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Wednesday, 24-Mar-2004 10:36 AM Dear Son, I thought I would write you this letter, which I feel is long overdue and should actually have been done much earlier. With the present euphoria of the 11th General Elections maybe I should have a man-to-man ‘talk’ with you about some of the realities of life. No, I am not going to talk about the ‘birds and the bees’ as in these modern times I am sure you could tell me more about that subject. What I want to talk to you is about our race, Melayu. When you came home for your semester breaks, I quietly listened to your rhetoric of freedom of speech, equality of all races, eradication of poverty, and all such notions, without comment. I understand that you are young and just beginning to open your eyes to what is going on in the world so I thought I would allow you to speak your mind. Mind you, in my days, I could never speak to your grandfather is such a tone of voice. He would never tolerate my ‘independent’ views and would regard it as insolence. But that was then and today I appreciate the fact that the young tend to speak their minds so I allowed you to ramble on. Now, however, it is my turn to speak my mind and I hope you too will allow me my right to speak just like I allowed you yours. I want to remind you that you are Malay, first and last. Whatever you say and do must be tempered with this in mind. This fact tends to escape you and your idealistic beliefs do not take this into consideration. You oppose the Umno-led Barisan Nasional because you say it is a corrupt government. You say it does not allow freedom of speech, association and assembly. You say it is undemocratic and despotic. And you go on and on listing everything that you perceive is wrong with it. I must remind you, however, that this is the same government that gave you, me, and your grandfather, an education. Without this government that you despise so much would we be where we are today? We would still be in the kampong planting padi like my grandfather before this. You are looking for perfection. But perfection does not exist here on earth. Perfection only exists in the afterlife (akhirat) so you will have to wait until you die before you see this perfection. As long as you are on earth you will be faced with imperfections so you will have to learn to live with this situation. I too would like to see a perfect world; a world filled with justice, equality, freedom, and all those ‘modern’ values you students shout about. But would you be prepared to gain all this at the expense of the Malay race? I know you worked hard and campaigned for the opposition during the recently concluded general election. And I also know you are terribly frustrated and disappointed with the outcome of the election. I will not hold my punches here. As you said, the opposition won, or could have won, but it was robbed of its win through an unfair election system and a biased Election Commission. I shall not insult your intelligence by denying all this, as I know you are smart enough to see things for what they are. But it is my duty as your father and a Malay to explain certain things that maybe you have overlooked in your zeal of upholding your modern ideas. You must understand, the Election Commission is run by we Malays. It is there merely to ensure that we Malays retain our political power. You accuse the Election Commission of manipulating the elections and of unfair practices. This has nothing to do with fair or unfair. It is all about ensuring that we Malays do not lose our political power to the non-Malays. Why do you think Tunku Abdul Rahman kicked Singapore out of Malaysia? Can you imagine what would happen to us Malays if Singapore were still part of Malaysia today? The Chinese would sweep all the seats and we Malays would be reduced to a minority. Can you imagine being a second-class citizen in our own country the way the Malays in Singapore are? You say you support keADILan because it is a multiracial party that fights for equality for all races. Do you know what keADILan is asking for? How can there be equality for all races? We Malays own this land and the other races are all immigrants. They do not deserve equal rights. You must remember, when we gained independence in 1957, it was agreed that all these immigrants would be given citizenship as long as the Malays are given special rights and privileges. This is why we have a Ketuanan Melayu policy. The Chinese and Indians agreed to this so we gave them citizenship. Now that they are citizens they demand equal rights. This is a breach of agreement. If they do not agree to Malays being given special rights and privileges why agree to it in 1957? They should have disagreed then. Then we could have sent them back to India and China. We did not force them to become citizens of this country. They wanted citizenship. And the terms and conditions of their citizenship was discussed and agreed. It was a social contract between them and us. How can they now turn round and not agree to it? And this is what keADILan is fighting for. They are supporting the non-Malays in breaching the agreement made in 1957. An agreement is an agreement. If you want to break it, fine. If you no longer want to honour the agreement, then that is okay. But the clause in that agreement where they get citizenship must also be rescinded. The non-Malays will then have to go back to their own country. After all, no one is forcing them to live here. If they do not like it they can leave. But do not expect us Malays to give up our special rights and privileges which have already been agreed upon long before independence. You say the Election Commission cheated. They did not cheat. They just ensured we Malays continue to dominate Malaysian politics till the end of time. Parties like keADILan are dangerous. They pawn the country to the non-Malays just for the sake of political power. The Election Commission cannot allow this. Parties like keADILan must be wiped out from this country. Parties that collaborate with the non-Malays to rob Malays of our political power must be exterminated. If you think the Election Commission is there to manage fair elections then you are mistaken. It is there to ensure that political power does not fall into the hands of the Chinese. It is there to ensure that your children and grandchildren have a place in Malaysia and will not become second-class citizens in our own country. But the Election Commission is not the only player in this whole conspiracy. I should know as I used to work in the National Registration Department and it was our job to issue identity cards. Without these identity cards the Election Commission can do very little. Umno decides how many voters it needs and where they are needed. We will then ‘generate’ these voters through the issuing of identity cards. The Election Commission then registers them in the respective constituencies based on the identity cards we issue. So you see, I was very much a part of the system. And it was a system meant to ensure Malays remain lords of this land. I hope I was able to shed some light on what, to you, must be a most perplexing situation. Never mind. You are young. Your blood is hot. Later in life you will realise and understand what I am saying today. And one day you too will be telling your hot-blooded children what I am telling you now. Dad.
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