UMNO Supremacy

by Suharude

On April 1, 1946, the Malayan Union was formed in Malaya by the British Military Administration to give equal rights to all regardless of race would be citizens. However, the Malays protest against the Malayan Union as a threat to the Malays dominance. The protest was due to the reduction of the Malay Sultanate power of ruling replaced by president which is entirely ruled under British Governor and a citizenship to non-Malay immigrants such as Chinese and Indian.

The United Malays National Organization or UMNO was formed on March 1, 1946 by Dato’ Onn Jaafar to oppose Malayan Union formation and then the Malayan Union has been replaced by the Federation of Malaya on February 1, 1948 which restored the positions of the Malays rulers of Malaya. The Federation of Malaya later becomes Federation of Malaysia in 1963 after gained independence from the British on August 31, 1957. Then came the Bumiputra ideas which were given a special right to Malays and aborigines in constitution such as positions in government sector, quotas for the educational institutions with qualify scholarships and business opportunity. This special privilege for Bumiputra is written in Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia.

The Democratic Action Party or DAP was formed on March 18, 1966 and largely dominated by Malaysian Chinese with Lim Kit Siang as a National Organizing Secretary to campaigned against Bumiputra privileges. As the results, DAP becomes major opposition party and strongly against UMNO. DAP had a major success in 1969 General Election and lead to May 13 incidents, a race riots in Kuala Lumpur between Chinese and Malays. According to a book May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969, published on 2007 by Kua Kia Soong, the riot had been planned by the UMNO as a coup d'etat to stay in power and somehow, Dato' Harun Idris, a Menteri Besar Selangor has involved. Excerpts taken from a dispatch by Far Eastern Economic Review correspondent Bob Reece narrating his eyewitness account on May 13, 1969 after a group of young Malays gathered outside the Selangor Menteri Besar Harun Idris’ residence in late afternoon. It’s showed that there was a plan by UMNO youth to assemble at Dato’ Harun Idris’ residence and armed with weapons such as knife and machetes.

Kua Kia Soong is a director of human rights group Suaram. He strongly regard the May 13 Incident as a conspiracy by the “ascendant Malay state capitalist class” in UMNO to overthrow the government. Whether it’s true or not, my point is, UMNO can’t be trusted at all. In 60 years, did UMNO really fight for the Malays? Or they really fight for the Bumiputra? What about the aborigines? According to Federal Constitution of Malaysia, in particular Article 153, all Malays and aborigines considered as Bumiputra. Some of the aborigine’s reserves land rights. In 2002, Malaysian law acknowledged that the aborigines have no rights to their ancestral lands. And why is that? So the state governments can take over the aborigines reserve land for any reason to be used for building roads, dams, golf courses and logging. Who will get all this benefits? If not the UMNO, who else? How about the Malays? UMNO Malays claim themselves as the defender of Malays privileges but in the same time, rob from their own kind in return. The Malays were also being discriminated by UMNO. New Economic Policy or NEP was launch during Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak period from 1970 to 1976. NEP was originally a fair distribution of economics share amongst regardless of race. It’s targeted of poverty eradication and economic restructuring was to allocate only 30% of the economics share to the Bumiputra and the rest of 70% goes to the others. The Bumiputra were given such opportunity as government contracts, business loans and even discounts on housing through these policies. In the same time, it was seen as a threat to the non-Malays which would reduce their share of the economic and academic. However, NEP was only benefiting a large group of UMNO Bumiputra rather than giving economic advantage to any individual Bumiputra. As the result, the government claims that the Bumiputera equity has yet to be achieved.

The NEP policies ended in 1990 without reaching their target and replaced by the National Development Policy or NDB but later on 2005, NEP were reinstated and these has concerned the non-Malays. But still the Bumiputra are left behind and becoming poorer with UMNO Bumiputra getting richer. DAP were strongly against NEP and claim that the NEP has been abused to help the rich Bumiputra especially in UMNO. According to article The NEP has been abused to help the rich written by Richard Teo in Lim Kit Siang’s blog;
NEP in its present form has been abused and lost its initial noble objectives of helping the poor and the needy instead of the rich of one single race. Instead of affirmative action based on poverty it was exclusively based on a policy of helping just one race irrespective of the wealth of that person.
Hence we have a situation where a rich bumiputra is entitled to purchase a high-end property at a discount. What kind of logic is it? If he can afford to buy a high-end property surely he don’t need a discount.
The NEP must embrace the concept that there are poor Malays Indians, Chinese, Ibans and Kadazans etc. If the NEP is to have any meaning it must help those in need irrespective of their race and not because they belong to a select community.

Well, let us forget about this NEP things. It’s clearly discrimination to all races including the Bumiputra. To put an end to prejudice, racial discrimination and religious polarization is through democracy. This is what DAP has fought for so long since 1966. There is no democracy in UMNO and Barisan Nasional. Malays has to wake up and accept the facts that there is no such thing as Bumiputra and so called Malay supremacy which would destroy the nation and humanity.
How much longer they need to realize that they are being marginalized by UMNO policy. How about the non-Bumiputra? How many are the non-Bumiputra is in the public service? How many of them have been given the scholarship they deserved? Anyway, why does opposition party like DAP or even the newcomer, People's Justice Party never succeeded? It simply because of our fellow Malaysian wants it to be stay like that.

Hypocrites.

We are the one who votes for Barisan Nasional and we are the one who also blame the Barisan Nasional for being racist and unfair. Believe it or not, Barisan Nasional will rule our country for another 50 years because the lazy Malays, the greedy Chinese and the stupid Indians will forever voting in the Barisan Nasional government.