Real Ketuanan Melayu!

The Ketuanan Melayu issue certainly got the headlines currently with a few quarters calling an end to it like for it to be'' di bakul sampahkan"(thrown in the thrash) while others defended it. There are various reasons for these people stating their stand but my view is that what's more important is not the slogan but rather the actual state of the Malays in this country.

I will let the opportunistic politicians to fight for Ketuanan Melayu for it to stay or be replaced as deep down I'm convince most of them are uninterested about the real issue here and the Malays must survive and thrive regardless.

Firstly, the reason I state that this slogan is irrelevant is because you can yell and shout this slogan all you want, but the malaise of the Malays stays. The Malays will still be drivers, sewage workers and other low-paying jobs with or without the slogan. So, if one truly care about the Malays, I will rather ask all of us to focus on solving the problem of the Malays as with "Ketauanan Melayu", we are still the lowest in terms of income compared to other races, highest drug addicts and many more things that will shake any illusions about us being ''tuan".

If one is to study history of the dominant races like the Greeks, Romans, Jews and so on, they all don't rely on slogans to be successful, some of them are even a minority in the country. What brought them there is through instilling of values like love of knowledge, hard work, curiosity, emphasis on one survival and so on.

For example,the Greeks, enquiry into nature brought them the gift of philosophy that created a comparative advantage for them against other races as they use philosophy to create better individuals, society and country. Therefore, their advantage lies in their minds, not sloganeering. The way they carry themselves and govern themselves brought the Greek civilisation as the best in the world at one time, and all of these are because of their minds.

So the Malays, for them to be uplifted, must be willing to change their behaviours and more importantly, their thinking and start to act like a ''tuan" by instilling some good values and behaviours instead of behaving like a ''tuan" wannabe but incapable of showing their worth as a ''tuan".

Secondly, the slogan has long been misused by certain quarters calling on for the Malays to be protected as ''tuan" with economic benefits while the same quarters work with their non-Malays counterpart to ''steal" the so-called economic benefits for themselves. Many of these Ali Baba businessesman make millions doing nothing just because he or she is a Malay with contacts to the powers that be that can give him or her lucrative contracts.

I believe that is unethical as the ones deserving that contracts are the hardworking Malays despite the lack of the right know-who. These heinous act is protected under the guise of ''Ketuanan Melayu" and Malay poverty but the rich Malays and their rich non-Malays partners are the ones that gains the most.

Furthermore, it has also been misused by politicians who yelled the''Ketuanan Melayu" slogan for their political gain while using that as a way to excuse their corrupt practices, abuse of power and incompetence in governing. Some of these politicians even sell out to the Malays when they themselves are Ali Baba businessman or acted in ways similar to it. The Malays deserve better politicians representing them, but their fear of the other race due to the influence of these politicians cause them to be shackled by these phony ''pejuang melayu".

Real Ketuanan Melayu can only happen when the shackle is broken and the Malays are truly free from them and their patronage. For that to happen, Malays must first start to be independent and stop the dependency on the entitlements that they give to gain the support of the Malays as the entitlements as a whole pale in comparison to the riches, influence and power they receive.

Finally, I have never been a fan of symbols, illusions and superficiality. I prefer functionality as it is real and long lasting. The Malays are known for their obsession for symbols. Why else there are so much fuss about the waving of the keris being questioned or the fact that some suggest ''Ketuanan Melayu" to be deposed.

History can show how the colonial master made use of the Sultans in ceremonial function to trick the Malays into the illusion of power when in fact the colonial powers are the ones who have the real power. The Sultans acted merely as a symbol for the Malays to feel good. Hundreds of years later, one can wonder whether we truly has change as based on many events on how the Malays behave, the answer is unfortunately, no.

In conclusion, let us ignore these polemic of ''Ketuanan Melayu" and focus on solving the problem the Malays truly has like rampant corruption among the politicians, lack of economic power and so on. Values also must be instilled for the Malays. In my view, the most important value is making education important in the Malay mentality beside from the usual hard work, perseverance and so on.

