the indigenous people of malaysia

UPDATED:  read a good explanation of ‘ketuanan melayu’ from our opposition leader, wan azizah, to counter against shahrir samad’s defence of ‘ketuanan melayu’ at sun2surf.

ORIGINAL POST

who are the indigenous people of malaysia?

any school kids would tell you it is the ORANG ASLI.

do a google search for ‘indigenous people in malaysia’ and you’ll get results of orang asli.

we all know it had been like this all along – the truly indigenous (or shall i say the real ‘son of the soil’ – i.e. bumiputera in malay) people are the orang asli.

however, all of a sudden, yesterday, this man came forward to tell us that the indigenous people are the malays!!

KUALA LUMPUR: The definition of ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) is not about the Malays being in a position to dominate, rule over and force their power upon other races, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

He said Malay supremacy meant that the Malays, as the indigenous people in Malaysia, needed to strengthen themselves to ensure they were successful and developed.

yeah, believe it or not, this man is none other than our PM!!

he was explaining the meaning of ‘ketuanan melayu‘. he continued:

“If they are not successful and developed, then they are not tuan (masters), therefore they will be coolies. I am sure we do not want to become coolies who do not play any role in development because we are weak and not able.

if that’s the case, following his logic, that means it also applies to the chinese, indians and lain-lain too. we can safely say if we are not successful and developed, we would not be masters (tuan) but coolies, but then have you heard of ‘ketuanan cina’ or ‘ketuanan india’ being mentioned?

“So when we talk about that (Malay supremacy), we mean we must be successful in many fields. It is never about ruling over others, or forcing our power upon them,” he told reporters after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting last night.

well, the chinese and indians also wants to be successful in many fields but they don’t use the ‘ketuanan’ word. when ‘ketuanan’ is used by one particular community, it means that particular community is being arrogant, wants to be master and lord over the other communities.

We are not going to be a race that dominates others. We want to be a party that represents the Malays and that is ready to co-operate for the future of Malays and the people, as Malays will also succeed when all Malaysians are successful.

“That is Malay supremacy and I hope people will understand it,” he said.

sorry mr PM, i don’t understand one bit. you said it there   "… race that dominates others.".    yes, the word ‘ketuanan’ there signify dominance (or supremacy).
you talked about "the party that represents the malays’ – well isn’t that what umno is for? you have umno already, so why need ketuanan melayu?

(note: picture shows orang asli children from cameron highlands taken from worldnomads)