The ‘social contract’ — by Concerned Scholars!
Read more: True Intent Of Constitution Reached For Merdeka'57
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Sabah and Sarawak colonies of Malaya!
Read more: Growing Momentum For Secession In Sabah And Sarawak
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Orang Asal (Original People) stand Defined as 'Native' even if not Defined in law, and there are also non-Orang Asal who may be 'Native' in law . . .
Picture Credit: Daniel Fam
Orang Asal (Original People) stand Defined as 'Native' even if not Defined in law, and there are also non-Orang Asal who may be 'Native' in law . . .
Commentary And Analysis . . .
The Orang Asal (original people), as demanded by 75 NGO in Memorandum (see external link below) for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, cannot be declared as "Momogun" or "Native" or any related term.
There are non-Orang Asal, if declared by the High Court, who may be "Native" in law. These include many in the Indian diaspora and Chinese diaspora, in Malaysia, listed as automatic citizens under Article 14 in the Federal Constitution. Many Malay speakers in Malaya also stand defined under Article 14.
In any case, there's no reason for declaring the Orang Asal and/or the Orang Asli as "Native". They stand Defined as "Native" even if not Defined in law. Also, if Native enters the Constitution, it risks challenges, especially by the non-Orang Asal who stand defined outside law as "Native".
The Constitution, Parliament, and the court of law -- colour blind institutions -- cannot get into "divisive" elements like "Native", colour, looks, "race", "form of identity", religion, theology, DNA and geographical origin, among others.
In law, Article 8 in Malaysia, there can be no discrimination.
Federal Constitution . . .
The rule of law, the basis of the Constitution, isn't imposed from outside. It arises from within the Constitution, from the ultimate political documents, which sets forth the governing institutions of state. The ultimate political documents until recently were the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1948 and the Federation of Malaya Independence Act 1957.
Malaya is Federation under Article 160(2). Malaysia, under the same Article and MA'63, isn't the Federation enshrined in the 1948 Agreement, and reinforced by the 1957 Act.
The Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA'63) was inserted recently in the Federal Constitution -- not Malaysia Constitution -- by Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaffar when he was de facto Law Minister. Wan Junaidi became Sarawak Governor after brief stint as Senate President.
MA'63 envisages the Equal Partnership of North Borneo (greater Sabah), Sarawak, Brunei, and Malaya (with Singapore merged after Yes/No Vote in 1962). Singapore left on 9 August 1965, based on Singapore Separation Act 1965 by Malaysia Parliament, after being denied access on the Malaysian Common Market.
Brunei stayed out at the 11th hour on 16 September 1963 when issues arose on oil and gas rights and the position of the Brunei Sultan in the pre-meeting Council and the Conference of Rulers.
The Malaysia Parliament, based on the Federal government's non-compliance on MA'63, can pass the Sabah Separation Act and the Sarawak Separation Act. This can be advised by the UNSC and UNGA based on Advisory Opinion of the ICJ and ICC.
Although the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA'63) was inserted in the Federal Constitution recently, the High Court may still discover that it was not valid on 16 September 1963, under international law.
Already, Sabah and Sarawak have been internally colonised since 16 September 1963. Both Territories merit compensation and also the right of self-determination under international law.
The onus, whether MA'63 was valid or otherwise, still lies on Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
The Federal government can still comply fully with MA'63. Sabah and Sarawak can accept full compliance.
Having said that, internal colonisation of the former British Borneo Territories must end.
Also, proxy government imposed on Sabah and Sarawak since 1994 and 1966 must be ended.
In fact, the people of Sarawak lost sovereignty in 1966.
The people of Sabah, as evident from the 2013 RCI (Royal Commission of Inquiry) Report on Projek IC Mahathir, lost sovereignty in 1990.
DNA Narrative . . .
We resume the Narrative on DNA.
DNA remains the warehouse for genes i.e. the instructional manual for making the physical body based on energy, intelligence and luck. All human beings -- homo sapiens -- have the same DNA protected on procreation with other species by genetic evolution spanning millions of years. Homo sapiens remains the only "race" among human beings. They have almost the same DNA as pigs and cucumber, for example. The difference may be less than one per cent.
