YOURSAY | ‘Odin, you know how to write a Malay horror story in such a sweet manner.’

Sorry, there's no gold on Petaling Street

Vijay47: Writer Odin Tajue, I share very strongly your statement that Dick Whittington and his cat notwithstanding, Petaling Street did not come with a mother lode of gold, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and that lady's best friend, diamonds.

The Chinese who were and are there slogged and quite deservingly earned their riches while as a bonus, placing their road on the world map. Now even the Nepalese are thriving there.

For gutter residents like Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Mohd Yunos, it is always convenient to claim that the non-Malays stole the wealth.

Which brings me to that other Petaling Street in town, Chow Kit. Did the Chinese also steal it from the Malays and pass it on to the Indonesians, Burmese, Bangladeshis, and Ukrainians?

How wonderful that the world is such a large place - there are so many to blame.

Unspin: It is worth noting that Petaling Street is the epitome of free market forces. Unadulterated capitalism, if you will.

For every stall that sells fake Rolex watches, there are another five that compete with it for the same tourist dollars. Margins can be razor thin.

When some businesses failed, new ones take their place. When the businessmen failed, they do not moan that the world owes them a living.

Can people like Jamal understand that simple business philosophy?

The Analyser: Odin, we seem to know an awful lot about things we haven't thought too much about.

But then it’s we who are really the superior ones and it’s them who are the supreme ones. You are behaving like a typically arrogant know-all Chinese, and it’s no wonder there is so much Malay animosity towards people like yourself.

To top off your insult you come up with this delusional garbage: "Sheer hard work and the tenacity to compete - and to do so in a fair manner - is what it takes."

Seems to me you deal with a completely different group of Chinese to the ones I do business with. I would suggest your sentence read: Sheer greed and an obsession with money means inferior product and overcharging is what it takes.

ACR: The wider Malay populace must be made aware of the extent of lies they have been told by Umno, i.e. using the Malays for the enrichment of a few Umno division leaders and their families.

This is the greatest challenge for Pakatan Harapan, besides tilting East Malaysia's blind support for BN.

Rubystar_4037: Always love your comments on Malaysiakini , Odin, and now that you have written a full-fledged post on Malaysiakini , I say, this is really an excellent article, well-researched and well-presented. Please keep doing so.

And Malaysiakini should give him free a year’s subscription, for all his previous comments.

Tikusmati: Datukships are not for what you have done, but who you know and please and what position you hold. It appears that if you are a division head of a certain political party, then it is assured.

Same like if you are a newly appointed director-general, you will soon get the title. Maybe that is why no achievements are published for the recipients. Further, it is these people who then recommend who should receive these titles.

SteveOh: What a well-written piece. You know how to write a Malay horror story in such a sweet manner. Keep it up. Thanks.

Foreign powers may step in if national leaders fail

ACR: Though I agree with the Penang Deputy Chief Minister (DCM) P Ramasamy in principle, there is a difference between Chinese ambassador Huang Huikang making a statement in Petaling Street vis-a-vis then Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee calling up Dr Mahathir Mohamad post-Kampung Medan or calling up Fiji’s Ratu Mara after George Speight's coup against Mahendra Chaudry's government in Fiji.

President Xi Jinping should have called PM Najib Razak directly. There can be no diplomatic faux pas in that.

Ace: If a school bully becomes very threatening and signs are that he may very likely turn violent and gets out of hand and the headmaster and staff cannot/deliberately would not handle the threats and beatings, we cannot blame the police/outsiders from coming it, can we?

The big question is who is willing to and who can be the police?

Nil: When the country goes down the drain, foreign countries will intervene to protect their investments and other interests.

If you do not like that, then do something about the current situation. If the top leader needs to go, then so be it. If the regime needs to be changed, so be it. If Malay interests need to be protected, there is no easy way.

Wsoi: Many, many things are above race, only Umno leaders wanted a race-partition politics. This slows down the country’s economy, education, sports and social progress. Nobody benefits and everybody loses out.

That is why economically Malaysia is behind South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore probably by 20 years.

Selangor and Penang must demonstrate tangible progress to all races, more so to the Malay population to confirm that the opposition can deliver the goods.

Avatar 111: How true! If you can't keep your house in order, your neighbours may check on you.

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