| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Race-Card Played in Malaysian Elections |
| 2003-11-19 |
| Chinese? Wag ’em and whack ’em. It’s all out to fish for Malay votes, ain’t it? It is pre-election time in Muslim dominated Malaysia. If PAS is viewed as using the Islamic State Document to wag its tails at wooing non-Muslim voters, you are wrong. PAS is an Islamofascist political party, which holds two provinces in Malaysia, and is campaigning on an "Islamic State" platform (see party program in link). If Umno, and the think-tanks and Malay newspapers parented to the party, are viewed as benign protectors of non-Malay interests, you are equally wrong. They are evidently trying to outdo each other, manipulating the Islamic psyche, to net the voters that count - The Malays’. "Pandering" is the word. Utusan Malaysia, the barometer of Umno thinking, has started an old spin today. It takes the form of a news analysis — a frontpage lead — by Mowardi Mahmud: Chinese 3 times richer (than Malays). Yes, the ethnic Chinese (and ethnic Hindus) are much richer than the other-worldly oriented, Malays, because they are not bound by Islamic Riba (interest) haram sandbags. Islam promotes submission to the injunctions of Allah, and restrains personal industry. The Chinese and Hindus stepped into the breach. My breakfast partners say it’s Umno counterforce to PAS’ proposal to withdraw the affirmative action favouring the Malays "when they no longer need it"... Chinese-Malaysians, who form the second largest ethnic component in Malaysia - some 27% - throughout the entire first-half of the Eighth Malaysia Plan (RMK-8), control RM157 billion shares capital while the bumiputra only possess RM73 billion while they constitutes 58% of the national population. Don’t let those numbers shock you into sympathy for nominally disadvantaged Malays. There is a similar statistical anomaly in Indonesia. In spite of the extermination of 500,000 of their members during the genocide of 1965-67, ethnic Chinese control 60% of the Indonesian economy, while they form less than 6% of the population. From the RM73 billion, the first Mid-Term review of RMK-8 indicates that, in 2002, a total of RM55.1 billion are owned by bumiputra individuals, RM11.6 billion owned via governmental institutions, and RM6.4 billion owned via holdings by trust agencies. It is noted that the governmental agencies referred to, which hold the bumiputra shares. include Permodalan Nasional Bhd. and other state economic development corporations. The "bumiputra" (ethnic Malay Muslims) benefit from a government "affirmative action" programs, which recently caused Dr. Moonbat to cancel multi-billion dollar railway development deals with Indian and Chinese firms. That is: the self-imposed economic backwardness would be worse without the leaching of minority taxpayers to the benefit of mullah ridden Malays. Utusan suggests that it may be about time to take stock of the status of the bumiputra today if there wasn’t assistance from the government. This is the reality which should be looked into seriously, says the influential paper. Yep! Playing the race card. With the Chinese overwhelming the Malays 3:1 in shares capital, the paper says, it has placed the bumiputra on the farther end of the economy divide. It also clearly shows the cake-size of the national economy that the bumiputra get to share. As a free-enterpriser, it is my experience that most successful people worked hard for their wealth, and took risks. We have to take note of Malay finger-pointing, because Dr Moonbat’s so-called "economic miracle" is being peddled as a model of Islamic success. It is not. Dr. Evil rode the other "Asian Tigers." There are already brewings of a trade war with China and India. Malays will get a slice of humble pie. |
| Posted by:Vlad the Muslim Impaler |
| #4 I don't know about Civil Servants, but in Indonesia, the Chinese are the disliked because they own most of the shops and businesses. It's not much different than what you see in LA where there are (in a way) similar conflicts. Look at him, he has all that stuff, and I can't afford more than a pack of cigarettes. Same ol' story be it Jews, Americans or Chinese or whatever. If you own the stores, you automatically become The Man(TM) that the have-nots rage against. |
| Posted by: B 2003-11-19 12:14:14 PM |
| #3 I believe they did prefer the Chinese for non-administrative "real" jobs,such as construction etc.Work ethic has never been crucial for bureucrats,after all.I may be wrong,of course.Anyone know better? |
| Posted by: El Id 2003-11-19 8:53:21 AM |
| #2 The brits didn't like to hire the chinese because the viewed them as poor civil servants, primarily because they suspected their loyalties. They much preferred the malays and indians. |
| Posted by: Phil_B 2003-11-19 7:31:46 AM |
| #1 Thomas Sowell mentioned in one of his books how the colonial (Brits) administrators preferred to hire the Chinese because they worked about twice as hard as the natives.Not much has changed,apparently. |
| Posted by: El Id 2003-11-19 2:39:58 AM |