tolerant but they have stayed in this country 52 years.well educated, well established in business and career,well connected,well heeled, well accepted..
Are they happy and satisfied.No.They want more.
They simply choose to complaint about issues that they well know should not be raised.why.because its their human nature,,greed..
Ask them why they would not take a malay to work in their management.only kuli they take.are all malays incompetant and lazy.Ask them why their company never give out contract works to malays.Are there no good and skilfull malay at all in the market.Ask them why they dont want to send their children to Sek Kebangsaan. Please ask them.I would really like to know honest answer from them..We should know that they have made up their mind would not vote for BN or UMNO..simply bcos they want to rule..DAP have the gun for it.PKR and PAS provide them with ammunition.Not that LKS ad LGE has the stomuch for anuar,hadi or nik aziz..DAP is racist to the core.They should not point fingers..
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