from an email ---------
Subject: Zaid Ibrahim - Time to
Heal
After 30 years of mollycoddling, the
Prime Minister now has a real task at hand. The BN’s victory is not a sweet one.
Datuk Sri Najib Tun Razak has to save the BN and himself sooner rather than
later. His statement about national reconciliation, however, woke me up
instantly. He has positioned national reconciliation as his most urgent
priority, and so it should be. He has lost practically all Chinese support in
the country, and has at the same emboldened Malay extremists to continue on
their warpath to further strengthen Ketuanan
Melayu, even if
imperils our unity.
As a former colleague, I know him to
frown on combative politics. He was always more interested in placating and
pleasing, but this will not do when dealing with UMNO extremists. He tried hard
to please them by putting Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Nordin up as election
candidates. Sometimes his speeches to an UMNO audience bear the same
uncompromising trademarks that peppered former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir
Mohamad and Ibrahim’s speeches—even Najib’s oratory style has been modulated to
sound fiery. But I for one still think he has real concern for national
unity. Let’s see what he will do in the next few
weeks.
I will believe him to be serious about
national reconciliation if he can, for a start, do the
following:
- Disband Biro Tata Negara, a department first started to open Malay eyes and minds to nation-building and how they can participate in the process. However, it has turned into dangerous, fascistic propaganda training that creates fear and even hatred for other races. It’s totally unproductive and gives no positive outlook to the Malays at all.
- Explicitly repudiate Perkasa and the likes of Dr Mahathir, Ibrahim and Zukifli. The PM no longer has any excuse to tamely obey the wishes of Dr Mahathir as he now has his own mandate. Anything less will not do.
- Instruct the Attorney-General to repeal the Sedition Act, unless he is willing to apply the law fairly and without favour. Any UMNO/Perkasa statement must be viewed objectively as the law dictates and action must be taken against those who break the law. It should not just be applied to Karpal Singh and Lim Kit Siang.
- Immediately reorganise Utusan Melayu and the Media Prima Group so that media operators and journalists stop poisoning the Malays with dangerous rubbish, which has become standard practice. If the Prime Minister is unable to see the damage done by these people, then he is not fit to talk of national reconciliation.
The Chinese are not asking as much as
Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy did on behalf of the Indian community, which
the Prime Minister has willingly obliged. The Chinese are just asking for
respect and to be treated fairly. Sure, the Chinese are economically better off
than the Malays, but this has nothing to do with wanting to feel included in the
way this country’s affairs are managed. The Prime Minister must once and for all
repudiate Ketuanan Melayu, a concept that is meaningless yet brings so
much division in the
country.
Some will say the Chinese are also
extremists and their newspapers are also inflammatory. Well then, apply the law
fairly and prosecute them—but you can’t allow Utusan to get away with
murder and complain when the Chinese react. The Chinese do not need to vote for
an UMNO leader to keep their businesses running. Punishing the Chinese will not
work as they are self-reliant and wily. The more the Prime Minister relies on
the likes of Ibrahim and Zulkifli, the less chance an UMNO politician will get
the Chinese vote.
In any case, there are Malays who will
come in support of the Chinese and other ethnic groups because these Malays want
to see peace and stability in the country. They abhor indiscriminate policies
and they want to see unity in the long term. It’s already clear that DAP would
not have done so well if not for the support of the
Malays.
Finally, please stop calling Kit Siang
a racist. He is a respected leader of the Chinese community and has served many
years in Parliament. The Prime Minister would do well to bestow him with the
title “Tan Sri” for his many years of service, just as the former Opposition
Leader in Parliament Tan Chee Khoon
was.
By doing these things the Prime
Minister will undoubtedly be subject to serious body blows from the Perkasa
patron and even his own deputy. But if the Prime Minister truly wants to unify
the country, he has to have the stomach for
it
