An article that hits the nail on the head. Shanghai Fish has expressed all that I feel about the 60s and where we have gone wrong. Thanks SF.
Where did we go wrong? - Shanghai Fish
Forget about 1Malaysia for now ! I don't have to be reminded of how it used to be. I was there when we were ONE as Malaysians ! And that seem like a damn long time ago ! Now you might want to ask what went wrong then and why we're again bombarded with these fake "feel good" advertisements to remind us of what we lived like then ? Everything changed after 1969, yes...everything ! Now don't go calling me a racist okay ! Just my personal opinion and observation laying bare for you to see ! And this is going to be a long post with no malice or mischief intended.
I'll tell you why and where we went wrong ;
a. it was the education system, phasing out English was a mistake !
b. introducing religious teachings as an integral part of the syllabus and in normal schooling hours was a mistake. In the 60's religion was taught at homes or at madrasahs and that too in the evenings. The rest of us had our churches, gurudwarahs and temples for that!
Civics or moral was the only subject taught to all kids in school and love and respect for elders (nobody emphasised on race then!) , yes respecting elders was a priority not race not religion. For when you respect the elders of any skin-color automatically all other personal beliefs were kept in line. Muslim religious scholars then went to Saudi Arabia to study Islamic theology in it's true form.
Then after 1969....some creep decided to send Islamic wannabe scholars to Pakistan and Afganistan....cos it was cheaper, nearer and maybe easier to pass ! Yes that was from my generation.....and graduate they did from Pakistan and Afganistan, and yes again, from my generation ! And boy what a whirl-wind of change they brought back to teach our young ones.....new words like kafir, infidel and Allahu...Akhbar were deemed solely for the use of one race and religion at a very young and tender age ! Color blind kids were "directed" to recognise and identify their neighbours skin colors by parents or teachers or politicians.
Nobody took offence before then, when we read in cartoon war-comic books when words like "by the beard of Allah" or "by the beard of the prophet" were exclaimed or uttered ! I cannot say the same now, can I ?
c. then "race" and "religion" was introduced and made mandatory when filling-up in all government forms.
d. then the politicians took over....reminding the people the close proximity of places of worship of the various faiths which have been there long before and for decades and now suddenly the sound of bells and chantings from temples and churches became annoying and unbearable while the volume of speakers in the suraus and mosques grew louder ! Still nobody cared or paid any attention, as we were still living in harmony, respecting each other's rights and beliefs.
These same "new" politicians then appointed and created powerful "little napoleons" and warlords to take care and of their "interests". As these "new" politicians now depended solely on ONE race of their choice for their very existence to remain in power.
e. then came an era of supremacy, and the "ketuanan melayu", where there was a huge increase of a certain races' population just so to tip the scales in forming a majority with the influx of immigrants from neighbouring lands and many "a/l" nationals conveniently converted to "bins".
Before you brand me otherwise....No, I repeat, I'm not a racist and I have nothing against any one race as I grew up with all races during my happy child-hood back in Taiping in the 60's !( go read my earlier posts , if you will !) Many are still very close to me till today ! Here I'm discussing the political scenario of all that has gone wrong.
f. government offices and agencies saw the dwindling decrease of an equal distribution of the various races in employment unlike before and promotions and heads of departments were replaced with only ONE type of race. I have yet to see a District Officer or a Ketua Pengarah who is not a Malay today, why and why not ? Is this in line with the spirit of 1Malaysia? They were there before 1969, what happened ?
g. Sabah and Sarawak are never a part of the a truely Malaysian identity. Even till today we are termed "them" and "us" as it is in the BN and the PR fractions. Does the current 1Malaysia concept consider all as "us" ? Of course not !
h. then the police and armed forces "misplaced" their loyalty to "King and country" when they got suckered into serving the ruling government of the day and the royalty favored the "government of the day" to the "rakyat".
i. the courts lost their privilege as being "independent" and were subservient to their paymasters aka "the government of the day" as the favored ones......the rest is history....and now just look at all the mess that's happening all around us !
Give me back the 60's please and I'll show you ONE Malaysia ! It was all there and nobody shoved anything down our throats to embrace one another ! We just lived happily together !
Sigh !
Posted by shanghaistephen
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