So there you have it – in less than a week since historic election results in Malaysia, the old symptoms of a long term disease has reared their ugly heads. It is the disease of race based politics. Soon after the elections, you get stalwarts of the racist game like Anwar Ibrahim, saying things like the Chief Minister of Perak state must be a malay. Apparently the state constitution said so. Really? This election has been about change, has it not? Is a provision of the constitution based on race a good provision? Surely this is a great time to revisit this issue and work to change that provision? But of course not – this is one aspect which Anwar Ibrahim is happy to retain status quo. With people like Anwar Ibrahim helming things, Malaysia would remain largely unchanged. Lots of rhetoric for sure, but real change would not take place.With the Perak state chief minister issue causing consternation to Kit Siang, you see the real obstacle to reform and progress in Malaysia – the malay, and their leaders, remain adamant about maintaining an unequitable and unfair status in the country. Surely if change is what the people have voted for, change is what you seek to deliver to the best of your ability? Why cant for example, the state assemblymen agree amongst themselves, who the chief minister would be and bear the responsibility of explaining to their constituency the basis for the assemblymen’s collective decision? If that decision turns out to be choosing a malay as the CM, fantastic! If the choice was a chinese, equally fantastic! The basis however, must be that it is the choice of the assemblymen, not some pre-determined preference of racist leaders like Anwar Ibrahim.Anwar Ibrahim is merely new school UMNO. His PKR boys – ditto. Unfortunately, this is starting to look like a “same car, different driver” scenario. So what if UMNO lost big time – PKR is here to salvage matters and ensure business as usual in racist Malaysia.Actually Anwar could have been smarter about it – he could publicly state he believed there should be a fairer and more equitable basis to go about this and the decision should be left to the respective assemblymen. Their collective choice should be the determining factor. This would smell like a bunch of roses – it would suggest true democratic characteristics have started to define this newly elected bunch of representatives. Behind the scenes of course, he could use his considerable persuasive powers to suggest Malaysia should remain racist. What has he got to lose? He has another 5 years before he has to face the electorate and confront the fear of his malay voters thinking he is less malay. Nearer that date he could be a racist politician again and seek to win votes that way. Perhaps he is contemplating a by-election soon, as rumoured. Maybe he is asking a PKR guy to give up his seat so that this champion of the Malay race can ride again and he needs to play the unfortunate racist card to maintain his popularity. Maybe he simply isn’t smart enough. Not as smart as he is racist.

BN has been roundly beaten, with its tails tightly between its legs.

I believe Badawi (he who is elegantly silent) will now be under tremendous pressure from within. Najib and his dogs will follow this bloody trail to try and finish him off.

This, apart from the obvious interests as to the State governments of Penang, Kedah, Perak and Selangor, will be the agenda of the Malaysian political radar.

Very interesting indeed – a lot more interesting than Brendan Nelson, that’s for sure. Looks like Aussie Aussie Aussie is boring now. Even our cricket has been abysmal!

A few days ago, someone sent us an internet link to a video clip showing Anwar Ibrahim make some typically fiery speeches. He condemned the government in his usual effective and charismatic manner. His audience was largely ethnic Indians and the event was in Klang. His rousing call was for the Malays, Chinese and Indians to unite to throw out the present government.

Really? Does anyone really trust Anwar Ibrahim to abandon all preferential treatments for the Malay and really work for a truly equitable Malaysia? Why is it that he still sounded so convincing despite having been in government himself for so long? Anwar Ibrahim was a senior member of the BN government, a Deputy PM and a Finance Minister, no less. Under his watch, Islamisation and the Malay Agenda grew in prominence. In fact he championed these issues.

How can you fight for something so passionately for so long, only to abandon it and work in a completely opposite (for NEP) direction not too long after? He has been out of government for less than 10 years. He was in government for more than that – what- 15 years? He started championing his racist policies when he was probably the Education Minister, or perhaps earlier, when he was ABIM leader. He was a Deputy PM for what – 5 years? All through that time, he continued pushing his Islamisation programs and continued upholding preferential treatments for the Malays and added fuel to his racist and bigoted policies.

