I have the book "The Malay Dilemma" right now (which I didn't
know was in the possession of my father for more than 30 years
already until I ransacked our house store just some months ago
), a social theory of
the malay plight by Dr.M.
On page 75-76,
To answer the questions one has to go back to the basic reason
for the preferential treatment of the Malays. The motive behind
preferential treatment is not to put the Malays in a superior
position, but to bring them up to the level of the
non-Malays....... The malays are not proud of this treatment. They
are not proud of the "privilege" of being protected by law like
cripples. They would like to get rid of these privileges if they
can, but they have to let pride take second place to the facts of
life.
Sometime, somewhere, their nation-building project had gone
wrong, as Farish A. Noor said,
This is Malaysia, remember: the same multi-culti country that
has been run and governed by the same tired and worn-out coalition
of ideologically bankrupt right-wing communitarian race and
religious-based parties for half a century. Those fellow Malaysians
who marched on Sunday are the children of a nation-building project
that has failed utterly and miserably, and they merely reflect the
racialised mindset of so many Malaysian politicians today who are
no better.
A quote from Erich Fromm may give a part of a hint to why the
Bumiputra policy turns racist, (exchange the nationalism with
race/religion bcoz there are parallels)
Nationalism is our form of incest, is our idolatry, is our
insanity. Patriotism is its cult. It should hardly be necessary to
say, that by patriotism I mean
that attitude which puts the nation above humanity, above
the principles of truth and justice; not the loving interest in
ones own nation, which is the concern with the nations spiritual
as much as with its material welfare - never with its power over
other nations.
Just as love for one individual
which excludes the love for others is not love, love for ones
country which is not part of ones love for humanity is not love,
but idolatrous worship.
