I received many text messages from friends and my readers regarding the party-switch by former MIC Deputy President Dato’ S.Subramaniam to Parti Keadilam Rakyat (PKR) days ago.
One of the text messages I received says, “All leaders from BN component parties who failed in their bid for top party positions will cross to PKR!” referring the recent cross over by Chua Jui Meng, S.Subramaniam and the rest who are thinking of defecting in this few days and weeks.
This is not coincidence as the other side of the fact is that all good leaders in all component parties in BN would eventually be side lined initiated by their own leaders with power craze and forced the members to endorse the move.
All leaders of BN component parties are perceived to be the mediocre while the real and relatively better leaders are all on the side line. This is particularly so in UMNO.
After a decade or so the parties were led by unscrupulous, stained as well as faked leaders who were all out to keep their personal politics above the party struggles and hence it has come to a point that the parties looses reverence from the voting public in both the General Elections (GE) and by-elections.
I am not wrong to say that S.Subramaniam was a better leader than Mr Samy. In fact the oppositions are very contented, for as long as Mr Samy leads MIC as they need not have much exertion to entice the Indians to support them in any election.
In essence Mr Samy is serving and giving good favor for the opposition if he still tries to cling to the top MIC position.
Few of my Indian neighbors and friends say, “We are voting the oppositions until Mr Samy is done with and in the meanwhile led the Indians choose their leaders without fear.”
UMNO had contracted this disease for an extensive while and the consequence of that disease had made the party looses their potency and might and soon to be in destitute and insolvent.
Dr Mahathir started his political move to sideline all budding and potential national leadership the moment he became the Deputy President of the Party in 1976 and his move became more evident since he assumed the Party President position in 1981 and 22 years of his reign saw a line of mediocre becoming leaders.
By the time he retired in 2003 there were already a huge blankness in the leadership and Abdullah succeeded him only to find the nation was under the was under weak and indefensible leadership.
The pressure for Dr Mahathir to resign was too evident as such that the weak Abdullah was given 90% mandate in 2004 GE. People then just wanted Mahathir to go as they wanted new political ambience.
In actuality Abdullah was never a good successor and people gave BN thumping mandate in 2004 GE was purely made up by the relief feelings of Mahathir’s resignation.
Mahathir’s greatest failure was not being able to prepare honest and capable successors as he was too obsessed in strengthening his personal politics and all current political insanity derived from his leadership.
Mahathir suspected everybody and trusted nobody. To him one can behave as he liked as long as he or she supported him.
Along the way UMNO and BN was infested by crimes like corruption and abuse of powers by the big and tiny leaders at all level and he condoned it to the fullest.
Mahathir blamed Abdullah for not taking some leaders to court for the corrupt practices committed during his (Mahathir's)reign.
Defections have been a median for current political circumstances. Mahathir defected from one UMNO to a new UMNO bringing along with him millions of members from the old one just because to side line few leaders who he considered to be a threat to his personal politics.
All the 22 years of his reign was for his personal and had nothing to do with protection of his race which he chose to be.
Samy Velu has been the MIC President for more than 2 decades and the position is for his personal selfish interest. If it is not than it’s for what?
MCA has been laden and impregnated with corrupt perception. The 12 billion PKFZ issue is the issue centered on MCA leaders of the past and present.
MCA lost heavily in the last GE to DAP and PKR and defection of their leaders seemed imminent as the split within the party has come to a breaking point.
Most of the ordinary members have defected to the opposition in the last GE, so the defection by their leaders is just the follow through of their members who defected massively in 2008 GE through the ballot box. So there is nothing new at all.
In actual essence political parties do not serve any purpose any further if they were to talk about starting a fresh for the nation as all the parties are suffering from unmitigated corruption issue.
So do their leaders. How a corrupt leader could promise us to combat corruption? How could the leaders take that sodomy is more heinous that corruption?
When come to leadership issue sodomy and corruption do not have a breath of different. If we have to punish a person who commits sodomy we should also punish the corruptors the same.
Islam says a corrupt person is as good as a person who eats the flesh of his on siblings and family.
So how do we find the basis of saying that corrupt person is less sinful than the person who commits sodomy?
I wish some religious scholars can convince me on this. To my simple mind if a person is thrown into the prison for sodomy, the corrupt must also be caged.
Quitting BN seems to non exertion effort as there is nothing left for one to stay on in that coalition.
For the Malays they feel they have no more reason to struggle in UMNO as all the struggles for them have been shelved away with that beautiful slogan the current leadership is propagating.
They were in UMNO to struggle for a purpose; that is to strengthen the Malay existence but all those are thrown away in the ditch by their leaders. Their existence in the party is of no more relevant.
This is the group that has the potential of defecting to find a party which they feel having the purpose of their existence.
Lastly my question is: what is so heinous when a person defects from his party as opposed to corrupt leaders and a person who commits sodomy?
Defecting from BN component parties will soon be a daily affair and there is no solution for the circumvention of the move.
As Tengku Razaleigh has loudly said, it has to be an entirely new deal to effect new political circumstances for the betterment of the country and in particular the inter-racial issues which is at a very worrying state.
I trust this great veteran is the solution to the whole and entire problems we are facing.
Anything less would give all of us the chance to witness the unkind tribulation in Malaysian politics.
Trust me, we will see that happening if we are still in denial. Don’t believe me only when the circumstance becomes reality.
I am saying this not only to UMNO and BN but it is also for all the opposition parties.
Political parties seems to be of no relevance at this point of time any longer but most importantly everyone has to have the nation’s problem to be of priority to be addressed.
Thanks……………………………………………………………..Aspan Alias
28 July 2009
19 July 2009
Teoh Beng Hock’s death : A tragic incidence, a tragic consequence may be
Situation in this country is far from sanity and civility. Everyone on the street now talks about politics and hearing the conversations on the ground make many feel that we are in the worst of politics with no more graciousness.
It seems everybody is not happy with everything on every issue. The state of confusion has never been to this nerve-racking level as the environment is too fertile for political calamity for everyone from all quarters.
The latest of the uninspiring an uneventful issue is over the death of Teoh Beng Hock, the political aide of one of the Selangor Executive Councilors.
His body was found on the 5th floor of Wisma Masalam in Shah Alam 9 floors below the office of the State MACC office where Teoh was interrogated for lengthy hours.
It was believed that he fell from the MACC head quarters and this incident warrants attention from every considerate and watchful Malaysian.
This is not an ordinary death to the opinion of every Malaysian because it happened while he was in the custody of the MACC.
Even though MACC was quick in saying that the investigation agency had already released him at the time of his mysterious death but that cannot change the public’s perception that this death had everything to do with the investigation.
