The young and the racist August 20, 2006
Posted by elizabethwong in Current Affairs, Malaysia, Note2Self, Politics, Race Relations.trackback
“The internal split within Umno will weaken the party’s position and this will pave way for the Chinese Malaysians to make various demands to benefit their community.”
Khairy Jamaluddin, deputy youth chief of UMNO Youth, was quoted as saying this by Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily. In fact, all the Chinese papers reported on this. Not the English or Malay language papers.
One. UMNO’s internal party problems are caused by their own party members. Decades of patronage, nepotism and corruption. When the pie shrinks, of course everyone fights for the last crumb.
Two. The Malaysian Chinese community demands have been consistent. Fair play; preservation of culture and traditions; and equal opportunities in business, education and all other areas that would have anti-Discrimination Boards of developed countries hopping.
Three. Khairy is using the classic tactic of suggesting “we must unite to fight the greater enemy out there.”
So once again, the Chinese in Malaysia are made the scapegoats and cast as ‘enemies’ of the land they were born in. It happened in 1987 (Najib Razak, now deputy Prime Minister, then baying for the blood of the Chinese), in 1999 (Umno Youth threatening to torch the KL / Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall) and now this.
This time round, Khairy is using the ‘Chinese bogeyman’ to distract attention from his own personal woes and allegations of corruption and insider-trading.
One word for this – Sad.
Is this who we are banking on, the so-called hope of a new generation? Is this the political party that we still want to cast our votes for each general election, a hard-core racist party and their foot soldiers?
Goes to show, you can be a liberal. Hey you can even graduate from Oxford. But that’s not going to erase the racist in you.
elizabeth wong 
Political opportunism is what KJ is all about…at a time when he had become a focal point for attack by anti-Badawi forces. Is the battle of existing and new vested interests groups jostling for positioning with the powers to be.
As you alluded to…nothing new..because there’s so many examples in the past. Sad indeed..when the “Ketuanan Melayu” syndrome again raise it’s ugly head. Like all things…change takes time..and sometimes often barely raising a whimper…often makin’ one feel..if all these struggles is worth it !!
A famous quote well known to all….“You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power; maybe not in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result” (Mahatma Gandhi)
Keep up the good work..cos every little thing you have done so far..does make a difference !!
but he is more than a racist… he IS the son in law!
[…] There is a reason why is a surge of inter-and-intra elite debates over national equity and distribution of late (no, it’s not because Abdullah Badawi is a kind liberal man). Its surface manifestation is predictably coloured as Malays vs. the rest. […]
[…] Datuk Soon Tian Szu was quoted to have said after MCA Youth protested Umno deputy Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin’s racist remarks, the latter went – “噤若寒蝉” – which translates to “as silent as a cicada in […]
[…] India dah super sokong you Samy pun ada komisyen untuk you Nah …kami anugerahkan title “Rasis Cemerlang & Terbilang” pada […]
[…] Orang India dah super sokong you Samy pun ada komisyen untuk you Nah …kami anugerahkan title “Rasis Cemerlang & Terbilang” pada […]
[…] I believe this is Khairy’s virgin lawsuit. And the shame of it all, is that it’s over the young man’s Jew-baiting remarks. From then on, it’ll be hard to live that down. Let’s not forget his allusion to the Chinese being the bogeman. […]