I have, in some perverted and completely self-centered sense, actually enjoyed the floods. For a change, i could forget about politics for a while, get my old camera gear out, and take images on film, both medium format and 135 film. No more running around keeping up with information, as i do not even understand the basics of water management. The floods were some of the most surreal experiences of my life, wading through chest high water in otherwise extremely busy roads, going by boat through industrial housing estates inundated with two to three meters, or even more, of water, high rise condos and factories sticking out. I was feeling as if i was in the middle of a Hollywood movie.
Reading newspapers was a weird experience, every journalist with about as much clue about about water management as i have suddenly knew the ins and outs of the floods and who made which mistakes.
Walking around areas such as Don Muang and Bang Plad i found most people who remained actually coping quite well with the difficulties, considering the circumstances. Quite similar as my neighborhood in Nonthaburi’s Klong Mahasawat community coped when we were inundated for three months in the ’95 floods. Only then there was neither media frenzy nor volunteers swarming over the area. Then we were left alone mostly. The first week of the flood a small medic’s boat came by our house, distributed paracetamol and a few other basics. Only when the end of the flood was announced, politicians suddenly saw the need to come to our aid, which was hilarious. Twice a day we paddled with our boats to receive aid packages of rice and dried stuff. One package even contained condoms. In these last two weeks we received enough aid to last us months.
People in the village lost much. Most lived from fruit orchards which after three months of water were completely destroyed. Still though, they took it with stoicism. Flood are not exactly unknown in Thailand.
The silliness of the flood discussion today is at times a bit overwhelming for me. Accepting the bad of the floods, the incredible losses people have to endure, and the unbelievable amount of thievery in abandoned areas (strangely enough there was very little media attention focused on this rather nasty aspect of the floods), and regardless the greed of some boat operator mafias, the floods also brought people together, helping each other, and slowing life down.
Water is already going down again, slowly, and politics will soon be up. And of course everybody will have an opinion on the flood, knowing exactly why this or the other side caused the flood, explaining along charts what they would have done to avoid it. Oh, well… 😉
Agreed that UMNO is abusing Islam to maintain control and power just as in other Islamic countries. As individuals, most Muslims are very nice and conscientious people but as a community and group, they are somehow driven by “herd” mentality and one cannot help but attribute such influence to Islamic teachings.
Many Muslim groups, especially in democratic countries, are trying to reform the religion to be in conformity with modern times and we sincerely hope that they would be able to play down the unsavory Quranic verses and bring to the fore the inspirational ones. May they succeed in this praise-worthy quest.
Mallika is on the rampage again — of course she is a smooth talker because she is a former TV reporter. She gave interesting answer when asked why she decided to join Democrat party:
I’m putting no such blame on Islam at all! What i was commenting on was the political construct of religio-racial identities in Malaysia today. As UMNO is unable to beat the drum of racial supremacism like it used to in the 70s and 80s, religion is now the new tool but its strategy remains the same – Malay superiority.
Being Malay and being Muslim are exactly the same thing in Malaysia (hence my reason to refer them as ‘Malay-Muslim’ instead of ‘Malay Muslim’). These dual identities are inseparable since the years under colonial rule – in fact it possibly grew stronger during colonialism but i’m no historian.
I am merely highlighting this as many Malaysians are unable to see through the present spin constructed for political purposes. Divide and conquer remains the best weapon for most post-colonial strong states including Malaysia. As i said in my last post, religion is merely a disguise of what is, and consistently has been a racial issue.
My second point is religious in nature but it refers to the attitudes shared by many religions (not just Islam). Supremacist attitudes of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ and ‘us’ against ‘them’ will continually divide; and not unite a nation so long as it exist. I believe my comments are consistent with the themes discussed in this board. But i apologize if anyone misunderstood me.
I have to disagree with you on the “not the best and brightest” leading Malaysia. Those guys in BN (mainly UMNO) are pretty damn smart. They just lack morals and compassion.
Being corrupt, vicious, and uncaring is nt the hallmark of “daft” people. It is the hallmark of people lacking in compassion. In the words of the “Buddhists” – have not attain a high level of humanity (in the sense of spiritual attainment)
I wasn’t asserting that the Malays are the superior race in Malaysia. I believe in human value and equality too much to assert such.