Orang Asal, for those unfamiliar, are about ancestral and historical property rights in the form of NCR (native customary rights) land under Adat -- under customary practices having force of law -- and under Article 13 (property rights), Article 5 (right to life) and Article 8 (no discrimination).
Adat is the 1st law in international law.
Orang Asal were the first settlers, working the land, in the emptiness and vastness of geographical expanse bound by water, jungle and mountain. The acquistion of NCR land, heritage, was by the right of first settlement.
"Malay" in the Constitution, under Article 160 (2) as "form of identity" for pre-Merdeka Singapore and Malaya, remains abberation in law. It was rendered redundant in 1972 when the 15 year sunset clause, propping up Article 153, expired. The facilitating clauses for Article 153 have also been rendered redundant. These include Article 3 (Islam), Article 152 (national language), Order 92, Rule 1, Rules of the High Court 2012 (national language), NEP and quota system.
Article 4, the pre-meeting Council and the Conference of Rulers keep alive the redundant Article 153 and related facilitating clauses, all rendered equally redundant.
Linguistic Groups . . .
JPN (Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara or National Registration Dept), charged under the National Registration Act 1959/1963, no longer uses Lain Lain (Others). JPN uses linguistic groups as "form of identity" in the identity card i.e. MyKad.
Momogun (i.e. People implying Orang Asal), Pasok (non-Orang Asal) and PasokMomogun (Non-Orang Asal living in the land of the Momogun i.e. Orang Asal) are not about language. The Momogun term for example, highly misleading, remains form of euphemism for tribalism and feudalism under the guise of democracy.
Democracy isn't about sleeping between elections.
Democracy only works if the people participate by forming movements on matters of public concern and matters of public interest.
The people should descend on the streets if the government closes the door for dialogue and/or the court denies hearing.
Political parties are for the leaders and small group of party workers and supporters. The people should avoid political parties and political personality cults like the plague. Political personalities are tribal and feudal chiefs. Some examples are Modi, Putin, Xijinping and Trump. These four personalities are literally worshipped by millions of voters as demi-Gods.
The people should focus on candidates, including Independents, and the issues they raise and the pledges and promises made.
They should never place all votes under one political platform. The approach, tried since 1957 until 2018, only benefitted small group in power. They amassed impossible wealth through inflated government contracts. These contracts drained the public treasury, at the expense of the people, and that saw exponential increase in the national debt burden.
It's the Church which keeps local languages and dialects alive. The Church in Malaysia also conducts mass in English and Latin, and the languages and dialects used by foreign workers in the country. Ironically, except in the deep hinterland, the Orang Asal in North Borneo habitually speak Bahasa Sabah, the local variation of Bahasa Melayu as spoken in Johor, and two islands in Indonesia viz. Rhio and Lingga.
Dusun . . .
When I wanted PasokMomogun listed in the MyKad, not so long ago, JPN said that it wasn't listed and cannot be listed. I was advised that Dusun, for example, would be acceptable as "form of identity" based on language. I declined. I don't speak Dusun.
I habitually speak English. So, in taking cue from former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, I will be filing at JPN HQ for listing as English. There's no English DNA, for example. British remains nationality. Indian isn't language but nationality. I am Malaysian.
Interestingly, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) listed me as Malayalee (people of the hills/mountains) although I speak only few words of Malayalam (hilly/mountainous world).
I informed them that Malayalam should be listed if I habitually spoke the language, not Malayalee. Malayalam should be listed just as Tamil, Punjabi etc has been listed by IIUM, I argued.
Tamil, Punjabi, and others are listed as language by IIUM and not as term for the speakers. Of course, Tamil speaker can be considered Tamil, Punjabi speaker as Punjabi etc.
Another odd listing by IIUM was "Sikh but not Punjabi".
Sikh is religion. Punjabi is language. Sikh in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and elsewhere habitually speak Punjabi.
Punjabi "speakers" speak Hindi if they are Hindu.
Rishi Sunak speaks neither Punjabi nor Hindi. He said on St George's Day this year that he was "proud English". He has told the media that he was proud of Hindu heritage and Indian roots.
Sunak blames society for his English form of identity. His mother, taking the cue from society, made sure that he was "accepted by society". That means habitually speaking English.
Indian languages . . .
In West Punjab, Pakistan, the Muslim speak Urdu which remains Hindi by form of variation.