Sure, he has now called for the abolition of NEP. But he would now, wouldn’t he? He knows PKR is powerless and has nowhere near the electoral appeal, acceptance and presence of PAS or DAP. He certainly has no hope of matching his influence and power while in government as one of those UMNO goons many now deride. In fact many still see PKR as just another bunch of disaffected ex UMNO goons, all hoping to ride on Anwar’s coat tails to what they perceive as their rightful places to receive and dish out favours. Characters like Tian Chua are die-hard political activists anyway, who would much sooner attend a political rally than sit down and put his head down to work out a plan to improve or correct something which is wrong with the country. If I recall correctly, Nalla (like many before him) left when they realised who PKR really were.

Anwar knows he needs a cause, a platform, to again launch one of his numerous attempts to gain traction in the national political arena. What more prominent basis can he find than the NEP? Would he for example, openly declare that university opportunities, for intakes of students as well as for promotion and research grants for academic and administration staff, be equal for all races if he is elected? If he shies away from promising true equality, how can he expect a united front to “throw out the BN government”? Quid pro quo, as Hannibal liked to say. What can you do for me, Agent Starling? What can you do for the Chinese and Indians, Anwar? Nothing? Then why do you expect them to unite for your party?

Which brings one to a more basic question – is the PKR (or anyone in Opposition for that matter) – ready to form an alternative government? They do not even have a shadow cabinet. I suppose with the usual dirty tricks of the BN it is hardly a threat that they (BN) will lose their 2/3 majority, let alone lose government.
I mean one can imagine mysterious and fraudulent shipping of truckloads of votes to whichever constituency needing protection, deploy the police if need be to stifle protests, have the press report the matter any which way it pleases and appear the grateful victor of yet another mandate. The victims of systematic electoral fraud can wring their hands, clog up cyberspace with their chest thumping pieces in blogs and cyber media and lodge a few complaints with some obscure international agencies. At the end of the day BN retains government.

In that sense I suppose there is no real danger of the Opposition actually winning enough seats to throw out BN. In fact the rallying cry is to “deny BN 2/3 majority” and not to throw BN out. So Anwar’s call for Malays, Chinese and Indians to unite is a bit of a wank, if you pardon my French. Anwar was being Anwar – full of rhetoric. Charismatic maybe, but rhetorically so. He knows he cant form a government. So what made him say those things? Crowd pleasing, charismatic rhetorical orator – that’s Anwar Ibrahim.
It’s shocking but probably true – that the BN is expected to cheat in this forthcoming election, to ensure victory. The only ones who can prevent large scaled, systematic fraud are BN goons themselves and they use this in their internal fights. And there have been some serious internal fights. It has been rumoured for example, that Najib Razak is pulling all stops to make Badawi look bad and risk losing his parliamentary seat in Kepala Batas.

So notwithstanding very positive vibes on the ground (and in cyberspace) suggesting the Opposition has great traction this time around, no one is seriously contemplating defeat for the BN. The mood is probably positive enough to suggest there may be a threat to the 2/3 majority the BN has enjoyed for a very long time. Unless of course, BN pulls off its usual bag of tricks, which it will almost certainly do.
If the Opposition fare badly despite all the sentiments and it becomes clear that there is more than a hint of impropriety which caused this debacle, what does the future hold for Malaysia? What saving grace would there be to safeguard the integrity and indeed, the future of the country? Whence would deliverance come?

We have seen countries like Russia, Pakistan and the Philippines, where the people protested in very strong terms when they think they’ve been duped at the polling stations. They refused to be cheated repeatedly and made their discontent well known. Would that happen in Malaysia? Or is the fraudulent electoral practice a largely unnoticed matter amongst the larger masses and is therefore not strongly resisted? Perhaps then that is where the efforts of the campaigns should be focused on – to highlight, amongst these masses, the real potential for these frauds and to coax them to be extra vigilant in its prevention? Perhaps when the general unheard masses are clearly told of these malpractices of their government to date, then they can think about doing something about it.