If we are focus in solving our problems and instilling good values, then maybe we can truly live the ''Ketuanan Melayu" slogan no matter who is ruling the country or no matter where we are in the world without kidding to ourselves as the ''Ketauanan Melayu" in us are not superficial, rather they are real ''Ketuanan".

The Lack of Dignity and Honor Among Present Leaders

Great leaders are important to the development of nations and its people. Therefore it is essential that Malaysians are wary of the lack of quality leadership here in this country especially among the Malays.

One can wonder what happened to the golden age of Malaysia where Malaysia is filled with great leaders like Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Tan Cheng lock, Tun V. Sambathan and other giant personalities of Malaysian where their places are waiting to be filed be other capable leaders. Unfortunately, presently, the same can’t be said.

One possible reason for the lack of good leaders presently is the lack of good virtues among the present leaders that used to be the hallmark of leaders in Pre-Independent leaders. One of the virtues that I would like to touch is showing dignity and honor in ones conduct. Present leaders trade dignity for power and positions where as the older generation leaders tend to be more mindful of dignity and honor as it reflect their self-worth.

One example would be the corruption case of former Selangor Menteri Besar Dato Harun Idris corruption case where despite being offered to be sent to UN to escape from the charge, Dato Harun insisted on facing the trial as it is the honorable thing to do that resulted him being jailed. He made a mistake and accepted responsibility for it as that what leaders with dignity and honor will do.

Presently however, despite some leaders being caught for corruption red handed, they refused to take responsibility for it and serve the punishment. Just look at the corruption cases involving the last UMNO elections where certain personalities caught for money politics remained in their positions without doing the right thing like what Dato Harun did. They are more concerned about power and positions instead of honor and dignity.

Another example is the unfair sacking of Tun Salleh Abbas, where some of his colleagues like Supreme Court judge, the late Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin, show great honor and dignity and defended their boss despite the circumstances they face as they where later suspended. They are willing to risk their positions for the sake of upholding justice in which they are entrusted to do as judges. Upholding their oath and duty as judges are more important than their positions.

The same can’t be said with the current judiciary with the Linggam Tape scandal, not to mention the public perception of the judiciary being corrupt. Some of the personalities involved in the Linggam Tape scandal including judges that even serve as Chief Justice didn’t even apologize or show remorse publicly for their actions. They should at least preserve whatever dignity and honor they have left and apologize for the injustice that occurred due to their action.

In developed countries like US and Japan, public official who don’t perform or they were involved in an unethical act will step down for the sake of preserving their honor and dignity. For example, even the President of USA, Richard Nixon step down as President after the Watergate scandal involving a break in of his political party rival office by Republicans.

In Japan, a lot of ministers even Prime Ministers have step down to preserve their honor and dignity. Japan former finance minister even step down just because he appeared drunk in one press conference eventhough he actually was affected by medicine he took.

Here in Malaysia however, many underperforming ministers are still unashamed with their incompetence and unethical act, even worst, they will get upset if they are dropped from the cabinet. They don’t care about other things except their power and positions despite them being there are detrimental to the people well being.

Finally, the current leaders want positions but not the responsibility that comes with it. Older generation leaders are the ones who what we call ‘’Leaders Without Title” as they don’t care about position but instead focus on enhancing the well-being of the people by serving them.

Ghaffar Baba, the former Deputy Prime Minister is great example where he served the people despite not been given an important ministerial position before becoming Deputy Prime Minister( even then his portfolio is still not that important compared to other Deputy Prime Miniters) despite being elected as Vice-President of UMNO with the highest votes at one time.

That never deterred him from serving the people as his duty id to serve other not his self-interests as it an honor to serve the ‘’rakyat” compared to serving one-self. This important leadership trait is absent in the current leadership and most probably future leadership if nothing is done to instill in them such a trait.

In conclusion, we as Malaysian must instill in others and ourselves especially our leaders to take care of our dignity and honor above anything else. We must make it part of Malaysian culture just like the Japanese where the person dignity and honor is worth that person life, not power of positions.

