Malays not under threat, Umno is

Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | FMT

There are 18 million Malays in this country and all the security forces plus every level of the government is Malay, so what threat is Najib Tun Razak talking about?

You can’t produce anything different from the same mould. As such, the idea which Malaysians must emulate is to change this government and move forward from there.

Let us all leave Najib Tun Razak and his pot of Mongolian alphabet goulash behind.

Change comes from a changed leadership and a new government.

Now, let us examine what Najib means when he says Malays must unite and Malay unity is no threat to others.

When Najib uses the phrase “Malays must unite”, he can mean the following things:

i) All Malays must make sure Umno wins so that he can continue to be prime minister.

ii) Malays submit themselves under Umno.

iii) Malays must ensure Malays dominate Malaysian politics.

The first two meanings are self-serving. The third implies that if Malays stay disunited, they will face threats.

So we ask in turn, threats from whom? There are 18 million Malays in this country. All the security forces and every level of the government are already controlled by Malays.

So where does the threat come from and to whom is the threat directed? The threat arises from the political and social consciousness of the people.

Threat not ‘people to people’

After 55 years, Umno has carried out ruinous economic and social policies that have resulted in a less than prime economy and a more divisive nation.

This is the lie that Umno has imposed on Malays by making them believe that they are protected only if Umno is around.

The truth is the threat is directed towards Najib’s PM-ship and Umno.

The threat is not from the people to the people but directed towards a parasitic ruling class that has enriched itself while creating economic injustice on the people.

How do you unite a nation so divided with no shared ideals and beliefs?

How do you motivate the majority to have the acquisitive inclinations to move up the social ladder when they see those cutting corners and bluffing their way through getting equal rewards?

Najib can’t unite people, much less a nation. The sad truth is, Najib does not know how to secure unity.

He doesn’t see that the way to structure the country upon shared beliefs and ideals must start with a universal acceptance of the supremacy and rule of law.

When the rule of law is compromised, it is impossible to establish shared ideals and beliefs. This is because the various groups as stakeholders in the country will always harbor suspicions that the other will seek to manipulate power to their own advantage.

When one is equally protected by the law, there isn’t a necessity to refer yourself according to your ethnicity, as is now done in Malaysia.

The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman but has since joined DAP. He is a FMT columnist.