LIBERATING THE MALAY MIND - PART I - How Umno has successfully duped the Malay rakyat

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How Umno has successfully duped the Malay rakyat

Aliran

1 June 2013

The rural people who lack information due to poor internet and social media penetration

are victims of Umno’s religious and political propaganda, observes Tota.

Immediately after winning a slim majority to form a minority government, Najib claimed

that the voters in the urban and semi-urban areas had been duped good and proper by theOpposition. Just imagine, the intelligent, the better-educated and better informed beingduped wholesale!

On the other hand, the rural people who lack information owing to poor internet and

social media penetration and who are victims of Umno’s religious and political

propaganda are the ones said to be choosing wisely by voting for the BN. Some have said

that Umno has indeed become a “parti kampung”.

In 1999, when a large member of Malays deserted Umno, a deranged ex-PM said that therural people voted with their heads while the urbanists voted with their hearts, meaning

guided by their emotions. History has repeated itself.

Below I provide concrete evidence of how Umno has successfully duped the poor Malay

rakyat in the last 56 years from Dr M Bakri Musa’s book “Liberating the Malay

mind”. Here are a few excerpts:



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Excerpt 1:

A free mind can best be illustrated by this story of Mullah Nasaruddin, a famous alim

known for his effective use of ordinary and often self-deprecating stories to drive home a

point, illuminate a concept, or challenge conventional wisdom.

He had a neighbour who was fond of borrowing items from him and conveniently

forgetting to return them. One day this neighbour came to the Mullah to borrow hisdonkey. The Mullah, anticipating the request, had earlier locked his animal away in the

barn at the back and out of sight.

Upon hearing the request, the Mullah confidently replied that his donkey had been taken

away earlier by his brother. As the disappointed neighbour turned away, he heard the

braying of the donkey and quickly turned around to remark, “I thought you said your donkey was gone!”

To which the Mullah replied, “Do you believe the braying of a donkey or the words of aMullah?”

If you can accept that at times a donkey can be the bearer of the truth, and a Mullah the

purveyor of untruth, then you have exhibited a free mind, minda merdeka. There are

many reasons why we continue believing the Mullah despite the donkey braying in our face, and we will explore some of these subsequently.

Excerpt 2:

One can easily be hoodwinked by the government’s glossy publications and the leaders’

rosy recounting of our country’s achievements. Take the “Malaysian Quality of Life 2004Report” produced by the Prime Minister’s Department.

At 113 pages it is full of glossy pictures of clean, well-trimmed suburban

neighbourhoods, neat kampung houses, and of course the iconic Petronas Towers. There

is also a picture of earnest executives engaged in video-conferencing, highlighting thelatest technology gizmo.

The cover features the responsible minister, Mustafa Mohamed, beaming against the backdrop of a lush, luxurious golf course. That image reveals more of the truth, perhaps

unintended; the golf course is exactly where you are likely to find these ministers most of

the time.

If you were to visit that minister’s old kampong in Jeli, Kelantan, the reality would be far

different. I have no data specific to Jeli but a recent study of Pulau Redong and PulauPerhentian (published in June 2011), two islands off the Terengganu coast, would shock

anyone. A fifth of the villagers have no formal education whatsoever, while half had only

primary level. This in 2011!



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Their average income is less than RM500 per month, considerably less than what

Indonesian maids in Malaysia earn.

As a needless reminder, those villagers are exclusively Malays. More shockingly and

reflective of the overall abysmal socio-economic condition, two-thirds of the respondents

expect “little” or “no change” in the next five years. They have given up hope. So muchfor the grandiose promises made at the recently concluded Umno General Assembly

(December 2011) about “protecting and enhancing” the position of Malays!

Of course those high-flying Umno operatives would not know that. After all when they

do visit those islands they are certain to stay at the exclusive Berjaya Resort, withtaxpayers footing the bill of course. There they are able to partake in video-conferencing

and access the internet. For the islanders, however, fewer than four per cent have internet

access. Both islands have a thriving tourism industry with high-paying jobs. Those jobs,however, are out of reach to the residents due to their lack of skills and education.

If you want an accurate picture of the status and future of Malays, then visit those islands, but do not stay at the resorts. If you do, you are unlikely to meet many Malays except for

the gardeners and maids. Those resident Malays on the islands represent the bulk of the

race; they are a universe away from their fellow bumiputras like (former) Women AffairsMinister Sharizat Jalil with her ultra-luxury condos at Bangsar, courtesy of hefty

bumiputra discounts and generous “soft” government loans.

Excerpt 3:

The harsh reality is that far too many of our leaders are but sly foxes cloaked in

shepherd’s clothing. Instead of leading us from one lush meadow to the next, they would

be the first to prey upon us. Instead of protecting us, these “shepherds” would ensure thatthey have their istana kayangan (fantasy palaces) first, and if there were the odd pieces of lumber left over, only then could the flock hope to have a wall around their shed.

… likewise our obscenely opulent political leaders exemplified by former Selangor Chief

Minister Khir Toyo and Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. These are the leaders who are

forever exhorting us towards “unity”. It is a unity to serve their purpose, not the rakyat.

