Always a tiff on squatting

‘Squatting’, the issue that among others saw the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965 and, more recently, the continued incarceration of five Hindraf leaders under the draconian ISA - is hot news again.

Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Ahmad Ismail thinks the Chinese community in Malaysia, being descendents of immigrants (like most Malaysians including Malays) - are squatters not entitled to equal rights. He has elaborated on the issue by referring to the Chinese community’s refusal to share their wealth with the Malays. Ahmad is implying the Chinese are squatting on the Malays, no doubt on others too.

“Although Najib - the deputy prime minister – has apologised on behalf of Umno, many members are in sympathy with Ahmad,” is the consensus along the political grapevine.

“Najib should not have been so quick to apologise on behalf of Ahmad,” writes a veteran Sarawak newsman in his blog.

“Najib’s apology was damage control in the wake of Permatang Pauh,” adds a retired newsman who keeps himself busy with editorial advisory and consultancy work for the print and broadcast media in Kuala Lumpur.

“Ahmad was not completely wrong in some respects although he could have put it better but for what purpose? It’s pointless making such remarks. It’s just stating the obvious unless one intends to do something about it.”

Prolific letter writer Saya Yang Tahu didn’t mince his words in the Borneo Post last Sunday. He trots out five reasons why Ahmad should apologise: he has offended the non-Malays, particularly the Chinese; his remarks are highly seditious or borders on sedition; he has damaged his own party, Umno; Ahmad is being “uncivilised”; what would the world think of us and his party?

Saya Yang Tahu ends his letter with among others the remark, “Ahmad’s act is the last nail in the coffin for Umno or BN as far as their relevance and acceptability is concerned.

“Ahmad’s remarks could be tantamount to saying the Blacks (and others like the Indians, Arabs and other Asians and others) do not deserve equal rights in the United States or in the United Kingdom, France and other European countries although they were born and raised there and are citizens of those countries,” ends Saya Yang Tahu.

Singapore tiff

Ahmad reportedly uttered the ‘seditious’ remarks during a Barisan Nasional by-election rally in Kampung Pelet on Aug 23 in the midst of frenetic campaigning for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat which was won by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Only one newspaper, the Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily, carried Ahmad’s remarks but it has been enough to touch off more than ‘a storm in a teacup’ and the reactions continue to pour in and snowball to runaway proportions.

To add insult to injury, Ahmad refuses to apologise or withdraw his offending remarks, seeing nothing to apologise for – citing his version of “history” – and in a contradiction in terms, accusing the newspaper concerned of distorting his remarks but at the same time refusing to clarify or qualify his remarks.

Syed Jaffar Albar, the Lion of Umno who started life as an itinerant roadside traditional medicine peddler from Java, got into a war of words with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in the media, prompting the latter to make the famous remark: “If they (the Malays in Kuala Lumpur) think they can squat on us (Singapore and the non-Malays) and get away with it, they are sadly mistaken.”

All hell broke loose after that, and Tunku Abdul Rahman recovering from an illness in bed, made the sole decision to part company with Singapore. His approach was simple. He had the doors of Parliament locked, vowing to only open them after the members of parliament agreed to vote for the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia.

Lee was reduced to tears – crocodile tears, claimed Tunku who added that Lee was “secretly very happy” – but in the end Singapore was booted out.

Lee has never failed to express regret over the separation of Singapore from Malaysia for which he fought so hard to convince Sabah in particular and other skeptics. “Perhaps, if we had gone slower, we would be still in Malaysia,” thinks Lee. “Perhaps Singapore would not be that developed but we would still do pretty well.”

Lee has also never failed to take regular pot shots at Malaysia for “continuing to squat on the non-Malays” and offering the possibility of Singapore returning to Malaysia if “Malaysia treats the Indians and Chinese better and educate and use them. Malaysia, unlike Singapore, has the land and all the resources.”

Who's squatting?

Singapore itself, during Mahathir’s time, has been accused of squatting on Malaysia, in fact virtually leaching off Malaysia. “Singapore’s continued progress and prosperity can only be at Malaysia’s expense,” was Mahathir’s constant reminder before he came to office, during and after.

“Singapore is always trying to capitalise on any perceived weakness on Malaysia’s part to turn it to its advantage and profit. Singapore gains by default.” His idea was to build a new bridge to Singapore, replacing the causeway, to “transfer Malaysia’s historical wealth from Singapore to the mainland”.

Mahathir also told this writer, in an interview for Asian Business of Hong Kong two weeks before he became prime minister, that he deplored “the fact that the Malays are being seen as leeches and parasites” and considers “Singapore’s – the squatter?” - separation from Malaysia a closed issue”.

The hydra-like Hindraf’s (Hindu Rights Action Force) running theme is that the system and government in Malaysia – and indirectly through the Malaysian Indian Congress - is squatting on the Indian community, the Hindus in particular. They have vowed that Malaysia will only have peace within itself if the federal and state governments accede to their list of 19 demands.

The federal government’s revocation of recognition for the prestigious Crimea State University in the Ukraine, raised by the president during a recent state visit, is seen as an example of Malaysia squatting on the Indian community.

“When the Malaysian government delegation visited Crimea, they remarked that there were too many Malaysian Indian students enrolled there,” said a businessman whose son was in the first batch of students enrolled there.

“I told my son not to worry about the recognition. He’s free to move to the United Kingdom, the United States and so many other European countries which recognise Crimea. However, the government has decided to recognise the first four batches if Mara students are also accepted.”

Malays too complain that Umnoputras in cahoots with the businessmen community have hijacked the New Economic Policy (1970-90) through a system of AliBabaism (rent-seeking) and thereby squatting on the community.

Herein lies the appeal of Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR which has virtually accused Umno of sabotaging the NEP and pledging a policy of ‘ketuanan rakyat’ (supremacy of the people). PKR partners DAP pledges a Malaysian Malaysia; PAS says Islam is against all forms of racism; and Hindraf’s makkal sakthi (people power) phenomenon is for equal rights.

There are accusations in Malaysian Borneo too that the federal government and Peninsular Malaysia continues to squat on them.

Borneo's turn

PKR Sabah chief Dr Jeffrey Gimpoi Kitingan decries the fact that “the 20 points which brought the Borneo states into Malaysia has been systematically ignored by the federal government”. Among the Dayaks of Sarawak and the Kadazandusun Muruts of Sabah to, there are accusations that KL’s rule by proxy in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu – “shades of neo-colonialism” - is squatting on their respective communities.

In the civil service, the numbers of non-Malays continue to fall, leading to a situation where 90 percent of various sectors are packed with members from just one community. Entry is not only quite difficult for non-Malays including bumiputeras but the small number in service complain of discrimination at the hands of the majority.

“Promotions for non-Malays, even bumiputera non-Malays, are hard to come by in the civil service,” says a Dayak police inspector – initially he was a trained teacher - who left the service after “being constantly denied promotions” and now runs a online news site.

“We Dayaks are the lost tribes of Sarawak. Everybody in Sarawak squats on us. We have been reduced to being hewers of wood and drawers of water for others despite being the majority community in the state.”

“People like Ahmad Ismail equate the failure of the NEP with the Chinese community squatting on the Malays,” says a long-term foreign observer of the Malaysian political theatre who occasionally writes for Christian publications. “They should take out the beam from their eyes before taking out the speck of dust in their brother’s eyes.”

JOE FERNANDEZ @ Fernz is an educationist and former newspaper editor and ex-civil servant who feels compelled to put pen to paper when something doesn’t quite jell with his ‘weltanschauung’ (worldview).