[Satu komen menarik mengenai penggunaan bahasa dalam akhbar untuk memesong dan menyeleweng minda pembaca. Saya fikir rencana ini mesti dibaca oleh semua. Bahasa itu dapat membina atau membunuh lebih banyak jiwa..... Teknik membunuh melalui kata ini sudah lama digunakan sehingga bukan sahaja Anwar menjadi mangsa, malah seluruh bangsa Melayu turut tertipu oleh permainan kotor itu. Bukankah Mahathir 'pandai' bermain kata? Siapa yang terbunuh jika tidak yang lemah antara kita? - Editor]

Source: Bunga Raya

'PUTTING ASIDE' NOT 'SETTING ASIDE'

Lest it may be misunderstood, it is to be stated from the outset that this is not to refute what has been written by Mr Iskandar. It is just a point of clarification. I am not sure whether such a clarfication will make any difference.

If one were to read the original text of the joint statement, one will note that the Suqiu Committee has not agreed to 'set aside' the 7 sub-points out of the 83 sub-point appeals.

What has been agreed upon by the Suqiu Committee is that the 7 sub-point appeals are to be 'PUT ASIDE' for the time being in the light of ethnic tensions artificially created by some quarters.

The expression 'PUT ASIDE' has been translated into Bahasa as 'diketepikan' for want of more accurate word, I believe.

It has been agreed that the English version [with the expression 'PUT ASIDE'] is to be treated as the authoritative text.

This had been explained by the Chairman of the Suqiu in the Nanyang Siang Pau yesterday [see Nanyang 6.1.01 at page 2] when commenting on Bernama using the expression 'tarik balik' in its news item.

The English and Malay mass media chose to use the expressions 'set aside' and 'tarik balik' instead of the original expression 'PUT ASIDE' [i.e. to be dealt with at a later date'. Were they intended to create confusion among the readers? It is everbody's guess.

----- Original Message -----
From: Iskandar Dzulkarnain
To: editor@malaysiakini.com
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2001 7:14 AM

Subject: [reformasi-malaysia] Su Qiu's Defeat is a defeat to the Reformasi movement

Su Qiu's Defeat is a defeat to the Reformasi movement

So, I suppose we should consider blackmailing as a legitimate means of bringing about -- or preventing -- political change. Finally, after standing firm for more than four months, from the day our PM, Dr. Mahathir, gave that infamous Merdeka speech, Su Qiu has finally caved in to the demands of a bunch of bigots -- I insist on the term.

Well . is it good news for us, Malays? Many Malays certainly would think so. Didn't those eight Reformasi sites came to the defence of GPMS, when Suhaimi began issuing his threats?

This is sad! Truly sad. It only goes on to prove how primitive our beloved nation still remains as far as political maturity goes. To their credit -- fortunately -- Reformasi leadership rejected those unprincipled "Perpaduan Melayu" talks. But still, I am troubled.

Why should UMNO even think that we would fall for their ploy? Is it because Malays in general still see everything through a racist paradigm, that potentially, they would not mind sacrificing the unity of our nation for some short-sighted notions of Malay unity?

If that wasn't the case, then, my next question: Why did we never see an overwhelming condemnation of UMNO's blatant racist overtures?

Here, we must have one thing very clear in our minds. Protection of our interests is not one and the same as promotion of our unity. Protection of our interests means promotion of our wellbeing -- the wellbeing of all Malay people in Malaysia, rich and poor alike. One the other hand, Malay unity need not promote the wellbeing of all Malays. As matter of fact, Malay unity might as well work against the interests of Malays!

Perhaps there was a time when Malay unity had a role -- when UMNO was formed under the leadership of Onn Jafar. But, he himself, the very founder of UMNO, rejected the concept of Malay unity before long. He knew -- even then -- the fundamental difference between Malay unity and Malay interests.

Let us see our present predicament. Malays clearly still need some form of affirmative action to help them to lead a dignified life. I am confident that we can still make a very persuasive case in any forum, or debate. And one need not be a Malay person to see the logic behind the need for such special measures.

But sadly, that was not how GPMS, and their sympathisers approached the subject. They invented some obtuse, non-existent social contract, which supposedly gave certain special rights to us Malays! Since the day they issued the statement, I have tried very hard to find any such contract -- I found none. It appears that the notion suddenly emerged out of a blue only in late 1980s, after a talk given by one Dato Ibrahim in Singapore.

If anything, the framers of our Constitution, and those who made the important amendments in 1971, wanted to create a united Malaysian people. Our Rukunegara, which paved the way for the formulation of NEP, clearly aims to achieve a national unity and an equitable distribution of wealth. Nowhere does it mentions Malay supremacy.

[see Rukunegara: http://www.penerangan.gov.my/history/rukun11.html]

In any case, let us not delude ourselves here. As Malays, and as Malaysians, we are not just competing with other non-Malay Malaysians, we are competing -- and continue to compete -- with the larger world. That is the fact. We have to compete with MNCs and TNCs that have very, very deep pockets. These are our competitors. We cannot afford to -- and we should not even dream to -- maintain our present preferential policies forever -- if we want to survive, if we at all care about our nation and ourselves.

Viewed in that light, those Indians and Chinese, who also happen to be our neighbours, are our allies -- they are our brothers and sisters in arms, we need their help as much as they need ours. The highwayman technique used by GPMS and UMNO is not only perverse, it is also suicidal.

Therefore, I am utterly saddened by Su Qiu's retraction of their appeals. Those appeals were not simply the appeals of the Chinese-Malaysian community; those were our appeals -- Reformasi appeals. We may not agree with all of them (and I don't with some of them, in certain ways), but Su Qiu has every right -- as every single one of us do -- to appeal; they, too, have every right to question the fairness of the present discriminatory regime, which clearly seemed to have veered totally off course.

We should have welcomed those 83-point appeals with open arms. We should have been glad that a group of concerned Chinese-Malaysian citizens were taking an initiative to change our nation for the better. But, unfortunately, we dithered, and certain quarters within our nation, has opted to pour fear in our hearts in order to shape and mould new ghosts of racial tension, with the hope, I presume, of diverting our attention from their failed policies.

Pray tell, what is there to fear? Gone were the days when the postion of the Malay majority was threatened; now, we are well entrenched. And, what's more, Malay share of the Malaysian population is ever increasing. There is simply no way a minority community could do anything without our approval, and that is the political reality. At this juncture, the most appropriate course is to discard our siege mentality; we should to embrace magnanimity; and we should behave confidently - but alas, our Malay leaders have chosen narrow self-interest and worst, cowardice!

I lament that we didn't do more to support Su Qiu!

IsK dZ.