What I did mean was that perhaps they are perceived to be the superior race not merely by racial lineage but also due to their religion.
I believe that the intention in the constitution, article 153 was to ensure that as the ‘aborigines’ of Malaysia, the Malays should be protected from oppression and loss of opportunities by ensuring they have placements in civil service, job opportunities and education. This practice is extremely common in many countries, just to ensure that the aborigines do not lose out, especially since with time, they end up becoming a minority due to massive immigration.
However, what the current Malaysia government has been doing for the past 5o years or so was not ensuring that the Malays are NOT oppressed, but to ensure that they themselves achieve a level of superiority socio-politically in the name of their race and religion. And the danger of it all, is that they have convinced a number of Malays that they are doing this for the good of the Malays, to ensure that they do not lose out. Which is pretty much a blatant lie, as we can see that the only people who seem to have benefited much from this policy are the crooked politician themselves and their families. If you know what i mean.
I wasn’t asserting that the Malays are the superior race in Malaysia. I believe in human value and equality too much to assert such.
What I did mean was that perhaps they are perceived to be the superior race not merely by racial lineage but also due to their religion.
I believe that the intention in the constitution, article 153 was to ensure that as the ‘aborigines’ of Malaysia, the Malays should be protected from oppression and loss of opportunities by ensuring they have placements in civil service, job opportunities and education. This practice is extremely common in many countries, just to ensure that the aborigines do not lose out, especially since with time, they end up becoming a minority due to massive immigration.
However, what the current Malaysia government has been doing for the past 5o years or so was not ensuring that the Malays are oppressed, but to ensure that they themselves achieve a level of superiority socio-politically in the name of their race and religion. And the danger of it all, is that they have convinced a number of Malays that they are doing this for the good of the Malays, to ensure that they do not lose out. Which is pretty much a blatant lie, as we can see that the only people who seem to have benefited much from this policy are the crooked politician themselves and their families. If you know what i mean.
I use ubuntu linux and so have added a line to the file named /etc/hosts
173.236.219.196 prachatai.com
The idea is that when the browser asks the system to resolve prachatai.com to an IP address the system will look in the hosts file first and not even bother going over the wire for resolution.
I think, In Town, that Amphon and the rest must be freed! The Royal Thai Government will term it a pardon, but HM the King must FREE them!
What are we to think of HM the King if he does not?
I think, tom hoy, that the Royal Thai Government has embarked upon a program of ‘jamming’ the internet… that’s how the ‘authorities’ in the US used to describe the activities behind the ‘Iron Curtain’ when I was young in the US. They ‘jammed’ … primarily the radio in those days.
Browsers seem to vary as to what they report as the problem when they cannot deliver. Firefox told me explicitly that the domain could not be resolved… translated from ‘prachatai.com’ or ‘prachatai3.info’ to an IP address as the protocol requires to reach a server.
I tried to ‘dig’ out the address from the console here in Thailand and from a console in the US… and got the same message of unresolvability… no nameservers were reachable. Which makes me wonder who is helping whom?
I used ‘whois’ to discover the domain’s registrar and the ‘master’ DNS server and using that server, ns1.name.com, was able to get prachatai’s server address, 173.236.219.196, even during the interval that DNS was being jammed.
But it is of no use as, like most hosted domains, prachatai is hosted ‘virtually’ with several domains being served by the same physical machine, and all sharing the same IP address. Apache, or whatever webserver is in use, discriminates among them on the basis of the domain name to which a given request is addressed. The browser needs to send an IP protocol message to the physical server encapsulating an HTTP protocol message addressed to prachatai.com or prachatai3.info in this case.
Perhaps it’s possible to have firefox and/or other browsers use the unsubverted, master DNS to resolve a given domain to obtain the IP address.
If anyone has information on how to subvert this latest subversion of the internet… the jamming going on behind – and outside of, remarkably – the Royal Thai Curtain… I’d be happy to hear of it.
While it is common for many religions to build a sense of superiority – us and/against ‘the others’ – it would be important to understand the uniquely Malaysian politico-construct of Malay-Muslim identities.
