What nonsense is former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad saying ?

The fact that he was the most senior member of the judiciary, makes it an even bigger disgrace to his fellow colleagues when he openly claimed that it was only the Malays who "truly fought for the country's independence".

When the Japanese invaded Malaya, who were the Malays siding with? This is supposed to be our country, but it is a fact that there were some Malays who allowed the Japanese to land on the shores of Kelantan.

Tell me, was this not an act of treason and an act of betrayal against the sultans and the people of Malaya?

Abdul Hamid should go back to the Malayan History 101 to check out the fact about this nation before he uttered those words. 

Personally, it does not matter to me who sacrificed more and I am sure Abdul Hamid himself is not such a bigot to be making a statement like this in public, but he should at least understand the sentiments of the non-Malays as well before he takes such a subject off the tangent.

As a former chief justice, he should at least stop fuelling the inter-racial tension in the country. 

I am sure Abdul Hamid himself would not have sacrificed the kind of time or effort of someone like Tan Cheng Lock and Dr V Manickavasagam, alongside with the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, to see that the country obtained its independence. 

I am sure if the Tunku were still alive today, he would be ashamed by the way how a former chief justice spoke about the struggle for independence.

We know that in the early 1980s, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad once again opened the doors to the Japanese industrial masters.

He promoted the Look East policy, which is hardly even heard of these days because the Japanese economy is no longer considered among the strongest in the world. 

Here is one fact that Abdul Hamid and Dr Mahathir should swallow like a pill: If not for the so-called MPAJA, which fought the Japanese during World War II, Malaya may still be in the grip of the Japanese imperial army till today. The history of this country would have been written differently. 

During those years, there were also the others from both New Zealand, Australia and the Gurkhas from Nepal who fought against the invading Japanese army.

Without their sacrifices, many of us would not even be speaking English or Bahasa Malaysia.

Instead of us gaining Independence from the British in 1957, we would probably be still living under the Japanese colonial masters.

Bahasa Jepun, instead of Bahasa Malaysia, would have been the national language, no thanks to the people who opened the door to the Japanese army.

Because of the MPAJA's struggle against the Japanese, our forebears began to realise that they, too, could seek independence from Britain in those days.

I will not go into the details of how others like Onn Jaafar and others had put their efforts to prepare the soil for the Independence of Malaya in 1957.

So, please, Abdul Hamid, dig into the history books before you say anything of this nature. 

STEPHEN NG is just an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.