Once again, I was deeply disappointed with how arrogant the Umno-controlled Utusan Melayu is. This newspaper recent headline news was an article entitled ‘Bangkitlah Melayu'.

The news called for cooperation among the Malays to face the increasingly ‘excessive demands' from the non-Malays.

How could the editor allow such kind of a racist call to be published in a multiracial country? Would not the call ignite racial sentiments amongst the non-Malays and even among the Malays? Who knows if the readers would not be emotionally fired up and the consequences therein?

What is the slogan of our new prime minister that has been so widely promoted through the mainstream media since his swearing-in?

Isn't such news of calling on Malays to target non-Malays as enemies a blunt attempt to reverse the concept of ‘One Malaysia', which aims to provide fair and equal policies for the nation?

Recently we have heard of so many skewed opinions such as ‘The Chinese appeared to be ungrateful' or ‘The Chinese are squatters' and even ‘Umno alone gained independence for Malaysia'.

All these are indeed racist enough and could potentially create ill-feelings among the citizens. If another racial riot takes place, who should be responsible?

Talking of racism, will Najib remain faithful to his father's legacy which is the New Economy Policy formulated for the eradication of poverty irrespective of the race? However, this policy has been criticised by many as the tool that led to today's serious corruption within the ruling coalition.

And the result of that policy is that many Malays still live with poverty today. More importantly, eradication of poverty regardless of race means that the same effort should be offered to every race amongst the nation's population.

There are poor people among Malays and certainly there are also poor people among the Chinese and the Indians. Since we are all Malaysians, why can't we be equally and fairly treated under the concept of a truly ‘One Malaysia'?

Should we again and again be yelled at to leave this country? Who would think that China or India would welcome the return of Chinese Malaysians or Indian Malaysians?

Today's professional Malays not longer support Umno's political rhetoric of ‘Umno is uniting and protecting the Malays'.

You would think that the increasing support from young Malays towards Pakatan Rakyat would have sent a loud and clear message to Umno that racist calls will not lead the party anywhere but somehow we still hear the same old rhetoric again and again.

If Najib's call for fair and responsible media allows Utusan Melayu's headlines news to damage the unity of Malaysia's citizens, then for sure Najib is digging Umno's and BN's graves and the two will be buried at the next general election.

4

If you champion apples, you'll only please apples

Victor Chew

‘Break away from ethnic prison', the media recently quoted Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak as saying. In the article he further said that most Malaysians were still concerned about their own community.

But can Malaysians avoid this type of attitude when the prime minister's own political party, Umno, and practically all the component parties of Barisan Nasional that he leads are one-race racial parties?

The best way to change this attitude and to allow Malaysians to think as one is to ban mono-racial and mono-religious parties in the country. The first step would be for the Barisan Nasional component parties to take.

If our PM is sincere about this, this is the first step needed. I do not accept excuses such as it would be difficult and will not work. As long as we continue with this form of politicking, it would be difficult and would not work, but if we have the will to do away with race-based parties by law, then it will work.

BN does not have the two-thirds majority to change the constitution to ban mono or uni-racial political parties, but if the opposition is sincere about a ‘One Malaysia', then they will support such a bill. It would be a good test for the opposition to see whether they walk the talk.

Actions like helping the poor of every community may work to a limited extent. As pointed out by some, the result is negative and those who ‘give' are now responding by saying that those who ‘receive' are ungrateful.

Why should recipients of ‘goodies' be grateful to any particular political party when they use government means to provide the ‘gifts'? Any political party in power can do likewise.

Because we are so racial-minded, we tend to think of our own race as represented by our political parties. For example, Umno will think of the Malays and MCA the Chinese and MIC the Indians so each party - even in a coalition government - will cater to their own racial needs.

This is very wrong and is the root cause of divisiveness among Malaysians. Look at the issues raised by race-based parties in today's politics. Top of the list among non-Malay political parties are issues like the New Economic Policy and the Islamisation of the nation.

Among the Malays, they issues raised are like the economic strength of the Chinese, Chinese education policies, religious buildings and ‘disturbances to the environment' ie, pig farms etc. Why are these issues raised by the various race-based parties?

They are raised because they garner support for their racial groups. If you champion apples, you must do things that will please apples, right? However, if there is a mixed fruit basket, then you cannot just champion apples or oranges but all the fruits as a whole.

As a Malaysian of Chinese origin and being of third generation by birth here, I call upon all sensible political leaders and aspiring political leaders to consider this matter seriously for the sake of our nation.

We are nearly an century behind time when it comes to racial understanding and integration and maybe we have even drifted further behind. Many years before and after independence, we were still okay in terms of racial acceptance and understanding but now we talk only of racial ‘tolerance'.

The two terms differ a lot in meaning and the latter (‘tolerance') is not what we want, it is ‘acceptance' we should look towards to.

For the sake of our future generations, let us hope today's leaders and people make the right decision - a decision to do away with racial politics and work towards a united one Malaysia.