Samy, it is Freedom of Expression - no need to charge him? - "Melayu Dikhianati?"

No Samy Velu - we believe in the freedom of expression and opinion...

We do not want anybody to charged under such bad 'anti-freedom of expression' laws for Sedition, etc - We appreciate it that you (and MIC) have expressed a view about this article..and that is good. [But I wonder whether you would have had the guts to express your opinion if the DPM had not first expressed his displeasure...]

MIC president S Samy Vellu today called for the writer of an offensive article published in the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia to be charged with sedition.

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"I deplore the racial slur made by the writer of the local Malay daily where he had indirectly referred to the Chinese and Indians of Malaysia as 'kaum pendatang' (immigrants).

"It is most disgusting, despicable and shocking. I suspect the writer is not part of the newspaper, but has been using it (the newspaper) to promote his own agenda," he said in a statement.

According to Samy Vellu, the Utusan writer with the pen-name Awang Selamat, "must, and should be, charged in court under the Sedition Act."

"His comments are most unbecoming, especially with our prime minister promoting the 1Malaysia concept," he said.

In view of this, Samy Vellu said MIC wants the government to take immediate action against the writer for stirring ill-feelings among Malaysians, especially the Chinese and Indians.

He added that even Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin remarked that racially-slanted statements were unacceptable and is against the '1Malaysia' concept. - Malaysiakini, 3/6/2009, 'Charge Utusan writer with sedition'

It was also good that our DPM was also not happy about that article and expressed a view (We are sad that the Prime Minister has kept quite..). It would have been better if the DPM had read the said article first.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today expressed disappointment with Umno-owned Malay daily

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Utusan Malaysia for publishing articles with a racial slant.

He was asked to comment on the reservations aired over an article which was published on Sunday titled 'Melayu dikhianati?' (Malays betrayed?).

Among others, the article penned by Awang Selamat said that non-Malays were going overboard with their demands.

Although Muhyiddin was 'not aware' of the article, he however said Utusan must respect the position of every race in the country.

"Those accorded with proper citizenship are Malaysians irrespective of whether they are Malays, Indians or Chinese," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur. - Malaysiakini, 2/6/2009, DPM ticks off Utusan over racial slant

I am also not very happy with the said article. He talks about the 'migrant race' and tries again to re-affirm that 'social contract' nonsense. (See also my earlier post:- Social Contract - True or False? UMNO - fought British for Independence, or just a British crony? Time to re-discover the truth.. )

But, then sometimes some Malaysians behave as though they are really 2nd class citizens - accepting the handouts of the government without challenging discriminations and inequities. But, alas, they are just following the bad examples of MIC, MCA, GERAKAN - who really seem to be just lapdogs of UMNO, not at all equal partners. BN's No. 1 & 2, Secretary General & Treasurer are all from UMNO - does that not tell you about the relationship of UMNO and the other parties in the Barisan Nasional?

Anyway, let's see the article that all are talking about :-

Melayu dikhianati?

Hati Awang semakin hari semakin ditoreh-toreh oleh tuntutan pelbagai pihak bukan Melayu yang bersikap terlalu rasis selepas Pilihan Raya Umum ke-12. Kita boleh tafsir apa sebabnya. Awang tidak mahu mengulas panjang kali ini, cukup sekadar disiarkan semula petikan kenyataan seorang pemimpin MCA, Tun Tan Siew Sin pada 30 April 1969 (dipetik daripada buku Khalid Awang Osman dan pernah diulas Ridhuan Tee Abdullah) untuk renungan kita semua.

''Orang Melayu menerusi UMNO bermurah hati melonggarkan syarat-syarat dalam undang-undang negara ini sehinggakan dalam masa 12 bulan selepas kemerdekaan, 90 peratus penduduk bukan Melayu menjadi warganegara. Ini berbeza dengan keadaan sebelum merdeka di mana 90 peratus daripada mereka masih tidak diiktiraf sebagai rakyat Tanah Melayu walaupun hampir 100 tahun hidup di bawah pemerintahan penjajah. Sebagai membalas kemurahan hati orang Melayu, MCA dan MIC bersetuju meneruskan dasar memelihara dan menghormati kedudukan istimewa orang Melayu dan dalam masa yang sama mempertahankan kepentingan-kepentingan sah kaum lain''.

Sebelum itu, seorang pemimpin MIC Tun V.T Sambanthan pada 1 Jun 1965 pernah berkata: ''Pada tahun 1955 kita telah memenangi pilihan raya dengan majoriti yang tinggi, selanjutnya mendapat kemerdekaan dalam masa dua tahun kemudian. Dalam jangka masa itu, kita terpaksa berbincang dan menangani pelbagai perkara termasuk soal kewarganegaraan. Persoalannya di sini, apakah yang dilakukan oleh orang Melayu memandangkan kita bercakap menyentuh perkauman? Apakah yang dilakukan oleh pemimpin-pemimpin Melayu? Mereka mempunyai 88 peratus daripada pengundi menyokong mereka.

Apakah yang mereka putuskan mengenai isu kewarganegaraan? ''Jika kita lihat di serata negara Asia dan Asia Timur, kita akan mendapati kaum India tidak akan diterima di Ceylon dan juga tidak diterima di Burma. Sama halnya dengan kaum Cina, mereka tidak diterima di Thailand, Vietnam, Kemboja dan di negara-negara lain. Apakah bantuan berhubung kewarganegaraan yang mereka peroleh di semua wilayah tersebut?

"Di Burma, seperti yang kita semua sedia maklum, kaum India telah diusir keluar, di Ceylon mereka tidak diberikan taraf warganegara seperti juga di Burma. Saya tahu dan anda juga tahu. Apa yang sedang berlaku di Malaya? Di sini kita mendapati pemimpin Melayu berkata, ''Kita akan menerima mereka sebagai saudara, kita akan berikan mereka sepenuh peluang untuk meneruskan kehidupan di negara ini, kita akan beri mereka peluang untuk menjadi warganegara''. Seterusnya pada tahun 1957, dengan tidak mengambil kira kebolehan berbahasa (Melayu) ribuan orang India, Cina dan Ceylon menjadi warganegara. Seperti yang saya nyatakan, saya amat bernasib baik kerana dilahirkan di negara ini. Di manakah anda boleh berjumpa bangsa yang lebih prihatin, bersopan-santun dan tertib selain daripada bangsa Melayu. Di manakah anda boleh mendapat layanan politik yang baik untuk kaum pendatang? Di manakah dalam sejarah dunia? Saya bertanya kepada anda. Ini adalah fakta. Siapakah anda untuk menjaga keselamatan kami? Saya adalah kalangan 10 peratus kaum minoriti di sini. Tetapi saya amat gembira di sini.''

Persoalannya, kini apakah pengorbanan Melayu dikhianati oleh kaum lain?

-Awang Selamat - Utusan Online, 31/5/2009, Melayu Dikhianati?