Khir Toyo’s “impian”

I was wondering if it was even worth writing about this. It seems more and more of the politicians today, be they from either side of the political see-saw, are spouting absolute nonsense.

But if we keep quiet about things, some people tend to mistake that silence for “support” and “agreement”. So here goes.

Excerpt from Khir Toyo’s blog:

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim memang tidak mahu Melayu bersatu kerana itulah beliau tubuhkan Pakatan Rakyat yang berjuang atas prinsip kesamarataan, menyamakan taraf agama Islam dengan agama lain, menyamaratakan kedudukan orang Melayu dengan bangsa lain, walaupun memiliki status bumiputera. Sebab itulah Anwar dapat menarik sokongan yang besar daripada golongan ekstremis Cina melalui DAP dan ekstremis India melalui Hindraf.

Saya tidak mengimpikan Pas dan UMNO bersatu dalam bentuk fizikal parti atau ideologi politik. Tapi saya mengimpikan kesatuan orang Melayu dalam erti mempertahankan kedudukan dan agenda Islam dan Melayu di negara ini.

Saya impikan biar parti mana pun yang menang pilihan raya, kedudukan agama Islam dan Orang Melayu kekal dan terus dipertahankan. Bukan seperti sekarang ini sudah terdapat “penggadaian” terhadap status quo Islam dan Melayu dalam usaha membeli pengaruh dan sokongan bukan Melayu.

Impian saya juga untuk melihat Melayu kembali menjadi tunjang politik negara yang akan menstabilkan politik tanah air, menjadi kenyataan.

I can’t really be bothered translating it word for word. Suffice to say that in a nutshell, Khir Toyo’s “dream” is that the Malays will unite to defend the status and agenda of Malays and Islam in Malaysia, unlike the “sacrifice” of the status quo of Islam and Malays in efforts to buy support from non-Malays that is apparently happening now.

Obviously, his dream doesn’t involve the non-Malays. it doesn’t involve the other 40% of Malaysia’s population. Oh, wait. It doesn’t involve the non-Malay Bumis as well, so maybe the percentage is slightly higher than 40%. i don’t know.

To me, he just shot himself in the foot. Why wouldn’t we want equality, kesamarataan? What problem does he have with that?

Whatalulu calls him a “pompous racist idiot“.
Crankshaft calls this a “bad case of racism“.
Malaysian Joe says he is trying to “stoke more racial based statements“.
Other people on Malaysiakini have more to say.

To Khir Toyo, Hindraf is Indian-extremist. DAP is Chinese-extremist. Well, there have been comments that PAS is Islam-extremist, and UMNO is Malay-extremist. PKR have been described as power-extremist by some. As for the other parties, no such comments. Maybe they’re weak-extremists then.

I don’t know. Are any of them really extremists? “Extreme” is a very strong word.

ANYWAY…

He implicates that Islam should not be disamaratakan with other religions. If his argument comes from the Constitution, I beg to differ. The Constitution says that Islam is the official religion. Yes. But it also says that other religions are to be allowed to be practised freely in peace and harmony. Nowhere in the Constitution, even if you squint your eyes to read between the lines, does it say that Islam is one-up compared to other religions. Nowhere does it say that Islam reigns supreme over other religions in Malaysia.

If his argument comes from his own belief in Islam, I’m probably not in the best position to criticise. But I THINK I remember reading that in Islam, all men (and women) were created by Allah s.w.t. (or God). Not just Muslims, but ALL of mankind. And I believe that makes ALL of us brothers/sisters. Or is that not true?

Then, he implicates that the Malay race should not be made to be “on the same level” as other races, because the Malays are bumiputera. I assume he makes this judgement from the Constitution, where it says that Malays, along with the natives of Sabah and Sarawak have a “special position” in Malaysia. Nowhere, though, does it say that Malays and non-Malays have a different level of citizenship. Nowhere does it say that Malays are of a “supreme” race, or even a better one.

The “Malay unity” that Khir Toyo is dreaming of cannot happen until and unless all the Malays in Malaysia decide that they want to hold the power to be first-class citizens in Malaysia. It cannot happen until and unless all the Malays in Malaysia decide that they alone have the privilege to call Malaysia home, and anyone else of any other race and religion does not. It cannot happen until and unless there are no more non-Malays in Malaysia.

Sometimes I wonder, if this is what Khir Toyo and a few others are dreaming of. A Malaysia made up of only Malays, and no other people. A land of Malays-only.

For whatever it is that I “lack” by virtue of being a non-Muslim and a non-Malay, I think I make up for it by working harder, studying harder, thinking harder, praying harder, and striving harder for a better Malaysia. My love for the country is no less than that of the next person. My being not Malay and Muslim does not make me “one level lower” than those who are.

There can be no national unity if we talk of Malay-unity, or Chinese-unity, or Indian-unity or [race/religion]-unity. Because this nation is not monolithic. It is not made up of one race, one religion, one kind of people. We hail our diversity, we USE our diversity to attract tourists from other countries. We call ourselves “Truly Asia” not without a reason. We are many. We are so many. For us to be one, we have to find common ground. And that ground is that all of us are Malaysians.