I am with million of Malaysian calling for serious investigation without fear or favor and get politics be out of the investigation.
The police and MACC must seize this opportunity to prove that they are authentically independent from any political infestation like many have perceived them to be.
MACC must prove to all Malaysian that the agency was not just changing of name from BPR just for the sake of changing names but for real and effective agency meant to combat heinious corrupt practices without any fear of favor.
MACC and the Police as well as the current ailing government can attest their integrity by exercising their investigation with total transparency, and to get to the actual truth that caused the death of this young and budding politician.
I hate to say that if the investigation on this issue is not done with optimum care, it can take the government to trial presided by all Malaysian.
Please remember that a young adult has lost his precious live to the bereavement of his loving family members who were busy preparing for his auspicious wedding scheduled to take place last Friday the 18th.
Bar Council, UMNO Youth and various NGO’s are all in the open demanding for a Royal Commission to be set up to deal with the cause of this death.
MCA Deputy President too agrees with the Royal Commission to be set up as immediately as possible.
Let us wait for the outcome of the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday to see how the Government looks at this dreadful happening. All Malaysian are watching with microscopic eyes to see how the Cabinet decides over this sensitive issue.
This is no small matter. It is of great consequence to the country. I reckon that The Royal Commission is the answer, nothing less than that…and of course with no cover-ups.
Together with million of other Malaysian I extend my deepest condolences to the bereaved family members of Teoh Beng Hock in facing this inopportune experience.
Thanks…………………………………………Aspan Alias
It seems everybody is not happy with everything on every issue. The state of confusion has never been to this nerve-racking level as the environment is too fertile for political calamity for everyone from all quarters.
The latest of the uninspiring an uneventful issue is over the death of Teoh Beng Hock, the political aide of one of the Selangor Executive Councilors.
His body was found on the 5th floor of Wisma Masalam in Shah Alam 9 floors below the office of the State MACC office where Teoh was interrogated for lengthy hours.
It was believed that he fell from the MACC head quarters and this incident warrants attention from every considerate and watchful Malaysian.
This is not an ordinary death to the opinion of every Malaysian because it happened while he was in the custody of the MACC.
Even though MACC was quick in saying that the investigation agency had already released him at the time of his mysterious death but that cannot change the public’s perception that this death had everything to do with the investigation.
I am with million of Malaysian calling for serious investigation without fear or favor and get politics be out of the investigation.
The police and MACC must seize this opportunity to prove that they are authentically independent from any political infestation like many have perceived them to be.
MACC must prove to all Malaysian that the agency was not just changing of name from BPR just for the sake of changing names but for real and effective agency meant to combat heinious corrupt practices without any fear of favor.
MACC and the Police as well as the current ailing government can attest their integrity by exercising their investigation with total transparency, and to get to the actual truth that caused the death of this young and budding politician.
I hate to say that if the investigation on this issue is not done with optimum care, it can take the government to trial presided by all Malaysian.
Please remember that a young adult has lost his precious live to the bereavement of his loving family members who were busy preparing for his auspicious wedding scheduled to take place last Friday the 18th.
Bar Council, UMNO Youth and various NGO’s are all in the open demanding for a Royal Commission to be set up to deal with the cause of this death.
MCA Deputy President too agrees with the Royal Commission to be set up as immediately as possible.
Let us wait for the outcome of the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday to see how the Government looks at this dreadful happening. All Malaysian are watching with microscopic eyes to see how the Cabinet decides over this sensitive issue.
This is no small matter. It is of great consequence to the country. I reckon that The Royal Commission is the answer, nothing less than that…and of course with no cover-ups.
Together with million of other Malaysian I extend my deepest condolences to the bereaved family members of Teoh Beng Hock in facing this inopportune experience.
Thanks…………………………………………Aspan Alias
14 July 2009
In defence of my race Final Part
The British Malayan Union realized that the support of the Malays was a necessity as Malayan Union was in desolation and despondency.
The British was in despair and the only forward move that they had was to work with the Malays, the indigenous, as the immigrants were going against the British. They were trying to get the country by themselves and their fight was in the name of independent Malaya.
Apart from the PKM, KMM and many other secret societies the immigrants were active in triad activities and became dangerous for a nation to bear.
Going to the red spot at any big library in the country will provide us the detailed of how serious was the atrocities of the immigrants through PKM, and had cost lives of the people especially the innocent Malays in the remote areas.
The reactions of the local Malays resulted in the bloody incidences in Batu Kikir, Sg Manik and Batu Pahat and these are the incidences that we should put behind us as history and never ever should we go through that anymore.
The British was forced to talk and confer with the Malays and the provision put forward by the Malays was to renounce the Malayan Union.
The British agreed without much more exertion and decided to accept the condition and from then on both side agreed for the formation of the Federation of Malaya.
The Federation of Malaya was to return the power of the Malay Rulers of respective states and the epicenter of administrative powers would be at the Federal Administration.
The Governor General of Malayan Union was to be replaced by High Commissioner for the Federation.
Bahasa Melayu was to be the official language and Islam was to be the official Religion.
The Malay Special Privilege was to be reinstated.
The British then proposed to set up Working Committee to formulate the Federation Constitution and the agreement to be signed between the Federal and the States within the Federation.
The Working Committee was represented by three 3 groups. They are:-
1) The British
2) The Malay Rulers
3) UMNO
Representing the British was:
a) A.T Newboult (The Secretary General of the Malayan Union)
b) K.K O’Connors (Attorney General Of the Malayan Union)
c) W.D Godsall (Malayan Union Financial Secretary)
d) Dr. W Lineham and A. William (Malayan Union Public Service Commission)
The Malay Rulers were represented by:-
a) Raja Kamarulzaman (Perak)
b) Dato’ Hamzah Abdullah (Selangor)
c) Dato’ Mohamed Shariff (Kedah)
d) Dato’ Nik Ahmad Kamil (Kelantan)
Representatives of UMNO were:-
a) Dato’ Onn Ja’afar
b) Dato’ Abdul Rahman Mohd Yassin
c) Tuan Haji Megat Yunus (Secretary)
Others in attendance in the Committee were:-
a) Sir Theodore (Adviser for the Malay Rulers)
b) Sir Roland Bradell (Legal Adviser for UMNO)
c) Mr. Ralph Hone (Representing Malcolm MacDonald, the British Governor General
for South East Asia)
d) Mr. D.C Watherson (Secretary)
So in essence the Committee for setting up of the Federation of Malaya was representative of the British and the Malays and their Rulers and no other representation of other races who were not the citizen of Malaya.
The deal was between the Malays as the sons of Malaya and the colonial master, the British. It was a deal that was designed for the British to give back the land to the rightful and original owner, i.e. the Malays.