The Malaysian public must be willing to think and act likewise in their everyday dealings especially in their voting exercise as by doing so can Malaysia be clean of politicians who are unhonorable that have no dignity despite their race, political affiliation and others. When we can carry that out only we will good leaders that we deserve. Remember, ‘’People Get The Leaders They Deserve”.

Merdeka, National Integration and Polarization.

Last month, our beloved nation turned 53 years old. The watershed date of August 31st marked the occasion where on that very date, 53 years ago, our nation achieved it’s independence from the British.

It was an important event for our nation however, aside from having a free nation, our nation building stalled there as many of the problems facing us as a nation then remained with us now at best, at worst things are actually better of than compared to now, economic consideration aside. One of the main hindrance of national integration in our country is the state of polarization among the races that persisted from pre-independence until now, 53 years later.

Most of the way things were then, remained now despite we achieving independence like the social order that caused polarization during the colonial time due to the divide and rule policy they used against us. It's ironic then that now, the same policy is still in force and are administrated by our own government now claiming it as ''acuan sendiri".

An example of such problem in national integration among the different ethnic groups, we remain as divided as a nation despite being together for a long time. The Malays, Chinese, Indians and East Malaysians have their own communal interests at heart instead of having the Malaysian interest. Efforts in integration have been hampered by those yelling racial supremacy and racial togetherness.

Our Deputy Prime Minister Muhyidin Yassin himself led the charge of ethnicity over nation when he proclaimed he is a Malay first, Malaysian second. Many of our top leaders when press whether they are Malaysians first, either decline to comment or claim that they identify with their race first. That shows what we are having here is not nation building but ethnic ‘’building’’ within these nation which is not the effective way to go.

Having touched the issue of separation among the races among the leaders, let us look at among the common people. We remain as polarized as ever as we can see we are separated in different sector or groups.

The public sector consist of mainly Malays and the private sector is dominated by the non-Malays. In education, many Malays will go to national schools while the non-Malays will go to their respective vernacular schools and when they go to pursue higher education, majority of the Malays will be in public universities or colleges and most non-Malays will be in private ones. There are also specific industries which are race-dominated like the Chinese in the car workshop business.

Even when we are born, we are already divided into the Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera with each group having different benefits from the other. So it’s difficult to have a common interest and values, an essential ingredient for nation building, when we are polarized like this.

Furthermore, our political and social system are designed to ensure the continuation of such polarization as any effort to change the way things work by any means will most likely have serious consequences on the individual or group that are doing so. We have laws such as the Seditious Act and Internal Security Act to stop anyone from preaching against the current norm as they are deemed to sensitive and can disrupt the harmony among the races.

So we swept the problem of national integration under the carpet and assume ignorantly that there is no conflict among the races despite the writing on the wall such as the Namewee video clip, the Hindraf condemnation of the Malays and the “pendatang” tag given to the non-Malays by the Malays. Anyone caught questioning it will be incarcerated so the norm with it’s many problems persists.

We live in a nation of make believe where national integration is only manifested in the many commercials where we ‘’makan’’ together despite mentally and emotionally there is some serious discontent among us and there is now way of solving it as we are deemed to sensitive based on the absolute discretion of the powers that be.

In conclusion, as stated above, we are independent but we have not build our nation state(Negara Bangsa) of Malaysia where we our salience and loyalty is to the nation and not race, instead we have in Malaysia, many states with different interests competing with each other, each placing their interests above the interest of the nation as a whole. What we have is instead, a ‘’ state-nation”.

Therefore in conjunction with the 53 years of our nation’s independence, let us ‘’ask not what our nation has done for us, but ask instead what we have done for our nation”. That famous remark by President Kennedy is the cure to our cancer as many of our leaders are asking what their community deserves from the nation as being the sons of the soil ( Bumiputera), being a small minority, being the largest economic contributor and what not, instead of what the communities should do for the nation as a whole.

