Dear Adam and all,
Found the letter. Attached for reference.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Serena
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Similarities between 'new Americans' and bumiputera
Petrof
4:09pm Thu Jan 9th, 2003
Delimma (No apologies for Malaysian way) is a typical bumiputera
filled with smug complacency and adept at trotting out trite justifications
for the pernicious politics of privilege that pervade Malaysia.
To appreciate what the Malays have done to Malaysia, we must
imagine that the Founding Fathers of America followed Malaysia's blueprint
in 1776 when the American Declaration of Independence was made.
a.. The Bostonian Americans, as the first migrant community to
arrive in America, would take up a position as our Malays have done. Later
all American whites would be allowed to occupy the exalted position as White
Princes of the Soil or Whiteputeras. Such a racist connotation would
naturally be politically unacceptable. So the Bostonian Whites toyed with
the concept of "First Americans". That also ran into flak since, obviously,
the Red Indians came first. If only Umno had been around in 1776 to help
them out then.
Finally they hit on the term "New American".
Anyway, the Bostonians would go on to form a rightist, primarily
White party, the Republican Party, which currently holds power. Of course, a
few token blacks would be allowed to become members, such as General Colin
Powell and Dr Condoleeza Rice, the current secretary of state and national
security advisor. Hmm, can you see a Chinese or Indian Malaysian general
becoming chief of the armed forces, over here?
a.. The Red Indians would then be our Orang Asli. Curiously, the
US historically granted native land rights to the Red Indians, some of whom
have become wealthy due to oil/mineral rights and the opening of casinos on
their native lands. In contrast, our Orang Asli have been granted only some
hunting and fishing rights, and I am told by them that the Malay
administration refuses to give them allowances and medical benefits unless
they become Muslims.
a.. The non-white immigrants and former slaves would assume the
position of our Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indians and Others.Yes, black
slavery was practised in the US till the Civil War but thereafter, the full
rights granted under the US Constitution were available to all US citizens.
True, until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, some Southern
states enacted racist laws but landmark Supreme Court decisions, decisively
ended segregationist policies through enforced busing, affirmative action
policies, etc.
In contrast, our majority Malays have perpetuated Special Rights
for themselves till Kingdom come, not for the many poor Malaysian Indians
who were dispossessed of their allotted estate housing and menial plantation
jobs for almost a hundred years when plantations were sold off for housing
estates for big profits, or for the many poor urban and rural Chinese eking
a living.
It is an obscenity to see well-fed Malays driving around in
Mercedes Benzes and drawing fat salaries, yet availing themselves of "7.5
percent bumiputera discount" for posh houses, plentiful government
scholarship forms to go overseas, entitlement to bumiputera unit trusts
paying 10 to 15 percent returns when everyone else is in recession or going
broke (the extra cash due perhaps to mandatory share allotments from new
listings) while the Chinese and Indian Malaysians keep quiet because they
know they do not count.
a.. Well, of course, the New Americans would not be able to
maintain law and order in America, without lots of coercion. First, you must
imagine that the Ku Klux Klan became legitimised. They turned into the Young
Republicans, always striking out, but covertly, for the perpetuation of
white supremacy. Just as Umno Youth's raison de etre is to perpetuate Malay
hegemony and privileges.
a.. The Whiteputera's established a New American College in
1778. Till today, this college has produced all American presidents who have
been exclusively white males, Praise the Lord! The secret rule No 52 of the
college is that only Whiteputeras can be admitted.
a.. The Whiteputeras also introduced Article XVIII of the
Constitution of 1776 , i.e. that "White battalions shall be continuously
raised from among the scions of whites exclusively, to exceed by 50 percent
any other military forces raised to defend the American people". This
parallels the perpetuation of Malay Regiments here.
a.. The Law and Order Act was also enacted in 1798, to enable
the US government to detain any citizen indefinitely, without trial, and
harass and put the fear of a righteous God into any possible dissent with
the wonderful and blessed peace and harmony in the US of A.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Adam Peake" <ajp@glocom.ac.jp>
To: <communication@wsisasia.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2003 12:59 PM
Subject: [communication 398] Malaysiakini - reader's letter
> Does anyone have a text of the letter that caused the raid, seizure,
> and eviction order?
>
> I'm a little hesitant about the following, as my memory is terrible
> and I have not notes... But, if I remember correctly, there was a
> presentation from Arfa about Malaysiakini at the Forum
> Asia/WACC/Bread For All workshop in Bangkok last November. In a reply
> to a question about how an independent online press can survive in
> what was essentially repressive environment, I think the reply was
> something like: with honesty, accuracy and editorial integrity.
>
> I'd like to know if the recent situation was caused by a lapse of
> editorial judgement (publishing a letter that was, by any normal,
> international journalistic standards, over the top/libelous), or
> massive overreaction by the Malaysian govt. If the former, that does
> not make the govt's repression an appropriate response, far from it,
> and our letter of protest is fine. If the latter, then I think we
> should be looking to some wider protest, trying to involve
> international advocacy groups, taking it to WSIS and more.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Adam
> --
>