The Committee was set to deliberate on the formulation of the Constitutions of the Federation in hand-in-glove and to see that the final draft was to be tabled as soon as possible.
For 5 months the Working Committee was busy writing up on the Federation of Malaya Constitutions and finally on the 20th of November 1946 the draft was tabled at a congress with the 3 permanent members; Malay Rulers, UMNO and Malayan Union.
The draft was acknowledged officially, and was formally submitted and tabled at the British Parliament and Cabinet.
On the 5th of December the draft was accepted and the British agreed with all contents of the draft of the Constitution, and on the 1st of February Federation of Malaya was formally formed.
With the formal existence of the Federation of Malaya, it was a major accomplishment of the Malays and their Rulers to liberalize the country from the grip of the Malayan Union.
The Malay Rulers got back their states and with the Federation the Malaya and the long and rough path was cleared and consequentially the Malays were already prepared to work on total independence for Malaya.
It was from then on that the Malays through UMNO started to toy around seriously for total independence and it was from this point that UMNO engaged themselves with the Chinese and Indian and other immigrants to achieve self rule for the Federation of Malaya.
This was about the time when the engagement between UMNO and Chinese as well as the Indians resulted in the formation of Malayan Chinese Association(MCA) and Malayan Indian Congress(MIC) representing two major races and in the end the three racial based parties formed the Alliance long years after that.
Along the way through the negotiations there were many problems faced by the parties especially UMNO when the differences between them resulted in the formation of Opposition Party, Pan Islamic Party(PAS) led by some big names from UMNO.
These four series of articles are only touching on the Malay struggle to reject the Malayan Union.
The struggle for independence may be written at later dates of if there is anyone who wants to spend some boring time to write on it, would be much welcomed.
My reason of writing this part of the nation’s compressed history was nothing more and nothing less to remind everyone not to be deceived by unscrupulous elements with malicious intention to destroy us.
We are all here to ensure that we live in this nation with some kind of sacrifices. If the Malays were historically on records prepared to share with other races, it is only proper and nice for others to reciprocate and withstand some weaknesses idiosyncrasies of each race.
The Chinese have weaknesses that the Malays have been tolerating, and so do with the Indians. Conversely the Chinese and the Indians must not be too stingy to reciprocate the kindness of the Malays.
A line of sincere advice for anyone concerned; ‘Never take friendliness as weaknesses’.
Let us all submit that we are all different from each other. The differences between us are all Gods creation and should be taken as blessings.
As I have said many times God exhibits his greatness by the differences between us. It would be noble deed for everyone to avoid the feelings of prejudices and hatred among the races and religions.
If there is no difference between us there is no element of respect for each other. We have had good times all these years and let us cherish live in civility in perpetuity.
Our sacrifices of today are just for our next generation to live within solace of Malaysian uniqueness and inanimattibility.
I reckon the current animosities were the direct result of innate incapacity of our leaders to manage the nation the way it should.
That is all and I have to terminate these series of article at this point. I hope my upfront opinion is not taken offence by any quarter.
The one ultimate and mandatory intention is ‘we must live in optimum harmony’ within the lines stipulated in our Constitutions.
Thanks……………………………………………………………Aspan Alias
The British was in despair and the only forward move that they had was to work with the Malays, the indigenous, as the immigrants were going against the British. They were trying to get the country by themselves and their fight was in the name of independent Malaya.
Apart from the PKM, KMM and many other secret societies the immigrants were active in triad activities and became dangerous for a nation to bear.
Going to the red spot at any big library in the country will provide us the detailed of how serious was the atrocities of the immigrants through PKM, and had cost lives of the people especially the innocent Malays in the remote areas.
The reactions of the local Malays resulted in the bloody incidences in Batu Kikir, Sg Manik and Batu Pahat and these are the incidences that we should put behind us as history and never ever should we go through that anymore.
The British was forced to talk and confer with the Malays and the provision put forward by the Malays was to renounce the Malayan Union.
The British agreed without much more exertion and decided to accept the condition and from then on both side agreed for the formation of the Federation of Malaya.
The Federation of Malaya was to return the power of the Malay Rulers of respective states and the epicenter of administrative powers would be at the Federal Administration.
The Governor General of Malayan Union was to be replaced by High Commissioner for the Federation.
Bahasa Melayu was to be the official language and Islam was to be the official Religion.
The Malay Special Privilege was to be reinstated.
The British then proposed to set up Working Committee to formulate the Federation Constitution and the agreement to be signed between the Federal and the States within the Federation.
The Working Committee was represented by three 3 groups. They are:-
1) The British
2) The Malay Rulers
3) UMNO
Representing the British was:
a) A.T Newboult (The Secretary General of the Malayan Union)
b) K.K O’Connors (Attorney General Of the Malayan Union)
c) W.D Godsall (Malayan Union Financial Secretary)
d) Dr. W Lineham and A. William (Malayan Union Public Service Commission)
The Malay Rulers were represented by:-
a) Raja Kamarulzaman (Perak)
b) Dato’ Hamzah Abdullah (Selangor)
c) Dato’ Mohamed Shariff (Kedah)
d) Dato’ Nik Ahmad Kamil (Kelantan)
Representatives of UMNO were:-
a) Dato’ Onn Ja’afar
b) Dato’ Abdul Rahman Mohd Yassin
c) Tuan Haji Megat Yunus (Secretary)
Others in attendance in the Committee were:-
a) Sir Theodore (Adviser for the Malay Rulers)
b) Sir Roland Bradell (Legal Adviser for UMNO)
c) Mr. Ralph Hone (Representing Malcolm MacDonald, the British Governor General
for South East Asia)
d) Mr. D.C Watherson (Secretary)
So in essence the Committee for setting up of the Federation of Malaya was representative of the British and the Malays and their Rulers and no other representation of other races who were not the citizen of Malaya.
The deal was between the Malays as the sons of Malaya and the colonial master, the British. It was a deal that was designed for the British to give back the land to the rightful and original owner, i.e. the Malays.
The Committee was set to deliberate on the formulation of the Constitutions of the Federation in hand-in-glove and to see that the final draft was to be tabled as soon as possible.
For 5 months the Working Committee was busy writing up on the Federation of Malaya Constitutions and finally on the 20th of November 1946 the draft was tabled at a congress with the 3 permanent members; Malay Rulers, UMNO and Malayan Union.
The draft was acknowledged officially, and was formally submitted and tabled at the British Parliament and Cabinet.
On the 5th of December the draft was accepted and the British agreed with all contents of the draft of the Constitution, and on the 1st of February Federation of Malaya was formally formed.
With the formal existence of the Federation of Malaya, it was a major accomplishment of the Malays and their Rulers to liberalize the country from the grip of the Malayan Union.