Policies favouring Malays are intentionally translated as an empowering birthright (and with it a justification of ‘rightful superiority’) for the natives of the land. Once this interpretation is mainstreamed, it is inevitable for expectations to grow and perks treated as a given. Religion is merely played as a tool under the guised servitude of what really is a racial issue.
Yet what is more concerning to me is the continued insistence of this interpretation of superiority and its accompanying economic benefits by the wider Malay community. In such a case, ‘superiority’ is merely used to mask an underlying insecurity amongst its community. These privileges dis-empowers its people from ever leaving its cage to fly free. Religion, like race, is merely the material that builds and sustains this cage.
A lesson all religions can learn is that setting aside arguments of who is ‘right’ (and ‘wrong’), religiosity should not be an inhibiting sense of comparative superiority but one of mutual respect; cooperating to build a better tomorrow.
Its time to get this religion in sync with the modern times as other religions have evolved. If you still believe that your religion condones preferential treatment in this day and age, then it’s relevancy with other religious groups is in serious question. If you are still interpreting what you think someone quoted hundreds years ago, to manifestly suit your point of view, then your ability to conduct a fair and productive dialog with others is in serious question. If you are still feeling good and vindicated about the fact that your prominence is essentially supported by suppression and oppression, then your judgement and faith is in serious question.
For a faith that counts more than a fifth of the worlds population as its followers, there needs to be a serious introspection about where this is all going. Almost all the nations that have its followers in the majority, almost all without exception have less personal and political freedom than just 50 years ago. The amount of modern scholarship from this huge segment does not even register based on their numbers representated as Nobel prize winners. Many rule by regime.
Modern Malaysia was built into what it is by the collective efforts of all it’s citizens. The history on that is clear. So don’t tell me that someone should feel more special than others.
Yes, John Francis Lee, I was having difficulty reaching Prachatai3.info.com too which although identical to Prachatai previously had not been banned. Or at least not all the time or with any official banning information coming up on the screen. Perhaps it’s one of the 70,000 new webpages that the ICT Minister, Group Captain Anudit proudly proclaims that his ministry has now banned over the last few months. Perhaps they only have to ban it for a few minutes or hours to count it on their list. perhaps they can count it three or four times if they ban it and unban it within a day.
You can – or could- read his own statements about this on Prachatai3.
It seems that his claim is that because they have banned more websites than the Democrats they are more loyal than the previous government. It’s a test.
I have a feeling that it doesn’t really matter what websites are banned or for how long. As long as you ban more of them than the last guy, you’re unimpeachable.
Just as it doesn’t matter who goes to jail for lese majeste.
As long as a sufficient number of sacrifices are made to appease the gods [I’m speaking figuratively, of course and this needs to be made clear, given what might be read into every innocent statement], everything will be fine.
Prachatai3.info is now back on line. An arbitrary and unaccountable censorship regime has, I suppose, allowed it to continue. At least until, they need it to boost the count and boast about their diligence.
A few minutes later. No, inaccessible again. “problem Loading page” apparently.
So what is banned and what is not banned? What websites can or cannot a law abiding person living in Thailand legally access. It’s a completely bogus mess.
They’re trying to walk an impossible line between preserving an illusion of freedom of speech or approaching North Korean standards.
MICT, I beg you, have the courage of whatever convictions you can muster. Your cynicism is sickening.
He saved the east bank of Nonthaburi, but the west bank is, even now, still under water… I live on the east bank and love him. I suspect those on the west bank have a differing opinion.
What an excellent article on how the people of Pak Kret and its surrounding areas coped with the floods. Living in Pak Kret I recall the frantic efforts of residents from near and far when announcements were made over our village pa system. “The temple is under threat” and people would drop what they were doing and all converge on the temple.
Having a townhouse in Pak Kret and a new, partly completed house at Bang Bua Thong I travelled the route between the two by truck and boat to supply fresh rations to my builder’s workers.
The contrast between the two districts of Nontharburi was alarming; from the time one went over the bridge at Pak Kret to the way station on one of the overpasses, nothing could prepare one for the sea of water that came into view.
The fact that the media tended to ignore Bang Bua Thong (probably because they couldn’t or didn’t want to get there) and that three of its floodgates were under the control of the BMA, who refused to open them for 50 days, seemed of little concern to the people of Bangkok, the BMA and FROC or so it seemed.
