Oh dear, we think MALAYSIAN INSIDER has really gone down the drain in terms of editorial quality.
An article which was filled with factual errors and major delusions was published by this portal.
That article which was titled – ‘May 13 was not a racial riot’ was written by one called Stephen Ng.
We do not know who this Stephen Ng is, but we wish to correct his writing.
Maybe he was ignorant. Maybe he was brainwashed by Kua Kia Soong. But one obvious fact remains, he got his facts and chronology of the events wrong.
Basically, Stephen Ng was writing fiction.
Just like how DAP intended to falsify history by telling the current generation they were innocent and was not involved in the riots AT ALL, Stephen Ng was trying to divert the blame entirely on Umno; which he massively failed to do so.
Son, if you wish to rewrite history, please do so among your other gullible and ignorant friends. But you are writing for public consumption. You have ended up being a fool.
So let us begin.
We shall ignore the first part of his article since that was merely a justification to show the audience that he is credible enough to talk about May 13. But being a 5 year old boy in 1969 doesn’t warrant him any credence what more by only referring to Kua Kia Soong as his source of materials. Thus, based only by experience as a 5 year old boy living in the East Coast and using Kua Kia Soong’s laughable May 13 book as reference, we can already establish Stephen Ng’s expertise on the subject is next to nothing.
He said:
As a boy, I was listening in to every conversation that took place between my mother and other relatives and friends. There were horror stories of Malays killing the Chinese, and Chinese killing the Malays. But a phone conversation between my mother and my father that has never escaped my attention was that everything was peaceful in the East Coast.
My Father said that the Chinese and the Malays were having breakfast together. There was no riot in the East Coast. It was business as usual for them. Muthusamy, Ali and Ah Chong were still friends, when things went awry in Selangor. Why is that so, Datuk Seri Nazri?
JMD : Indeed there were no riots and relatively peaceful in the East Coast because the racial riots happened in Klang Valley. This IS a fact. Riots and racial clashes did happen. Stephen should be thankful his chinese neighbours didn’t provoke the malays there in East Coast. Why is that Stephen Ng? Because the chinese there were in the minority and at a minuscule percentage as compared to the much bigger chinese population in Klang Valley.
Racial riots? No way!
My answer is simple: May 13 was NOT a racial riot. It was the work of a few politicians who capitalised on sentiments of the day.
Although there were obvious bad vibes between the races, mainly perpetuated by politicians, citizens of the newly-minted country, who had already learnt to accept each other, were beginning to enjoy being fellow Malaysians.
In Kelantan and other parts of the country, or should I say, where PAS was in control, people were able to live more harmoniously since the day of Prophet Muhammad!
JMD : Yes because there were no DAP or Labour Party or Gerakan Party in Kelantan in 1969. Of course people in Kelantan lived harmoniously.
Who then caused the May 13 riots? I only found the answer very much later when I started reading the book by Dr Kua Kia Soong, May 13, and made my own observations in the past six years.
JMD : Please read other books than Kua Kia Soong’s heavily biased book. Kua Kia Soong was just trying to exonerate DAP.
Let me briefly share my thoughts.
May 13 is the work of politicians who lost the 1969 general election. The opposition had tied with the Alliance for control of the Selangor state legislature, a large setback in the polls for the Alliance. The big difference now is that Selangor is totally under Pakatan rule for the good of the people.
Several factors had created the tension. The then Menteri Besar of Selangor, Haron Idris was discontented with the results of the election. At the same time, another camp was discontented with Tunku Abdul Rahman, our beloved Bapa Malaysia.
At that point in time, Dr Mahahtir Mohamed had been sacked after his book, The Malay Dilemma, was banned. Tunku had warned that Mahathir was a big troublemaker, and Umno would be making a big mistake if it was to take him back into its fold.
