JAN 10 — I am no buff of science but remember reading about putting frogs in cold water and then slowly putting the water to boil. The frogs (unlike the Perak species) will die as they will be unaware of the change in temperature that will ultimately prove fatal. Dear Malaysian brethren of whatever ilk, we will suffer the same fate as the innocent frogs if we let the country spiral to another Iran or Pakistan.
I am in today’s parlance a 3rd generation pendatang. Lets call it GENPENTIGA — Generasi Pendatang Tiga. I suppose it can’t be that bad when a GENPENDUA became PM for 22 years. But then he metamorphed into a Malay and cut his Indian roots, only to go back to Kerala recently to see if there were any offshoots I suppose or perhaps some trait of mortality dictated that he visit his roots in his autumn.
I look at my children GENPEMPAT — Generasi Pendatang Empat — and wonder what place they have left under our sun. Should I leave them in the water where they are comfortable or kick them out of their “comfort water”? Old frogs like me might as well die in the Malaysian water anyway — we are fast reaching our “sell by” date.
I would like to share, if I may, some developments and events that have brought me to this juncture and by doing so, hope that the GENPEMPAT open their eyes wider and see beyond what meets the eye. These are in no order of priority but illustrate the point to me nonetheless.
Fuad Stephens
I am no east Malaysian but I remember how he perished in a plane crash with a few others. What if his plane was sabotaged? What would have been if this did not happen? Would Sabah be the same as it is today — with millions of new Malaysians? Would he have stood up to the shenanigans in KL? Would Malaysia be the same today?
Perak heist
What played out in the “transfer” back to BN control opened my eyes as to what could happen on a federal level. If the elected Speaker can be literally be dragged out of his seat, what’s there to suggest they can’t drag you out of your house. Remember, you are PENDATANG. Of course, his replacement could not be a Malay so they had to get another PENDATANG to be the puppet — to try and even the score. The new MB is also a PENDATANG but he has the right qualification as PM GENPENDUA, if you get my drift.
Selangor
The goings-on currently in Selangor mirror Perak to some degree. The previous MB, also a GENPENDUA but with the deemed suitable qualifications, ran the administration like a bandit in Java but still has not been brought to the 14th floor in Shah Alam to coerce some information from him about how he managed to have such a successful dental practice to be able to own a palace bigger than what he could have seen in Java.
Teoh Beng Hock
Pendatangs beware. If your children are getting married soon, even the next day, keep them under “house arrest” for their own safety. Every time my kids go out, we worry till they are back safe. If you work for the “wrong” boss, it could cost you your life. But then, if you work for the “right” boss, you may save your life and yet lose your soul. So PENDATANGS, choose between your life and your soul.
Kugan
I ask myself if the same fate would have been met if it was someone with a fairer complexion or at least the same “qualification” as the ex-MB of the same state in which he died. Kugan and his type are today seen as an “inconvenience”, a pest, scroungers and lately even christened as “pariahs”. I suspect Kugan had deeper roots in Malaysia than the ex-MB. Whatever wrong he may have done, the video clips of his relatives barging into the mortuary and the outpouring of anguish left a lasting impression. In the same vein, when one of my staff was killed in a motor accident, the records at the mortuary showed that the cause of death was “mabuk”. He was a teetotaller. On my insistence and with the timely arrival of the foreign pathologist who was employed there, the records were corrected. Just because he was of Indian origin, it was felt apt to put in “mabuk”!
History syllabus
In the school that I went to (VI), we were taught history only till Form 3, unless you did Arts in Forms 4 and 5. My children were both Science stream students till Form 5 but they had to do History. I had a peek at their textbooks — seems like History has changed a fair bit. They are fed rubbish to put it mildly. It is HIS STORY as told and imagined by a few bigots. My daughter’s book had an image of a Sikh with a turban but with the description Orang Bengali! Don’t they know that Bengalis are from Bengal and Sikhs are Punjabis — from Punjab?
I suppose this is to be expected when many wear the mantle of “Malay” despite coming from all corners of Asia — they have tried to lose trace of where they originate. Turks, Arabs, Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Cambodians, Thais are all rebadged Malays. We now await the Africans, Caucasians and Eskimos to join ranks and be members of Umno Baru. A relative of Obama might yet lead Malaysia.
SPM answer scripts
When my children sat for their SPM examinations a few years ago, they had to tick a box to indicate if they were Muslim or not. Was it because they were in need of divine intervention in the event they were not Muslim? Or were the scripts marked according to whether they were halal or not?