On Saturday we meant to take the parents of a good mate of mine, to lunch. We ended up going to restaurant near their house and his parents ended up paying for that lunch. It was a little embarrassing for us, because we had been the ones to organise this and suddenly we found ourselves becoming the guests instead. One of my mate’s young sons had wanted to go to the toilet so I took him there. When I came back that little boy’s grandfather had taken away the billing slip (it was a yum-cha lunch). It could well have been a ploy between grandfather, father and that little 2-year old to deprive us of the chance to treat them to lunch and if so I should have been on to it because that little rascal had been going to the toilet every 5 minutes.
Anyway the lunch was very good – it was at the Taipan restaurant in Doncaster East and the service was prompt and courteous which was a welcomed change for a Chinese restaurant in Melbourne.
I wonder why Chinese restaurants have such notoriously bad service. The waiters and waitresses rarely smile, get visibly upset when you ask for things and often throw you a repartee which is curt and rude and unwelcomed. I guess many put up with it either because that’s how waiters and waitresses behaved in Chinese restaurants all over the world or that the food is often very good and cheaper than in other restaurants.

I often find it very unacceptable however and on many occasions, have made my displeasures known. We once went to the Jarrah Room on Spencer Street just across the street from the station. It was shockingly bad service. The waiter was pushing us around, taking our stuff and chucking it on the table and was ordering us to make way to let them put in more tables, when the restaurant got a bit crowded!! Of course I didn’t budge and they had to settle for a very unhappy but stubborn customer plonked in the middle of their path but if only they behaved better throughout and asked politely it would have been a non-issue with us. If you are living in Melbourne and are reading this – avoid the Jarrah Room on Spencer Street like a plague. The food is nothing to write home about and you’d get much service in a funeral parlour run by Dennis Wise.

It is however, very different with Vietnamese restaurants. Maybe it is just a trait with these Hong Kong or China trained waiting staff and that is just normal behaviour for them. We visit Vietnamese restaurants frequently and rarely ever faced such problems. There’s a shop in the Centro at The Glen which you should also avoid like a plague – this is the “Udon”. The food is very ordinary but God help you if you are served by a small sharp-faced lady in particular. She is in a perpetually fouled mood and she just shows you that foul mood without any attempt to sugar coat it. If ever you needed something other than what they habitually provide, she will snap and let you know in no uncertain terms, that you are out of line. I had my last meal there many many months ago and it would take an extremely hungry me with no other choice before I go there ever again.

On the other hand like I said earlier, Vietnamese places are often much better behaved. Take for example this place in Glen Waverley called The Proud Peacock. The food is reasonably priced, it has a few gems on its menu (try the deep fried whole flounder with spicy sauce) and the service is almost always extremely good. It is almost always very busy but we have never had bad attitude shown us by any of their waiters or waitresses. Tress and I like this place very much and kiddo too, is slowly coming round to liking it. As a result of the fantastic efforts the place constantly dishes out, we have come to even be friends with the proprietor, who is a young, hardworking and ambitious lady.

My mate’s parents however, appear to enjoy eating at home as opposed to eating out. The mum was a bit quiet during lunch but after that, when we went to their house for a visit and catch-up, she opened up and was very chatty. She was definitely more comfortable there and enjoyed the company more than at the restaurant. They are returning to Malaysia in a few days and would be away from my mate’s 3 young boys. These boys would miss their grandparents, who are in their mid-80’s. Even though they travelled business class, the trip must have been made with heaps of efforts and I don’t know if they would want to come again. We met them again on Tuesday night, in my mate’s home. That could well have been our last opportunity to interact with them.
 

My google starting page has 3 blog feeds, 2 of which are maintained for Kit Siang and Jeff Ooi respectively. I thought they have been maintained fairly well until about 2 days ago. Suddenly the updates were less frequent, I feel. It must be their business with campaign activities.

Someone mentioned in an email yesterday, that in over a week since parliament was dissolved for the forthcoming general elections, she has yet to meet a single person who has voiced support for the ruling coalition, BN.