Languages in the south also include Dravidian loan words. Brahui in Pakistan and Medes in Iran are more than half Dravidian.
Negrito in India was spoken mostly in the mountains of Kerala in southwest India. Negrito was also spoken in the mountains of Malaya. They came 40K years ago from Kerala. Negrito, the first people in India, entered the subcontinent 70K years ago. They came from east Africa by hugging the African, Arabian, Persian and Indian coasts. The Negrito are still there in the mountains of Kerala and Malaya.
Tibetan-related languages are spoken by 50m "Chinese looking" people in Ladakh and eight states in northeast India.
The people in south China came originally from Afghanistan as Dravidian speakers, and later from south India, also as Dravidian speakers. In south China, where's there's less direct sunlight, the number of pigment cells decreased.
Almost all the languages in India, including those in the south, originate from Sanskrit which was developed by Albino Dravidian speakers in mountain valleys in the north.
People here still have blue, grey, green eyes, blonde hair, and fewer pigment cells.
There are no genes for blue, grey and green eyes and blonde hair. Pigment cells are immune system reaction when sunlight falls on the skin. Pigment cells unleash melanin which protect the eyes, hair and skin from burning up in the sun.
Blue, grey and green eyes, and blonde hair were exposed when the brown genes disappeared. Blue, grey and green eyes are not rare in the rest of India including in the south and east where people, generally, have more pigment cells.
Buddha, it's little known, had blue eyes, goldish hue skin, and hair worn in small curls.
Joe Fernandez, Editor in Chief CPI website, Council Member of the newly-revived Center for Policy Initiatives (CPI) as Borneo-centric Think Tank.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed by the author/contributor do not necessarily represent those of the Center for Policy Initiatives (CPI).
#Dravidian #albino #sanskrit #Chinese #OrangAsal #Native #Negrito #buddha #DNA #genes #procreation #eyes #hair #skin #English
External Related Links . . .
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/avcr5teh5iab86e5dw1tx/YANG-AMAT-BERHORMAT-DATO-SERI-ANWAR-IBRAHIM.pdf?rlkey=tnlqtudkc0qxtaicp3qorkbcz&dl=0
https://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news/130533/preference-for-using-indigenous-instead-of-native-/
https://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news/239326/peranakan-chinese-as-a-race-option-could-be-added-to-malaysian-birth-certs-ics-as-deputy-unity-minister-says-putrajaya-asked-to-recognise-them/
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A Malay Child of Malaysia’s 'Merdeka': A Lamentation!
Picture Credit: Azly Rahman AI-Creations
A Malay Child of Malaysia’s 'Merdeka': A Lamentation!
OPINION . . .
Malaysia is celebrating her birthday, perhaps undeserving of pomp and pageantry. This is my view of what continues to ail this beautiful country ruined by leaders who care not about fostering national unity.
As a child born into a Malay family a few years after the shouts of Merdeka” filled the nation’s stadium, and as a child privileged to be given the opportunities accorded to “bumiputera" (born of the soil), I have statement of hope to convey to the nation of Malaysia where I spent considerable time growing up.
I think of those who have brought me to where I now am. A boy, growing up in Malay village in poor family but blessed with lots of pride and dignity, eager to explore the world and the world explore me. I had these questions which I continue to reflect upon, concerning human freedom. Of multiculturalism and the idea that all lives matter– for what is important is not one’s skin colour but the content of the character.
As an adult growing, learning multiple ways of knowing about the world through people of multiple cultures, I often ask the question of what will happen to the children and grandchildren of Mr. Wong Seng Kwong, my Jawi teacher in Johor Bahru, Auntie Ah Lan the lady who taught my mother how to sew clothes for a living, Dr Das who treated my childhood illness and taught me how to be “patient” about wanting to make changes in the world, Mr. P. V. Kulasingam, my fearful-looking headmaster, Miss Chan, my favourite maths teacher, who suddenly became angry at me the day after the May 13,1969 riots, Mr. Peter Ng, Miss Christine Yap and Mr. Stephen Ambrose, some of my English teachers who taught me to love the language when I was struggling with other subjects, and countless other “non-Malay non-bumi.”
Indebted . . .
I have become indebted — to those who have contributed to the subjectivity” of what I am as “cultural being living in an ever changing and evolving world of shifting cultural construct.”
