Busy day for Syed Hamid Albar and his merry men

Sin Chew journalist who reported the now infamous "pendatang" remark by Ahmad Ismail has been arrested. More

Raja Petra arrested under ISA for being a security threat to the country. More

The Sun, Sin Chew Daily and Suara Keadilan issued show cause letter. More.

By the way, nothing has happened to Utusan Melayu.

AHMAD ISMAIL'S LUCKY ESCAPE

Gabriel Peters was my classmate in Secondary 2 and one day in 1977 had a flatus ignition.

Lord only knows what Gabriel had during recess but whatever he ate at the tuck-shop or maybe the night before had resulted in the build up of nitrogen, carbon diokside, oxygen, methane and hidrogen sulfide and the combination of these entrapped gases travelled from Gabriel’s stomach to his anus and made a timely exit, just when my teacher Mrs Holmes during Tata Rakyat lesson was explaining to the class the fifth tenet of the Rukun Negara- Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan.

Thundering typhoons! Blistering blue barnacles exclaimed a disorientated Mrs. Holmes when the offensive whoopee enveloped the class. It was Hiroshima! After regaining her composure, she dragged Gabriel out of the class and for the rest of the lesson he stood outside the class breathing fresh air while the rest of the class – Malay, Chinese and Indian boys had to suffer and smell his air biscuit. At the end of the lesson, he was let in and the only admonition Gabriel ever got was Mrs. Holmes tweeking his ears before she left the class. Of course, we who had suffered wanted sterner action. The Malay boys wanted to strangle Gabriel but changed their mind less their act turned into a race riot. After all this was Sentul. In any event we had just been lectured on good citizenry and Kesopanan and Kesusilaan and so there we no untoward incidents. Of course the Catholic boys did consider more severe bodily injury like killing Gabriel but our principal Brother Bernard had taught us Thou shall not kill is a solemn Christian commandment. So killing was also out of the question. In the end, all of us, Malays, Chinese and Indian boys suffered from the action of one coot whose revolting behavior was punished by a mere slap on the wrist.

Now you may be wandering whats the relevance of Gabriel Peter’s story and particularly today when it is Onam.

Now, today is Onam. It is the harvest festival celebrated by Malayalees. I too am a Malayalee. So to all Happy Onam and particularly to one Malayalee who despite actually being a Malayalee, using his constitional definition rose to become the forth Prime Minister of Malaysia. So Tun, hope you have a good aviyal for lunch !.

Still on Malayalees. Malayalees originates from the Indian state of Kerala. This lush green state is often referred to God’s own paradise. My grandparents came to Malaysia (Malaya) from Kerala. Even Iskandar Kutty’s parents came from Kerala though the son is so reticent in admitting. And hear this !, it is now revealed that Datuk Ahmad Ismail’s grandparents “telah mendatang” from Kerala. So in truth this minion also has “darah pendatang” and sad to say has Malayalee blood.

Despite having his lineage to Kerala, this second generation Malaysian, Ahmad Ismail could be so irresponsibly provocative and racist and had the gall to insult the Chinese when on 23rd August during a BN Ceramah which was incidentally attended by the DPM himself at Kampung Pelet, Permatang Pauh described the Chinese as lodgers.

Naturally every Chinese and decent Malaysian found that remark derogatory and rightly demanded that he withdraw his remark and apologize. Instead what was on display for all was his sheer arrogance that he did no wrong and was merely depicting his interpretation of the history and that according to him Chinese before Merdeka were merely lodgers in this country.

When Barisan Nasional’s own component parties MCA and GERAKAN were calling for him to apologize, all 13 Penang UMNO divisions stood united with Ahmad Ismail.

Prime Minister Abdullah typically, sought clarification from Ahmad Ismail and pleased with his reply told the public that he had accepted his explanation - never mind the Chinese community was seething with anger, and had advised him not to make such comment. That’s, akin to the ‘mild’ standing outside class punishment meted out to Gabriele Peters.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s advice naturally fell on deaf ears. Instead, Ahmad Ismail continued with his racist tirade and in the face of continued calls for him to apologize and action to be taken against him, he then equated the Chinese of behaving like the American Jews.

