Whether Ketuanan Melayu or Ketuanan Islam espoused by PAS or Ketuanan Rakyat adroitly concocted by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to counter Umno propaganda - these are merely attempts by political players to control the Malay youth.

These, added blogger Anuar Mohd Nor, "are all marketing tools to invade our minds in their pursuit for power".

NONE Anuar ( right ) was speaking at a forum titled Ketuanan Melayu: Umno racist, or Pakatan's polemic? held at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall last night.

Perhaps as a yardstick to his allegations, the rest of the event, attended by some 50 youths, was set in the rhetoric of PAS, PKR and Umno-linked right wing Malay NGO Perkasa on their versions of the ketuanan 'concept.

Also on the panel with Anuar were PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli, PAS youth exco member Abdullah Karim and Perkasa vice-president Ashraf Majdi.

Anuar said the old men in politics were just using these concepts in their attempts to cloud the mind of youth, whom they sought to control to do their bidding.

"Why are we so moved by the ideology created by our political masters?" he asked.

He lamented that the youth were trapped in this maze of political drama, drawn up and designed by political greybeards.

Plea for a focused life

"As youth, you do not want to limit your life and activities to political aims. The focus nowadays is too much on politics and power," said the blogger.

However, he admitted, such focus on political discourse was good for the young minds, provided they made use of it to learn and not to get lost in the whirlpool.

"It is not as if politics is without redemption, it is good also because it can lead to maturity. We must see, look and then decide and act.

"That is what is required of us, not to lose ourselves in the polemics. We must be mature," he said.

However, he admitted, he himself was no longer in the youth category, being closer in age to the greybeards of politics - even if he still looked good.

T he community's actual situation

Anuar said all the ado about ketuanan and politics was for naught.

"All politics is rhetoric. Any one party is not entirely correct. Umno has got its flaws... Umno is racist (as we fight for our race)... but we do not oppress (the other races)."

NONE But the real question to ask, he argued, was where the Malays stood today?

"It is ironic that a debate by Malays, attended by other Malays, about Malays is conducted in a Chinese assembly hall, where one Malay goes on to bash another."

Going by statistics in Malaysia today, he said, the ones gaining supremacy were the Indians and Chinese.

"Those who gain now are the Chinese and Indians. Statistics do not lie. The Chinese control the wealth and business.

"If there is any ketuanan (whatever it is) here, then I don't see the use," he lamented.

He called on political parties to stop wasting their time and allowing others to discuss Malay issues and instead to do something to alleviate the community.

"Unity must be built on economic strength... political power is transitory. Economy can change and influence political decisions," Anuar said.

The blogger said that he looked forward to the day, when he would again be called to debate on the state of the Malays, like today, but by united Malay political parties, attended by Malays in a Malay assembly hall, financed and supported by strong Malay NGOs.

"But I understand. Change is not easy. Change takes time," he said.