‘Does Tengku Faris know what is the meaning of being a citizen of Malaysia. What is the reason for not giving non-Malays equality with the Malays? Are non-Malays exempted from paying income tax?’

On Tengku Faris: Non-Malays should not seek equality

Tan, Joseph K: It is sad to know this statement coming from a crown prince. Does he know what is the meaning of being a ‘citizen of Malaysia’? If he relates his statements to being a ‘Permanent Resident of Malaysia’, then it is acceptable as most countries in the world do discriminate. But what is the reason for not giving non-Malays equality with the Malays? Are non-Malays exempted from paying income tax?

Do non-Malays not contribute to the development of Malaysia? History tells us that a united people from within a country are able to prevent a country from being conquered by external forces. For Malaysia to survive, we need to be united even though we are from different backgrounds. As long as a person is a Malaysian citizen, he/she should treated as a citizen and not a ‘permanent resident’.

Rafique: Malays with Umno’s mentality comes in many different shapes and sizes. He just happens to be a royalty that’s all. I believe time and the younger generation is on the side of fairness for everyone, regardless of race.

Pin Pan Dan: I suspect the speech was not written by Tengku Faris but by some mischievous Umno hack warning the non-Malays not to push their luck too far in the light of the reverses suffered by the Umno/BN in the last general election.

It is definitely Umno propaganda rejecting the people's wish for a Bangsa Malaysia and determined to perpetuate racial politics in upholding Malay (read Umno) hegemony, never mind Malaysia is a multi-racial society where all citizens are equal. It shows Umno's call to reinvent itself as nothing but just plain hogwash.

A Malaysian View: It’s definitely not popular statements from Tengku Faris.. What is the motive of the speech? What makes him think that? Being a prince of the rakyat, it’s rather ‘unprofessional’ to make such a statement in public.

I am proud to be a Malaysian in a multi-racial and multi-cultural society where we can all live together. I respect every individual regardless of race or religion. We shouldn't recognise an individual based on race or religion - we should recognise them on how they can contribute to society.

Everyone should be treated fairly with equality. All of us are Malaysians. We are on the same boat living on the same soil, we succeed and prosper together as Malaysians, and we suffer together too as Malaysians. We are all God's creation. And we should unite as one and not only unite as Malays only.

Golateott: Dear Tengku, you have gone back in time of your choice. Now how far back in time would you allow us to have the freedom to go? No, not far if I can make a guess. No, I would not wish to bring you back there too either because you have already made it pretty clear your are not going to be happy to go that far back and likewise, I do not think you like to go to the future without demanding a certain part of time stood still as a personal insurance maybe.

Dr Nedu: It looks like Tengku Faris forgot the history of Malaysia. The independence was granted upon the unity of the races. Otherwise, we would have been colonised until today. He is therefore wrong.

We, the citizens of Malaysia, have got all the rights that a fellow Malay citizen has. The Malaysian political system has failed and the rakyat rejected this during GE12. He is trying to hide the weakness the system.

Kaisim: It is unbecoming of Tengku Mahkota of Kelantan to utter such views. He has not learnt about human rights and the country`s Rukun Negara. Perhaps he was wrongly advised as we all know speeches like this are prepared by someone else.

The non-Malays have never asked for more than is necessary. What we want is equal treatment as citizens of the country as this is a universal requirement in any country. Is it wrong to ask for fairiness? Please, Tengku, a good Sultan is loved by the rakyat, not otherwise.

On Whatever happened to the bio-tech initiative?

Concerned Academic: This initiative has brought much grief to many young people. Let me tell you why. I was a lecturer in several private colleges in early 2000 to the present. There were thousands of students who took Biotechnology and Bio-Medical Sciences after intensive promotion by the government of the day and the private colleges. Well, most of these students now have very poor career prospects.

If you look at the job section of the papers, you can hardly see any jobs for people who took such courses. Most of the course required people with engineering and physical sciences degrees (physics, chemistry, materials science etc).

I think the government has a lot to answer for with their promotion of Biotechnology and nothing to show for it. So those who are thinking of doing bio-related courses, be warned. There are very few jobs for you upon graduation. Your prospects are either in teaching or in sales.

On Give MCA due respect, Umno told

Teo Chuen Tick: I feel Ong Ka Ting has left it till too late to ask (not demand?) for due respect from Umno. If your whispering approach had worked or if you had managed to get results without blowing your own trumpet, the anger of the Chinese Malaysian community against your party will not have been so intense.Yes, for MCA's survival it will have to show it is still relevant and am not just an errand boy for Umno

On Tamil daily Makkal Osai banned

Jane: So, Malaysian politicians are indulging in their favourite shenanigans again: if they don't like something, they ban it. They really are as thick as two planks; have they learnt nothing from the general election?

I really thought things would change for the better, but if this incident is an indication, I may have been too optimistic. It's up to Malaysians to take a stand against such heavy-handedness.

Don't treat it as an issue confined to those who read Tamil. Banning a newspaper that doesn't toe the government's line is an outrage against all Malaysians.

People’s Power: ‘In the case of Makkal Osai, we do not cancel the permit but decided not to extend it," he added.’

What is this minister talking about? He is just playing with his words. I don’t know how he can become a minister. Is this vengeance by BN? They still don’t get the message. Maybe it’s time to show them clearly by taking over the federal government and getting rid of all these deadwood and old stalwarts.

Manecksha: Frightened people with short memories. A stupid decision. An issue for the next election. I feel sorry for the employees and brave journalists.