The Malay Rulers got back their states and with the Federation the Malaya and the long and rough path was cleared and consequentially the Malays were already prepared to work on total independence for Malaya.
It was from then on that the Malays through UMNO started to toy around seriously for total independence and it was from this point that UMNO engaged themselves with the Chinese and Indian and other immigrants to achieve self rule for the Federation of Malaya.
This was about the time when the engagement between UMNO and Chinese as well as the Indians resulted in the formation of Malayan Chinese Association(MCA) and Malayan Indian Congress(MIC) representing two major races and in the end the three racial based parties formed the Alliance long years after that.
Along the way through the negotiations there were many problems faced by the parties especially UMNO when the differences between them resulted in the formation of Opposition Party, Pan Islamic Party(PAS) led by some big names from UMNO.
These four series of articles are only touching on the Malay struggle to reject the Malayan Union.
The struggle for independence may be written at later dates of if there is anyone who wants to spend some boring time to write on it, would be much welcomed.
My reason of writing this part of the nation’s compressed history was nothing more and nothing less to remind everyone not to be deceived by unscrupulous elements with malicious intention to destroy us.
We are all here to ensure that we live in this nation with some kind of sacrifices. If the Malays were historically on records prepared to share with other races, it is only proper and nice for others to reciprocate and withstand some weaknesses idiosyncrasies of each race.
The Chinese have weaknesses that the Malays have been tolerating, and so do with the Indians. Conversely the Chinese and the Indians must not be too stingy to reciprocate the kindness of the Malays.
A line of sincere advice for anyone concerned; ‘Never take friendliness as weaknesses’.
Let us all submit that we are all different from each other. The differences between us are all Gods creation and should be taken as blessings.
As I have said many times God exhibits his greatness by the differences between us. It would be noble deed for everyone to avoid the feelings of prejudices and hatred among the races and religions.
If there is no difference between us there is no element of respect for each other. We have had good times all these years and let us cherish live in civility in perpetuity.
Our sacrifices of today are just for our next generation to live within solace of Malaysian uniqueness and inanimattibility.
I reckon the current animosities were the direct result of innate incapacity of our leaders to manage the nation the way it should.
That is all and I have to terminate these series of article at this point. I hope my upfront opinion is not taken offence by any quarter.
The one ultimate and mandatory intention is ‘we must live in optimum harmony’ within the lines stipulated in our Constitutions.
Thanks……………………………………………………………Aspan Alias
11 July 2009
In defence of my race Part 3
The exertions and pressure on the British and Malayan Union was never weakened and relented.
Malayan Union on the other hand was facing difficulties as it was discarded by the Malays and the Malay Rulers working hand-in-glove to ensure unrelenting pressure to the newly formed government under the British Queen continued incessantly.
Back in England the Conservatives were keeping on the pressure on the ruling Labour to protect the indigenous Malays and warned the government that the Malays were going to revolt and any length to ensure their future were protected.
Meanwhile the Malays through tens of organizations and movements converged in Johor Baru on the 11 and 12th of May 1946 for their 3rd Malay Congress at Istana Besar Johor Baru.
The congregation of many Malay leaders representing various Malay movements was to reinforce the Malay struggles against the Malayan Union by forming one single body called UMNO.
Dato' Onn was unanimously elected to be the chairperson for the Congress and his fiery speech he reminded the delegates of the resolution of the 1st Congress to form one political body to unify the movements of the Malays under one entity.
The first Congress which formed a committee to originate the Constitution was headed by Onn Ja'afar.
The other members were Dato’ Panglima Bukit Gantang Abdul Wahab, Dato’ Nik Ahmad Kamil and Dato’ Hamzah Abdullah and the committee was prepared to face the 3rd Congress with proposed draft of the Constitution.
The draft of the Constitution was tabled to the Congress for the approval of the delegates and as expected after a long perusal of the meticulous delegates.
It was unanimously accepted and from then on UMNO was officially formed on that auspicious date of 11th may 1946 slightly over a month after Malayan Union was formed.
The 3rd Congress was immediately dissolved and after brief refreshment the 1st UMNO delegates’ meeting was called and the first agenda in hand was to choose one of the proposed slogans and ‘Hidup Melayu’ was the chosen one.
Dato’ Onn was unanimously elected to be the President of the newly formed UMNO. The Congress also decided to elect 3 of its members to represent the Party to join the Malay Rulers in the planned entourage to London to protest against the Malayan Union.
The 3 elected were Dato’ Onn Ja’afar, Dato’ Panglima Bukit Gantang and Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra.
However the planned delegation to London was aborted as the British by then had already resolute to dismantle the Malayan Union and to form a Federation of Malaya in place of the short-lived government and its constitution.
Many may ask why the British decided to disband Malayan Union. The answer was found by the British themselves.
The British while they were too obsessed in forming the Malayan Union they worked together with the immigrants to admonish the Malays and their Rulers.
The British realized that the immigrants were quietly playing politics of underworld. Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM) was already active subverting the people especially among the Chinese immigrants.
PKM had already managed to extend their tentacles down south even to Singapore and they were influencing the left wing Malays from Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM), Parti Democratic Malaya and the labour organizations and the peasant Chinese immigrants in the hinterland of Malaya.
Chin Peng and PKM members were already in the jungle together with the tiny KMM leaders like Rashid Maiden and other few Malays to fight the British who just came back after the Japanese surrender in the 2nd World War.
These movements were supported by foreign political parties like Kuomintang, Congress Party of India and few more left wing parties from Indonesia to go against the British administration in Malaya.
The Chinese who stayed at the fringes of the jungles were the regular source of food and financial supplies to the communist activist in the jungle.
The British was suspicious of the immigrants and they realized that the British were at odd with every race which resided in Malaya.
The British felt the danger of insubordination from the immigrants in Malaya as they were fighting for foreign power while the Malays through UMNO were fighting to regain their country.
The British realized that the Malays were more trustworthy as the fight against them (British) was the fight to gain back their land while the fight of the immigrants were for foreign elements.
Cutting long history short, the British ultimately agreed to do away with Malayan Union in June 1946 and worked for the formation of the Federation of Malaya.
Within 5 months the formulation of the detailed Federation’s Constitution was completed and the Federation of Malaya was formally formed on the 1st of February 1948.
Let us focus on the processes of the formation of the Federation of Malaya, as it is very interesting to envision how it can help us to fortify our feel of affection for the country and appreciate the impeccable co-existence among us, Malaysian of all races.
If we were to read in detail the struggle the past leaders, they were having one common attribute that made them successful in their comings and goings for their race and nation; they were not corrupted with personal politics.
