Melayu Umno dan Cina DAP bodoh

by Raja Petra
Malaysiatoday

Tunku Abdul Rahman, Bapa Merdeka, refused to join Umno Baru in 1988, as did Tun Hussein Onn. Both these founding fathers of Malaysia died outside Umno. They wanted to have nothing to do with Umno. They went to their graves despising the new Umno, which they said no longer represented what Umno stood for.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The government is saying: Melayu Umno bodoh! That is not what I am saying. That is what the government is saying. And because Melayu Umno bodoh, the government has cancelled the plan to mark the fingers of voters to prevent them from voting twice.

The government has spent millions to import this ink from India. But it seems others have also imported the same so the government has no choice but to cancel the plan to mark the voters' fingers because these unknown people who have also imported this ink plan to trick the Umno Malays and sabotage them from voting.

According to the government that has declared Melayu Umno bodoh, those who have also imported the Indian ink plan to tell the government supporters, the Umno Malays, that they must first mark their fingers before they can vote. Then, when they go to the polling stations, they will not be allowed to vote since their fingers have already been marked with Indian ink.

Of course, the more cleverer opposition supporters will not allow their fingers to be marked before they vote. It is only the government supporters, the Melayu Umno bodoh, whose fingers will be marked. So the opposition supporters will still get to vote. It is the government supporters, the Melayu Unmo bodoh, who will not be allowed to vote because only these people would be stupid enough to allow their fingers to be marked before they vote rather than after they vote like the opposition supporters.

The government appears to have no confidence in its supporters. The government feels that its supporters are all stupid enough to fall for this ploy. The government appears to believe that the opposition supporters are not stupid enough to fall for this trick. Therefore, it is the government that will lose votes because only its supporters are stupid enough to allow their fingers to be marked before they vote while this will not happen to the opposition supporters.

The government feels that the Chinese and Indians will swing to the opposition. Many Malays will as well, of course. So the government needs as many Malay votes as it can get, in particular in the rural areas. The Chinese and Indians who will vote opposition will not fall for this trick. Neither will the Malays who vote for the opposition. It is only the Malays who vote for the government who are stupid enough to fall for this trick. So the government needs to cancel the plan to use Indian ink to mark the fingers of the voters lest the number of votes it gets is reduced due to trickery.

I am not a Malay who supports the government so I am not offended that the government thinks that Malays who support the government are stupid. Some Umno Malays want my citizenship withdrawn for criticising the government and which therefore, according to them, makes me a 'traitor to the Malay race'. Yes, that's right, if you oppose Umno then you are a traitor to the Malay race.

I have no problems if they wish to withdraw my citizenship. They can even withdraw my Melayuship as well if they want to. Hey, a Malay is automatically a Muslim. So if they wish to withdraw my Islamship as well that is also okay with me. Then, when the government declares that Melayu Umno bodoh, I would not be included in that group. There is, after all, some small blessing in losing your citizenship, Melayuship and Islamship. I would automatically lose my bodohship as well.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad probably agrees with what the government says. Mahathir said, a few months ago, that the trouble with the Malays is that even if they put a block of wood (tunggul kayu) as a candidate, as long as it is a Barisan Nasional candidate, the voters will vote for him or her.

The Malays are very emotional and unrealistic, lamented Mahathir on another occasion. The Chinese are more pragmatic, added Mahathir. Why can't the Malays be more like the Chinese? sighed Mahathir.

Melayu mudah lupa, complained Mahahir on yet another occasion. Yes, Mahathir should know that by now. When I was Prime Minister, the Umno Malays would fall over each other in rushing to kiss my hands, Mahathir related during one public speaking event. Today, they are scared of being seen with me and will not even take my calls, lamented Mahathir. If that is not the best example of Melayu mudah lupa then I don't know what is.

Mahathir received another dose of Melayu mudah lupa recently when Umno refused to allow his son to contest in Langkawi. Langkawi would not exist if not because of Mahathir. Mahathir made Langkawi into what it is today. But, today, Mahathir's son is not welcome in Langkawi. Instead, they sent him to Jerlun to contest. But he was sent to Jerlun not to win. He was sent to Jerlun to be slaughtered. First they deny Mahathir's son a seat in Langkawi. Then they send him to Jerlun to get slaughtered. Melayu Umno mudah lupa my dear Tun, Melayu Umno mudah lupa. But I am not a Melayu Umno, Tun, so I never lupa. And now Umno says that Melayu Umno bodoh as well.

