Maszlee's dream
By POOK AH LEK
Be it the previous BN government's “1Malaysia” or the current administration's “New Malaysia”, they are all very much racist in nature with non-Malay leaders having hardly any say in government policies.
A month before the Malay Dignity Congress, education minister Maszlee Malik delivered a keynote address at a forum with the theme “empowering higher education of Malaysia begins with dream” organised by the Higher Education Leadership Academy under the purview of the higher education department.
I would like to quote here the last two paragraphs from the minister's speech:
“My dream is to see our Malaysian universities become global references of knowledge and for Malaysia to become the destination of choice for quality, values-driven, inclusive and international education. I truly and honestly believe that we have what it takes to make this happen.
“So to all of the leaders present here today, I say DREAM BIG. BELIEVE in the beauty of your dreams and aspirations, LEARN from others on how to make it happen and KEEP DOING whatever it takes to make them come true.”
However, at the same time Maszlee also instructed four public universities in the country to jointly organise a highly racist “Malay Dignity Congress”, with himself as the guest of honour.
We all are very keen to know whether the minister would feel the slightest shame when he listened to the racist remarks made by Universiti Malaya vice chancellor Abdul Rahim Hashim at the congress.
Having a big dream alone is never enough. Perhaps our minister has still not woken up from his dream after the congress, but the rest of us need to stay awake and can as well forget about this unfulfillable dream.
Looking from another angle, the Malay Dignity Congress has set an arm-wrestling platform for the Malay parties in the country. Umno and PAS had the early bird advantage by virtue of an alliance between them, but Tun Mahathir was not going to concede this soon, and has come up with this congress to wrest the dominance in the Malay society.
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he called for a 'Malay Dignity Congress' so as the conceptiliser, naturally he has to attend |
The problem now is, a tertiary educational institution in any country has to be geared towards the pursuit of academic excellence and utmost efficiency as its mission, and be wholly detached from politics.
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Malay Dignity? |
Unfortunately, as the principals of public universities in Malaysia are all politically appointed, they are unfailingly eager to serve the demands of their political masters instead of boosting the academic excellence of their respective organisations. This alone hardly fits the definition of “dignity”.
Perhaps some of the participants managed to recoup their “dignity” after several hours of venting their frustration at the congress, but to the many non-Malays in this country, they felt baffled and astounded, and wondered why they were once again targeted.
In addition to racist remarks, there were also highly seditious propositions, including an “appeal” for the government to implement the single-stream education policy.
On 11th October 1978, then Sabah deputy chief minister Mark Koding made a proposal at the Parliament to close Chinese and Tamil primary schools in the country, and was subsequently charged in the court and convicted under Sedition Act 1948.
Nevertheless, when representatives from UPM and UPSI at the Malay Dignity Congress demanded the government to enforce single stream education within six years, they were spared from any action, and the PM said it was just an appeal.
Although many of the government policies since the country's independence in 1957 have been specifically tailored to the needs of the Malays, they still feel intimidated.
As if that is not enough, Malay parties on both sides of the political divide have constantly raised religious and racial issues in an attempt to grab a bigger share of the Malay votes. As a consequence, the Malays feel growingly insecure.
Umno and PAS aside, PPBM PRIBUMI is also jumping on the bandwagon, and often under such circumstances non-Malays will become their convenient targets.
Non-Malays in this country have very deep feelings for this dignity congress, and when they feel helpless, no parties would stand up for them. No, not even one!
The sad thing is, a veteran leader whom I always have very high regards for have lately issued some senseless statements that no one seems to understand where he stands.
It will be a big joke if we still emphasise “New Malaysia” today. Be it the previous BN government's “1Malaysia” or the current administration's “New Malaysia”, they are all very much racist in nature with non-Malay leaders having hardly any say in government policies.
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