There were some clear attempts on the side of the British to wheedle and persuaded the Malay leaders not to persist the resistance with some form of corrupt elements, but all those were rejected vehemently and their struggles were pure and untainted.
This is the value which has been long absent in our politics and government.
This was one of the main issue that made the Malays and Malaysian alike distancing themselves from the ruling BN in the last General Elections especially among the middle class population who suffered serious injury as the result of mishandling of politics and government by BN leaders.
All that will be in my next posting in 3 or 4 days time.
Thanks……………………………………………………………….Aspan Alias
Malayan Union on the other hand was facing difficulties as it was discarded by the Malays and the Malay Rulers working hand-in-glove to ensure unrelenting pressure to the newly formed government under the British Queen continued incessantly.
Back in England the Conservatives were keeping on the pressure on the ruling Labour to protect the indigenous Malays and warned the government that the Malays were going to revolt and any length to ensure their future were protected.
Meanwhile the Malays through tens of organizations and movements converged in Johor Baru on the 11 and 12th of May 1946 for their 3rd Malay Congress at Istana Besar Johor Baru.
The congregation of many Malay leaders representing various Malay movements was to reinforce the Malay struggles against the Malayan Union by forming one single body called UMNO.
Dato' Onn was unanimously elected to be the chairperson for the Congress and his fiery speech he reminded the delegates of the resolution of the 1st Congress to form one political body to unify the movements of the Malays under one entity.
The first Congress which formed a committee to originate the Constitution was headed by Onn Ja'afar.
The other members were Dato’ Panglima Bukit Gantang Abdul Wahab, Dato’ Nik Ahmad Kamil and Dato’ Hamzah Abdullah and the committee was prepared to face the 3rd Congress with proposed draft of the Constitution.
The draft of the Constitution was tabled to the Congress for the approval of the delegates and as expected after a long perusal of the meticulous delegates.
It was unanimously accepted and from then on UMNO was officially formed on that auspicious date of 11th may 1946 slightly over a month after Malayan Union was formed.
The 3rd Congress was immediately dissolved and after brief refreshment the 1st UMNO delegates’ meeting was called and the first agenda in hand was to choose one of the proposed slogans and ‘Hidup Melayu’ was the chosen one.
Dato’ Onn was unanimously elected to be the President of the newly formed UMNO. The Congress also decided to elect 3 of its members to represent the Party to join the Malay Rulers in the planned entourage to London to protest against the Malayan Union.
The 3 elected were Dato’ Onn Ja’afar, Dato’ Panglima Bukit Gantang and Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra.
However the planned delegation to London was aborted as the British by then had already resolute to dismantle the Malayan Union and to form a Federation of Malaya in place of the short-lived government and its constitution.
Many may ask why the British decided to disband Malayan Union. The answer was found by the British themselves.
The British while they were too obsessed in forming the Malayan Union they worked together with the immigrants to admonish the Malays and their Rulers.
The British realized that the immigrants were quietly playing politics of underworld. Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM) was already active subverting the people especially among the Chinese immigrants.
PKM had already managed to extend their tentacles down south even to Singapore and they were influencing the left wing Malays from Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM), Parti Democratic Malaya and the labour organizations and the peasant Chinese immigrants in the hinterland of Malaya.
Chin Peng and PKM members were already in the jungle together with the tiny KMM leaders like Rashid Maiden and other few Malays to fight the British who just came back after the Japanese surrender in the 2nd World War.
These movements were supported by foreign political parties like Kuomintang, Congress Party of India and few more left wing parties from Indonesia to go against the British administration in Malaya.
The Chinese who stayed at the fringes of the jungles were the regular source of food and financial supplies to the communist activist in the jungle.
The British was suspicious of the immigrants and they realized that the British were at odd with every race which resided in Malaya.
The British felt the danger of insubordination from the immigrants in Malaya as they were fighting for foreign power while the Malays through UMNO were fighting to regain their country.
The British realized that the Malays were more trustworthy as the fight against them (British) was the fight to gain back their land while the fight of the immigrants were for foreign elements.
Cutting long history short, the British ultimately agreed to do away with Malayan Union in June 1946 and worked for the formation of the Federation of Malaya.
Within 5 months the formulation of the detailed Federation’s Constitution was completed and the Federation of Malaya was formally formed on the 1st of February 1948.
Let us focus on the processes of the formation of the Federation of Malaya, as it is very interesting to envision how it can help us to fortify our feel of affection for the country and appreciate the impeccable co-existence among us, Malaysian of all races.
If we were to read in detail the struggle the past leaders, they were having one common attribute that made them successful in their comings and goings for their race and nation; they were not corrupted with personal politics.
There were some clear attempts on the side of the British to wheedle and persuaded the Malay leaders not to persist the resistance with some form of corrupt elements, but all those were rejected vehemently and their struggles were pure and untainted.
This is the value which has been long absent in our politics and government.
This was one of the main issue that made the Malays and Malaysian alike distancing themselves from the ruling BN in the last General Elections especially among the middle class population who suffered serious injury as the result of mishandling of politics and government by BN leaders.
All that will be in my next posting in 3 or 4 days time.
Thanks……………………………………………………………….Aspan Alias
10 July 2009
In defence of my race Part 2
The risk for the Malays was very huge; risk of loosing the whole country with the Malay Rulers altogether in place of singular government under the British King or Queen.
Malayan Union could have brought in catastrophe for the Malays as they were certain to loose their basic identity with the demise of the power of the Malay Rulers.
As I have mentioned in my last posting the Malay Congress which was held on the 1st of March 1946 was the catalyst to the birth of UMNO.
The Congress came up with strong stand against the British among the few which I still remember through my bits of readings of history were:-
1. The agreement that was signed by the Malay Rulers was unconstitutional as it was against the Malay wish and the said agreement was automatically null and void. The Malays did not recognize the agreement totally.
2. The agreement was signed without the knowledge of the Malays and it was going against the basic democracy that the British themselves practiced.
3. The proposed Malayan Union denied the power of the Malay Rulers over their respective states and instantaneously repealed the various agreements that had previously been signed between the British and the Malay Rulers. In effect it went head-on with the Atlantic Charter.
4. The formation of one single government through the Malayan Union was meant to do away with the 9 Malay Rulers and this was too hurting for the Malays.
5. The Congress also demanded the British Government to do serious and actual survey among the Malays in the Malayan Peninsular to find out whether Malayan Union was really accepted by the Malayan population.
6. And lastly the Congress demanded with firm assertion to withdraw the idea of Malayan Union totally.
The resolutions of the 4 day Congress was immediately conveyed to the Secretary to the British Colony in White Hall, London.
The British however was not taking the resistance by the Malays seriously as they believed that the Malays would not have the stamina to revolt against the idea of Malayan Union.