Yesterday, I was in Penang. There were numerous ceramahs organised all over Penang. The police granted the organisers permits for these ceramahs but on condition that I would be barred from speaking. Haris Ibrahim and Ronnie Lui were also banned from speaking. I still spoke nevertheless. I spoke at Jalan Raja Uda. I was waiting for the police to come a calling and if they shout, “Hoi, you think this is your grandfather's road or what?” I would have replied, “Yes it is, my grandfather was Raja Sir Tun Uda.”

Melayu Mudah lupa, as Mahathir says. My grandfather became Penang's First Governor immediately after Merdeka on 31 August 1957. He was Governor for 15 years. Today, 50 years later, the grandson of the First Governor is barred from speaking in Penang.

Anyway, my grandfather never joined Umno. None of my family did. My father supported what he perceived as the first true multi-racial party at that time, Gerakan. And he proudly declared that he voted for Gerakan in the 11 May 1969 general election.

Tunku Abdul Rahman, Bapa Merdeka, refused to join Umno Baru in 1988, as did Tun Hussein Onn. Both these founding fathers of Malaysia died outside Umno. They wanted to have nothing to do with Umno. They went to their graves despising the new Umno, which they said no longer represented what Umno stood for. Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein were great men. And these great men turned their backs on Umno. I would rather follow the footsteps of great men such as those than support a party that declares Melayu Umno bodoh and then cancels the plan to mark the fingers of voters because government supporters would allow their fingers to be marked before they vote instead of after.

Actually, cancelling the plan to mark the fingers of voters is not about Melayu Umno bodoh at all. I know many Umno Malays and I have great respect for them. Not all Umno Malays are slimeballs and scumbags, just like not all opposition people are angels. You have good and bad people in any society. One must not be labelled good or bad based on their race, religion or political affiliation but based on the person that they are.

Barisan Nasional is running scared. According to intelligence agency reports, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Kedah and Penang will fall to the opposition. Even Johor, which has never seen a single seat fall to the opposition thus far, may see the loss of ten seats or more. That would have been unheard of even just one year ago. On last count, the opposition may capture up to 90 seats in Parliament. It needs 75 seats to deny Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority in Parliament.

The Chinese and Indian votes are a forgone conclusion. The Chinese and Indians are voting opposition. Barisan Nasional has to work on the Malay seats to stay in power. So they will raise racial and religious issues these next 48 hours to frighten the Malays into voting Barisan Nasional.

Tonight, the Deputy Prime Minister 'revealed' a 'secret pact' between PAS and DAP. They hope the Chinese will get scared and abandon DAP lest PAS gets into power and 'chops of people's hands'. Najib has reduced Islam to merely 'chopping of hands'. That, to Najib, is what Islam is all about, hand-chopping.

Are all Chinese bank robbers? Will we see every Chinese in Malaysia without hands once PAS comes into power? Do not the Chinese resent the insinuation that there is not an honest Chinese in Malaysia and all Chinese will go to their graves with no hands? I hope the Chinese are not that stupid and will be able to figure out that if it is crooks who will suffer severed limbs then it will be those who walk in the corridors of power who will suffer this since they are the crooks and scoundrels. If I were Chinese, I would vote PAS just so that PAS can come into power and we can enjoy the pleasure of seeing all our ex-ministers walking around without hands.

Anyway, PAS is contesting just 60 seats so there is no way a party that contests only 60 seats can win 150 seats. And PAS will need 150 seats to amend the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and turn Malaysia into an Islamic State and then start cutting off the hands of crooks and bank robbers. The government has said Melayu Umno bodoh. I hope, after 8 March 2008, I do not have to start saying Cina DAP bodoh. I hope that the DAP Chinese will read the statement from PAS that they are not pursuing the Islamic State agenda any longer. They can't anyway, even if they win all the 60 seats they are contesting -- and they can never win all the 60 seats to begin with.

Najib says that the Chinese should reject DAP because DAP is working with PAS and PAS supports an Islam State. Najib is therefore saying that he too does not support an Islamic State. Najib says that the Malays should reject PAS because PAS is working with DAP and DAP supports a Secular State. Najib is therefore saying that he too does not support a Secular State. To the Malays, Najib says he does not support a Secular State and, to the Chinese, he says he does not support an Islamic State. So what then does Najib support? Well, it all depends on who he talks to. If he talks to the Chinese, he will whack the Islamic State and, if he talks to the Malays, he will whack the Secular State. Najib thinks that Melayu Umno bodoh and Cina DAP bodoh as well. Yang pandai Najib seorang saja.

Expect more of this the next 48 hours as Polling Day gets closer. Desperate people will do desperate things. And the loss of five states plus 90 seats in Parliament requires desperate measures. That will be what will happen these next 48 hours. Tapi jangan Melayu dan Cina semua jadi bodoh. India sudah celek mata. Melayu dan Cina maseh tutup mata ke?