JMD : Tun Mahathir was sacked by Umno more than TWO MONTHS after the racial riots. So Stephen Ng’s stupid assertion that May 13 happened because Tun Mahathir was sacked is not true at all. May 13 happened two days after the general elections. Therefore Stephen Ng, when was it Mahathir got sacked which had caused the riots?
Furthermore, Malay Dilemma was published a year after the riots (1970). Stephen Ng, when you say “At that point in time, Dr Mahahtir Mohamed had been sacked after his book, The Malay Dilemma, was banned”, you were dead wrong. Did you even made any serious attempt to read before you attempt to write this? Tunku never warned about Mahathir being a troublemaker prior to the riots. What are you smoking Stephen?
In his book, Dr Mahathir was able to create a sense of insecurity amongst the Malays and later to control their minds. This was a necessity for a non-Malay, like Mahathir to later become the country’s leader.
JMD : So Malay Dilemma which was not even written yet on 13th May 1969 was creating sense of insecurity amongst the Malays which caused the riots? Don’t you feel like an idiot now Stephen?
Knowing that his own kind is generally not accepted even amongst the Malays, till today, he would not admit that his father was from Kerala in India.
JMD : This paragraph above is the most racist thing this Stephen ‘I am not a racist’ Ng had written. Tun Mahathir’s father wasn’t from India. He was born here in this country. How delusional can you be? And you said Mahathir’s kind wasn’t accepted by the Malays? Care to elaborate what ‘kind’ is that? The condescending and supremacist undertone in Stephen Ng’s writings is not lost among the readers.
Seizing the opportunity to force the Tunku to step down, Dr Mahathir, Abdul Razak Hussein and Haron Idris were the key players in Umno politics.
JMD : So, since the chronology is all wrong, Stephen Ng had to improvise about this fictitious plot. If he had read Tunku’s own book, May 13 Before and After, Tunku himself admit there was no such thing. In fact, Tunku was the one suggested to form Mageran (don’t know what Mageran is? Look it up, Stephen).
To reach that state of Emergency, they had to lash it out on the economically stronger community – the Chinese, and in particular, the DAP, accusing the DAP as a provocateur. Why only the DAP and not the MCA, as both were also Chinese? The present MCA does not even come close to the MCA of those days, when it was still popular with the New Villages.
JMD : Stephen Ng must be such a simpleton. It was the DAP and the Labour Party who acted as provocateurs. There are no two ways about it. The undeniable FACT is, DAP was the provocateurs! Why is this so hard to swallow? Of course MCA wasn’t involved in the victory procession and provoking the malays in Kuala Lumpur on the 11th, 12th and 13th of May 1969. MCA was with the Alliance. And they lost badly. Why on earth would Stephen Ng want to bundle up MCA as the guilty party as well?
Fact is, DAP members who are mostly chinese and the now defunct Labour as well as Gerakan Party which were made up mostly of Indians and chinese were doing all the rankling against the malays.
It clearly shows this was not a racial riot, but the political manipulation by a few.
JMD : Yes and this is based on all the above fiction? Have you not seen pictures from that day?
In my opinion, everything was lumped into one big blame on the DAP because they won big. This is the same modus operandi used by Umno Baru till today, except that this time around, it is not only the DAP, but Pakatan taking over the state of Selangor.
JMD : Your opinion is wrong. Yes Stephen, your effort to absolve DAP of any guilt is as absurd as Kia Soong’s book. We can smell the desperation there. Afraid that your beloved DAP was actually a villain back then? Couldn’t accept the reality that DAP then (and now) were racist to the core? Judging from your racist jibe about Mahathir, you and DAP are in the same mould as well.
Our advice to Stephen Ng is this – in order to be a good writer on history or any subjects, one must read a lot more materials. Not just books by Kua Kia Soong, but also books from other writers.
Therefore to save society from people who write bad articles, we beg Stephen Ng to read just thesee two materials as a start:
The true and fair view of 13th May 1969 Racial Riots (there are some cool pictures in here Stephen, mostly on the chinese DAP etc throwing insults and provoking the malays)
White Paper on the May 13, 1969 Racial Riots
After reading these two, we assure Stephen Ng that the riots on May 13, 1969 were indeed, racial. Please do not lie to your readers. It is already too much that you look down on other people’s ‘kind’, please do not be a liar too.
