Hazia’s Reflections

‘What are the lessons learned? That the Malaysian citizenry is far more sophisticated than the government figured. That the effects of development, globalisation and information through ones’ fingertips have changed the landscape. The idea that the masses are generally simple-minded and easily influenced by "mob mentality" or fear should be re-thought.’

~Koh Lay Chin in ‘Was this the election made on the internet?~

My alumnus yahoo group mail is even more active than usual within these last few days following the political tsunami. I’m amazed to see that my old friends and I share the same way of thinking on 1 very important issue. We may be Malays of diverse backgrounds but it seems that most of us agree on 1 thing - the Malay privilege, NEP, has got to go! The ideal policy should focus only on the very poor with a quota for poor Chinese and Indians too. Sure, the Malays would get a shock and fall flat on their faces for the next 10, 20 or even 30 years before they could get up and walk on their own 2 feet. However, in like 50 years’ time, the concept of native privilege would sound ‘alien’ to the new breed of Malays. They would not even see what the fuss was all about. Let’s ask the young Singaporean Malays…

Some insightful quotes from my friends:

"If we, bumis succeeded in the new system without bumi’s privilege, we’ll have Pak Lah to thank for. His mistake serves as a wake-up call to bumis. We’ll survive but time will tell how long and how many casualties it will take."

"Melayu di bawah DAP.. kenapa kita terlalu negatif memikirkan nasib Melayu di bawah DAP tidak terbela. Mereka belum pun memerintah negeri tersebut.. Mungkin nasib Melayu lebih baik dan terbela. Perlu diingat, kebanyakkan wakil rakyat daripada DAP dan PKR adalah NGO yang bergiat aktif membela nasib orang bawahan Dan mereka ini juga tidak ada kepentingan dari sudut perniagaan seperti wakil rakyat BN."

If we see banyak tanah tergadai kat Cina, tukar laaa balik ke BN, apa susah sangat. Memang la 5 tahun tu lama…. Tapi 50 tahun under BN pun lama jugak. BN kita dah tengok dia memerintah di Perak, kita tengok la PAS dengan DAP memerintah pulak. As I say again, esok tukar la kalau tak suka. The issue of racial party bagi aku semakin ketinggalan zaman…. PKR is a mixed party. Does not represent melayu saja.

"Kalau PAS perintah negara pun bukan senang nak ubah sikap org Melayu….Aku setuju apabila org dok kata berbalik pada Islam (tak kisahlah melalui UMNO atau PAS). "

"The scene of the night before the election was superb. Chinese, Indian and Malay united to get the same goal."