Sunday, April 27, 2008

Anwar Ibrahim reassures Malays

In a Malaysiakini article Anwar: Malays have nothing to fear the Opposition de facto leader said that while the reduction in the number of Malays in the Penang, Perak and Selangor state governments is a political reality, it doesn’t mean that policies will be skewed against the Malays.

He reassured his audience: “There can be a Chinese chief minister in Penang and a Malay menteri besar in Selangor. What is more important is that we have a unequivocal commitment to defend the rights of all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion.”

However, on UMNO chief keris-waver Hishammuddin Hussein’s
apology for waving the keris during the past 3 UMNO general assemblies, he said PKR would accept that but urged Hisham not to repeat that act.

I blogged on Hisham’s half hearted apology over at my other blog as Sorry for the keris waving, but I may do it again.

But Anwar said what everyone in Malaysia knows: “The crux of the matter is not the keris as a symbol. What matters is his attitude which shows arrogance and the use of racial issues in politics. That is still being continued. They are raising issues about pig farming, Malay supremacy ... claiming that the Malays are now very angry against the Selangor government ... this sentiment is still strong in Umno.”

I actually found myself agreeing with Anwar Ibrahim ;-) And mind you, I am being generous today - I have only extracted those parts of his speech that I found supportable. I left out other aspects that I feel may spoil my mate kittykat's Sunday ke ke ke.

9 comments:

  1. in Malaysia , it seems the word apology is part of a sick musical note to play whenever the audience falls asleep

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  2. at least, insincerity aside, he's swallowed his pride and leaves bloggers with one less thing to harp about. got to start finding a new horse to flog now.

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  3. wow... today in malaysiakini's blog links section there's a whole string of entries from "kaytee". maybe u should consider a prominently placed permanent message somewhere on your blog reminding people that kaytee is not the sake as KTemoc.

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  4. "Kaytee" on malaysiatopic.com is more like a contributing editor/administrator who researches other blogs and posts interesting links from blogs to a central aggregator.

    He's not acting as an impostor or cyber-trooper at all.

    Leave him alone.

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  5. It's just a matter of before Anwar Ibrahim becomes the next Malaysian PM. It's not impossible at all. With the likely defactions of some of the ruling coalitions to PKR in Sarawak, very soon we will see a formidable force of the Pakatan Rakyat to take over the country.

    My guess is, a new Tsunami is gonna srike Malaysia by surprise, perhaps this year, if not, next year...

    We just have to wait and see....

    Cheers,
    richlwanchair
    http://www.richlawnchair.com/page42.htm

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  6. Anon of 11:46 AM, you're right, especially with kk46 defending him/her ;-) I have been suspicious of this "kaytee" coming into recent prominence with such a name - looks like it's not only UMNO who has its cybertroopers

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  7. Another case of leg on the accelerator and hand on the handbrake!

    Hishammuddin did the right thing by apologising but his action loses much of its impact when, in the very next breath, he apologised to the Malays for his failure to uphold the Malay symbol.

    Why did he take the step to apologise when he is not truly convinced he ought to do it? What made him want to offer the apology? Was he thinking of the of his grand-father and father, on what they had done and what they stood for and how different he is from them? Or was it his conscience telling him that peace and harmony amongst the races is important for the well-being of the nation? Or was his good sense telling him that he had not set a good example for the youngsters under his care? Or did his own sense of guilt finally convict him? Or was it his love for the nation?

    Or did he do it for political reasons? Is he trying to deflect blame for the loss suffered by UMNO in the recent election? Is this a pre-emptive move as he may want to stand for a VP post?

    By qualifying his apology, his sincerity has become suspect. Even those detractors, who were prepared to forgive, now, also, sense the apology is given very grudingly. The politician in him carries more sway than the sense of human decency in him. Politicians will always be politicians, they cannot see beyond their own egos.

    Syed Ali of Cheras UMNO division opined that it was not necessary for Hishammuddin to apologise. He says he sees no difference between the Agong holding up the keris and kissing it in his investiture and what Hishammuddin has done. This shows Syed Ali does not understand the non-Malays. And it also reveals he does not know how to see things in its proper context. When the Agong does the act, it is done in the context of tradition of the Malay Monarchy. The non-Malays have no argument against that. We respect the constitution. But when Hishammuddin did it in was done in a very different context and atmospere. He did it in the UMNO Youth General assembly where the non-Malays were made the punching-bags. This is what the non-Malays cannot accept. There is a vast difference between the two.

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  8. Keris apology fans unrest in divided Umno

    http://themalaysianinsider.com/mni/keris-apology-fans-unrest-in-divided-umno.html

    Apologia is good for the soul, may not be good for your political career...especially if you are in UMNO.

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  9. `...especially if you are in UMNO`

    MCA also apologising, now going to fight for other races.
    MIC leader going to go to other countries to get aid for indians (maybe tamil Tigers sitting in his house by now even).

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