Thank you.
Also, please read – “May 13 NOT a racial riot” — and so the Dapster denial begins
jebatmustdie 
i wanted to swear and say all the words about chinese malaysian like stephens, but knowing they are only the minorities, i would say a prayer to them. wishing god would make them realize it is their race that started the may13th…. so i reserved my comments and swearing.
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Rewriting History.
That’s the stunt. Our National Flag, too. Its time for KDN to take stern action.
And these people must undergo ” refurbishment “.
Some media editors like j star and malaysia kini must bear the responsibility.
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Whatever this chap wrote is actually a sampling of the brainwashing principle behind DAP and Red Bean Army. Their aggressive ploy to manipulate the masses is evident.
Either they are too lazy to read extensively for authenticity of the “facts” they put forth. Or they fit these “facts” to suit their political agenda. More likely the latter.
The only people who will fall for such malicious intent are the gullible, ill-informed and the completely racist kind. Nothing short of that. The chinese tsunami clearly points to a racist tendency overriding reality.
Otherwise they would not have “bitten” the MALAY hands that fed them. Politically injured victims are Ali Rustam, Abdul Ghani Othman and especially Ah Jib Gor who played the chinese drum dressed in a red chinese attire with his hands clasped to wish the chinese people.
You could not possibly miss the EARNESTNESS on his face.
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Agree with you whole heartedly. Especially on Ah Jib Gor.
Many people have called for his resignation or replacement at the coming UMNO party elections. But I’m still not clear on how the elections for the top posts will be held. Not at PWTC like in the past, as this time 150,000 members will vote and PWTC cannot accomodate that number.
And if there are those voting members wanting to call for the two top posts be contested, how would they do it. Only Divisions can call?
Can anyone throw some light on those? Or we’ll be dark for the coming 5 years (change will not likely happen 3 years hence – it’d be too close to PRU14).
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Malaysian Insider, shame on you. Stephen Ng, listen to JMD for the free tutorial.
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Pity this stephen ng. Making a fool of himself. A victim of DAP’s chauvinistic stance, kua kia soong’s attempt at whitewashing DAP and the chinese generally, and the star’s traitorous position against MCA, BN and UMNO in particular. His reading list a bit too short: Just one book – Kua kia soong’s. Kua kua kuangggg….!
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I know some writers who are NGO activists who will only quote fellow NGO activists on their side to back their point and not follow the tenets of professional journalism to get both sides of the story.
The key point in this question is whether DAP, Labour Party and Gerakan supporters did indeed march into Kampung Baru and provoke the Malaysi with insults.
If they indeed did, then May 13 was a racial clash.
If the opposition supporters were really committed to racial equality, then they would have told the Malaysi not to fear them but to join them and work together to build Malaysia as brethern.
Dr. Martin Luther King fought for equality for Black Americans not by insulting white Americans but by joining together with anti-racist whites who supported his cause of his dream of an America in which blacks and whites would live together as equals in harmony.
I see very little of that enlightened thought in Malaysia, whether amongst BN or opposition supporters, with few exceptions.
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There is no question of the procession of cars, vans, lorries etc going into Kampung Baru “and provoke the Malays with insults.” Remember that Kampung Bahru is a vast area on both sides of the the road where on one side is Sultan Sulaiman Club, the other is Asrama Puteri and all the shops and houses towards the old Pasar Chow Kit, and yet another side are the present Malay food and kuih stalls, stretching towards Jalan Tun A Razak and the Ampang River, the other side of which is Jalan Ampang and the Golden Triangle.
