Comments on: Menyerah Mahkota

By: Nazryn Azhar

Nazryn Azhar — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:25:00 +0000

hazrul, i like your points and materials in your articles…and the part about malaysian pig farmers, it shows that patrioticism is not confined to race at the expense of suspicions to another..good work bro!

By: Hazrul Azhar Jamari

Hazrul Azhar Jamari — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:50:00 +0000

@George: Sir, it is my pleasure. Selamat Hari Kebangsaan!

By: Hazrul Azhar Jamari

Hazrul Azhar Jamari — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:47:00 +0000

I do not fault Tun for making that choice. Malaysia was a new country at the time, and Malays finally had a country they owned. To give up Tanah Melayu to a non-Malay would defeat the nationalism that was raised during that time.Look at your country now. Chinese Malaysians are loyal to country. I've never seen such patriotism when Chinese farmers formed a human barrier to protect a bunch of pigs from being culled and sung Negaraku to emphasise that they too were Anak Malaysia.Our countries took different paths to achieve a strong national identity. We have Malays here that are loyal to Singapore. And you have Chinese there that are loyal to Malaysia.I believe Singaporeans have much to learn from Malaysia about creating such a strong identity. I don't think bumi rights or otherwise, Malaysia lost. Yours is a country that have prospered just as fast as Singapore. And we both benefit from each other. Don't you think? We're brothers at the end of the day.

By: Hazrul Azhar Jamari

Hazrul Azhar Jamari — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:36:00 +0000

@Fauzie: To define Orang Asli as non-Malays is a bit debatable. My personal opinion is that Orang Asli are still of Malay stock. Even Filipinos consider themselves of Malay ethnicity. So perhaps, my statement should be read in terms of origin rather than political definitions.On point 2. I perfectly understand where you're coming from. The argument is this is my house, and you (non-Malays) are guests to this house. So to demand to sleep on my bed in my house is rude.Malaya is undoubtedly Land of the Malays. Singapore was asking for something well ahead of its time. Tun had to solve the "immigrant" question and choose between preserving the Tanah Melayu argument or accepting our non-Malay neighbours as Anak Malaysia for they too bled and died on this Tanah.Singapore is now facing a similar issue. And ironically, local Chinese Singaporeans have to debate whether to accept Zhongguo-Ren (China-borns) immigrants as Singaporeans.

By: Hazrul Azhar Jamari

Hazrul Azhar Jamari — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:18:00 +0000

@Therese: I understand how it must have been. Its not your fault. Just the language policies that we had at the time in order for us to achieve economic progress and prosperity. English was seen as the language of business and it was seen as paramount for Singapore to master it.Majulah Singapura! Onward Singapore! But I hope, not at the cost of our heritage. The Malay nature of the state is what makes us unique and different from Taiwan and Hong Kong. Here, we believe in racial equality, and having Malay as the National language, preserves our equality instead of establishing Chinese hegemony.I'm glad though times are changing and we are seeing more Chinese learning Malay as a 3rd language and our Malays arming themselves with Mandarin to contribute to our ethnic richness. Progressing from tolerance to understanding.