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History viewed through Umno's racial lenses
Published:  Sep 4, 2011 8:51 AM
Updated: 4:34 AM

vox populi small thumbnail FREE VOXPOP 'Bukit Kepong serves Umno's Malay-versus-Chinese agenda. Mat Sabu sought to turn the issue on its head - the attack was led by a Malay.'

Careful, they might hear you

Black Mamba: Let's get this straight. The attack on the Bukit Kepong police station was before Merdeka - Aug 31, 1957. The country was colonialised by the British and all personnel who worked for the administration were under the payroll of Her Majesty, the Queen of England.

Those who went against and fought the British colonialists then are nationalist, irrespective of their party orientation. Those under employment of the British government, irrespective of their racial background, worked for the colonial masters.

If Mat Indera (Muhammad Indera), a nationalist with the communist party and his comrades, had successfully driven out the British occupiers, they would have been hailed as war heroes just like the communists in China and Vietnam who had driven out their own countrymen in the Koumintang and the South Vietnamese Army respectively as they were aligned to the American imperialists.

Victors get to write their version of history.

1Malaysiakuku: The communists were of course the true heroes of Malaya (then). They fought against the British colonialists, then the Japanese, then the British again and got ‘independence' for Malaya. They are patriots.

Those local police and soldiers were cannon fodder, employed by the British and the ruling aristocrats and their running dog, MCA, to protect themselves. The communists had no choice - it was either to attack or be attacked.

Today it is the same. The corrupt Umno-MCA axis of evil is again using the poor police as cannon fodder to terrorise and fight the popular uprising of the people against BN to protect their vested interests.

I salute Mat Sabu for his honesty. He is technically correct, but perhaps politically wrong (wrong time to have raised the issue). As for Karpal Singh, I believe that sometimes he should keep his two cents worth to himself.

Anonymous_05: As a senior and prominent lawyer, Karpal Singh should understand that in a democracy, there should be freedom of opinion and expression on issues. He has no business to impose his views on others. He may not be right and others may not be wrong.

IveD: Even Karpal Singh, a very principled politician had criticised Mat Sabu. I am aware that many Chinese Malaysians died at the hands of the communists just because they refused to help the communists, especially those who worked for the government.

Government teachers, including Chinese teachers, were killed directly in front of their students in broad daylight back in those days.

Not Convinced: Our history is viewed through Umno's racial lenses. Had those in the Bukit Kepong police station were British, the attackers would be heros. After all, local Malay chief Maharajalela was a folk hero in the annals of our history for killing British Resident in Perak, JWW Birch.

But Bukit Kepong serves Umno's Malay versus Chinese agenda. Mat Sabu sought to turn the issue on its head by arguing that the leader of the attack was actually a Malay, Mat Indera.

The fight against a violent regime is often not pretty. It is easy for us today to sit on our moral high horses and condemn the violence committed by the liberation groups during the British colonial days and the Japanese occupation, and later against an indigenous government which was hell-bent to deny the communists from participating in the democratic process.

Even Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) had a military wing - the Umkhonto we Sizwe (or MK). The decision to set up MK was in response to the escalating violence against the anti-apartheid movement by the white regime.

Like it or not, MK was responsible for the deaths of both civilian and military personnel. Yet Mandela is today hailed as a hero.

PSM sedition probe saga: Police not letting up

AnakBangsaMalaysia: Rather than admit they were wrong (the PDRM is never ever wrong, even when they beat unarmed civilians), the police and Home Ministry continue to pursue their trumped-up charges against the PSM activists.

The PSM activists did not commit any crime and there is absolutely no legal basis for their previous detention and continued harassment by the PDRM.

The PDRM - particularly deputy police chief Khalid Abu Bakar and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein - filed false accusations of "carrying weapons" and "waging war on the Agong" against the PSM members purely out of spite, hoping to 'make examples' of the PSM activists to intimidate the rakyat and deter them from participating in the Bersih 2.0 rally.

Despite this malicious plan, the police failed to deter the rakyat and Bersih 2.0 went ahead. The police then attempted to punish the PSM activists further but had to bow to intense public pressure by released the six PSM activists from their Emergency Ordinance detention.

I promise we, the rakyat, will renew this pressure if the police do not stop harassing the PSM activists.

FellowMalaysian: The police are supposed to protect the rakyat. Instead, they chose to give them the run-around. Don't forget the PSM6 had been detained for one month before they were released.

The police's actions speak for themselves, and voters will not condone such misuse of powers vested in them as the guardian of society.

Jedi_Who: The BN government, just as the Mubarak and Syrian regimes, is trying to desperately neutralise Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj before the next elections.

They realise he is different from the other politicians. He is a professional who has not sold his soul unlike many others; he speaks the truth, he helps the needy, he lives his life in a modest way and speaks facts when he engages the rakyat about the future of our country and the way it is being administered.

Anonymous: PDRM should charge the PSM6 for farting in public.

 


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