Had the police caught him and thrown the book at him or Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi taken immediate steps and punished him the public outcry would not have grown to become public anger. This pustulent bigot’s fetid defiance of his own party’s advice and public outrage ought to have been enough ground for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to slap him with severest of punishment. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ought to have shown more courage by meting out the severest of punishment which would have sent a message that derogatory references on any community, religion, language or culture is reprehensible, completely unacceptable and has no place in Malaysia. No Malaysian, be it Malay, Chinese or Indian should ever insult another.

Regretfully, for all the damage done by one man, the punishment meted out to Ahmad Ismail was just a three year suspension from UMNO, never mind his action has hurt all decent Malays, Chinese and Indians who as Malaysians simply wish to live in harmony free from bigots and untermenshen politicians. The Ahmad Ismail incident reminds me of Gabriel Peters. That’s how Gabriel Peters was punished that infamous day –by the mildest of punishment-standing outside the class for the rest of the lesson and then back in class, nevermind his uncivilized and disgusting act caused discomfort to Malay, Chinese and Indians students.

In the meantime Happy Onam !.

Good riddance to history teacher Ahmad Ismail

Umno has suspended its Bukit Bendera division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail of his membership rights and stripped him of his posts for three years for making remarks which were deemed offensive by the Chinese community.
The decision was made at a specially convened supreme council meeting yesterday. More


Malaysian must remember and NEVER forget..

ANTARA PENDATANG DAN PENUMPANG

Pada mulanya saya agak keberatan nak ulas kekecohan yang berpunca ekoran daripada kenyataan ketua UMNO bahagian Bukit Bendera, Pulau Pinang bernama Ahmad bin Ismail. Sama ada benar atau tidak apa yang didakwa dikatakan olehnya mengenai rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina bukan persoalannya kerana isu tersebut sudahpun merebak dan mengapi-apikan keadaan.

Jika tidak ditangani dengan cermat, teliti dan bijak, isu itu boleh ditangguk dalam air yang keruh oleh anasir-anasir yang ingin melihat negara ini hancur serta mengundang campur tangan kuasa asing. Dalam zaman dunia tanpa sempadan dan liputan meluas dan segera oleh media elektronik antarabangsa, apa yang berlaku di sesebuah negara itu tidak dapat disembunyi atau dinafikan.

Isu pokok yang dibangkitkan oleh Ahmad Ismail membabitkan persoalan "menumpang" iaitu rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina adalah penumpang di negara ini. Beliau menjelaskan bahawa ia merujuk kepada zaman pra-Merdeka. Bagaimanapun, sensitiviti rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina telah terguris.

Saya tidak mengenali secara peribadi Ahmad Ismail, tetapi kenal agak rapat dengan Allahyarham abangnya, Abdul Rahim Ismail, pemilik Syarikat Pembinaan Rahim yang pada satu ketika dahulu agak terkenal sebagai sebuah firma pembinaan Bumiputera yang unggul di Pulau Pinang. Saya tidak tahu apa dah jadi dengan syarikat itu selepas Abdul Rahim meninggal dunia.

Secara peribadi, saya tidak setuju dengan apa yang didakwa dikata oleh Ahmad Ismail atas beberapa sebab.

Bagi saya, hampir 90 peratus rakyat Malaysia, khususnya di Semenanjung, adalah pendatang dan kita semua sebenarnya menumpang hidup di bumi Allah. Kita bukan pemilik kekal tetapi hanya menumpang.

Sebagai contoh, saya sendiri adalah keturunan pendatang yang menumpang hidup di bumi bertuah ini. Datuk nenek di sebelah bapa saya berhijrah dari Makkah dan dari Brunei ke sini manakala di sebelah ibu pula dari Hadhramut, Yaman. Kami adalah pendatang dan penumpang sama seperti hampir semua penduduk negara ini khususnya di Pulau Pinang.

Bagi Ahmad Ismail, dia juga datang dari keluarga pendatang dan menumpang hidup di negara ini. Ahmad Ismail tidak boleh menafikan hakikat bahawa datuk neneknya adalah pendatang dari India untuk menerokai penghidupan yang lebih baik dan selesa di bumi bertuah ini.Perdana Menteri Abdullah bin Ahmad juga tergolong dalam kategori yang sama. Datuknya di sebelah ibu adalah pendatang dari wilayah Guandong, China. Pendek kata, datuk Pak Lah iaitu bapa Allahyarhamah Kailan bernama Hassan Salleh atau Hah Su Chiang adalah seorang pendatang. Beliau berhijrah ke Tanah Melayu dari wilayah Guandong (Kwantung) pada pertengahan abad ke-19 dan menetap di Bayan Lepas sebagai pekebun getah, pesawah padi dan kemudian saudagar intan berlian.