While the Malays were fighting hard to get back their states for their Malay Rulers, the immigrants who were not the citizen were supporting the idea of Malayan Union proposed Constitution as that was the only opportunity for them to get citizenship.
As long as they were not citizen they couldn’t participate in politics and to decide together for their future.
They were demanding that they being treated and provided the same of everything that the Malay Sultanates provide for their indigenous subject.
Emergency Malay Congress was called on the 30th of March in Kuala Lumpur to deal with the arrogance of the British.
Among the names of historical values who attended were Dato' Onn Ja'afar, Dato’ Hamzah Abdullah and Encik Zainal Abidin Ahmad(Za'aba) from Selangor, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra and Dato’ Nik Ahmad Kamil.
The emergency Congress on the 30th March was to decide on the next course of action to react against the impending installation of Sir Edward Gent as the Governor General of Malayan Union on the 1st of April.
On the day of the Congress some of the Malay Rulers were already at the Station Hotel in preparation to witness the installation of the Governor General of Malayan Union, who was to take over all their power and immunity as Rulers of their respective subjects for the past decades and centuries.
If my memory of history is still fine, there were 5 resolutions that the Congress decided.
1. The Malays must boycott the inauguration of Malayan Union and the Installation ceremony of the Governor General of the Malayan Union.
2. To put pressure on the 9 Malay Rulers to be absent on the Installation of the Governor General of the dubious Malayan Union.
3. The Malays were to mourn for 7 days by wearing on songkok with white stripe around it as a show of disapproval for the formation of the Malayan Union.
4. Electing Dato' Onn Ja'afar, Panglima Bukit Gantang Abdul Wahab, Dato’ Nik Ahmad Kamil and Za’aba to seek audience of the Malay Rulers who were already then in the Station Hotel Kuala Lumpur. They were to convey the very strong message of the Malays that they insisted the Malay Rulers not to attend the installation ceremony of the Malayan Union Governor General schedule just a day after that.
5. To call on all the Malays who were in any Legislative at the state and Federal level to boycott all meetings and not to cooperate with the British completely.
The Congress representatives went to seek the audience of the Malay Rulers at the Station Hotel in the early morning of the 1st April just before the installation of Sir Edward Gent as the Governor General of Malayan Union.
The 9 rulers went to the balcony of the hotel watching the exasperated Malays who came in thousands from every part of the Peninsular shouting ‘Daulat Tuanku, Daulat Tuanku, Daulat Tuanku!’.
They demanded for the Rulers abstention from attending the function that would admonish and obliterated the Malays in totality. It was only then that the Malay Rulers acknowledged how serious the Malays were and they really understood how the Malays loved and sacrificed for them.
It was only then that they realized that they cannot be a Ruler without their loyal subjects.
Meanwhile, the installation of the Malayan Union Governor still went on as usual without the representation of the Malay Rulers and every Malay organization. The sole Malay who attended was the ADC of the Governor Edward Gent, who was from the Malay Regiment.
At the same time there was massive demonstration nationwide by the Malays condemning the British for the heinous act of dismantling the Malays and their nation to fragmentation.
The Malays demanded the British to surrender the country back to the Malay Rulers and ruled the country like how it was before the Malayan Union was formed.
Simultaneously back in London the opposition Parliamentarians from the Conservative party were criticizing the ruling Labour party and the party was for maintaining the Malay status and condemned the British Government for their intention to give the immigrants the same status as the Malays in Malaya.
That intention to them would put the Malay indigenous in political oblivion and that was too immoral for the Conservative to stomach.
The Conservative were demanding that the British government to send British Parliamentarians from the major parties in England to see and evaluate the situation in Malaya especially the feelings of the Malays who were then continuously protesting at every corner of Peninsular Malaya.
In end of May 1946, a month after Malayan Union was formed two representatives from British Parliament was sent to Malaya for that purpose. They were Captain L.D Gammans from the Conservative and Lieutenant Colonel David Rees Williams of the Labour Party.
The 2 Parliamentarian went to meet the Malays and their leaders in Johor Baru, Batu Pahat, Muar, Seri Menanti, Seremban, Kuala Lumpur, Kelang, Ipoh, Kuala Kangsar and Alor Setar.
They witnessed the protest of the Malays were very strong against the British Malayan Union and they began to submit that the newly formed Malayan Union and its Constitution couldn’t last long.
The 2 members of Parliament went back to England to submit reports of their findings that Malayan Union in the end may faced revolts from the Malays and the Union will not function well.
In actuality the Malayan Union was malfunctioning when all the Malays were not cooperating as expected by the British when they started initiating the Union.
In my next posting we should be able to visualize the consequences of event that follows to the dismantling of Malayan Union and the path towards the formation of the Federation and subsequently moving towards the independence.
Understanding the basic historical facts would not make us quarrel among ourselves if we are civil enough to appreciate each other in this already independent nation.
The only hick up this nation is facing is that it is not civilly managed by leaders who are not supposed to be leaders.
Thanks…………………………………………………….Aspan Alias
Malayan Union could have brought in catastrophe for the Malays as they were certain to loose their basic identity with the demise of the power of the Malay Rulers.
As I have mentioned in my last posting the Malay Congress which was held on the 1st of March 1946 was the catalyst to the birth of UMNO.
The Congress came up with strong stand against the British among the few which I still remember through my bits of readings of history were:-
1. The agreement that was signed by the Malay Rulers was unconstitutional as it was against the Malay wish and the said agreement was automatically null and void. The Malays did not recognize the agreement totally.
2. The agreement was signed without the knowledge of the Malays and it was going against the basic democracy that the British themselves practiced.
3. The proposed Malayan Union denied the power of the Malay Rulers over their respective states and instantaneously repealed the various agreements that had previously been signed between the British and the Malay Rulers. In effect it went head-on with the Atlantic Charter.
4. The formation of one single government through the Malayan Union was meant to do away with the 9 Malay Rulers and this was too hurting for the Malays.
5. The Congress also demanded the British Government to do serious and actual survey among the Malays in the Malayan Peninsular to find out whether Malayan Union was really accepted by the Malayan population.
6. And lastly the Congress demanded with firm assertion to withdraw the idea of Malayan Union totally.
The resolutions of the 4 day Congress was immediately conveyed to the Secretary to the British Colony in White Hall, London.
The British however was not taking the resistance by the Malays seriously as they believed that the Malays would not have the stamina to revolt against the idea of Malayan Union.
While the Malays were fighting hard to get back their states for their Malay Rulers, the immigrants who were not the citizen were supporting the idea of Malayan Union proposed Constitution as that was the only opportunity for them to get citizenship.
As long as they were not citizen they couldn’t participate in politics and to decide together for their future.