Let us change our paradigm and think as a Malaysian and what we can do for our nation so that we can put our past and self-prescribed sensitivities behind and begin the construction of our nation state where we all belong irrespective of our differences. That is my dream, and I think it should be part of the still non- existent Malaysian dream.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY MALAYSIA!...:)

Stop Race Politics!

I am deeply disappointed by the actions of some politicians and the mainstream media in politicizing in a racial manner the Friday prayer sermon in Penang which some quarters claimed that the name of the Yang Dipertuan Agong had been replaced with that of the CM Lim Guang Eng. The state government has deny this allegation but the issue is still being politicised.

In this holy month of Ramadhan, why are there individuals who are miss using the sanctity of religion for their political gain. Statement made by Datuk Zahid Hamidi is uncalled for as instead of investigating the matter, some quarters prefer to politicised it out of proportion.

It must be remembered by Malaysians especially Muslims that slander in Islam is worst than murder, therefore, if the allegation happens to be untrue, one is committing a sin worst than murder. This allegation if not properly handled, might lead to religious and racial uproar in this mentally-induced racial and religious hyper-sensitive nation that can disrupt the harmony between the races.

This is not the first time such racialisation of an issue is being done nor will it be the last if we continue to reward race politics and racist politicians. This issue is worst as aside from race, it also involved religion.The issue of Hindraf, the cow head protest and so on is the result of practising race politics

The only way to move beyond all this is by the electorate to reject race politics as it does more harm than good, it creates disunity and takes our attention away from the real issues of the day like the menace of corruption, the inequity in economic distribution between the rich and the poor and so on.

If this trend continues, then there is the possibility that another May 13 might create havoc in this beloved nation of ours. Let us be responsible Malaysians and reject any politicians with such tendencies in all elections, be it national elections or party ones.

Failure to do so, as a result will lead to extremist force taking over the country. Look at the public support of Perkasa among the Malays, and how politicians for both side of the divide that is empty content wise but due to wilingness to be ''pejuang bangsa"(race warrior, in other words, racist to an extreme) is going up the ranks.

We certainly don't want such people to lead or be influential in managing this nation, thus before it's to late, let us do something. Moderates politicians that are trying to bridge the divide like Zaid Ibrahim( Malay-Non Malays) and Khalid Samad( Muslims-Non Muslims) require our strongest support as they are being attacked by Ultra Malays and Muslim conservatives respectively. We need such politicians to lead and influence the direction of this nation, not racist demagogues in Perkasa and so on.

The sanctity of religion and race must be protected and not be miss used as a divisive tool to enhance one's salience to a political party so that votes can be gained. The practice of such politics is irresponsible. A more humane alternative is to vote based on humanistic values such as empathy towards the ''others" and try to understand their rights, religion and culture. Lets us create a Malaysian society where one can live in harmony, individually and collectively where one is not punished because of his or her identity.

Let us strive for Martin Luther King's speech where he talked about his dream for his nation,
'' I have a dream, that my four little children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by their colour, but by the content of their character".

Here in Malaysia, such word such echo in our hearts and mind as here, we are not judged by our content of character, but by our colour instead. Let us stand up and be counted to stop such practices, let us vote based on character and not colour.

Let us vote for the party that have the right values to guide our nation forward in a way that will not dampen our spirits and not the party that fight for narrow racial interests that create a society that is racist instead of a humanist society. Let us vote for the party with the best ideas for the nation and the ability to implement it well, not the party that talks of race supremacy or race solidarity.

In conclusion, we must demand the end of racial politics and ask instead for real issues-based ones-politics based on things that truly matter for our nation like the nation economic state,(sharing fairly of our nation wealth),social state(the polarisation among the races) , education state( is our education system producing the right human capital to steer this country in the 21st century) and many more.

The first step is for Malaysians to demand for such practice by at least using the ballot box, other measures that can help is the public advocation of such politics and for research on the subject to be conducted and information gained to be disseminated to the general public. We can only clean up our country if we clean up our politics and so let the'' Gotong Royong" begin for a cleaner politics that will lead us to a cleaner Malaysia.

