1) Well, IMO, that’s probably because they were presenting students in an exclusive school in Thailand, and not a public one, where most families are average to above average income-earners as
2) On Toei’s case, bullying was the gist of her story coz Toei can be bullied easily without fighting back of which the students gotten used to. OTOH, Sprite i believe is a fighter that cannot be bullied.
3) Phoo was in the stage of choosing which side he wants to be. Thee was a secondary character so yes, I would agree with your statement.
4) There are always exceptions to the rule.
5) Remember that she was having a family crisis of her own which affected her studies thus was not able to prepare for the exams.
6) That’s just Toei’s character. She’s the most tolerant one.
7) Which friends are you referring to? The guys? And there’s no need to visit Toei anyway because she went back to school the day (or a couple) after the incident, that’s why some girl commented it wasn’t safe for her to go to school yet.
8) I believe this is just a sort of a tutorial class or temporary class, just like the art class Dow enrolled into in one of the following episodes.
9) haha.. IKR. From what I’ve seen on a Special Episode 14, the making of the series, they shot the Big Mountain scene in December, which happened earlier than shooting of the first episodes.
10) Some films of old cameras can do that. The higher the ISO, the higher the sensitivity to light. Some digital cameras and cellphones have that function as well via the Night function. My digital cam has that function which is why I can take a pics in very low light environments.
Love your spirited defence of Israel. Always thought Jewish representation of the political spectrum is impressive and second to none, Zionists included. Hopefully you are not one of those my country right or wrong patriots.
Despite being America’s best buddy (not a proxy to be sure) and a regional bully (people might think the two are inseparable in more senses than one) Israel is a more tolerant democracy than most, not blatantly and undemocratically anti-communist within its borders unlike most other states including Malaysia and Burma (A legal communist party? Over my dead body.), but then again the US manages the same in domestic politics. Amazing carry on.
“I think there is a wrong perception that Islam is in disagreement with Israel. This is caused by Arab propaganda […] Israel has a reputation as a nation with a high regard for God and religion – there is then no reason we have to be against Israel…”
Does the book address the important fact that the DK regime was actually the one who broke those Westphalian principles with its military aggression against Vietnam? This is something I have missed in those Singaporean (and Chinese) accounts of the events that I’ve been able to find so far.
Referencing other’s work without first-hand
experience of Israel is not objective. Malaysians often reference Leftist Israelis
to support their point of view but have never
met or spoken with these individuals to gain their full perspective. I have. Yes, there are Leftists and Left-leaning Israelis
as there are some on the Right, because Israel is a Democracy that allows a diversity of such views. The many postings here only reference self-congratulatory viewpoints but
leave out commentary on the social and political diversity that allows for such views to propagate. This is because they
are trying to defend a viewpoint and concurrently delegitimize the very nation that allows such views. This is contradictory and disingenuous at its worst.
Malaysia, does not allow calls for the overthrow of the country; it will lead to
imprisonment under the ISA. Israel allows
Arab-Israelis and Israeli Communists to call for the dissolution of the very state that they reside in. This is Democracy. I have already said this many time, but it does not suit anti-Israel people to hear this. It refutes their second-hand based views of Israel.
Israel is not Sri Lanka and not Malaysia. Israel does not round up Arab-Israelis or attack them like the experiences in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the LTTE is a terrorist organization that assassinated Sri Lankan leaders and killed many other Tamils, not just Sinhalese. There is no legitimate defense of the LTTE and their internal and external conflicts. The LTTE, like the CPM, killed many supporters as well as opponents.
Comparisons with Sri Lanka are as equally
unsupported as comparisons with Malaysia
vis-a-vis Israel. This is the usual academic gobbledygook at its worst.
Arabs are not considered inferior in Israel
and the Nazi comparison is offensive and ridiculous. Again, a voice from one who has
not visited Israel and has no first-hand experience to base comments on.
What is tiresome is the unceasing Leftist support for Communist bullies and terrorists
like Chin Peng, Mao, Castro, Kim Un, etc.
And, yes, the US did support Batista, Marcos,
Pinochet, Ngo Din Diem, Park Chung Hee, etc.
with monetary and political support. And one
can rightly debate the worthiness and cost
of that support. You deflect attention away
from Communist Part atrocities by pointing out right wing world leaders. “Two wrongs
don’t make a right..” Chin Peng committed
wrongs and so did Marcos and Pinochet (for example). Chin Peng, remains, however a terrorist and did nothing to help the Malayan
people.
I rather find this Cold War line that every CP in the world was a proxy of either the Soviet or Chinese CP and must be taking their marching orders from them very old hat and tiresome right wing propaganda.
Does it then follow that Batista, Pinochet, Syngman Rhee, Ngo Din Diem, Park Chung-hee, Marcos, Suharto etc. were all US puppets? Shouldn’t cnvergence in political and economic goals let alone ideological ones sufficient in themselves? Chin Peng was Chinese. Big deal.
You are partly correct that the comparison
between UMNO is somewhat extreme. Perkasa
and Nazism would be a better comparison.
