YOURSAY ‘I have not read anything truer and better than this short history.’

Of Indians and cowboys - when does migration end?

FairMind: A good piece by Ramesh Rajaratnam. You have touched our hearts and made us proud of our ancestries no matter where we come from.

Today, the word ‘bumiputera’ is not a word of pride but denotes handicapped. This word is used by the powers-that-be to hide their true ancestries for easy handouts and privy to the gravy train.

Those ordinary Malays couldn't care less what name they are called and go on with their daily struggle to put two meals on the table.

Those who try to hide their ancestries and call others ‘pendatangs’ are no better than fake conmen and robbers hoping to ‘sapu’ the gravy train for themselves and legitimise their ill-gotten stash.

Caripasal: In this country, bumiputera means the race with majority number and thus political power and votes.

The real bumis in Sabah and Sarawak are living in extreme poverty and this is why the percentage of poverty among the bumis is high. They are intentionally neglected.

The fake bumis continue to rob and continue to say they are tolerating the non-bumis. The non-bumis probably realise that the robbery shall not continue.

Shanandoah: I have not read anything truer and better than this short history of the Malay peninsula. It is worth framing it up in the homes of all Malaysians. It’s a relevant revelation of all Malaysians. Thanks Ramesh.

Appum: Ramesh, this is the history (the facts) I learnt when I was in school during colonised Malaya and post-Merdeka Malaya.

I just returned from Turkey, which is a 99 percent Muslim nation. The locals are very proud of their history despite being colonised and conquered by so many civilisations. Their Islam is very open and tolerant of others. They do not twist their history to suit their present.

Of course, some people will accuse you of challenging their position and rights when history is clear that we are all immigrants from somewhere sometime.

David Dass: Ramesh, a well-written piece. I would not however want to get into a 'we are all immigrants' debate. That would produce a lot of heat and resolve nothing.

I agree that an accurate knowledge of history is important to demonstrate that non-Muslims have contributed significantly to the making of Malaysia.

We should all just abide by the constitution. Article 153 is a lot more limited in scope to what has been done under the New Economic Policy (NEP). The NEP as formulated is alright. Its implementation is the problem.

All people should be treated fairly. The poor of all communities should be helped. We should encourage the talented among Malaysians whatever their race to stay in the country and help advance the nation.

Singapore has benefitted enormously from Malaysian talent. As has Australia and the UK. We must think Malaysian first. The extremists will alter our nation beyond the dreams of the founding fathers. And remove the joy of our current existence.

Peacemaker: Ramesh, you have convincingly put to shame the politically-approved version of the arrival of the various ethnic groups in Malaya. Nobody cares two hoots about who really arrived first. We were born here and hence are Malaysian.

But the thorn in the flesh is the myth of the ‘social contract’ which no one of these fellows are able to show to anybody and the tyranny following the political construct known as ‘special rights’.

RCZ: Well said and well written. I, too, am disgusted and find it totally repugnant and hideous that non-Malays are still being discriminated against in this day and age.

A copy of this article should be given to all the racists now in assembly, especially Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, and they should go back, read their history and come and try to debunk these historical facts.

Of course, they will not be able to do so and will then shift the attention by shouting and screaming race, religion and royalty issues and beat their chests. And the circus will continue. Moderate Malaysians, wake up please.

Maplesyrup: Practice divide and rule and Malaysia loses out and not achieve its full potential. Yes, the moderate Malaysians must stand up and make a stand, let the ruling elite know who are the real moderates.

Anti-Sarkis: A very dangerously game you are playing here, Ramesh. All to justify so-called fighting oppression when the story you are telling is ‘berbelit-belit’.

One thing that is clear is that we must respect and honour our forefathers’ agreement when Malaysia was formed.

Dr Jacob George: Thank you for this great piece and it is a pity we have to do this to prove a point of history which today has allegedly been rewritten to suit the new propaganda due to political expediency.

Multi Racial: Thanks, Ramesh for the history. To me, history is something we cannot change and there for us to learn from. Whether which race or which religion came first should not matter to us any more, after all we are Malaysians and Malaysia is the only place on earth we call home.

Let us strive to be united and ignore those self-interest politicians whose only interest is to divide the country so that they can remain in power.

Let’s treat each other with respect and work together so that as united Malaysians we can bring our country to a new level which will in turn benefit all Malaysians.

Chipmunk: I must applaud the facts and figures stated herein and while many right-minded Malaysians will appreciate these facts, sadly Umno Baru will be blind to these facts so as to keep them in power.

If only this article can be published by all newspapers in Malaysia, then the people of this land will begin to open their eyes to see the truth. Let this article be the beginning of a new change that will bring all communities together in one accord.

Thank you, sir, for giving us strength and a new hope. I urge all readers of this article to take this story to your family, friends, relatives and even your neighbours.

You may not be able to do much but by just doing this little thing, you can obtain great results. Be the change for the future our our beloved country, Malaysia.

Sub: I hope Malaysiakini will publish more articles like these to enlighten the real history to so called ‘pendatangs’ by Umnoputras. Thank you, Ramesh and Malaysiakini .

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