Maybe it is the crowd she hangs out with. Maybe not, because she is a businesswoman running an IT company with a wide ranging contacts. She did say later on, that while she may have little doubt that there would be large swings away from the BN in the urban areas, the rural areas are less predictable. She suggested rural areas electorates are more susceptible to illegal election activities such as money inducements and I couldn’t disagree.

I guess rural electorates, especially malay ones, would be more susceptible to media and pecuniary influences. I wonder though, what the distribution of voters is like, as between urban and rural. Intuitively I would have thought the figures would probably skew towards urban by now. I wonder if that means there would a real chance of the opposition making real inroads this time around. That would pose very interesting potentials scenarios.

I wonder though what this would mean for peace and stability. Would UMNO be bloody minded again and cause disturbances if they were to lose this election? It would be hard to imagine people like Ali Rustam and Khir Toyo peaceably surrendering power to the elected victors.

PM Apology – Would Malaysian Indian Get It?
13 February was a historic day in the annals of Australia. On that day, the Prime Minister formally apologised to the aboriginal people for what happened to the “stolen generation”. This was meant to refer to a generation of aboriginal children who were taken from their families to live in a white Australia setting. Never mind that the motivation could have been the welfare of the aboriginal children themselves and never mind that there was in fact a scarcity of such a “generation”. There were apparently only a handful of such incidents (where aboriginal children were removed from their families to live with white Australia), never enough to be termed a “generation”. The point I think, was that there was sufficient collective guilt on the part of white Australia to bring about this formal and extremely public apology.
This may sound unfair to my indian friends in Malaysia but to make a point, I am going to say the indian community is the Malaysian equivalent of the aboriginal community in Australia. The comparison is especially apt to illustrate the disadvantaged positions of each group in their respective countries. They are marginalized in education and employment opportunities. Their share in the nations’ wealth is next to nothing.
Can you imagine anyone in government, let alone the head, formally and publicly apologizing? Even after tens of thousands have taken to the streets to air their grievances, the government has refused to act or even acknowledge the problem. Instead, it has thrown community leaders into jail, made wild and unfounded allegations and generally behaved like the Indian’s legitimate cry for help is a pesky little nuisance which has to be stamped out in a hurry so that it would stop annoying the ruling elite and interrupt their gold digging activities.
It is no secret that malays think somehow indians are congenitally inferior creatures. I wonder why this thinking persists in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. India is increasingly viewed as a world giant in so many aspects of life. For a while (when the stock market soared) it had the world richest man. Its companies are world class, providing consulting and expert service all across the globe. Manmohan Singh, its Prime Minister, is eminently more qualified and I would not be surprised if it can put the entire Malaysian cabinet in his pocket with acres of space to spare. Its sporting prowess is fast reclaiming lost ground. In our recent trip to Malaysia I couldn’t help following its very successful hockey junior world cup team. In Australia its cricket team is giving the world champion a more than fair whack, threatening to dethrone the mighty but sometimes arrogant Aussies. Its young team, especially the bowlers are giving as good as it gets – often better.  What made the malay think he is better than the indian?
 

From: Teh, Ian
Sent: Thursday, 14 February 2008 10:55 AM
To:
Subject: Parliament has been dissolved on 13.02.2008

(Sorry to go on but this is an area which often grabs me…)

I sincerely believe DAP can become a viable alternative in its own right. Kit Siang has demonstrated consistently high standards of integrity and altruism which stands out like a beacon in the heap of mess that is Malaysian politics. Guan Eng may be his son and this tends to attract accusations of nepotism but Guan Eng’s track record is as good as if not better than most of the other candidates as a future leader of DAP. His status as Kit Siang’s son would not have mattered much in the selection criteria. I was initially attracted to DAP because of Guan Eng’s actions in defending the Malay girl who was abused by the Malacca MB. If you remember that incident, that girl was 15 years old and Guan Eng spoke out in her defence, defying a court order not to and went to jail for that. He served over a year in jail, I think, and was disqualified as a practising accountant as a result. When he was imprisoned, I attended my first rally/protest by participating in a vigil outside the then High Court complex (opposite Merdeka square).