Excerpt 4:

Today Malaysia is in disarray; its skipper less than diligent and bordering on being

incompetent; its crew tired, distracted and indifferent. The ship of state is headed in thewrong direction, and there are many shoals and reefs ahead. The wind is building up andthe water increasingly choppy. The wakes of overtaking ships are battering us.

Worse, those ships were once way behind us. We are being shackled by needlessly

intrusive and abusive rules that were meant for a different era when the ship was

skippered by people that were not our own. Now our own leaders are exploiting those



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rules to further their nefarious needs. As we look on deck, we find the ballasts are now

rising up, threatening our stability.

We fail to appreciate these cruel realities because our minds are trapped into thinking

otherwise; hence my call for Merdeka Minda Melayu. We must have a free mind to

appreciate the stark realities we are under and not let our leaders delude us into thinkingotherwise. We need a free mind.

Excerpt 5:

A free mind cannot be willed upon; there is no magic wand out there. We have to strive

hard – very hard – to liberate our minds, just as hard, if not more so, as we did in

liberating our native land. It is a worthy and noble pursuit; a closed mind is the worst

prison.

Excerpt 6:

Malaysian leaders never tire of telling us that they are competent and honest despite the

mess the country is in, while they luxuriate in palatial mansions. It is obvious to anyonethat these leaders could not possibly afford such obscene opulence just on their

government wages. To our current mindset, however, doubting would be an act of

blasphemy, disloyalty, or even treachery against these leaders.

Returning to the coconut shell metaphor, that little (or even big) frog can be smug about

his world and claim to fully comprehend and be in command of it. After all, what is thereto understand? His world is dark and small. As for controlling it, he is the only one to

obey his orders! What that proverbial Senor Frog does not appreciate is that his universe,

huge as it may seem to him, is nothing but a speck.

Those of us on the outside may be tempted to lord it over the unfortunate entrapped frog.

We may even pity the poor critter. However, as Pramoedya noted in his Child of All Nations, “Pity is the feeling of well intentioned people who are unable to act.” Impotent,

we assuage what little guilt we may harbour by rationalising that the poor soul is

probably quite happy with his lot. That may well be; after all you do not miss what youdo not know.

Excerpt 7:

My brothers and sisters were enrolled in an English school in the period just before theresurgence of this intense nationalism. My father had gone through great effort and

expense to secure our enrolment. Soon after, Malay leaders including Tun Razak were

exhorting everyone to support our national language by enrolling their children in these“new” Malay schools. Many responded, transferring their children from English schools

to these new Malay schools.



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Being Malay schoolteachers, my parents were subjected to intense peer and community

pressures to take us out of English school. After all, if Malay teachers did not

demonstrate their commitment, who would? However, being Malay school teachers, my parents were also only too aware of the limitations of the Malay stream, in particular the

lack of textbooks and trained teachers. My parents were not about to experiment with

their children’s future.

What strengthened my father’s conviction to keep us in English school was not only that;rather that Tun Razak and the other Malay leaders were sending their own children to

English schools. Razak went further; he sent his to schools in England! You could say

that my father heard the braying of the donkey (Razak’s children going to England) and

ignored the Mullah, including the top Mullah, Tun Razak.

Many years ago I was visiting my old village and met one of my former kampong mateswhose parents had taken him out of English school. On meeting me, his only comment

was that my father was wiser than his! The tribute rightly belonged to my father, and I

took that compliment to heart!

Excerpt 8:

You do not need statistics to tell the sorry plight of Malays. Visit any kampong or urban

slum and you realise that poverty means poor health, lack of drive, and most of all, thegiving up of hope.

I fail to see how Malay leaders and sultans could visit these squalid kampongs onemoment and in the next fly off around the world in luxury paid for by taxpayers, as Prime

Minister Abdullah Badawi did soon after visiting the flood-ravaged southern states in

December 2006. He flew to Australia in a brand-new luxurious Airbus speciallycommissioned for his use.

How could he and his family enjoy their sumptuous dinners and the comfort of their five-star hotels with memories of those struggling villagers still fresh in their minds? Only a

generation ago Abdullah’s relatives lived in attap dwellings in the slums of Penang. If he

cares to investigate, he probably still has some cousins once or twice removed eking out asubsistence living there.

I cite Abdullah because he reflects the general crisis in Malay leadership. It has notchanged with his successor Najib Razak. Indications are that it will still be the same with

his anticipated successor, Muhyiddin Yassin. In short, be prepared for the same sorry

scenario for the next decade at least. If Abdullah’s five-year tenure is now finallyacknowledged as a lost half-decade, then anticipate many more lost decades.

Excerpt 9:

Datuk Onn’s free mind enabled him to hear the braying of the donkey, the rakyat’sabhorrence of the Malayan Union Treaty, and wisely ignored the words of his Mullah …



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When you hear the donkey bray, do not let the sweet words of the Mullah persuade you

otherwise, lest you risk being made a fool like an ass, or worse.

Documents

LIBERATING THE MALAY MIND - PART I - How Umno has successfully duped the Malay rakyat