Matriculation courses
It is widely accepted that the successor to the HSC — the STPM — is a tough examination. But stroll into a STPM class and you will observe that the Bumi students are conspicuously less. They are doing matriculation which we are led to believe are on par with STPM for entry to local universities. GENPEMPAT are likewise conspicuously less in matriculation courses. The intakes to universities are then claimed to be on merit despite being based on different examinations. With all this, how does one unify a nation?
Allah
The very fact that there is an attempt to copyright this word shows acute insecurity. In Pakistan, I was greeted with “Assalammulaikum” during my work visits there. To them, it was just being polite and civil. Here, it becomes “confusing” and threatening. The fact that the Catholic Church won a High Court case in this matter only to have it appealed with no hearing date in sight illustrates the insecurity and illuminates the deceit of the authorities.
Sabah
When it joined to form Malaysia, little did it realise that this majority-Christian state was going to swamped by aliens to the extent that the aliens outnumber the natives. The flushing in of these aliens over a concentrated period of time had a very sinister motive. Pendatangs should always be conscious of this. In Malay I call it niat jahat. The parallel that comes to mind for me is Ali Jinnah and his actions in carving out Pakistan (history as I learned many, many years after leaving school) from pre-independence India. Till today, Pakistan knows no peace for a sustained time.
Judiciary
The man in the street seeks justice on earth in the courts. Our judicial system simply fails the test on perception alone. Our history books as they stand are not going to record how this institution degenerated into the sewers by the actions of one man principally. The Attorney-General has an image problem (and I am not referring to his face). The Chief Justice is supposed to be on record as having admitted to bribing clerks or junior staff to get things moving during his time as a lawyer. Add to that he was an Umno member. Pendatang — do you see the writing on the wall?
Scaling Mt Everest
Two of the mountaineers who reached the summit were of Indian origin. Rumour has it that the premier at the time was dismayed that the leader couldn’t be there instead due to blisters on his feet. The injured leader, however, never begrudged them and shared in the joy of the conquest. One mountaineer in the expedition has since died and his widow is still bewildered over the snatching of his body on claims that her husband had “masuk Islam”. Pendatang, when you die, your wife may be subject to so many hassles you wonder if it was worth conquering Everest. Your carcass is more important than your conquest. (I use the term “carcass” deliberately.)
Jail for Lim Guan Eng
This Pendatang is now a chief minister and doing a damn good job — in between ducking attacks from Utusan and Umno and their stooges. But remember he went to jail for speaking up for a victim of rape. From a perverse point of view, was it because he was a Pendatang and the alleged perpetrator was not? Pity there wasn’t WikiLeaks then.
Cow-head incident
Blatant, flagrant, insulting. But not as dangerous as a candlelight vigil with women taking part. Whilst the cow’s head went on display in Shah Alam, the home minister went on display to show the cow brains over television. That the police allowed them to bring it all the way to the MB’s office gate shows their partiality as far as I am concerned. Mark this episode Pendatangs.
Rela
Malaysia’s own fifth column. Just observe how they move about like uniformed thugs, especially raiding foreign workers’ quarters. They are just insecure bullies garbed in state-sponsored uniforms. Many are not in it for love of country. More love of money — from extortion. Close parallel to what exists in Iran. Ideal source for extra judicial activities — so Pendatangs be wary. Also “progressive/liberal/moderate” Muslims need to be aware. Again, just like what happened over the years in Iran and Pakistan.
Proton
A car I have vowed never to buy — for what it represents. Aggregate all the money to protect this deity, we could have used the same to fund a decent public transport system in the country. Like others taken for a ride, I beamed with “pride” when the first car was launched. Now, it has become a mirror of the NEP implementation — overpriced, under performing, waste of resources.
Buka puasa
My Muslim friends tell me that buka puasa is a time to have a simple meal to break the fast. What we are having on display is an orgy of gluttony. Tables in hotels overflow onto passageways and corridors for this time of year. And many a time, the host of a table is a Pendatang. The guests come sometimes shamelessly comparing the offerings at different hotels in front of their paying hosts. Is there any meaning left in this supposedly holy month?
Ivory Coast
The person clinging to power in the Ivory Coast — at great cost to his country — is giving us a taste of what can happen in Malaysia. Please pay attention to what Laurent Gbagbo does. The same ingredients are here. Umno will take heart from him, from the Burmese junta, from Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka, from Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. For Ibrahim Ali, these are angels sent from heaven and will be given honorary Perkasa membership.
Legacy of Mahathir
There is no denying his intellect. Unfortunately, I will remember him as the person who singularly destroyed what Malaysia was to me. No need to elucidate — it’s there for all to see.
The Malaysia as I knew and loved is no more. It died a slow death after battling cancer for 22 years but is there hope for resurrection in the horizon — not for me but for GENPEMPAT?
* Ice-Cream Seller reads The Malaysian Insider.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.
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