Then one brave lady took the case to the Administrative Court and suddenly the day before the hearing the BMA miraculously managed to open all three gates, because they claimed “we were going to do it anyway”.
If Thitinan Pongsudhirak would care for some 300 odd photos taken from Pak Kret to Bang Bua Thong during that period I would be pleased to supply them.
I’ll really appreciate if we don’t generalise by making statements like:
“..In the meantime, drug abuse, baby dumping and incest are almost entirely a Muslim hallmark…”
This is racial stereotyping. Your doing what UMNO is doing – which is what we want to change.
Have you read Interlok which asserts that Indians are drunkards, wife-beaters, and Chinese would sell their daughters for money.
If Malaysia were to change, Malaysians need to move away from racial stereotyping and/or profiling. This is what UMNO wants as it divides Malaysia.
Why are there baby dumping, incest, wife abuse, etc – these are social issues and not racial issues alone. There could be a myriad of reasons.
Let’s learn to understand and analyse issues from more nuanced and universal perspectives. At the same time, the misfortune of others should not be a political scoring point for others.
Multiple “guessing”, serial “imagining” and so much “perhaps”. Really, Vichai N – time was when you actually managed to at least look like you’re doing more than shooting the breeze.
Then again, as you yourself concede, larded with so much conjecture there’s obviously no need to “understand” before pronouncing: “Definitely very bad judgment . . . Yingluck made a terrible call”.
It is sad that the only thing left will be hatred when things change. A new Order is difficult but a new way must be done for Malaysia to go on. It cannot be sustained the way it has been. But I do have hope for Malaysia for we are sensible people , we have reason on our side.
Allah did promise blessings on whomsoever He wishes too with a revelation of Himself and His wisdom for the Koran and the Prophet were sent to the world not just to some, like all those other chosen ones were sent to this world from Abraham to Moses to Jesus and to Muhammad ( pbu them all). They were all sent for us to emulate and learn form.
But I raise the question , who in the eyes of Allah is muslim. It is not the one that is MERELY BORN into it or CLAIMS he is muslim. It is up too Allah. So it can be anyone,no matter their outward .
Just because the malays are born into it doesnt mean they are . To claim one is a muslim is a covenant to be fulfilled and not an easy one. Mere adherence to the syariah ( the law) is only the first level of seeking. It is the base level.There are another two levels, one which is the tariqat ( the way) the other is the final level of seeking the haqiqat ( the truth). Whether one even reaches the level of tariqat is questionable let alone haqiqat. The majority of those who claim to follow the Koran is at the base level of syariah. Even then there are arguments as to the interpretaion and outward manifestation of that worship.The seeking of who we are vis a vis God and why we are here is not that simple as to mere proclaiming we are moslems. It takes more that the outer act of worship at the syariah level. We need to delve deeper into the act of Becoming.
Also as one comment has correctly observe there are moslems who are of other races. what of them?
The author has quoted here the Prophet saying their our physical ancestral lineage means nothing when it comes to spirituality or the realm of the divine. It is our hearts that we need to guard, our thoughts, our deeds on this earth .
Superiority over another race is also irrelevant. By what measure do we give the Creator the evidence of that. He is the one that created us all. So ,are we not all then superior then why do we act inferior (hatred greed envy)to one another?
It is too long to delve into the Koranic revelations of Man vis a vis God here . In time .
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Flood flavours
Thanks for the lovely article.
I have, in some perverted and completely self-centered sense, actually enjoyed the floods. For a change, i could forget about politics for a while, get my old camera gear out, and take images on film, both medium format and 135 film. No more running around keeping up with information, as i do not even understand the basics of water management. The floods were some of the most surreal experiences of my life, wading through chest high water in otherwise extremely busy roads, going by boat through industrial housing estates inundated with two to three meters, or even more, of water, high rise condos and factories sticking out. I was feeling as if i was in the middle of a Hollywood movie.
Reading newspapers was a weird experience, every journalist with about as much clue about about water management as i have suddenly knew the ins and outs of the floods and who made which mistakes.
