February 22, 2017
Malays are a complacent and self-aggrandising People
by Farouk A. Peru
I believe in natural laws which determine the fates of individuals and nations. If we adhere to these laws, our destinies will shine and conversely, we are bound for a Dark Age if we refuse to do so.
One of these laws is that societies will rise if they constantly replenish themselves with fresh blood. This is the natural process of human movement.
Sedentary societies will not enjoy this social rejuvenation and the societies to which they emigrate will not enjoy a cultural replenishment.
The Malays are overwhelming a society of this latter description. After living 20 years in the UK, I do not meet as many Malays who have made a life here for themselves as I have people of other ethnic groups. There is no Malaysian town in London whereas there is a China town and even a Bangladeshi town!
The United States of America was born out of such an emigration. I am not forgetting the cost of human lives involved in that process nor forgiving the lack of moral rectitude which led to millions of native Americans perishing.
Rather, I am focusing on the hardiness of character of those immigrants. They had to endure long voyages and for those who were pushing the boundaries of the frontier, they had to endure austere and often tragic lives.
The Role Model for Malay Women–Malaysia’s First Lady Rosmah Mansor
This is part of the natural law I mentioned above. I believe this is the reason the “civilisational momentum” was built and the proceeding chapters of American history were great. Shows like Little House on the Prairie were based on true narratives of such experiences.
However, “civilizational momentums”, like any physical body, does not last forever. Whilst in physics, momentum is lost when there is resistance, “civilisational momentums” are lost when societies become complacent and self-aggrandising.
In the case of the USA, the Baby Boomer generation was probably the time when they sustained the greatest measure of growth. However, by the time the 80s rolled around, that momentum was long gone.
Like our very own Bumiputera self-entitled generation, they had come to expect the world to lie down for them. When that did not last, naturally there were feelings of resentment and thus overcompensation.
America was a land which came to existence due to the desire for freedom, democracy and a better life. People have been doing that for centuries and the refugees are no different. To see Americans opposing their own President and acknowledging that shows me that all is not yet lost.
By the time 9/11 happened, the confluence of that tragedy with the sluggishness of the American economy resulted in the frustrations of the working class being directed at the Muslim world. I am not playing the victim card here. I do not believe the Muslim world is free from complicity in this matter.
Rights, but what about responsibility, commitment and hard work?
Rather I am pointing to the sheer convenience of otherisation. Muslims generally don’t “look” American nor much follow certain American rites of passage. It was easy to alienate them and so the Islamophobia industry was born.
By the time the Donald emerged on the scene, the conservative American working class were ready to back him up all the way to the White House. He knew just what to say, after all, so why not?
The proposed Muslim ban back in 2015 was vehemently opposed by many sections of the American public be they government officials or civil rights groups. It was so profoundly unAmerican and unconstitutional, they said.
Trump never really backed down from that position but it did not affect his campaign. When you think about it, even the “grab’em by their …” statement, which should in theory, make half of the American population vote against him was not enough!
Americans were ready to return to the hard politics of conservatism. Overt conservatism, not the surreptitious kind peddled by Rodham-Clinton masked as a liberal.
Trump’s first days in office already showed the coming changes or perhaps, some testing of the waters to see what he could get away with. The ban on citizens from the seven “Muslim nations” could be either one, only time will tell.
What astounds me though, is the backlash from the American public themselves. They responded by protesting at the airports where the victims of the ban were held. Lawyers worked pro bono to get the detainees freed. Social media buzzed with support for the detainees.
Perhaps the biggest sign that America would not go down without a fight was the acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, losing her job for refusing to back down. This shows that the original American spirit is still alive.
America was a land which came to existence due to the desire for freedom, democracy and a better life. People have been doing that for centuries and the refugees are no different. To see Americans opposing their own President and acknowledging that shows me that all is not yet lost.
Din Merican: the Malaysian DJ Blogger 
http://www.zaid.my/current/royal-commission-mca-abdul-razak-baginda/
To me, reading writings from Farouk A. Peru suggests all is not yet lost for this generation of Muslims also. May my God blesses Farouk and every Malay who get to read this article.
After all that is said and done, Americans can now sing with true pride the words written in 1814 — “…the land of the free and the home of the brave” — words not easy to live up to.
There is a law of natural evolution/selection, where the strongest and hardiest will survive and reign in the future. Similar forces are at play affecting groups/races in a societal context. If one race refuses to work for a living, but live off the efforts of another race, the former will soon be confined to the dustbins of history. Natural justice perhaps?