There is also no question of May 13 being a racial clash. Read the National Operations Council White paper that JMD has also provided a link in his post previous to this one. Those are the official accounts of those in authority at the time and have not been disputed for scores of years. Tun A Razak as Head of the NOC was and is respected internationally and it’s only fairly recently that half mad fellows like Kua Ka Soong and the DAP tried to tell the public otherwise – without success, whacked back by people like JMD and us here.
The Ka Soong bloke writing a book claiming to be based on “declassified documents” which, as JMD had dissected in his previous post, turned out to be mere reports sent by a foreign correspondent to his now defunct Far Eastern Economic Review headquarters and the British authorities in London. No foreign correspondent could claim to know more than what the average reporter knew during those days of curfew where no one were allowed on the streets during most hours of the day. The attempt to hoodwink the public as if some huge secrets were discovered altering the nature or facts of the race riots (as explained by the NOC) was nonsensical and a mere opposition DAP hulla balloo.
Th reliability and lack of integrity of the Ka Soong bloke can be gauged from the fact that, although he wrote the book as a DAP MP, he quarreled big time with the DAP Lim Kit Siang etc and bolted out of the party before its publication. He then became the Principal of a Chinese School in Kajang where he fought big time again, this time with Dong Zong, the Chinese schools administrators, and bolted out again. Then he became Director of Suaram and has been in France, periodically relaying messages about a so-called trial going on in he French courts regarding the Malaysian Scorpene submarine purchase and alleged commission that the Opposition tried to link to PM Najib and the death of the Mongolian Altantuya.
But, no less than a French Public Prosecutor, in KL on an anti-corruption conference some months ago, told the press here that there was no such trial in France. That shitted Kua Ka Soong big time, shattered the nonsense that he claimed, provided proof he is a liar who cooked up stories for publicity from time to time. And it’s logical to think that a number of the Malaysian Insider so-called journalists and columnists would be of the same character and level of trustworthiness as he.
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The truth can only revel if those who participated in the carnage were prosecuted. But the reverse happened. They were given amnesty.so this riot is not over.
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Now, now, what are you saying? “this riot is not over”? What do you mean?
The Police should get to you, arrest you, drag to the Police Station, shoved you into the Jinjang Police lock up, interrogate you for a few days until they are satisfied as to what you mean, make you sign a statement, and if necessary drag you to the Court and charge you with incitement of racial feelings.
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More specifically, charge you with incitement to riot.
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Tempawan has gone into hiding…..most probably in a tempayan!
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Tempawan dol…perusuh2 cina memasuki kg baru dgn lori dan microphone menghalau penduduk kgbr. Rumah kami berdepan dg rumah dato harun. Kesabaran ada tahapnya. Do not under estimate us plz.
Joyah…
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why nobody mentioned AI is a mamak descendant as well?
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In school from this year there’s History as a compulsory subject to ensure that the present and future generations will get the correct facts about the 13 May race riots.
At the university, I like the suggestion below (I don’t agree with the reasoning except “The film is based on history .. what is important is the lesson (from the history)”:
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 (Bernama) — Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Razali Ibrahim has proposed that the film ‘Tanda Putera” be made a topic of academic study by students and academicians at the institutions of higher learning (IPT).
“It is good if it is studied, especially by undergraduates, so they can evaluate and criticise it from various perspectives and the actual meaning of the story,” he told reporters after viewing the film at the Golden Screen Cinema, Midvalley with his family and 50 IPT students and members of several non-governmental organisations representing the Chinese and Indian communities.
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Now why in the world do we want to believe in Malaysian Insider, their editorial, columns, even the ordinary reports?
They were sued a huge sum of money by former MAS boss Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli some time back, the Managing Editor got shaky knees, became quiet a few days, then wrote apologies profusely and repeatedly. Not just in Malaysian Insider but also in the mainstream newspapers.
And they don’t publish pro-Establishment comments, many readers have complained about that here and there since a long time ago. That clearly shows bias on their part. And who wants to read biased writing except biased kind of people.
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The Malaysian Insider calls themselves a new portal. But are they? What is a news portal actually?