Walking around areas such as Don Muang and Bang Plad i found most people who remained actually coping quite well with the difficulties, considering the circumstances. Quite similar as my neighborhood in Nonthaburi’s Klong Mahasawat community coped when we were inundated for three months in the ’95 floods. Only then there was neither media frenzy nor volunteers swarming over the area. Then we were left alone mostly. The first week of the flood a small medic’s boat came by our house, distributed paracetamol and a few other basics. Only when the end of the flood was announced, politicians suddenly saw the need to come to our aid, which was hilarious. Twice a day we paddled with our boats to receive aid packages of rice and dried stuff. One package even contained condoms. In these last two weeks we received enough aid to last us months.
People in the village lost much. Most lived from fruit orchards which after three months of water were completely destroyed. Still though, they took it with stoicism. Flood are not exactly unknown in Thailand.
The silliness of the flood discussion today is at times a bit overwhelming for me. Accepting the bad of the floods, the incredible losses people have to endure, and the unbelievable amount of thievery in abandoned areas (strangely enough there was very little media attention focused on this rather nasty aspect of the floods), and regardless the greed of some boat operator mafias, the floods also brought people together, helping each other, and slowing life down.
Water is already going down again, slowly, and politics will soon be up. And of course everybody will have an opinion on the flood, knowing exactly why this or the other side caused the flood, explaining along charts what they would have done to avoid it. Oh, well… 😉
Race-based ideology and Islam: The Malaysian enigma
Agreed that UMNO is abusing Islam to maintain control and power just as in other Islamic countries. As individuals, most Muslims are very nice and conscientious people but as a community and group, they are somehow driven by “herd” mentality and one cannot help but attribute such influence to Islamic teachings.
Many Muslim groups, especially in democratic countries, are trying to reform the religion to be in conformity with modern times and we sincerely hope that they would be able to play down the unsavory Quranic verses and bring to the fore the inspirational ones. May they succeed in this praise-worthy quest.
Mallika Boonmetrakul: an appalling Thai Politician
Mallika is on the rampage again — of course she is a smooth talker because she is a former TV reporter. She gave interesting answer when asked why she decided to join Democrat party:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SZf0tdJ959s#!
Race-based ideology and Islam: The Malaysian enigma
#Greg
I’m putting no such blame on Islam at all! What i was commenting on was the political construct of religio-racial identities in Malaysia today. As UMNO is unable to beat the drum of racial supremacism like it used to in the 70s and 80s, religion is now the new tool but its strategy remains the same – Malay superiority.
Being Malay and being Muslim are exactly the same thing in Malaysia (hence my reason to refer them as ‘Malay-Muslim’ instead of ‘Malay Muslim’). These dual identities are inseparable since the years under colonial rule – in fact it possibly grew stronger during colonialism but i’m no historian.
I am merely highlighting this as many Malaysians are unable to see through the present spin constructed for political purposes. Divide and conquer remains the best weapon for most post-colonial strong states including Malaysia. As i said in my last post, religion is merely a disguise of what is, and consistently has been a racial issue.
My second point is religious in nature but it refers to the attitudes shared by many religions (not just Islam). Supremacist attitudes of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ and ‘us’ against ‘them’ will continually divide; and not unite a nation so long as it exist. I believe my comments are consistent with the themes discussed in this board. But i apologize if anyone misunderstood me.
Evidence of racism in Malaysia?
Hai Greg,
I have to disagree with you on the “not the best and brightest” leading Malaysia. Those guys in BN (mainly UMNO) are pretty damn smart. They just lack morals and compassion.
Being corrupt, vicious, and uncaring is nt the hallmark of “daft” people. It is the hallmark of people lacking in compassion. In the words of the “Buddhists” – have not attain a high level of humanity (in the sense of spiritual attainment)
Race-based ideology and Islam: The Malaysian enigma
Dear Neptunian,
I wasn’t asserting that the Malays are the superior race in Malaysia. I believe in human value and equality too much to assert such.
What I did mean was that perhaps they are perceived to be the superior race not merely by racial lineage but also due to their religion.
I believe that the intention in the constitution, article 153 was to ensure that as the ‘aborigines’ of Malaysia, the Malays should be protected from oppression and loss of opportunities by ensuring they have placements in civil service, job opportunities and education. This practice is extremely common in many countries, just to ensure that the aborigines do not lose out, especially since with time, they end up becoming a minority due to massive immigration.