They were demanding that they being treated and provided the same of everything that the Malay Sultanates provide for their indigenous subject.
Emergency Malay Congress was called on the 30th of March in Kuala Lumpur to deal with the arrogance of the British.
Among the names of historical values who attended were Dato' Onn Ja'afar, Dato’ Hamzah Abdullah and Encik Zainal Abidin Ahmad(Za'aba) from Selangor, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra and Dato’ Nik Ahmad Kamil.
The emergency Congress on the 30th March was to decide on the next course of action to react against the impending installation of Sir Edward Gent as the Governor General of Malayan Union on the 1st of April.
On the day of the Congress some of the Malay Rulers were already at the Station Hotel in preparation to witness the installation of the Governor General of Malayan Union, who was to take over all their power and immunity as Rulers of their respective subjects for the past decades and centuries.
If my memory of history is still fine, there were 5 resolutions that the Congress decided.
1. The Malays must boycott the inauguration of Malayan Union and the Installation ceremony of the Governor General of the Malayan Union.
2. To put pressure on the 9 Malay Rulers to be absent on the Installation of the Governor General of the dubious Malayan Union.
3. The Malays were to mourn for 7 days by wearing on songkok with white stripe around it as a show of disapproval for the formation of the Malayan Union.
4. Electing Dato' Onn Ja'afar, Panglima Bukit Gantang Abdul Wahab, Dato’ Nik Ahmad Kamil and Za’aba to seek audience of the Malay Rulers who were already then in the Station Hotel Kuala Lumpur. They were to convey the very strong message of the Malays that they insisted the Malay Rulers not to attend the installation ceremony of the Malayan Union Governor General schedule just a day after that.
5. To call on all the Malays who were in any Legislative at the state and Federal level to boycott all meetings and not to cooperate with the British completely.
The Congress representatives went to seek the audience of the Malay Rulers at the Station Hotel in the early morning of the 1st April just before the installation of Sir Edward Gent as the Governor General of Malayan Union.
The 9 rulers went to the balcony of the hotel watching the exasperated Malays who came in thousands from every part of the Peninsular shouting ‘Daulat Tuanku, Daulat Tuanku, Daulat Tuanku!’.
They demanded for the Rulers abstention from attending the function that would admonish and obliterated the Malays in totality. It was only then that the Malay Rulers acknowledged how serious the Malays were and they really understood how the Malays loved and sacrificed for them.
It was only then that they realized that they cannot be a Ruler without their loyal subjects.
Meanwhile, the installation of the Malayan Union Governor still went on as usual without the representation of the Malay Rulers and every Malay organization. The sole Malay who attended was the ADC of the Governor Edward Gent, who was from the Malay Regiment.
At the same time there was massive demonstration nationwide by the Malays condemning the British for the heinous act of dismantling the Malays and their nation to fragmentation.
The Malays demanded the British to surrender the country back to the Malay Rulers and ruled the country like how it was before the Malayan Union was formed.
Simultaneously back in London the opposition Parliamentarians from the Conservative party were criticizing the ruling Labour party and the party was for maintaining the Malay status and condemned the British Government for their intention to give the immigrants the same status as the Malays in Malaya.
That intention to them would put the Malay indigenous in political oblivion and that was too immoral for the Conservative to stomach.
The Conservative were demanding that the British government to send British Parliamentarians from the major parties in England to see and evaluate the situation in Malaya especially the feelings of the Malays who were then continuously protesting at every corner of Peninsular Malaya.
In end of May 1946, a month after Malayan Union was formed two representatives from British Parliament was sent to Malaya for that purpose. They were Captain L.D Gammans from the Conservative and Lieutenant Colonel David Rees Williams of the Labour Party.
The 2 Parliamentarian went to meet the Malays and their leaders in Johor Baru, Batu Pahat, Muar, Seri Menanti, Seremban, Kuala Lumpur, Kelang, Ipoh, Kuala Kangsar and Alor Setar.
They witnessed the protest of the Malays were very strong against the British Malayan Union and they began to submit that the newly formed Malayan Union and its Constitution couldn’t last long.
The 2 members of Parliament went back to England to submit reports of their findings that Malayan Union in the end may faced revolts from the Malays and the Union will not function well.
In actuality the Malayan Union was malfunctioning when all the Malays were not cooperating as expected by the British when they started initiating the Union.
In my next posting we should be able to visualize the consequences of event that follows to the dismantling of Malayan Union and the path towards the formation of the Federation and subsequently moving towards the independence.
Understanding the basic historical facts would not make us quarrel among ourselves if we are civil enough to appreciate each other in this already independent nation.
The only hick up this nation is facing is that it is not civilly managed by leaders who are not supposed to be leaders.
Thanks…………………………………………………….Aspan Alias
06 July 2009
In defence of my race Part 1
As I have said in my posting weeks ago I emphasized that respecting each other is the basic call for everyone with faith in his religion and believes in the existence of the Almighty Creator.
As Malay I must admit that I am the son of the soil with all entities of the race as spelt and accepted by all in the Federal Constitution. Going against the Constitution is going against the nation.
For those who go against legitimate Constitution should morally find other land which they feel can give them comfort.
Whether we like it or not we are destined by our creator to live in succor in this country to respect and offer regards to this Nation which has thus far offer perfect sanctuary for harmonious living.
God exhibits his greatness by creating human being with no homogeneity and uniformity purely to respect and understand each other (race) and co-exist albeit all diversities.
There are dissimilarities in their minds, character, and personal capacity as well as looks and other aspects of human attributes and forms.
The history of each race is also different from each other; some of the races in the world exist for hundred of centuries while some race are new races which existed some centuries.
Chinese are among the earliest race of the world and its civilization started thousands of years ago. They have very long history and China is just not a great nation but it is civilization by itself and there is nothing that they don’t know in this world.
The history of China is very interesting to read and the writing of history is taken as serious subject to almost every literate Chinese.
It was a mandatory duty of every reigning dynasty then to write the history of the previous one; there are 24 of them and all have their history written and well documented for current and future generation to study.
The last of those dynasties, the Qing dynasty ruled China from 1644 until the peoples’ revolution in 1911.
The peoples’ revolution started decades before the Qing dynasty and before that revolutions succeeded many of the mainland Chinese already migrated to greener pasture.
Malaya which was then rich in tin deposits and other natural resources made the country became the essential point of the mainland Chinese migration exodus.
I am writing about the Chinese as the preamble of this article because as the race is the second biggest race in this country which contributes the development of the nation immensely and they are given the protection by the constitution even before the country achieved independence.
The Malays as the indigenous sons of the soil accepted the fact that while the Constitution provides them with special right and privileges, the Chinese are allowed to live independently as a rightful citizen of the country, free to practice their religion and faith, make proper living just like the Malays and they are protected by the constitution.