Unfortunately, DAP in the past has been associated with the working/trading class of the Chinese community and the candidates it offered are often hard workers but inarticulate and could not formulate alternative plans and policies. This has changed. It is now a party with many respected professionals and large business owners from all races. Recent high profiled recruits posing as very good potential candidates include Jeff Ooi (a bit narcissistic at times but otherwise smart and hardworking and a good communicator), Ishwar Atthapan (lawyer and investment banker, built up very successful corporate advisory outfit and son of ex MIC leader), and someone (I forget his name) who built up a prominent listed IT consultancy before selling up to be full time politician. The problem is to counter the monopoly the BN has over the media and the lies BN perpetuates through this monopoly. DAP has a mountain to climb to overcome this handicap and communicate its credentials to the electorate.

I don’t trust PKR and Anwar. I think the legacy issues it has with UMNO means many are there simply to get back to power on the coat tails of Anwar instead of a genuine desire to build a better and more equitable society. The legacy of bigotry (racial and religious) and corruption remains with the current generation of PKR candidates and would not take much to creep back in if they are given half a chance.

PAS’s raison d’être remains unacceptable.

Ian Teh

——————————————————————————–

From:
Sent: Thursday, 14 February 2008 9:44 AM
To: Teh, Ian
Subject: Re: RE: FW: Parliament has been dissolved on 13.02.2008

I agree. I think like Barack Obama in the US, Anwar could well gain momentum and regain some lost loyalties and acceptability. I think the opposition knows well that they need someone charismatic like Anwar to unite them where they could work under. Anwar is afterall quite acceptable to the Islam fundamentalist and whilst suspicious could be an acceptable compromise to DAP and some segments of the Chinese population…yeah so exciting this and next election, wow ! Need to pray for our love ones still there…

> Teh, Ian <Ian.Teh@aig.com> wrote:
>
> I suspect there will be large protest vote against Abdullah. He will
> lose most Indian votes, Christian votes (although insignificant) and
> large chunks of Chinese votes. Whether he retains the 2/3 majority
> depends on how much of the Chinese votes he loses and whether there
> are enough Malays who are more frustrated by the incompetence and
> corruption than their desire to protect their own interests.
>
>
> Anwar remains charismatic but has lost a lot of his earlier
> acceptability as an alternative leader. The only thing going for him,
> apart from his charisma, is that he is the only smart one (or appears
> to be) in that generation of leaders.
>
>
> But yes, definitely an interesting election to watch.
>
>
>
> Ian Teh
>
>
> _____
>
> From:
> Sent: Thursday, 14 February 2008 8:59 AM
> To: Teh, Ian
> Subject: Re: FW: Parliament has been dissolved on 13.02.2008
>
>
>
> Thanks Ian ! I think this will be interesting in that it will really
> show the guts of the Malaysian public…btw, I read that Anwar’s wife
> has indicated that she will vacate her seat (if elected) for Anwar
> after the election when he is allowed back into the political arena,
> so a by election and who knows what’s going to happen next…
>
> Cheerio
>
>
>
> > _____
> >
> > From:
>
> > Sent: Wednesday, 13 February 2008 6:22 PM
> > To: Teh, Ian;