A news portal is one that carries news – facts on events that are reported with the usual “who did and said what,
where, when, how and why”. Any opinions expressed must be only related to the facts on the events, by those directly involved with the events, and must be in such proportions that don’t make the “news” become propaganda pieces of parties owning or in control of the portal. Do the above fit the bill as far as Malaysian Insider is concerned? Readers here may decide for themselves.
A news portal is like theStaronline, or newstraitstimesonline, or utusanonline. News portals are run precisely like
newspapers are, complete with a bevy of reporters, sub-editors, editors and managing editors. All trained and experienced in the art of reporting the news, editing and disseminating such news to the public. Complete with their sources of information and, where such sources cannot be disclosed, they say so and provide at least some description of the sources without compromising their real identities. Do those at Malaysian Insider do these? Readers may decide for themselves from the kind of “news” they put out.
A news portal should have the same standard of reporting and the same kind of integrity and responsibility in ensuring the reliability of the “information” they put out as the newspapers do. The Washington Post had two experienced and high-credibility reporters, and one managing editor of the same kind, to report on the “Watergate Scandal” that led to the resignation of a sitting US President – Richard Nixon. They had a source who was in the US Establishment, a highly secret source that they would have protected even with their own lives – they called “Deep Throat”, presumably because of his manner of speaking. The endless running around by the two reporters to get the facts on such advice as “Follow the money trail”, led to a huge scoop of the century – imagine, a US President resigned because of their reports. Would the Malaysian Insider reporters, sub-editors, editors and managing editor – if they have that many levels of checking and counter-checking the “information” they got – be anything like those of the Washington Post? Of course not – they got sued big time by former MAS Chairman Tajuddin Ramli.
So, would the Malaysian Insider be regarded as a reliable source of news? That, after the explanations given above, the readers can surely decide.
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How stupid it is for anyone to say May 13 were not race riots or racial riots. Race riots they were because at least two – if not more – races were involved. Racial riots they were because they happened out of racial sentiments and feelings, provoked by one race against another.
What else were they if not race or racial riots? Racial picnic? Racial verbal exchanges that ended up with everybody shaking hands? Didn’t these fellows saying otherwise read that people of two or more races were killed. Goodness gracious.
Admit them, man, and begin a process of reconciliation. See what Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu did in South Africa. They had a series of reconciliation gatherings where those involved owned up their mistakes, apologized and start a slow process of embracing one another.
But if these DAP blokes don’t even acknowledge that they were race riots, let alone admit their members and supporters went about in a convoy shouting rude and humiliating words, and provoking others with vulgar gesticulations in Kampong Bahru KL etc, and even unzipping their trousers in front of wives and children of Policemen watching the procession passing by the Police quarters at Jalan Pudu, Jalan Traverse and Jalan Brickfields, how can we hope for a genuine reconciliation. Woe betide Malaysian citizenary. And prospects for long-term peace and uninterrupted progress in this country. Let’s all pray for these.
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The MALAYSIAN INSIDER has not gone down the drain in terms of editorial quality. They were in the drain all along. Otherwise they would not have been sued a hefty sum by Tajuddin Ramli.
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The stupid bloke was not thinking of writing history. He was just blabbering thru his nose or even thru his arse. And exploited by the blog that printed what he wrote. A so-called news portal that isn’t.
The bloke can’t even begin to write history. He has no clue what he is talking about in terms of the race riots of 1969. Yes, so has the editorial staff responsible for choosing what to print in the blog.
Even ex-DAP Kua Ka Soong could not write history. Claiming to have a PhD but so many accusations of fake PhDs have surfaced in recent times. Most notable of them all is Yap Sen Tian, President of Dong Zong, the association that administers Chinese schools. Ka Soong wrote a book disputing the DAP caused the race riots and tried to deflect it to others. Yet he used materials from reports of a foreign correspondent in KL at the time, dispatched to his HQ and the British authorities in London at the time. The dispatches could have been copied to a British intelligence gathering organization, hence even “open secrets” become classified as confidential or whatever.