Its actually false equivalence – try cutting social security or medicare and see how the Americans will react.
Fact is what you are looking at is over-entitlement – the very core of UMNO ideology. The Malays more so UMNO and PAS are feudal and their over-entitlement is Feudal too..Fact is average Malaysian and not just Malays, feels entitled to subsidies and because the entitlement is feudal, stealing by the higher ups is as wrong as it suppose to be.
True, the ideas of financial entitlement is changing which is why Najib is moving to religo over-entitlement – that is a very different ball of game all together..
I do not agree.
___________________
Why?–Din Merican
South East Asian Muslims generally face less problems in settling in the West and US compared with those from orthodox Muslim nations. This can partly be attributed to their exposure to Multiculturalism . They are resilient and adaptive.
Chinese, Indians and other non-Muslims seem to have no problems living in or migrating to the West. But why the xenophobia against the Muslims alone in many parts of the world particularly in the US and Europe? Did the Muslims bring it upon themselves ?- they should ask themselves.
When in Rome do what Romans do. Try not to do something that is not to the liking of the Romans or do anything that can cause them offence. Displaying piety in the open in the Western world is one such thing. Wearing Burqa or praying by the roadside are acts that unnecessarily give Westeners negative perceptions of Muslims.
Burqua was used to protect oneself against sand storms in the Arab desert world. But why the need to wear them in the West or any other countries where the weather is generally hot and where there are no stand storms? Women wearing it is said to be a religious requirement that protects the sanctity of woman. But is this not a discrimination that denies Muslim women the freedom and equal rights that men enjoy?
Why should one choose to pray by the roadside knowing that others do not see it favourably? One can always pray at mosques, homes and find places to pray in public and private buildings. I have heard it said that – in worst situation – a Muslim can eat pork if no other food is available. So it is a question of context and need. If one is an office clerk, he can unplug himself of all gadgets, close eyes, concentrate, seek blessings and forgiveness of Allah and pray, sitting still on office chair. No, mat, no songkok required, given the circumstances. It boils down to orthodoxy versus practical compliance, old world against new.
“I have heard it said that – in worst situation – a Muslim can eat pork if no other food is available.”
Many of my customers buying baked char siu bao (roast pork buns) from my pastries shop are of Pakistani, Indian, and Mideastern origins. I wonder if there were any Muslim among them. And I see many customers of Indian origin eating hamburgers in McDonald’s next door to my shop during lunch hours. I wonder if there were any Hindu among them.
I’ve never seen any one praying by the streets. Vast majority of the Muslim women don’t wear the traditional outfits, not even the headscarf. A few who do, yes, sometimes some people give them a funny look, but I’ve never experienced anyone says anything offensive to them.
I had some female Muslim scientists working for me and none had ever come in to work in their Muslim outfits. But then, this is a highly western educated group. All with PhD degrees.
And this is America. Don’t know about Europe.
Freedom, desire and democracy all at the terminal expense of others, their native
(Indians, Aborigines Indigenous,…) land ?
Following up on Hawking Eye’s comment:
We see male tourists in Malaysia from the Middle East
clad comfortably in sandals and T-shirts while their female companions
are clad in black from head to toe. In our hot and humid tropical climate.
Does this make sense ? How to make progress in the 21st century with this kind of
mentality ? Religion is a human creation but some of us use it to enslave themselves or to keep other social sub-groups in subordination.
Indonesia 1 Malaysia (1Malaysia) 0 ??
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2017/02/22/where-crony-capitalism-rose-and-prosperity-fell-and-vice-versa/#more-36643
Quote:- “…acts that unnecessarily give Westerners negative perceptions of Muslims”
These “acts” fall into the same category of young children doing things that irritate their parents. It is subconscious rebellion against what Muslims, especially those from war torn Middle East, see as oppression, suppression by Westerners. It is a way of saying we are a great people, we have pride, we have self-worth, we even have an Almighty God, mightier than all those other false gods put together.
In other words, suffering from a complex of their own making. Like some people who are easily “insulted”
I wonder what would happen if Christians were to conduct midday prayers in the streets of downtown, say, Baghdad or Kabul.
// I wonder what would happen if Christians were to conduct midday prayers in the streets of downtown, say, Baghdad or Kabul.
We Christians fought wars among ourselves for that.
John Calvin led a reformation to create a Christian polity in Geneva, that has the flavor you have mentioned. But, many Christians disagreed with him. I am one of those who would disagree with him. It would be a joyless Christian kingdom.