In short, I ask the question – what has this nation done to the children and grandchildren of these people through the policies we create to alienate each other? Why has this country called Malaysia continue to allow leaders to rule by the iron hand of "racism" and religious bigotry?
New Bumiputera . . .
Questions, as educator, are more important than answers:
After this Independence Day/Merdeka celebrations, will we all be called the “new bumiputera”?
Will the false dichotomy of “Malay” versus “non-Malay” and “bumiputera” versus “non-bumiputera” be abolished?
Will we come together as “true blue Malaysian” who will progress through the guiding national development philosophy crafted by the principles of scientific socialism, multiculturalism, affirmative action and meritocratic principles in a balance, and the respect, cultivation, and preservation of indigenous cultures that sustain the dignity of each "race"?
Will more financial aid be given to the deserving students of all "races"?
Will more scholarships be given to “non-Malay” or “non-bumiputera” so that they too will enjoy the fruits of the labour of the parents and grandparents who toiled for this nation?
Will more deserving “non-Malay” be given the much needed aid to study abroad and to come home and serve, so that they will take pride in building the nation that has been kind to them?
Will this new preferential treatment cure the ill-feeling and animosity over the awarding of resources amongst the different "races"?
Will the children and grandchildren of the great Malaysian – Soh Chin Aun, V Arumugam, Santokh Singh, (the grand-daddies of the Beckhams and Messis and Ronaldos of the Malaysian cultural iconoclasm) and Andre Goh, M. Jegathesan, be given scholarships they deserve?
Will preferential treatment be given to those born after Aug 31, 1957, to their children and grandchildren as well?
It will be a shame to the hard work of the “founding fathers” of Merdeka if we do not work towards providing equality, equity, and equal opportunity to the children of all "races". It would kill the spirit of Merdeka. 0ur Merdeka gone astray?
Gone Astray . . .
This Merdeka, we have gone astray.
"Race" politics has reached its boiling point.
It is predictable as a consequence of the outgrowth of politics in a pluralistic nation.
Scholars who write about the difference between nationalism and socialism have predicted the bankruptcy of the former, in an age of globalisation and mass consumption – in an age wherein blind nationalism has become a blinder on the politics of plunder.
This Merdeka, let us extend special rights to all who deserve to live a life of dignity, based on the principles of the universal declaration of human rights. In a nation wherein the three major "races" help build the nation, the nation must now belong to the children of all these "races".
It is the logic of the brighter side of Social Darwinism – that all must be made fit to survive, not through natural selection, but through an inclusive philosophy of developmentalism. It is an antidote to "racial" discrimination, based on a sound philosophy of peaceful evolution.
We cannot continue to alienate each other through arguments on a ”social contract” that is alien from what Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote about some 300 years ago – a philosophy that inspired the founding of America, a nation of immigrants constantly struggling (albeit imperfectly) to meet the standard requirements of equality, equity, and equal opportunity, especially in education.
Better Way . . .
How do we come together as Malaysians, as neo-bumiputera free from false political-economic and ideological dichotomies of Malay versus non-Malay, “bumi” versus “non-bumi”, and craft better way of looking at our political, economic, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual destiny – so that we may continue to survive as a specie of Malaysian the next 50 years?
As Malay and “bumiputera”, I want to see the false dichotomies destroyed and new sense of social order emerging, based on a more just form of linguistic play, designed as a new Merdeka game plan.
Think Malaysian – we do not have anything to lose except our mental chains. There is still a reason to celebrate. Only if we dismantle a system that continues to divide and rule, in which there are practices that alienate as the politics of religion and "race", continue to dominate.
Dr Azly Rahman, US-based educationist and author of ten books, has joined the newly-revived CPI (Center for Policy Initiatives) as Council Member.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed by the author/contributor do not necessarily represent those of the Center for Policy Initiatives (CPI).
This Article appeared on Sunday 4, August 2024 here . . .
https://newswav.com/article/a-malay-child-of-malaysia-s-merdeka-a-lamentation-A2408_R35RqK
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Yes, that Greek philosopher who had to drink the hemlock as punishment for making the youth of Athens think. Because teaching thinking is a subversive act, even in Malaysia!
Read more: Malaysia Needs Socrates As Education Minister
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