Thursday, December 21, 2017

"Orang Kita"

My uncles recommend that every non-Malay should read The naked truth on why non-Malays don’t join Armed Forces in which Patriot president Mohd Arshad Raji of the National Patriot Association said the affirmative action policy, the armed forces becoming too Islam-centred, and non-deserving junior officers getting promoted are among reasons why non-Malays keep away.


I have oft said that military officers are apolitical or non-political and quote the FMT report on what Brig General (retd) Mohd Said said:

... from the 1960s until the late 70s, non-Malay Armed Forces personnel comprised about 30% of the total manpower. The Navy and Air Force had a higher percentage. Over the years, this figure gradually dropped to around 5% at present.

He said one reason non-Muslims shied away from joining was because there was now a distinctive division along ethnic lines in the armed forces.

Saying the government’s affirmative action policies of the 1980s had seeped into the military administration, Arshad said “strange sayings like ‘orang kita’ had crept into the minds of military commanders”.

“Slowly and surely, the commanders saw some of those under their command as half-brothers or stepsons, unlike all as equal previously. Individuals were not made to feel important and desired. Instead, a feeling as an ‘outsider’ made many feel unwelcome. Thus began an era of individualistic and selfish attitude and behavior among those in the military.”

While many generals were sympathetic and caring towards everyone under their care, the little Napoleons in the ministry of defence – the civil servants with authority – made policies pertaining to promotion and enforced an unwritten regulation and a quota system regarding non-Malays.


Thanks to the Administration in the 1980's we became a divided nation, even among previously apolitical military people.

Let me tell you an uncle-story. One of my army uncles had a number of mateys in the air force. One of them for years flew PM Mahathir in the air force VVIP jet. Thus he could be said to be Mahathir's personal (air force) pilot. Mahathir occasionally nodded to or greeted him cordially but that was that. The bloke doubted Mahathir even knew his name other than 'pilot' or 'captain'.

When that Unc's matey left the VVIP Flight and a rather handsome and capable Malay took over as VVIP pilot, that Malay pilot was feted by Mahathir in the jet plane on his (the pilot's) birthday, even with a birthday cake etc, of course before the aeroplane took off, wakakaka.


The air force or at least the VVIP Flight knew Mahthir's treatment of him was known to be very very friendly and definitely far far friendlier than what my Unc's matey had enjoyed as a VVIP pilot to Mahathir for several years. And the new bloke had just flown Mahathir for less than a year.

What would one make of that other than indulge in mere speculations, suspicions and perhaps even a tinge of envy.

Or could one fall on Brig Jen Arshad's words that ... the government’s affirmative action policies of the 1980s had seeped into the military administration, Arshad said “strange sayings like ‘orang kita’ had crept into the minds of military commanders”.

Thus began the division between "orang kita" and "orang lain lain" otherwise known as "nons".

3 comments:

  1. Mahathir never got over the race-based humiliation he suffered as a young man, that turned out his racist politics in later years.

    Being categorised and treated as a Keling by the King Edward Medical College authorities, being despised by the family of the Chinese girl that he was wooing.....and later his loss of his first election run through rejection by Chinese voters...

    But he accepts DAP today.....hmmmm...

    Also...I thought the Armed Forces are largely independent in terms of their administration and management ?

    The PM has little day to day involvement over the way the Armed Forces are run, as I was told ...
    in fact somebody here was trying to argue that Najib , the Defence Minister at the time of the Scorpene scandal had nothing to do with it.

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    Replies
    1. mahathir accepts the dap today not because he has changed in his great dislike for chinese but becauise he needs the dap for its chinese seats which are necessary for him to beat najib. mahathir is doing it for his own agenda

      during his days as pm, he could have infused his lil' napoleons with his likes and dislikes

      what najib did during his days as defence industry would have to be another story

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  2. This is one of the reasons why I am not supporting calls for him to be PM again.
    A leopard will never change its spots.
    Doesnt take a genius to see when this Orang kita and the Islamo centric nonsense occured under whose watch.The "Renaissance man" in Sg Buloh Hilton is responsible too.

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