A New Dawn for Malaysia's War Against Corruption?

The PKFZ(Port Klang Free Trade Zone) project fiasco continues to dominate the headlines when former MCA President and Transport Minister, Tun Ling Liong Sik was charged in court for misleading the cabinet about the said project. Personally I'm shocked that the government is taking such action but obviously they did and congratulations to them in having the guts to do so. For the first time in a long time, a big wig is charged in court for something, by Malaysian standards, it's a revolution indeed( a Tun some more). We all know that corruption is Malaysia's number 1 enemy, so this is our biggest attempt in attacking this enemy.

However, before we jubilate and celebrate this milestone in the battle against corruption that, thus far has been won by the corrupt over the people of Malaysia until this happened, I would like to remind all of us that the battle is not over yet, let alone the war. Past battles had shown us that the corrupt are not so easily defeated to warrant a premature celebration. Memories of the Lingam and the judiciary case, Eric Chia and Pewaja case and many more that the prosecution and justice system failed to nail should remind us of how the battle is far from over.

Just like Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo who mistook a group of army approaching the battlefield as his reinforcement, which in actual fact happened to be his enemy Blucher leading the Prussian army, we should also be wary and not be disillusioned by this case until it is truly over and those guilty is charged.

I would not like to think the government of BN-prosecution team as an ally in the war against graft until they prove that they are worthy of being so as they might be reinforcement for the corrupt to blind Malaysians into thinking that the war is turning in our favour when it's not, worst is the opposite,just look at what happened to Napoleon( with the help of Blucher, Wellington defeated Napoleon in that battle that completely ended Napoleon's career and his dream of conquering Europe).

Excuse me for being cynical but after so much hope are dashed in the past, one will naturally behave in that manner. Nonetheless, I'm still hopeful that this might not be the'' same old, same old" story, but until the outcome of the case is determined, let us focus on other battles in this war against corruption.

Firstly,they are many corrupt individuals in government as we speak. One good example is Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam who the UMNO Discipline Council found guilty of money politics in the last UMNO General Assembly Election. So while the trial of Ling proceeds, we the public should increase the pressure on the government to act against such people and not be satisfied until corruption is at the minimum level in this country(if possible zero-corruption).

Besides that, to ensure continuation and acceleration of such act against graft, the public should demand the MACC, the country graft busting agency, to be fully independent from the control of government to avoid the interference of political power in the war against graft.

It will be tough for the agency to fight graft effectively if the government can decide the fate of it's agents and bosses, so by doing what is said, the political constrains that the body faces will be lightened as they don't need to answer to anybody except the people, thus enabling them to arrest, prosecute and charged anybody involve in corruption despite their political power or influence.

Furthermore, Malaysians must also ensure that the system that this country uses such as the government way of awarding contracts are corruption prove as at this moment, there are still many discrepancies in the way they do so such as the Defense Ministry way of paying commissions on equipment purchases( I'm not asking the ministry to divulge the military intelligence, just the tender process and whether there is a need for a middle man, if so, the selection process of such middle man) and so on as according to the Auditors General Report on the government, more than a billion are lost in government operations that shouldn't be lost.

In conclusion, as we observe the outcome of this case, our mind must not lose it's focus on other corrupt activities at large irrespective of who is committing it and how large it is, as corruption is corruption no matter how large the sum involved. One must remember the wise word from scholar Syed Hussein Alatas that" corruption is the mother of all sins as it is the enabler of other sins",thus corruption shouldn't be taken lightly.

The battle rages on in this war against corruption, some have suffered in the war while others are still suffering but I call on Malaysians not to rest until the war is over and winning a battle is not winning the war, but winning the war itself.

There are many battles ahead that must be won in order for Malaysians to finally slay corruption and win the war against corruption for the sake of a just and fair Malaysia that corruption inhibits for us and the future generation. As one of the famous saying in World War 2
"Your Country Needs You", are Malaysians responsible enough to answer the call? Time will tell.