> > Subject: Parliament has been dissolved on 13.02.2008
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Subject: Parliament has been dissolved on 13.02.2008
> >
> > KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) – Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah
> > Ahmad Badawi dissolved parliament Wednesday to pave the way for snap
> > elections which are expected to see the ruling coalition’s majority
> > eroded.
> >
> > Abdullah’s popularity has plummeted as the nation is beset by
> > mounting racial tensions, unprecedented street protests, anger over
> > rising fuel and food prices, and high crime rates.
> >
> > Announcing that the king had consented to dissolve parliament,
> > Abdullah indicated he did not expect a repeat of the 2004 landslide
> > when the Barisan Nasional coalition seized some 90 percent of
> > parliamentary seats.
> >
> > “2004 was a special election and it was extraordinary. I pray that
> > BN will get at least two-thirds of the votes in the upcoming election,”
> > he told a press conference.
> >
> > “I hope voters will understand the issues affecting our country
> > objectively,” he said, adding that the Election Commission would
> > decide on the polling date.
> >
> > Voting must be held 60 days after parliament is dissolved, but the
> > government traditionally allows just a two-week campaign period,
> > which would mean the ballot in early March.
> >
> > Abdullah appealed for calm during the campaign, in an apparent
> > reference to a string of public rallies over the past few months
> > which police have broken up with tear gas and water cannon.
> >
> > “My hope is that during the voting, nothing untoward will happen —
> > there will be no disturbances or trouble that will affect the voting
> > process,”
> > he
> > said.
> >
> > Abdullah heads the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) which
> > leads the Barisan Nasional (Nasional Front) multi-racial coalition
> > that holds 200 of the 219 seats in parliament.
> >
> > The Chinese-based Democratic Action Party holds 12, the
> > fundamentalist Islamic party PAS has six and Keadilan which is led
> > by the wife of dissident former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim has one seat.
> >
> > The government’s term expires only in May 2009 and some commentators
> > say it is going to the polls early to ensure Anwar cannot contest.
> > He was sacked and jailed in 1998 and is barred from politics until
> > April this year.
> >
> > In the next elections, there will be 222 seats contested due to the
> > creation of new constituencies. The assemblies in the 12 states and
> > territories will also be contested.
> >
> > DAP parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang condemned the
> > election announcement which falls during celebrations for Chinese
> > New
> Year.
> >
> > “I think it shows a disregard and insensitivity of the diverse
> > cultures and religions in the country,” he told Agence France-Presse.
> >
> > UMNO was also criticised for holding its annual talks during the
> > Deepavali festival which is celebrated by Malaysia’s minority ethnic
> > Indian community
> > — an incident Lim condemned as a “debacle.”
> >
> > On Tuesday, Abdullah had tried to quell the rumours that he would
> > dissolve parliament on the 13th — his favourite number — telling
> > reporters “No, it won’t be tomorrow”.
> >
> > Lim slammed the premier for the about-face.
> >
> > “I think it’s most disgraceful and shocking after the assurance
> > yesterday evening that there would not be a dissolution today,” he
> > said.
> >

So the Malaysian general elections will be held on 8 March. If recent events are anything to go by, the current administration is a very unpopular one, and rightly so. It is incompetent, lazy, corrupt and has no idea how to take the country forward. It ought to do badly in the elections. The opposition and reform minded sections of the community hopes to take away the 2/3 majority the ruling coalition has held since independence. However, the incumbency and corrupt tendencies also mean it is well placed to ensure retention of 2/3 majority. It can, as it has done in previous elections, monopolise all media space be it electronic or print. It can deploy irregular voters (phantom and army votes). It can blatantly disregard election laws on campaigning and for polling day. If in spite of these advantages it loses its 2/3 majority, the sense of anger and frustration seething within the electorate must have been immense.
It will lose the Indian votes by the truckloads. It will also lose votes from the Christian community but this is insignificant. It will lose votes large swathes of Chinese votes. The critical questions are what is the extent of Chinese votes which would be lost and whether the Malays are also sufficiently disillusioned or would they remain happy to vote the BN in to retain and protect their privileged positions? It would certainly be a very interesting election.

In a recent interview, Lee Kuan Yew said Singapore is exposed to a danger of disrespect of international law. He was clearly referring to either Malaysia or Indonesia. My bet is he was speaking specifically about Malaysia. He thinks Malaysia will, given half a chance, lay siege. He thinks the reason for that is that Singapore is a painful reminder to Malaysia that Malaysia has been badly mismanaged by perpetuating racist policies. Singapore stares down at Malaysia and says “see what you could have been? You choose instead to take the racist and destructive path”. No one likes to be reminded that he has been wrong, that he has made a mistake. Malaysia has been a mistake for a long time now. You can’t right a wrong unless you first accept that there has been a wrong. Instead of acknowledging that the racist path has been wrong and has been bad for the country including the Malays, it continues with to not only travel down this path but lies and tell the country that it is the best path.Give the Chinese and Indians more equal opportunities and the whole country would be better off. But no, Malaysian leaders in their collective wisdom, decide instead to behave in the most bloody minded and idiotic way. The following is an extract of the interview: Lee:  Where are we? Are we in the Caribbean? Are we next to America like the Bahamas? Are we in the Mediterranean, like Malta, next to Italy? Are we like Hong Kong, next to China and therefore, will become part of China?  
We are in Southeast Asia, in the midst of a turbulent, volatile, unsettled region. Singapore is a superstructure built on what? On 700 square kilometers and  a lot of smart ideas that
have worked so far but the whole thing could come undone very quickly.

