A veiled threat

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is the second most powerful man in the country. Whatever he says in public carries a lot of weight. So when he said on July 5 that Malaysia may experience another bloodbath born out of the rising tensions between the Malays and the non-Malays, he is clearly issuing a veiled threat and not a gentle reminder. He is warning the other races that there may be a repeat of May 13 if things spin out of control. In that conflict many races lost their lives and ever since then, it had become a favourite “bogeyman” with Malay politicians and ultra-right Malay NGOs.

Muhyiddin’s dark hints were reported in a Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia, a rabid champion of Malay supremacy. The ultra racist newspaper is the ideal platform for him to make his point. Both he and the foul mouthpiece of Umno share a single mindset: they think the non-Malays deserve another bashing because they are hurling insults at the Malays and their religion. The big, important man is putting the blame on the non-Malays for the strained ethnic ties. He appears to be preparing the groundwork for the attack on his own fellow citizens.

It seems the deputy Umno president is a tireless worker. He is unlike the common people who go to bed and sleep the night away with nary a care in the world. He tells the newspaper that before he dozes off, his mind is busy thinking how to manage the country seemingly on the brink of a calamity. But for someone who said he is Malay first and Malaysian second, he cannot be honestly thinking of advancing the interests of non-Malays.

What can Muhyiddin be thinking before his eyelids close? Let’s read his mind. How to run the country? Goad the Malays to spew dirty remarks on the Indians and Chinese. Tell them they are “trespassers” in Malaysia who should be sent packing back to their native lands. Instigate the Muslims to besiege the courts whenever a decision comes up touching on the rights of the Christians. Give moral support to the bone-headed extremists to commit sacrilegious acts. Encourage the mindless mobs to barge into state legislative assemblies controlled by the opposition alliance.

When Muhyiddin finally sleeps, he is still thinking but he is now in dreamland. He dreams of creating a pure Malay land where the non-Malays are nowhere to be seen – victims of another May 13 blood-letting. If there are survivors, they will be made to eat out of the hands of the victors. There will be no more temples and churches, no more Chinese and Tamil schools. All mother tongues will be cut off. In a final grandiose gesture, Muhyiddin dreams of carving a Malay empire harking back to the lost glory days of a distant past.

Think on and dream on. Threats of burying the non-Malays as the “final solution” will not instil fear into the other races. Malaysia is their home and final resting place and they will defend their turf with as much courage as they can muster. Muhyiddin, perhaps, has a masterplan all worked out in his mind to push the Indians, Chinese and other minorities out to the seas, but it will fail because when push comes to shove, the fire of resistance will burn long and far into the night.