The Real Anwar Ibrahim

Of late, the blogersphere has been buzzing about the so called ''chameleon", on how he is an American agent, Islamist radical, martian and what not. I think that Anwar is missunderstood, locally and internationally, of course the local mainstream media bias against him is one factor, coupled with the western media cynicism about him due to his Islamist ties, what we have is a man with great intentions but missunderstood by many.

Firstly, Anwar is not an blind ally of the west, we can see it from his support of the western-perceived terrorist group Hamas. In the west, Hamas is labeled as a terrorist organization where as in the Muslim world, Hamas is seen as a group of freedom fighters fighting for their rights as Palestinians to reclaim their lost land that the Israeli regime occupies currently.

Besides that, respected counter-terrorist expert Ilan Weinglass claimed that Anwar has ties with the Muslim brotherhood which is said to have members like fame Ulama Yusof Qardhawi which of course is an Islamist. Anwar even supports Iranian nuclear ambitions which the west and the Isrealis are vehemently against.

Anwar is also a close friend and supports Turkish PM Erdrogran who himself has attacked Israel a few times recently. So, from the above arguments an many more, he is not a an American puppet or agent as some politician claimed as branding Anwar as such is only a political ploy by his detractors to cut his appeal among voters especially Malay Muslim.

Having said that however, he is not an Islamist cup of tea either, as he also has ties with a few ''non-friendly" to the Islamists allies in the west. The architect of the Iraq war, the neo-conservative Paul Wolfowitz is a good example that will send shivers to his Islamist allies. He worked with Wolfowitz as Chairman of the Foundation of the Future where he served as chairman. The foundation is created to promote democracy, transparency and popular political participation( I didn't like the sound of the last one) in the middle east.

He was also involved in other bodies like the NED( national endowment for democracy) and International Crisis Group which in some cases can be viewed by the Islamist conservatives as an attempt to realign the Islamic values that accept liberal western concepts like secularism, freedom and so on thus a treat to conservative Islam( in the west it can also be called extremist Islam or radical Islam). So calling him a radical or extremist wouldn't fit in the picture too, as his above work contradicts the extremist and radical beliefs thus how can one call him as such when obviously he clearly is not.

My analysis of Anwar and a sentiment shared by many including the Foreign Policy Magazine is that he is a unique moderate individual who is able to bridge the gap between Islam and the west, even the east and the west. Many leaders seemed to prefer to play it safe by choosing one side and demonising the other, as they say, those in the middle will only get trampled by two fighting sides, but Anwar showed courage in this case by trying to be the mediator of the two worlds.

Not many leaders in this world have an understanding of Islamic principles and Western principles or Western principles and eastern principles which Anwar has, so he is in a position to be the bridge between the two civilisations, thus creating not a world in which one dominates with hegemony, but a world with the two civilisation living side-by side enlightening each other, creating the best of both worlds so to speak.

Thus he is accorded a ranking in the 30s by the magazine of world thinkers that is shaping foreign policy and world affairs. A clash of the two civilisations will only create disasters for both sides as can be seen in Bush war on terror where innocent civilians end up becoming the victim, so Anwar has a unique leadership role in this world to prevent such clash from occurring.

That is why he continues to be courted by western leaders and Islamist leaders alike, despite what is said about him by people suspicious of him, from Western nations to eastern ones as he can offer them the other side of the story like how the Islamic countries should embrace democracy and how the west should not fear Islam( Islamophobia) as the religion is peaceful in nature.

In conclusion, while Anwar's work should be commended as a great commitment for the future of this planet, it must be noted that despite all that, some in the west and in the Islamic world might not be to fond of the two worlds co-existing thus he might end up failing to prevent the clash of civilisations. Worst than that, he might unknowingly be missused by some extremists and western imperialists for the race to create a new world order in which winner takes all.

Anwar must be cautious of such event occurring as failure to do so will lead to the sancity of Islam as religion and sovereignty of nations to be destroyed or it will lead to extremists elements taking over the moderates ones on this earth thus creating havoc to mankind. His success will lead to a greater world where as his failure will lead to a destroyed one.