This constitutional understanding was meant to be in perpetuity and not to be questioned at any length. This has been agreed in contentious by our forefathers of all the races.
In exchange of granting citizenship, the Chinese agreed to the special rights of the Malays and not to question the immunity of the Malay Rulers as there is no Malay without a ruler.
This has been well and in politics each race was represented by each racial based party.
The Malays were represented by UMNO, the party formed after the culmination of various Malay organization with Nationalistic flavor when the Malays were threatened by many issues including the intended formation of Malayan Union by the British.
Malayan Union was purely intended to turn Malaya (the land of the Malays) to be British total Colony.
Sir Harold MacMichael landed in Port Swettenham (now Pelabuhan Kelang) on the Oct 11th 1945 to force the Malay Rulers to sign the handing over of their Malay States to the British.
The first among the Malay Rulers to sign was Sultan Ibrahim of Johore and within 2 months Sir Harold MacMichael accomplished his duty to get the Malay Rulers to agree to the proposed Malayan Union. By the 21st of December 1945 Harold MacMichael managed to convince every Malay Ruler to sign and to agree for the formation of Malayan Union.
On the 6th of January MacMichael sailed back to England to table the White Paper for the setting up of Malayan Union and the date was set to be on the 1st April 1946.
On the 22nd January 1946 the White Paper was tabled in the British Parliament and announced that The British Government’s plan to take over the Malay States from the Malay Rulers as from the 1st of April 1946.
Meanwhile the Malays were very crossed with their Malay Rulers for easily relenting to the British to give their country and government to the British.
The Malays through their various organizations met in Dewan Sultan Sulaiman Club and unanimously decided to press the Malay Rulers to withdraw their decision to surrender their respective states to the British.
These culminations of all Malay organizations called for united stand and moved towards achieving independence from the British and that was the moment UMNO was formed on the 11th of May 1946.
With the formation of UMNO (I mean the old one) the pressure on British to abandon the idea of the Malayan Union and now the Malays felt that an independent nation was the only course of movement here then.
Dato' Onn Ja'afar was unanimously elected by the Malays to lead the struggle and for the first time the Malays were united for that important mission, which was INDEPENDENCE.
Everyone knows this history but the current situation warrants some nice reminders as we are at the risk of damaging our Nation.
The continuation of this compressed history will be in two to three days time.
Thanks………………………………………………..Aspan Alias
As Malay I must admit that I am the son of the soil with all entities of the race as spelt and accepted by all in the Federal Constitution. Going against the Constitution is going against the nation.
For those who go against legitimate Constitution should morally find other land which they feel can give them comfort.
Whether we like it or not we are destined by our creator to live in succor in this country to respect and offer regards to this Nation which has thus far offer perfect sanctuary for harmonious living.
God exhibits his greatness by creating human being with no homogeneity and uniformity purely to respect and understand each other (race) and co-exist albeit all diversities.
There are dissimilarities in their minds, character, and personal capacity as well as looks and other aspects of human attributes and forms.
The history of each race is also different from each other; some of the races in the world exist for hundred of centuries while some race are new races which existed some centuries.
Chinese are among the earliest race of the world and its civilization started thousands of years ago. They have very long history and China is just not a great nation but it is civilization by itself and there is nothing that they don’t know in this world.
The history of China is very interesting to read and the writing of history is taken as serious subject to almost every literate Chinese.
It was a mandatory duty of every reigning dynasty then to write the history of the previous one; there are 24 of them and all have their history written and well documented for current and future generation to study.
The last of those dynasties, the Qing dynasty ruled China from 1644 until the peoples’ revolution in 1911.
The peoples’ revolution started decades before the Qing dynasty and before that revolutions succeeded many of the mainland Chinese already migrated to greener pasture.
Malaya which was then rich in tin deposits and other natural resources made the country became the essential point of the mainland Chinese migration exodus.
I am writing about the Chinese as the preamble of this article because as the race is the second biggest race in this country which contributes the development of the nation immensely and they are given the protection by the constitution even before the country achieved independence.
The Malays as the indigenous sons of the soil accepted the fact that while the Constitution provides them with special right and privileges, the Chinese are allowed to live independently as a rightful citizen of the country, free to practice their religion and faith, make proper living just like the Malays and they are protected by the constitution.
This constitutional understanding was meant to be in perpetuity and not to be questioned at any length. This has been agreed in contentious by our forefathers of all the races.
In exchange of granting citizenship, the Chinese agreed to the special rights of the Malays and not to question the immunity of the Malay Rulers as there is no Malay without a ruler.
This has been well and in politics each race was represented by each racial based party.
The Malays were represented by UMNO, the party formed after the culmination of various Malay organization with Nationalistic flavor when the Malays were threatened by many issues including the intended formation of Malayan Union by the British.
Malayan Union was purely intended to turn Malaya (the land of the Malays) to be British total Colony.
Sir Harold MacMichael landed in Port Swettenham (now Pelabuhan Kelang) on the Oct 11th 1945 to force the Malay Rulers to sign the handing over of their Malay States to the British.
The first among the Malay Rulers to sign was Sultan Ibrahim of Johore and within 2 months Sir Harold MacMichael accomplished his duty to get the Malay Rulers to agree to the proposed Malayan Union. By the 21st of December 1945 Harold MacMichael managed to convince every Malay Ruler to sign and to agree for the formation of Malayan Union.
On the 6th of January MacMichael sailed back to England to table the White Paper for the setting up of Malayan Union and the date was set to be on the 1st April 1946.
On the 22nd January 1946 the White Paper was tabled in the British Parliament and announced that The British Government’s plan to take over the Malay States from the Malay Rulers as from the 1st of April 1946.
Meanwhile the Malays were very crossed with their Malay Rulers for easily relenting to the British to give their country and government to the British.
The Malays through their various organizations met in Dewan Sultan Sulaiman Club and unanimously decided to press the Malay Rulers to withdraw their decision to surrender their respective states to the British.
These culminations of all Malay organizations called for united stand and moved towards achieving independence from the British and that was the moment UMNO was formed on the 11th of May 1946.
With the formation of UMNO (I mean the old one) the pressure on British to abandon the idea of the Malayan Union and now the Malays felt that an independent nation was the only course of movement here then.
Dato' Onn Ja'afar was unanimously elected by the Malays to lead the struggle and for the first time the Malays were united for that important mission, which was INDEPENDENCE.
Everyone knows this history but the current situation warrants some nice reminders as we are at the risk of damaging our Nation.
The continuation of this compressed history will be in two to three days time.
Thanks………………………………………………..Aspan Alias
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