For this to work, you require a world where there are some rules of international law and there is a balance of forces of power that will  enforce that international law and the U.S. is foremost in that. Without that balance of power and international law, the Vietnamese will still be in Cambodia and the Indonesians will still be in East Timor, right? Why are they out? Because there were certain norms that had to be observed. You can’t just cross boundaries. This little island with four and a half million people, of whom 1.3 are foreigners working here, has got to maintain an army, navy and an air force. Can we withstand a concerted attempt to besiege us and blockade us? We can repel an attack, yes. Given the armed forces in the region and our capability, we can repel and we can damage them. Three weeks, food runs out, we are besieged, blockaded.

QUESTION Who will come after you? Who would come after you?
Lee:  There are assets here to be captured, right?
QUESTION Some unnamed bad regime?
Lee:  When [Malaysia] kicked us out [in 1965], the expectation was that we would fail and we will go back on their terms, not on the terms we agreed with them under the British. Our problems are not just between states, this is a problem between races and religions and civilizations. We are a standing indictment of all the things that they can be doing differently. They have got all the resources.  If they would just educate the Chinese and Indians, use them and treat them as their citizens, they can equal us and even do better than us and we would be happy to rejoin them.

I recently read a book on the racial clashes in Malaysia in 1969. Written by Dr Kua Kia Soong, it was simply titled “May 13”. May 13, amongst Malaysian Chinese, conjures up ugly images. It is however, an ugliness perpetuated by the Malays, particularly the Malays in the dominant ruling party of UMNO. May 13 is consistent with what others wrote about the issue of racial bullying in Malaysia. Lee Kuan Yew for example, wrote about the different treatments received by Malay and Chinese at different times when the races clashed. Kua Kia Soong gave similar accounts.The Malay police would shoot at Chinese homes indiscriminately and would be very harsh with Chinese presence on the streets during curfew hours, even shoot at them. On the other hand, they would sit around and share a joke with Malay rioters, who often still have their weapons in hand.The biggest culprit was UMNO. It was clearly they who started and was fully responsible for the tragedy. Tun Abdul Razak had blood on his hands. There have been suggestions that the riots were okayed by him personally. While his motivation may not have been racially based at the first instance, he ignited deep seated racist sentiments which have always simmered away and never fully abated in most part of the country. His son Najib Razak the current Deputy Prime Minister, continues to threaten to have more Chinese blood on his hands. If he is not careful, or indeed if he continues to remain deliberately callous towards sensitivities of other races, he may well ignite yet another chapter of similar tragedy. I don’t know the extent of damage May 13 inflicted on the lives and psyche of Malaysians, particularly those of the Chinese. Until recently, those who remembered May 13 still fear voting for the opposition. UMNO has taken advantage of this and has repeatedly used this fear tactic in every election since. I wonder if one of the effects of May 13 is a tendency to stick to one’s own race. When we were in Klang recently, I asked if any one in Tress’ family has deliberately or naturally walked into an Indian restaurant to have a meal. Apart from the roti canai, I challenged them to name even a handful of dishes one can order in an Indian restaurant. For as long as I could remember, Chinese in Malaysia have always referred to food and ways of lives of other races as “their food” or “their ways” in demeaning and belittling ways, in ways which leave the listeners in no doubt that they thought the Indians’ ways and foods to be inferior.The racist tendency abounds. Many feel the same way. The nasty joke that if you see an Indian and a snake on the road which you’d run over, is often repeated, even amongst “respectable” circles. Racism rules in Malaysia.