I wish him the best in his pursuit and may Allah S.W.T guide him on his journey which filled with trials and tribulations at home and abroad, of course, all great struggles will involve such elements, but the task of a great leader is to lead fellow man through such trials and tribulations so that they can create a greater world for all man.

Links
Him being an extremist or a radical-http://newledger.com/2010/07/unholy-alliance/
Him being an American agent or involved in western activities-http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2596&Itemid=178
(ps, there are many such links, type Anwar and NED and googled it for example, I just picked a few that have been making headlines in the blogersphere.)

Malay Unity?

Recently, many quarters are calling for Malay unity among the largest race in Malaysia, citing failure to do so might lead to the Malays being weak and vulnerable, thus allowing ''others" to take advantage of them. This siege mentality, from my point of view, is the very reason why the Malays are left in the current state that they are suffering from. It is this mentality of the Malays, that they are under siege, that they justify the act of their''protector" despite it being unjust or unlawful.

First of all, for the sake of discussion, for Malay unity to come to fruition, they must be an underlying value(s) that unites and binds all of us, this value(s) must be able to precede other values including political ideologies and so on. With no doubt is better if it is a positive value rather than a negative one. Now in our present state, the Malays lack this much needed value. Assuming that PAS and UMNO unites and creates another entity, without values, the combined entity is useless as history had shown in the 70s when the two joined hands under the BN. It was a failure.

The secular nationalist and the Islamist values that UMNO and PAS holds respectively pitted one against another and that coupled with distrust and so on lead to the break up. Furthermore, their core voters consist of the same group, the Malays, thus fueling further competition.

A second assumption I would like to make is that if the two party joined hands again, it will create a political context in which the largely Malays( UMNO and PAS), VS the largely Non-Malays( PKR and DAP), this will only lead to a hegemony in our political space and extremist in both group will prosper which is not good for Malaysians in the long run. Malay supremacy can be pushed to an extent where is damaging for the country race relations as there is no way MCA or MIC can stand up to UMNO and PAS no matter how strong they are.

A hegemony political space will lead to the creation of a hegemony government that will implement policies that are hegemony in nature. Plural Malaysia will not prosper if a hegemony Malaysia emerges, rather the effect is rather destructive than a constructive if one is to use the Malaysia's point of view than a Malay one.

Furthermore, in an event that this new combination is not performing in the interest of the Malays as the propagators of Malay unity hope it would, they will no check and balance from the microscopic context of Malay politics. The Malays will be trapped and be forced to support this new entity irrespective of whether they are performing or not( look at the state of reliance of the Malays to UMNO now, the reliance will be bigger if the party will merge or join hands with PAS) with no alternative for the Malays.

To me it is not upliftement of the Malays if UMNO merges with PAS, rather it is the opposite. I would prefer the Malays unite not under a combination of political parties, rather unite under common values and principles irrespective of political inclination( like in the west how they unite in upholding principles of freedom, human rights and democracy).

The Malays will be better of that way as politicians can't misuse Malay unity for the sake of personal or political gain not to mention it will lead to a well served Malays as politicians from both side of the divide will compete to serve the Malays for votes thus leading to a better served Malays.

In conclusion, I would encourage for the Malays to dissemble the siege mentality and think progressively about this PAS-UMNO merger of sort as it will not really help the Malays, rather it will only make the problem worse. In my opinion, for the Malays to be uplifted, the Malays themselves must take action that uplift themselves, than the politicians will must likely follow suit.

As reminded many times here, real change happens from the bottom-up and not the other way around thus for the Malays to be better of, we must look at ourselves and make improvements on us rather than rely solely on the politicians who most of them have their own political agendas to fulfill.

Remember what history had taught us before, when the Malays rely solely on the the Sultans or other leaders, we end up losing more than we gain( many states in Malaysia were lost this way, just look at Perak) but when we as a people unite, even the mighty British concurred with us( the rejection of Malayan Union), please remember that when considering UMNO-PAS unity and Malay unity.