Then he became gullible. He chose some sensational words as the title of his book – “Declassified documents …”, said he. Awwww shit declassified documents that were the dispatches of a foreign correspondent. Not anything like reports or memos prepared by a Government Officer, the Police or the Army involved in maintaining peace and order at the time.
Btw, those having any reservation on my use of the word stupid, bloke etc above, do tell – I’ll prove those as correct any time. Meanwhile, don’t blame me. Blame the moronic weather in my area at this time. I can’t even watch the US Open tennis championship matches – the TV signals disappeared. Nevertheless, have a good day, folks.
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If you think 13 May 1969 was not a race riot, you got many more nonsensical thoughts coming.
For example, DAP will announce on 29 Sept that they did not cheat at the Dec 2012 CEC election vote counting or not calling some 700 members to vote. They just did it as a matter of course, normal for a secret society, thugs and gangsters-laden party.
Shhhh, be careful of the 3 Gangster Monkeys – No See, No Hear, No Talk.
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04-09-2013
Doing any film better than before does not necessarily mean it is good enough in terms of balanced nation and not just partisan politics or worse still, racial politics. The film is supposed to put on record two national leaders whose psychology, sense and feelings for a balanced nation following the May 13 incident, were the best possible in a very difficult confrontational racial environment where fingers were pointed outwards by each community and not inwards enough for better national rationality.
The best and redeeming factor was that there were in the midst of mixed emotions, right and wrong, still very decent and humane Malaysians who, at great personal risks, dared to save or shelter very frightened and hope-less members of other communities without any thought of race and religion and wjich is so true to the universal truth and compassion that is common to all our religions. This was in the midst of yet another negative truth that there were frenzied and mentally unbalanced types within their own communities who were running wild with rage and insanity trying to kill one another on reports unconfirmed and spurred by racist baggages from the past, right and wrong.
The situation was brought under control during the crucial first 48-72 hours only after first the police and then the army were given orders, confirmed by Tun Razak and Tun Ismail, to open fire on defiant rioters of any race when imperitive. A total of 40+ rioters were shot dead either in act of clashing, looting or stubborn refusal to disperse or failing to respect the very tensed curfew that had been imposed. The dead included Malays but the majority were Chinese. It was in the Chinese areas fringing Malay areas where the major clashes occurred and other Chinese areas where they were organised to counter-attack that casualties were inflicted. Without such action the security situation could not have been contained in Kuala Lumpur.
Some present day armchair critics will as usual disagree from the safety and distance of space and time. I am tempted to say “To hell with you on all sides who think only of race, race and race and have politicised religion negatively.” All I remember and want to remember is the voice of my Malay inspector, just transferred from my special SB division to the Federal Riot Unit as an ASP, who facing a very volatile Malay mob not too far from Datuk Harun’s house, answering the emotional mob who wanted him to release to them some non-Malays who had run to him for protection after feigning death among the already dead. He said as we heard and cheered from our Radio Control Room, ” Yes I am also a Malay. That is where the similarity ends. You have no responsibility I am a police officer.You cross that line and the same blood on both sides will flow. They did not.” That day and that voice made me to be so proud to have been a policeman until today and I believe that continuing good and courageous professional and non-racial leadership in times of emergencies will continue to make the Force proud yet again. I had written on this in my book, “Nation Before Self “(MPH)
Why did well-researched not be better research and included this in the film to be fair to the police especially now when the police are being often harassed by all sides and by people who just do not know the police cannot be on any partisan side. They can only be on the side of the law and the constitution, not just in the name of illegitimate executive political authority irrespective of the law and constitution. Neither can the police be partial only to the voices of and the inconsistencies and fickleness of emotional public opinion. But nevertheless they have to be conscious and mindful of all these to ensure the most appropriate response in any calamity and when doing the right thing at the wrong time may be wrong and doing the not so right thing may be right thing.