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/john-calvin-leads-geneva-reform-11629963.html
I am thankful for Calvin’s work on predestination. But, I am against building a community like what you have mentioned.
This is what Jesus said.
// http://biblehub.com/matthew/6-6.htm
// But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Hawking Eye
Your hypocrisy is showing right through.If you really believe in the saying that when you are in Rome do as the Romans do then you should criticised all the Non Muslims for behaving contrary to what the majority Muslims here do.I dont think the Indians in Malaysia should be carrying the kavadis and celebrating the Thaipusum causing traffic jams if we Malaysians believe that the minority must submit to the will of the majority.Similarly the Chinesr amoys shouldnt be parading in shorts when the majority are trying to cover themselves.
The westerners believe in freedom of choice,public nudity,same sex marriage and all other kind of aberrant behaviours but look with disgust when somebody is trying to cover herself or want to offer a prayer to God.Worse of all a reasonable person like you cannot see the irony of this bigotry and instead wants to put the blame on the victims instead.For your information most of these ladies make the conscious decisions to cover themselves especially in the West.
@Abdul Jalil:
//When you are in Rome do as the Romans
// if we Malaysians believe that the minority must submit to the will of the majority.
America is founded on the idea of ‘land of the free’ means that the minority need not fear the tyranny of the majority.
As such, many are fighting very hard so that Muslim Americans have the right to build mosque and Islamic universities. It is no surprise that it is in a liberal, and educated city like Berkeley, CA that the first Islamic University gets to be established.
A liberal West would cherish and celebrate Thaipusam. Roads are built for people to celebrate as much as they are built for people to drive their cars on to get to where they want to go. The Romans built road to reach Rome.
@Abdul Jalil, perhaps you have a different vision of Malaysia. Build it, as you like. Hopefully, you would still like what you have built beyond current state of Layu-layu.
Malays & the Nusantara region proud themselves to be the most open & hospitable to outsiders that ply the Straits of Melaka & Laut Champa since eternity. The Viet & Rohingya boat people are recent memories. No Asian country is comparable to the diversity that exist in the Malay world. US of A & US of M share many similarities. Identical flag, both are land of opportunity, both are multicultural & multiethnic, Malay / White supremacies, Christianity / Islam & many more. Farouk & his ilk of liberal left are hardcore racist, discriminating the Malays to the tune of ABU. No, the Malays live not on others, but instead, they provide. Patiently facing hatred from the racist.
@Manjoi,
// No Asian country is comparable to the diversity that exist in the Malay world. Patiently facing hatred from the racist.
Amen to the above. Neither India nor China could compare to what Malaysia has to deal with. When the land of my great-grandfathers (China for me) fell part, I am grateful that my parents have Malaysia. But, as I shared in many of my response here in Dato Din’s blog, I went through much angst digesting what took place in a post-1969 Tanah Melayu. Today, I am no longer a Malaysian, but an American. I hear you on the virtue of many Malays patiently facing hatred from the racist.
Exactly, we need to continue doing that. Farouk is doing exactly that, for the benefit of the Malays, not for the racist China. No pun intended for the later. Forgive their ignorance, and hopefully we could reflect how racists we all are.
I welcome the riposte from you Inche Jalil.
Unfortunately we are looking at things at different wave lengths.
(For people new to Rome) To do in Rome what Romans do is only an expression to convey the need to adapt and adjust oneself, as far as possible, according to the norms prevalent.
Your contention seems to be that if Westerners believe in freedom of choice and accept “public nudity,same sex marriage and all other kind of aberrant behaviours” then they should give the same freedom for Muslim women, say for example, to wear Burqa (in westerners eyes aberrant). But they are nationals and masters of their own country and destiny and they can choose what they wish to. But they won’t in Saudi Arabia, where they will be whipped, limb-chopped or even put to death for their “aberrant behaviour”. Outsider Muslims domiciled, working or studying there (in the West) cannot demand it as their right to wear Burqa even if they were to acquire citizenshp subsequently. There are many issues surrounding the wearing of Burqa. Pardon me. Little Children may get frightened and cling to mothers on seeing a Burqa clad lady in all black. I have seen one such incident myself. Of course there can be other children starring at her with wonderment. Burqa conceals identity. If a few don this robe and rob a bank at gun point even a CCTV footage will be of no use. Given today’s terrorist threats it will get much harder for security officials to differentiate the real from the fake.