However, what the current Malaysia government has been doing for the past 5o years or so was not ensuring that the Malays are NOT oppressed, but to ensure that they themselves achieve a level of superiority socio-politically in the name of their race and religion. And the danger of it all, is that they have convinced a number of Malays that they are doing this for the good of the Malays, to ensure that they do not lose out. Which is pretty much a blatant lie, as we can see that the only people who seem to have benefited much from this policy are the crooked politician themselves and their families. If you know what i mean.
Race-based ideology and Islam: The Malaysian enigma
Dear Neptunian,
I wasn’t asserting that the Malays are the superior race in Malaysia. I believe in human value and equality too much to assert such.
What I did mean was that perhaps they are perceived to be the superior race not merely by racial lineage but also due to their religion.
I believe that the intention in the constitution, article 153 was to ensure that as the ‘aborigines’ of Malaysia, the Malays should be protected from oppression and loss of opportunities by ensuring they have placements in civil service, job opportunities and education. This practice is extremely common in many countries, just to ensure that the aborigines do not lose out, especially since with time, they end up becoming a minority due to massive immigration.
However, what the current Malaysia government has been doing for the past 5o years or so was not ensuring that the Malays are oppressed, but to ensure that they themselves achieve a level of superiority socio-politically in the name of their race and religion. And the danger of it all, is that they have convinced a number of Malays that they are doing this for the good of the Malays, to ensure that they do not lose out. Which is pretty much a blatant lie, as we can see that the only people who seem to have benefited much from this policy are the crooked politician themselves and their families. If you know what i mean.
Thailand’s Fearlessness: Free Akong
Mac OS is unix so it should have the same file
/etc/hosts
Google says that windows uses
c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
Thailand’s Fearlessness: Free Akong
I use ubuntu linux and so have added a line to the file named /etc/hosts
173.236.219.196 prachatai.com
The idea is that when the browser asks the system to resolve prachatai.com to an IP address the system will look in the hosts file first and not even bother going over the wire for resolution.
See if my problems go away.
Thailand’s Fearlessness: Free Akong
I think, In Town, that Amphon and the rest must be freed! The Royal Thai Government will term it a pardon, but HM the King must FREE them!
What are we to think of HM the King if he does not?
I think, tom hoy, that the Royal Thai Government has embarked upon a program of ‘jamming’ the internet… that’s how the ‘authorities’ in the US used to describe the activities behind the ‘Iron Curtain’ when I was young in the US. They ‘jammed’ … primarily the radio in those days.
Browsers seem to vary as to what they report as the problem when they cannot deliver. Firefox told me explicitly that the domain could not be resolved… translated from ‘prachatai.com’ or ‘prachatai3.info’ to an IP address as the protocol requires to reach a server.
I tried to ‘dig’ out the address from the console here in Thailand and from a console in the US… and got the same message of unresolvability… no nameservers were reachable. Which makes me wonder who is helping whom?
I used ‘whois’ to discover the domain’s registrar and the ‘master’ DNS server and using that server, ns1.name.com, was able to get prachatai’s server address, 173.236.219.196, even during the interval that DNS was being jammed.
But it is of no use as, like most hosted domains, prachatai is hosted ‘virtually’ with several domains being served by the same physical machine, and all sharing the same IP address. Apache, or whatever webserver is in use, discriminates among them on the basis of the domain name to which a given request is addressed. The browser needs to send an IP protocol message to the physical server encapsulating an HTTP protocol message addressed to prachatai.com or prachatai3.info in this case.
Perhaps it’s possible to have firefox and/or other browsers use the unsubverted, master DNS to resolve a given domain to obtain the IP address.
If anyone has information on how to subvert this latest subversion of the internet… the jamming going on behind – and outside of, remarkably – the Royal Thai Curtain… I’d be happy to hear of it.
Race-based ideology and Islam: The Malaysian enigma
Please read the other postings on Islam and Malaysia on New Mandala.
What Islam actually professes is very different from what UMNO is practicing.
Hence, the blame is not on the religion but the people who twist it.
