Tunku Abdul Rahman: "Bapa Kemerdekaan"
Tun Abdul Razak: "Bapa Pembangunan"
Tun Hussein Onn: "Bapa Perpaduan" or as some say "Bapa Maintain/ Bapa Neutral".
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad: "Bapa Pemodenan".
Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi: "Bapa Batik"
I don't know if anyone of you have given any thought to what "Bapa" Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak would be at the end of his premiership. Definitely not "Bapa Altantuya" yes.....? "Bapa 1Malaysia" perhaps?
Well that might have been so, if he did not literally rip his shirt open Superman style on the night of May 5 and reveal to the nation what a racist he truly is. He coined the term 'Chinese tsunami' and blamed it on Barisan Nasional's poor showing at the polls.
Najib might conveniently forget this at some point in the future. But the enlightened electorate never will. In fact future generations to come will know of this too. He has carved a place for himself in history as "Bapa Racist"
And this from a man whose coalition partner spent a huge amount of money to bring Korean sensation Psy to Malaysia. Before the elections Najib pulled some moves to endear himself to the Chinese and yes even the Indians. Remember "Nambikei"?
Post elections when it was obvious his efforts got him nowhere, he turned sour on the Chinese. If this blatant racism stopped at Najib, fine, no big deal, no problem. But what starts at the top, trickles down into society.
Blame the Chinese
Utusan Malaysia took up the chant with their editorial "Apa lagi Cina mahu". As any intelligent person will know. Najib and gang are fully aware that this is a "Urban tsunami" not a "Chinese tsunami". But one of the secrets of BN's success all these decades has been the concept of 'divide and rule'. When all else fails, they will resort to this.
Keep the rakyat divided. Put fear in the hearts of the Malays that the Chinese want a bigger share of the political pie, and thus the status-quo will remain. But those who make up the "Urban tsunami" are no fools.
Unfortunately there are some who have taken up Najib's chant. To be honest I think these people are racist, you have to be racist to take what Najib said seriously. A few Chinese friends have told me that they have been subjected to racist comments in the office post-elections.
Now who started this? A true statesman would never have uttered those words. Which is why he is deserving of that epitaph.
Comments
Nywy, abt Najib, I think your have to excuse his reaction.
He really went all out to get non-Malay support for BN, giving unprecedented help to non-Malay education, religious activities, etc, against the wishes of UMNO warlords and right-wingers. Non-Malay's rejection must have been severe disappointment to him.
Now he has to contend with backlash fr the UMNO hardliners. Chances are he will lose coming UMNO elections. At least, if he has non-Malay support, he can use that as a plus point in that battle, to project himself as the best PM material. Now, he has nothing to show. Any Ahmad and Ali can put him down in current situation, not to mention the great TDM lurking in the background.
My personal feeling is, Najib is the only potential PM material among the UMNO top guns. All others are worse choice. Political reality in UMNO president will be BN chairman, thereby be the PM. If he loses the UMNO battle, we non-Malay will be facing worse times.
When a PM says something like that, the ripple effect will be felt in society. Many non-Malays, not just Chinese were very angered by that statement. Some people took what he said as an opportunity to be racist against the Chinese. As a PM he should unite the rakyat, not say things that create divisions in society.
I think it is about time that racism and racial issues is taken out of politics, and also race-based parties. We are all Malaysians after all, time to be more colour blind.