Melayu and their social Latitude(2)

Sunday, 21 December 2008

Can we explain away the backwardness of Malays because they are lazy? Their lifestyle is that way, because of laziness-inducing nature?. If that is so, why do we reinforce that laziness by conferring on them certain privileges that are now stridently denounced by many-non Malays? Will that not be a double whammy- Malays are existingly lazy because of indolence inducing nature, you compound that by giving freebies?. Our strategy should be, like the handling of the recession- counter-cyclical. .

The central thesis of these articles is to show:

1. First, the Malays are backward because of a nurture- created social system reinforced by a political leadership bent on preserving a stratified Malay social structure.
2. Second, change can come about through nurture- based on the belief that shortcomings of nature can be overcome by nurture.
3. 3^rd, change will also be possible by a change in leadership quality. In the end, the fact remains, good government, depends on good people. We are looking for a leader among leaders- or in simpler terms, a leader who never schemed to get power. Example: if DS Najib aims to become a leader among leaders- he will commit himself to the task of building Malaysia and not countenance the creation of a Najib faction or non Najib faction in government. To have a Najib faction is the surest indicator of scheming for power. For example. There are already talks that Najib will appoint Obergruppenführer Nazri Aziz either as Defence or Home Affairs Minister. That’s reinforcing his rear defences. Seig heil!.
4. 4^th, the salvation of Malays depend on good leadership committed to the idea of liberal democracy based on free will of individual and sanctity of rule of law
5. 5^th, finally, Islam as the leverage for Malay progress and debunking of Islamic-ness exclusivity. Example: not being a PAS member does not imply less Islamic that the average Pasnik.

The myth of the lazy native( i.e.) Malays, has been debunked many times over. We cannot explain the backwardness of the Malay by reasoning they are lazy. because everything here is in abundance, catch the fish in the rivers, hunt whatever you want in the jungles, gather vegetables and ulams you want- as the principal reasoning was to why Malays are backwards? 50 years ago, maybe. Our inability to enforce the law in jungled-Malaysia(Malaya then) cannot be an excuse not to enforce the rule of law. .

Of course the Malays have an innate ability to change. To assume otherwise, is to reduce Malay to just a pliable putty. Ours is a world built on free will. And later the sanctity of the rule of law.

In 1927, Zaaba wrote- and this was long before the interview on CULTURE IS DESTINY- between Fareed Zakaria and Lee Kuan Yew, the following:- ( my liberal interpretation).

But the most heart wrenching and bitterest observation is the fact the Malays are indeed extremely poor in all the preconditions and requirements that are supportive of success and real achievement( not those things called success like social ranks, honorific titles- Dato, Dato Seri, Tan Sri, Tun) etc. most definitely their condition is not the result of undeveloped mental capacity and also definitely as a result of an innate inability to adopt good and higher values and habits etc. these positive things are achievable through of nurture and do not come about as of nature. As to their innate abilities, they have the same abilities like all the others. Except, the conversion of these into workable programs is lagging behind the others.

Why? Not because of their laziness-inducing natural surrounding or their innate inability to change. It is the social system that inhibits the emergence of these values and habits and a political system reinforcing the stratified structure of Malay society. . their possible route of salvation? The above things we mentioned.