Obama & “Orang Malaya”

 By Awang Buntak

Allow me to give my two sen worth on this very interesting debate
on "Orang Malaya” which you have started.

A.G. Mustakim has stirred the proverbial hornet's nest when he talked about Orang Malaya. To me, he is doing everybody a favour by being openly honest about the undercurrents in Sabah. There is a method in his madness. I salute him for bringing into the open how Sabahans feel about certain things. Look at his number of hits your blog has been getting to show how spot on he's been.

He clearly stated that he is not against Orang Malaya per se; I can't imagine him or other right thinking Sabahans going against the poor souls in Malaya who appear on TV3's "Bersamamu" programme. He's pissed off and rightly so with Orang Malaya who are sent to Sabah thinking they are above everybody else and they can rip off the place as they please. You know the "Ketuanan Melayu" mindset and all that.

Let's get real. There are many Sabahans who have inter-state marriages in the family. So, this is not what he is talking about. There are also many from Malaya who have settled here way back before Malaysia, some can even trace their family history back to Brunei rule, so, this is not the issue here.
These people are as Sabahans as anyone else, they came here on their own merit...

Sabah is the most accommodating state in the country, look at the Chinamen from China who married local women, their off-springs are automatically given Bumi status and accepted as such by the people.

How open and tolerant we are, somehow, things changed with the arrival of new Orang Malaya after Malaysia, things are made worse with the coming of UMNO .We are now a mere state instead of an equal partner in the federation.

We have lost control of our political direction in our own land. The Chief Minister has to be approved by KL, even though our state constitution says otherwise. He has to dance to the tune played by KL, even if it's against local realities or interests. Like Mustakim said, the greed of these people is insatiable. They have taken 95% of our oil, now; they want our body and soul.

So, what upsets the average Sabahans about Orang Malaya?

Basically, their political culture is not in tandem with ours. Sabahans are well integrated, regardless of ethnicity or religion. So, the orang Malaya mantras of Melayu, China and India are alien to all of us here, or for that matter untuk "Bangsa, Ugama dan Negara". When you have Muslims, Christians and Buddhists in the same family, you tend to accept people as you find them, and religion is very much a personal matter.

Orang Malaya use religion as a political weapon to screw up the country. It's" them and us”, in Sabah we tend to be more inclusive.

Personally, I have problem with the way Orang Malaya talk Malay, I don't like "I" and "You" business. If you think these speakers could string a proper English sentence, well, think again.

Orang Malaya doesn’t know their own geography and history.

Ask them where Malaysia is, the answer is "between Thailand and Singapore". Ask them when Malaysia came into being, the answer is 1957!

Muslim as I am, I detest the way they practice Islam. Around them, they don't make you feel comfortable with your own belief unless it's approved by them. By doing so, your passage to Heaven is guaranteed!

They can be so intolerant, what's justice and fairness to them?

I don't want to talk about those with skullcaps, when they come here they think they are God's gift to our more liberated local women.

On top of that many Orang Malaya get confused between being "Muslim" and being "Arab". To many of them being Muslim is to forget your own culture and try to be as much an Arab as you can. Even the Arabs don't want to know. For goodness sake, 10% of the Arabs are Christians. Tell these Arab Christians not to use the word ” Allah".

There is one Orang Malaya female singer, an Arab wannabe, who was supposed to have got engaged to an Arab guy, but she was not accepted by his family. This is Arab racism at work. Talk to the KL taxi drivers about these people.

Yet, the Orang Malaya prefers "Khinzir" to the real and original Malay word of "Babi".

I admire the Jews for what they have achieved for themselves after the Holocaust. Have they blown up any German in a restaurant? They march on with their knowledge; it's something we all can learn from when faced with adversity.

Between being practical to the ways of the world which bring success and primitive emotionalism, I know which one I prefer.

I don't like Putrajaya, maybe it reminds me too much of Karachi. What's Mughul domes got to do with Malaya? The Chinese Muslims in China show creativity with the architecture of their mosques, at least they stay true to their own cultural heritage.

I don't want to talk about UMS, SESB, and the Police et al because I am sure Mustakim is better informed than me. Let me say this, the so-called federal setups run by them, are they any better or are they better managed than some of the institutions run by Sabahans? Or, are they just as sloppy or as inefficient?

To me, the biggest trick played by Orang Malaya on the country is the switching of English to Malay in schools.

I accept we have to learn Malay, but, why at the expense of English? Who is suffering now in terms of global competitiveness?

The hypocrisy of the politics of language in schools irks me tremendously, while the Keris waving Minister sends his daughter to study in Australia, the bulk of our people here get their university education in Malay and end up as cashiers in the supermarkets. Or, if they are smart enough, they become drug couriers!

My strange relative said this to me the other day, ” I know what I'll do, I'll vote for Obama. I want to vote for change. I don't know about you".

A Malaysian voting for Obama? Go figure.