You also seem to equate Rome with Malaya (excised from Malaysia for clarity) in terms of single race majority. For Rome (majority) it is perpetual – then and now. But for Malaya it was not. According to Malayan census in 1954 or 55, the non-Malays outnumbered the Malays. It was some 52 and 48% respectively. The Muslims caught up and advanced to today’s level on two factors – more pendatangs mainly from Indonesia and higher birth rates among the Malays.
The Romans can dictate and demand but the Malays technically cannot. The Bitish gave independence on the understanding all – the Malays, Chinese, Indians and others will have equal rights and this was accepted by Tunku-led UMNO and the Malay Rulers. It was on this understanding that the Straits Settlements was dismantled and whilst the British kept Singapore as a colony, Penang and Malacca reverted back to Malaya. The non-Malays were to practise their faiths along with their language, rituals and culture. This was part of the deal then. To say now that Indians cannot carry kavadis and the Chinese cannot burn incense papers because Islam does not condone or encourage it is bunkum because it did allow them then and all Malays and Rulers lived with it. Why change the goal post now?
I dont you understand what I am saying.The west is telling the world how to live the good life.The good life is to have individual freedom.So if you want to expose yourself feel free to do and if you want to marry same sex partner go ahead we will support you.Suddenly a Muslim come along and she wants to cover herself and they suddenly forget about their preaching about individual freedom of choice and become extremely obnoxious by taunting or physically abusing the lady concern.Instead of defending the lady’s right to be different as per the individual freedom here you are saying is the lady’s fault for trying to be different from the norm and you dont see the irony.Its just like America preaching to the world that you must practice democracy and when one actually did have a democratic election and chose somebody who was diasagreeable to the Americans,they said we rejected your choice .
The Non Muslims are not a homogenous grouping and Hindus formed only 8% of the Peninsular Malaysia population while the Muslims inclusive of migrants formed 68% of its population.If you were toaccept the concept of minorities must submit to the will of the majority then the majority have the right to limit overt display of the minority’s religous right like carrying the kavadis on the road.I am to calling for the ban on celebrating Thaipusum but merely pointing out the fallacy of your kind of thoughts.
If you havent notice only a very small number of Muslims wear burqas and I personally dont think it is an Islamic requirement but more of one personal choice or cultural trait.By the way for your information a Muslim can pray while walking if he thinks that he is in a hostile environment.
You are wrong to assume that the Indonesians were foreigners to Malaya as they are part and parcel of the wider regional grouping called Malay Archipelago.The Indonesians have been coming and going for thousand of years and quite a number of Malay Sultanates such as Johore,Selangor;Negeri Sembilan Perak were of Indonesian origins.Indeed before Independence alot of Indonesians believed that both Malaya and East Malaysia belong to them.
@Hawking Eye
Yes, indeed. Basically what the likes of Abdul Jalil is espousing is that Might Is Right. That is also why I was telling everyone that Malaysians are engaging in a war of attrition among ourselves. But playing a game of might is right by dumbing down oneselves along the way, in this increasingly competitive and connected world, is really asking for it.
If we persists on selfish idealogies, Malaysia will cease to have any say on determining our own future. I don’t think we have very long to wait for such a day.
Inche Jalil, you say: “if you want to expose yourself feel free to do and if you want to marry same sex partner go ahead we will support you”. Who are “we” supposed to be – your types or all Muslims? Does it not sound hypocritical?
If a good number of Muslim ladies want to wear Burqa in their own Islamic countries, it is a differfent matter. For Muslims, loose dressing is aberrant and for Westerners full covering dressing like Burqa is aberrant. And it is aberrant when you wear it in their countries as pentatangs. When 99 out of every 100 don’t wear it and only 1 wear it there, again it is aberrant in terms of figures.
Even in Malaya and Singapore nobody wore it in the early 1960’s and before that. If at all a handful of them did, I never saw any. You yourself had said that it is not a religious requirement. It was with the spread of Wahabi Islam from Saudi Arabia to here in the 1970’s that saw Burqa wearing taking root.
Malay Archipelago with Indonesia as fountain head was a concept Sukarno also advocated thru his “Nusantara” (the Malay world) idea. But the Dutch and British came in and gave it a burrial. Sukarno again tried it during the “Konfrontasi” period (1963-66). If not for the British, he would have annexed Malaysia to make a greater Indonesia, partly realising the making of Malay Archipelago. But it never came to that.
To other pentatangs, Indonesian immigrants are no different. They are also equally pendatangs.