"Pendatang" or Citizen !?

The hottest debated current issue is about a remark made by one of the political party leader in Penang, Mr. A. The issue is about the origin of Malaysian Chinese (a term I would replace with "Chinese Malaysian") and also the "pendatang" claim.

I'm really disappointed with the statement made by this "respected" leader and also the consequence actions made by him after being criticized for this remark. What makes me even more disappointed is his refusal to apology. The reason he gave was that the statement was made when he talked about the pre-independence period, the British Colonization Period. What he was referring at that point of time was that the Chinese were brought by British into Malaya Land and that the unequal treatment provided by the British towards the Chinese widen the gap between the Chinese and Bumiputeras. In the end of the day, the Chinese was controlling the huge piece of economic cake in the country and that the Chinese are "unwilling" to share with the Bumiputeras. Because of this refusal of Chinese, the 513 Incident occurred. And the only solution for the problem is the Affirmative Action, or better known as New Economic Policy (NEP).

For me, this is even more nonsense. I suppose that this leader should have aware that the current situation is that the Citizen Of Malaysia is no longer wanting for NEP and any other race-based policy. What the people want now is equal share of social-economic welfare, regardless of ethnicity, religion, and class. The people has shown their choice in the 308 General Election. If this leader is really aware of this, I think it was a BIG mistake for him to make such a claim to woo voters during the Permatang Pauh By-Election. Making such claims and statements will only intensify the difference and misunderstanding between the people and the Coalition and also, most importantly, the people of these two ethinicities.

Another reason of arguing to his point is that the "willingness" of Chinese to share the economic pie equally with the Bumiputeras. Let me point out this point, that is how many out of the top-ten Public-Listed Company in the BSKL is owned by the Chinese? Less than 5!! And, how can he made such a claim that the Chinese are not willing to share and cooperate? If the Chinese are really unwilling to share, would the Chinese cooperate with the NEP for more than 30years? The opportunity given to the Bumiputera during the implementation of NEP for the pass 30years had even surpassed the opportunity given to the Chinse during the pre-Indenpendece period. Is it still not enough? The problem is not that the Chinese are not willing to share, but the implementation of the policy was failed considerably due to the management and implement of policies. As I had said in my earlier post, we are now the 3rd, 4th or even 5th generation since our forefathers migrated to Malaysia. We share the country and love the country as much as any other citizen of Malaysia do.

The only place I would call home is Malaysia and not China!
Therefore, I hope that this leader would follow the example of our Deputy Prime Minister to apologize to the people who felt hurt by the claim. It might not only be referring to single ethnicity, but also to other minority ethnicies. Hope that Mr. A would really make the wise move and may God bless him.