Najib Tun Razak, Timbalan PM juga berasal daripada keluarga pendatang iaitu dari Sulawesi, Indonesia atau lebih senang disebut orang Bugis manakala sepupunya Hishamudin Hussein tidak terlepas daripada darah keturunan Turki.

Datuk nenek mantan PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad juga pendatang dari Kerala, India manakala ibu Almarhum Tunku Abul Rahman berasal dari negeri Siam (Thailand).

Kesultanan Melayu Melaka pun dibuka oleh orang pendatang dari Sumatra bernama Parameswara, seorang anak raja atau bangsawan beragama Hindu.

Dalam sejarah kesultanan Melayu, kita dapati ada yang ditubuh oleh pendatang dari Bugis dan ada pula dari Hadhramut selain dari Minangkabau.Hampir semua orang Melayu di sini berasal dari luar Tanah Melayu tetapi diiktiraf sebagai "bangsa Melayu" oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Kita adalah "Melayu mengikut takrifan Perlembagaan" iaitu beragama Islam, mengamalkan adat resam Melayu dan bertutur dalam bahasa Melayu. Malangnya, bahasa Melayu nampaknya dimatikan oleh orang Melayu (UMNO) sendiri apabila dinamakan sebagai bahasa Malaysia. Oleh itu, orang Arab seperti Syed Hamid Albar dan saya, orang Aceh seperti Sanusi Junid, orang India seperti Kader Sheikh Fadzir dan Nor Mohamed Yakcop, orang Bugis seperti Najib, orang Minang seperti Rais Yatim, orang Jawa seperti Mohamad Rahmat dan yang lain seperti dari Madura, Pulau Boyan, Siam, Burma, Yunnan (China) dan selatan Filipina dengan mudah boleh diiktirf sebagai "Melayu".

Mereka diterima sebagai orang Melayu tidak kira sama ada mereka bertutur bahasa Melayu atau tidak di rumah umpamanya si Arab berbahasa Arab, si Jawa berbahasa Jawa dan si Minang berbahasa Minang atupun si Mamak berbahasa Tamil.Bahasa-bahasa yang disebut itu bukan bahasa Melayu dan jika dilihat dari sudut Perlembagaan Persekutuan, tidak boleh diterima atau diiktiraf sebagai bangsa Melayu. Walau bagaimanapun, atas kepentingan dan faktor politik, semuanya diterima sebagai Melayu dan Bumiputera.

Oleh itu, adalah tidak adil untuk menuding jari kepada orang Cina yang juga kaum pendatang sama seperti orang Arab, India, Aceh, Minang, Batak, Mandailing, Jawa, Madura mahupun Bugis, sebagai menumpang di negeri ini. Kita tidak boleh menafikan bahawa sebilangan besar datuk nenek orang Cina telah berhijrah ke negeri ini semasa Kesultanan Melayu Melaka, bahkan kesultanan-kesultanan terdahulu di Kedah mahupun Terengganu dan Kelantan serta semasa Francis Light berjaya menipu Sultan Kedah untuk menduduki Pulau Pinang pada 1786.

Kita adalah kaum pendatang yang menumpang hidup di negeri ini. Golongan yang boleh diiktiraf sebagai orang asal atau anak bumi tulen adalah mereka yang kita kenali sebagai Negrito, Jakun, Semang, Jahut, Orang Laut, Orang Darat, Senoi dan suku kaum masyarakat Asli lain yang masih menjadi penghuni belantara.

Kita tidak harus lupa akan sumbangan dan pengorbanan semua kaum dan suku kaum untuk membangunkan Malaysia sama ada dari sudut ekonomi, kemasyarakatan, keselamatan dan yang paling penting kesepakatan dan perpaduan. Semua orang yang kena dan seharusnya membayar cukai, berbuat demikian tanpa mengira kaum atau asal keturunan, sama ada pendatang atau penumpang.Kita semua adalah rakyat Malaysia.

Posted by Syed Imran at http://www.kudaranggi.blogspot.com./