Race-based ideology and Islam: The Malaysian enigma
While it is common for many religions to build a sense of superiority – us and/against ‘the others’ – it would be important to understand the uniquely Malaysian politico-construct of Malay-Muslim identities.
Policies favouring Malays are intentionally translated as an empowering birthright (and with it a justification of ‘rightful superiority’) for the natives of the land. Once this interpretation is mainstreamed, it is inevitable for expectations to grow and perks treated as a given. Religion is merely played as a tool under the guised servitude of what really is a racial issue.
Yet what is more concerning to me is the continued insistence of this interpretation of superiority and its accompanying economic benefits by the wider Malay community. In such a case, ‘superiority’ is merely used to mask an underlying insecurity amongst its community. These privileges dis-empowers its people from ever leaving its cage to fly free. Religion, like race, is merely the material that builds and sustains this cage.
A lesson all religions can learn is that setting aside arguments of who is ‘right’ (and ‘wrong’), religiosity should not be an inhibiting sense of comparative superiority but one of mutual respect; cooperating to build a better tomorrow.
We’re not racists!
He’s a politician, like many, will talk like a politician on what you want to hear.
But the people are not that dumb-folded as before as we chose what we want to believe.
Whatever it is, “Malay first, Malaysian second” will best describe DPM.
Race-based ideology and Islam: The Malaysian enigma
Its time to get this religion in sync with the modern times as other religions have evolved. If you still believe that your religion condones preferential treatment in this day and age, then it’s relevancy with other religious groups is in serious question. If you are still interpreting what you think someone quoted hundreds years ago, to manifestly suit your point of view, then your ability to conduct a fair and productive dialog with others is in serious question. If you are still feeling good and vindicated about the fact that your prominence is essentially supported by suppression and oppression, then your judgement and faith is in serious question.
For a faith that counts more than a fifth of the worlds population as its followers, there needs to be a serious introspection about where this is all going. Almost all the nations that have its followers in the majority, almost all without exception have less personal and political freedom than just 50 years ago. The amount of modern scholarship from this huge segment does not even register based on their numbers representated as Nobel prize winners. Many rule by regime.
Modern Malaysia was built into what it is by the collective efforts of all it’s citizens. The history on that is clear. So don’t tell me that someone should feel more special than others.
Thailand’s Fearlessness: Free Akong
Yes, John Francis Lee, I was having difficulty reaching Prachatai3.info.com too which although identical to Prachatai previously had not been banned. Or at least not all the time or with any official banning information coming up on the screen. Perhaps it’s one of the 70,000 new webpages that the ICT Minister, Group Captain Anudit proudly proclaims that his ministry has now banned over the last few months. Perhaps they only have to ban it for a few minutes or hours to count it on their list. perhaps they can count it three or four times if they ban it and unban it within a day.
You can – or could- read his own statements about this on Prachatai3.
It seems that his claim is that because they have banned more websites than the Democrats they are more loyal than the previous government. It’s a test.
I have a feeling that it doesn’t really matter what websites are banned or for how long. As long as you ban more of them than the last guy, you’re unimpeachable.
Just as it doesn’t matter who goes to jail for lese majeste.
As long as a sufficient number of sacrifices are made to appease the gods [I’m speaking figuratively, of course and this needs to be made clear, given what might be read into every innocent statement], everything will be fine.
Prachatai3.info is now back on line. An arbitrary and unaccountable censorship regime has, I suppose, allowed it to continue. At least until, they need it to boost the count and boast about their diligence.
A few minutes later. No, inaccessible again. “problem Loading page” apparently.
But http://www.prachatai3.info/english/ is completely accessible.
So what is banned and what is not banned? What websites can or cannot a law abiding person living in Thailand legally access. It’s a completely bogus mess.
They’re trying to walk an impossible line between preserving an illusion of freedom of speech or approaching North Korean standards.
MICT, I beg you, have the courage of whatever convictions you can muster. Your cynicism is sickening.
Flood flavours
He saved the east bank of Nonthaburi, but the west bank is, even now, still under water… I live on the east bank and love him. I suspect those on the west bank have a differing opinion.
Flood flavours
What an excellent article on how the people of Pak Kret and its surrounding areas coped with the floods. Living in Pak Kret I recall the frantic efforts of residents from near and far when announcements were made over our village pa system. “The temple is under threat” and people would drop what they were doing and all converge on the temple.