When the situation was brought under control in KL an attempt was made by some ultra elements to escalate the security situation to the north by starting similar riots in the north. This was pre-empted by very good SB intelligence and a very tight curfew operation by both police and army (ranger) units.
The root causes for May 13 lie in the baggages of racial prejudices and various disparities, right and wrong or true or otherwise over decades emanating in historically turbulent and uncertain times. Independence and the constitution were good for all for some years and sustainable under a visionary and missionary Tengku who believed in a slower and harmonious process of national development with lesser pain to all. However, there were those who had never been happy with the tenets and spirit of the constitution that was contracted in the context of the realities of a critical CPM security threat where Tanah Melayu could have been lost to communism unless the reportedly majority best of the Chinese community could be brought into the fight against basically Chinese terrorists and and the not ready yet and the apparently hostile Chinese squatters moved away to other safer areas neutralising willing and unwilling support for the terrorists with compensating hope of a more assured livelihood in the future with independence. These are the ghosts of the past where radicals of one community feel they had lost too much or had been too generous and another feel they had not gained enough. Of course the Indians feel they had come out the worse and that is relatively true.
The breaking up of the vast rubber plantations of the past and the failure to provide some fair dispersal of them to alternative areas with sustainable livelihood ARE the reasons for developed Indian supremacy in both numbers and leadership of gangsterism because the Malays and Chinese were too busy struggling against each other one for all-encompassing racial supremacy and no longer valid fear of racial survival and the other community in increasing fear of losing economic superiority in a political environment where abuse of the NEP and racial supremacists were sadly creating the impression and increasing fact that the correction of imbalances was intended to create the dreaded reversal of imbalances This was not inimical to just equivocal inter-communal and social equities .
Yet it is so obvious the nation cannot survive on the supremacy of any one race much as some extreme radicals may think so. This is the sad background that made May 13 and the curtains came down when elements of the Chinese community, too overjoyed when they made electoral gains in the 1969 elections and stupid non-Malay hooligans made remarks of a racist nature aggravated further ad worsen already dented Malay political and racial feelings. As expected a counter fully emotionally charged procession, adequately armed, could only ensue and did ensue. Were Chinese provocations ultra? Yes!. Were countering Malay emotions ultra ? Yes they were! Were Malay ultras involved involved? Yes they were. Read my book, “Nation Before Self “if you haven’t yet which is available again at MPH and all will realise that every community is to be blamed for their inability to accept holistically the 1957 constitution which is so fair for all communities that it will never be fair enough for the ultras of every community. That is why it is so fair. And we will have to remain thus until we all can get out of our racial and religious cobwebs of the past and be to integrate better for the future. In the meantime allow the police to monitor and remove the radical extremists of all communities, as was done in the past. Our pristine and too idealistic democrats may not agree. Pristine idealism is more suitable for nations with less distinctive diversities. I am a idealist myself but I am a pragmatic idealist. The whole world is not getting morally better, whether internally or internationally. We have to maintain and sustained inter-communal just substance even as we have to struggle together internationally for subjective national interests.
Non-Malays and many Malays are not against UMNO but against the radical racism and extremism that had since engulfed the party. The non-Malays are aware that the Malays are now a major majority population and the NEP has successfully upraised their relative political, social and economic equities. The non-Malays and most Chinese do not demand full equality but they can no longer accept too great inequalities. They support continued aid to the qualified needy of the Malay community but this must be accompanied by similar aid to the needy of other communities. The ball is now at the feet of all levelheaded and just Malaysians of all communities and police leadership must realise and be able to enforce the law impartially if this nation is to be salvaged back to more equivocal balance. Directly or indirectly a struggling PM needs continued support to transform his party to better centrist balance and a broader group of advisors around him. More polarization of race and religion will only mean the end of One Malaysia – the Malaya and Malaysia that once was and the Malaysia we were meant to be.