On Samy: Racist mindset drowned BN

The Silent Saint: S Samy Vellu is the most shameless leader the country has ever seen. He talks about a curse in BN but the curse, as far as the Indians in Malaysia and MIC are concerned is none other than Samy himself. Today he comes out boldly and points his fingers at everybody for the dismal performance of his party and BN. When you point one finger at someone do not forget three fingers are pointing at yourself.

He had been the president of MIC for 22 years and did not once publicly air these issues but today, when he has nothing to lose he becomes a loose cannon. This arrogant man is trying his level best to salvage whatever respect and reputation he can from his community before he bids his final farewell.

He blames BN and Umno for racist mindset and unjust treatment of Indians. What about his own plundering and looting of the Indian community? What about Maika holdings? What about the Telekom shares? Is he still going to put the blame on BN leaders? Sudah lah Samy.

Go Back To Meritocracy: When Samy Vellu said ‘The new thinking should be equal opportunities for Malaysians according to their percentage’, this saying summed up, at least to me, that Samy Vellu's mentality still has not changed. He is still a racist.

How can equal opportunities be 'according to their percentage'? We have to adopt meritocracy. There is no other way. How I wish Lee Kuan Yew did not mention the word 'meritocracy' to Malaysia, or else, meritocracy would have been more acceptable to those in Umno and BN.

Ivlesamtap: No surprise that Samy doesn't get it. As usual in the blur and completely misses the point. He is an embarrassment to Malaysians in his opinions, thoughts and actions...and he still doesn’t get it. Nothing more needs to be said.

Raptor: Well, if he knew the ‘big wave’ was coming six months before the election, than why don''t he save himself from the Indian community’s wrath? So first of all, you fooled your own self, and later you tried to fool the rest of the Indian community by having a big gathering in February at Cheras, hailing the PM'.

Lastly, he fell down embarrassingly in the recent election and he is now telling a different story all around. A true qualified politician. Syabas, Samy, Syabas. You think the Indian Malaysians are a bunch of turkey's don't you?

Well, Indians today say this and listen carefully - I only fly around with the hawks and don't mix around with turkeys, so fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on you.

Christopher J Savarimuthu: Samy's suggestion for BN to form a sort of integration committee among component parties and for their respective heads to sit in is just an attempt by him to, once again, get close to the circles of power. Shoot it down!

Ex-Serviceman: Samy, you are exactly like your good friends in the BN component parties. You talked a lot in Parliament in favour of the Indians during your MP days just to get (racial) popularity among the Indians in order to come up in your political career.

Now you are back again to your (racial) MP days hoping that the Indians would be fooled again into believing that you are sincerely championing their cause. Will you never give up? You cannot fool all the people all of the time.

As for the Indians who are/were councilors (without important portfolios as you say), check their economic status and also their assets. Most Indian politicians enter politics as poor men but end up multimillionaires within a short span of time, while the common Indian whom they were supposed to help remain the same.

At a meeting with Indian ex-servicemen in KL twenty years ago, you said that our blood shed in the Malaysian borders gave your tongue the strength to speak in Parliament. Tell us ex- servicemen, what have you done for us since. Cukup-lah, just go back to your kampung and rest till your last day instead of trying to fool all the people all the time.

Balakrishnan Manickam: It is indeed laudable that you had brought in out only now, Samy. Wish you had the guts to highlight this and the marginalisation of the minor races of the Malaysian population during the three decades of your leadership in the MIC. You were given the mandate and trust since then to highlight all relevant problems and difficulties pertaining to the community. You said that your plight to the PM was met with negative response so then why didn't you stand up for the community - even at the expense of leaving the BN then? If you had done this you would have been infallible Samy. You truly would have been our hero.

But for now, please, don't insult our intelligence any further. The final curtain is drawn. Thanks for trying. The MIC is no more relevant for the Indian community - the Indian mindset is one with the wanting of honest leaders. They truly know who have sacrificed for them. It's a matter of time before they emerge from their sacrificial flame to safeguard the future generation.

Kumar: I am an Indian Malaysian living in the US. Is Samy out of his mind? The amount of disrespect he has for the party is unbelievable. I am ashamed to be an Indian. The rest of the politicians who lost have quietly gone their way. But thick-skin Samy does not get the message. His needs seem to more important than the people he claims he cares for.

What message does Samy need to hear to know that he is not wanted anymore? Who is still pointing his finger to the people? He said he wants to build the party. That means he destroyed the party for more than 25 years and now only he wants to build. I hope the Indians back home will do something about this. I hope Samy reads this. Please make sure that he reads this message.

On End reliance on foreign workers: Syed Hamid

Malaysian-Through-And-Through: I am all in agreement with Syed Hamid to end reliance on foreign workers. If a particular field really requires foreign expertise then a system has to be put in place to ensure (and insist) that knowledge transfer has to take place from foreign expertise to local workers.

I am seeing a lot of foreign workers in Singapore and it scares me that this is becoming a malady in this country. For example, it is a well known fact that the IT field is an Indian field because of the huge dominance of Indian (from India) workers in this field so much so that if a non-Indian were to apply for a job in the IT field, the chances of getting an IT job is slim. This is because majority of the employment agencies are owned by Indians (whose HQ is mainly based in India). I can't imagine this happening in Malaysia. If this happens in Malaysia, sooner or later Malaysians will one day be foreigners (and a minority) in their own land.

So please, put in a system of knowledge transfer as soon as possible. Even better, do what the Brits do, in that the British government makes it absolutely difficult for an employer to hire a foreigner unless the employer can prove his/her reason for employing a foreigner. This would mean that the employer has to submit all the profiles of screened candidates and his justification for hiring a non-Brit.