Raja Petra Kamarudin
I find the article Arise, the Malay that Umno fears, which Umran Kadir wrote for The Malaysian Insider, quite interesting and thought that maybe I should publish it in full (below) and probably comment on it.
Basically, Umran applauds what he sees as Malays like Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud finally removing the shackles that Umno has enslaved them in for more than half a century. The fact that she is a product of the hated and vilified UiTM and also the fact that she is from an Umno family makes it even more significant.
Actually, there are many Malays just like Dyana Sofya but they have not been given the spotlight like Dyana Sofya has. Hence it appears like Dyana Sofya is one of her kind whereas, if I were to make a guess-timation, there are most likely a million or more just like her.
However, these million or more were never offered a seat to contest in an election or by-election and in a ‘Chinese’ party on top of that. Hence we do not know about them mainly because they are not under attack like Dyana Sofya is. You need to be attacked for people to know you like those other Malays such as Kassim Ahmad, Marina Mahathir, and so on.
Is Dyana Sofya being hailed because she is under attack? Or is it because she is a young Malay professional (and a girl to boot) who is a product of the hated and vilified UiTM and from an Umno family — a hated political party seen as the personification of racism? Or is she being hailed because she is seen as a liberal Malay who dares throw away her shackles and ‘break free’?
Or maybe it is all of the above.
Whatever it may be, if the Malays really want to throw away their shackles then they need to be really brave and take all the steps required to break free. And the worst shackle of all is the religious shackle.
It is not enough that Malays just defy Umno and stand for elections on a Chinese ticket. That is hardly scratching the surface of breaking free. Freedom means much more than that. The question is how much freedom do Malays really want and are they prepared to go for real freedom or just symbolism while in reality they are still as enslaved as they ever were?
Dyana Sofya said she is not opposed to Islamic laws, and neither is her party. However, she, just like her party, is opposed to the implementation of these laws.
This is what I would call a safe and politically correct statement. But it is still not quite safe and politically correct enough. It is like saying you are not opposed to Umno but just opposed to Umno being in power. If you are not opposed to Umno then why be opposed to them being in power?
For Dyana Sofya to be hailed as the ‘New Malay’ she needs to call a spade a spade and not hold back her punches. Apparently she is not yet ready to do that. Hence she is still very shackled. Even if she believes Islamic law must be opposed she is not brave enough to say it because she is still a shackled Malay.
For Malays to really break free we need them to state that they wish to be free of religious shackles. Did they ask to be born a Muslim? Did they choose to be born into a Muslim family? Why were they indoctrinated and brainwashed like most, if not all, Malays since pre-school to become ‘good’ Muslims? They are Muslims by ‘accident of birth’ and from a tender age their minds were ‘poisoned’ until they reach puberty and beyond to become practicing Muslims.
Malays are Muslims not because they chose Islam. They are Muslims by default. And they became Muslims through mind conditioning. In some societies this would be called cruelty to children. Brainwashing and mental conditioning is a war crime if done to prisoners of war. And that is how you become a Muslim, by enslavement and mind control.
So, before we start celebrating the beginning of a new era we need to first determine what we mean by the shackled Malay mind and the unshackling of the Malay psyche. Much of what makes a Malay is grounded in religion, meaning Islam. Hence to remove the shackles from the Malays would involve also removing Islam.
Are we prepared to allow Malays to live the lifestyle that they choose? Are we prepared to allow the Malays to practice the religion of their choice or reject religion totally? If we find that this is not acceptable then it is too early to discuss and celebrate the beginning of a new dawn because the darkness is still with us and dawn is a long time yet to come.
We cannot on the one hand ask the Malays to break free and on the other hand shackle Malays under religion. We have to decide whether Malays should break free totally or not bother at all. And to celebrate one Malay girl contesting an election on a Chinese ticket as Malays finally breaking free is just an illusion.
Give me a call when Malays are ready to really break free and don’t disturb me till then.