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To understand and to think of ways to solve our problems, we need to look at the cause and effect. Right from the birth of this nation and even before. The British allowed us to grow along racial lines – political parties, schools, etc. The effect is that 56 years after Merdeka, we are not yet Malaysian, only Malays, Chinese, Indians etc.
After independence, political parties continued along racial lines – perhaps not much could be done, as they were involved in the independence negotiations and in governing the country for which votes count and suggesting anything other than UMNO, MCA, MIC was never popular. But there was a lot of give and take and kongsi kuasa at that time. Until the Chinese tsunami. Wherefore 1Malaysia under the circumstances? Do we agree on who caused the weakening of 1Malaysia and the effects that has on inter-racial unity now?
The Constitution clearly spells out BM as the language of the country and mother tongue may be used only “other than for official purposes”. Yet the Dong Zong insists on Mandarin as the language of instruction in schools that do not conform to the curriculum and even the standard of national schools e.g on BM. Now who caused the drifting of one sector of the population from mainstream Malaysiana and how do we solve that problem?
I’d be glad to hear your take on the Dong Zong President’s statement on having “multi-nations within a nation”, especially considering that British PM David Cameron has long ago said “Multi-culturalism is dead”, echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and two other EU leaders.
There used to be the kind of laws that suited a multi-racial country – heck, even USA still practices ISA-like detention without trial at Guantanamo Bay. And strict enforcement of laws like the ISA, EO, RRA, the Police Act. With what appeared to be an attempt at being liberal towards those making “wild, unsubstantiated and unjustified accusations” against the Establishment that started during Pak Lah’s “flip-flopping, auto-piloting and sleepy administration” (words that have even been used by Tun Dr Mahathir), the kind of seditious tendencies in recent years, especially after the repeal of those Acts, have been flabbergasting. And now it’s even scary to think that DS Najib wants to do away with the Sedition Act. The question is: who started or caused those and what’s the effect on attempts at unifying the rakyat – not that much is seen being done at this very moment. And what do we do about them – just tell the extremists everywhere, including the thugs, gangsters, the seditious and subversives, to be less so? I’d prefer the big stick any time. ,
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PS:
The race riots of 1969 are proof of the country possibly failing if multi-racial feelings are not properly contained by important tools like the ISA and the Sedition Act.
The White Paper produced by the NOC in October 1969 has shown the causes and the effects of that tragedy. Now the film is to remind the rakyat the horrors brought about originally by man’s words and deeds – the kind that must be avoided to prevent a recurrence; look at it from any angle, one cannot escape the fact that that was one of the purposes of the film. Yet DAP, which featured prominently in causing the 1969 riots, banned the film in Penang and called for a boycott, if I’m not mistaken.
So what or who are the cause of inter-racial irritants as far as that goes and what are the effects on attempts at steering the rakyat away from the tsunami affair – if there is much being done in that direction these days?
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I laughed when I read Stephen Ng’s article. ‘Malay and Chinese were killing each other in KL. This did not happen in the East Coast. Therefore, this was no race riot, but a government plot.’ Top-class logic right there.
Well, at least it’s better than the review by Uma and Joe, where Joe compared the position of the Chinese post May-13 to the Jews in Hitler’s Germany (‘May 13 is our Kristallnacht’).
And I’ve been reading about the need for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for May 13 by the opponents of the ‘official version’. I haven’t decided on whether or not this is necessary, but should it be only for the May 13 event if this were to happen? What about Sino-Malay clashes in Johore in 1945 (the legend of Kiai Salleh comes to mind), or the clashes in Negri Sembilan, and Perak (70 Malays killed by the Chinese in Bikau, Kuala Kangsar in 1948), or the Sino-Malay clashes in Kedah in 1950-52, or the riots in Penang in 1957, 1964 and 1967? Or the riot in Pulau Pangkor in 1959? Or the riot in SIngapore in 1964? We have too many race riots in our history before May 13, which I don’t think could be solved by a Truth Commission focused on this ONE event in May 1969.
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