Having a townhouse in Pak Kret and a new, partly completed house at Bang Bua Thong I travelled the route between the two by truck and boat to supply fresh rations to my builder’s workers.
The contrast between the two districts of Nontharburi was alarming; from the time one went over the bridge at Pak Kret to the way station on one of the overpasses, nothing could prepare one for the sea of water that came into view.
The fact that the media tended to ignore Bang Bua Thong (probably because they couldn’t or didn’t want to get there) and that three of its floodgates were under the control of the BMA, who refused to open them for 50 days, seemed of little concern to the people of Bangkok, the BMA and FROC or so it seemed.
Then one brave lady took the case to the Administrative Court and suddenly the day before the hearing the BMA miraculously managed to open all three gates, because they claimed “we were going to do it anyway”.
If Thitinan Pongsudhirak would care for some 300 odd photos taken from Pak Kret to Bang Bua Thong during that period I would be pleased to supply them.
Race-based ideology and Islam: The Malaysian enigma
Hi Alan, #8
I’ll really appreciate if we don’t generalise by making statements like:
“..In the meantime, drug abuse, baby dumping and incest are almost entirely a Muslim hallmark…”
This is racial stereotyping. Your doing what UMNO is doing – which is what we want to change.
Have you read Interlok which asserts that Indians are drunkards, wife-beaters, and Chinese would sell their daughters for money.
If Malaysia were to change, Malaysians need to move away from racial stereotyping and/or profiling. This is what UMNO wants as it divides Malaysia.
Why are there baby dumping, incest, wife abuse, etc – these are social issues and not racial issues alone. There could be a myriad of reasons.
Let’s learn to understand and analyse issues from more nuanced and universal perspectives. At the same time, the misfortune of others should not be a political scoring point for others.
The toll of flooding on lives and politics
Multiple “guessing”, serial “imagining” and so much “perhaps”. Really, Vichai N – time was when you actually managed to at least look like you’re doing more than shooting the breeze.
Then again, as you yourself concede, larded with so much conjecture there’s obviously no need to “understand” before pronouncing: “Definitely very bad judgment . . . Yingluck made a terrible call”.
Race-based ideology and Islam: The Malaysian enigma
It is sad that the only thing left will be hatred when things change. A new Order is difficult but a new way must be done for Malaysia to go on. It cannot be sustained the way it has been. But I do have hope for Malaysia for we are sensible people , we have reason on our side.
Allah did promise blessings on whomsoever He wishes too with a revelation of Himself and His wisdom for the Koran and the Prophet were sent to the world not just to some, like all those other chosen ones were sent to this world from Abraham to Moses to Jesus and to Muhammad ( pbu them all). They were all sent for us to emulate and learn form.
But I raise the question , who in the eyes of Allah is muslim. It is not the one that is MERELY BORN into it or CLAIMS he is muslim. It is up too Allah. So it can be anyone,no matter their outward .
Just because the malays are born into it doesnt mean they are . To claim one is a muslim is a covenant to be fulfilled and not an easy one. Mere adherence to the syariah ( the law) is only the first level of seeking. It is the base level.There are another two levels, one which is the tariqat ( the way) the other is the final level of seeking the haqiqat ( the truth). Whether one even reaches the level of tariqat is questionable let alone haqiqat. The majority of those who claim to follow the Koran is at the base level of syariah. Even then there are arguments as to the interpretaion and outward manifestation of that worship.The seeking of who we are vis a vis God and why we are here is not that simple as to mere proclaiming we are moslems. It takes more that the outer act of worship at the syariah level. We need to delve deeper into the act of Becoming.
Also as one comment has correctly observe there are moslems who are of other races. what of them?
The author has quoted here the Prophet saying their our physical ancestral lineage means nothing when it comes to spirituality or the realm of the divine. It is our hearts that we need to guard, our thoughts, our deeds on this earth .
Superiority over another race is also irrelevant. By what measure do we give the Creator the evidence of that. He is the one that created us all. So ,are we not all then superior then why do we act inferior (hatred greed envy)to one another?
It is too long to delve into the Koranic revelations of Man vis a vis God here . In time .