While UMNO does not engage in the rounding up
of Chinese and Indians and place them in camps (like the Nazis did with Jews, Slavs, Russians and others), some in UMNO (Zahid, for example, and certainly in Perkasa,
promote racist beliefs. Yes, UMNO has not
tried to invade other countries, as the Nazis
did. I think rather than engage in subjective name-calling (which you do with
Israel, by the way-more below). It is more
useful to examine the basis for ethnocentrism
in Malaysia, which is not restricted to Malays, by the way, but is used by UMNO to
perpetuate a Malay-skewed vision of Malaysia
and the world.
Likud are not “Warmongers”; this is an absurd
ad hominem comment with no foundation. Likud
is a conservative party that takes a conservative political stance on Arab-Israeli issues. Likud has not invaded neighbouring countries nor does it advocate rounding up people under a version of the Malaysian ISA.
Is Gaza cleansed ? Like most Malaysian ignorant of Israel, you forget that Hamas controls Gaza; your term “cleansed” is pedantic and offensive and has no basis. Israel has no interest in Gaza other than
preventing Hamas, a radical Islamic terrorist
organization, from causing terrorist attacks
which they do frequently. The religious right is about 15 % of Israel, not supported
by most Israelis and, while one can debate
settlements on the West Bank, does not represent the vast majority of Israelis.
Lieberman has no support in Israel, has been
censored by the Israeli Parliament, and I personally find him objectionable but recognize that he is a minority viewpoint.
You ignored my posting about Arab-Israeli
participation in Israeli society because you
are essentially anti-Israel so naturally you
take a viewpoint inimical to Israel. Why quote Haaretz since you don’t accept Israel’s legitimacy; that is inconsistent. No, Israel
does not institutionalize discrimination against Arab-Israelis, like some Malays
and Perkasa advocate return of non-Malays
to “countries of origin.” I already mentioned
Arab-Israelis prefer to remain in Israel, even when there are incidents of discrimination which the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled must be addressed (I share that view).
Like most Malaysian, you rely on second-hand sources and quote only those views that support your biases. In addition, like most
Malaysian, you have never been to Israel, and
are unable to make first-hand judgements based on actual first-hand experiences. Thus, your views are not objective because they are based on relying on other’s opinions and not
personal experience. This subjectivity and
stereotyping of Jews and Israel is prevalent
in Malaysia (and the Muslim world in general) reflects poorly on the knowledge level of Malaysians regarding Israel and other regions of the world not visited by Malaysians.
A peace agreement requires both parties. Arafat and Abbas rejected one three times.
This has been detailed by Clinton and Barak
and I have spoken with Clinton’s former
negotiator directly who I know. Again, you
speak without direct knowledge of the situation or having had contact with parties
to negotiations over establishing a separate
entity in the West Bank. First visit Israel
and talk with Jews, Arab-Israelis, Druze, Bedouin and others, before you pass judgement.
There are TWO forms of discrimination in Malaysia. The Nazi-like form is the institutionalized one against the Chinese and some Indians who are considered more competent in economics, academics, etc. Then there is the Israel-like that applies to the Indians and non-Muslim ‘bumiputra’ who are considered inferior. Unless you delineate these clearly in your argument, it leads to nowhere, as seen in the comments published here.
I agree with your assessment that leaving out his relations with the CCP and the bloody internal party purges make an incomplete historical evaluation of CP. Specifically the relationship with the CCP, its possible that Chin Peng and the CPM really were proxies and receiving marching orders from the CCP which would dent the image that Chin Peng built for himself, that he was a freedom fighter. I personally believe CP was a puppet of the CCP or at least a dutiful follower of it, afterall most people here seem to forget that in the 1960s, CPM propaganda was complete with references to Mao Zedong Thought and condemnation of “Soviet revisionism”. Lets also not forget where CP stayed for a good 20 years.
Indeed, there is work being done by Sujit Choudhry at NYU on these issues (sons of the soil policies) and I am looking forward to seeing the fruits of that analysis. His work draws resources from various disciplines including political science, political-legal philosophy, constitutional theory, and even political geography.
What is fascinating about the comparison is the similarity between the repertoire of concepts both conceptually and substantively employed in both Israel and Malaysia. Here work on ethnocracy and/or ethnic democracy by some of the thinkers I mentioned is especially powerful but needs development.
This line of analysis is vital to get a handle on the dynamics of systematic authoritarianism and oppression cloaked in a claim to democracy and legality.
I would be excited to hear from others who are thinking along related lines, especially in the context of Malaysia.
I think it is ridiculous to make comparisons with Nazi Germany. For one thing UMNO has not declared other political parties illegal, nor have they used their own party militia (they don’t even have one) to harass the ethnic minorities. There is no cult of the leader, i.e Najib is not being sold as the Fuehrer and savior of his people like Hitler was. There is no goal of achieving the unity of the Malay race wherever they are (note Nazi ideology called for the unity of Germans everywhere in Europe). There is no ideology of Malays as a superior race, in fact UMNO ideology argues that the Malays are a weak race needing government support etc. There are no goals for foreign expansion, or the need for “living space” or in fact the militarization of society. There is also no encouragement of mass rallies in support of the Party. There is also no call for extermination of “inferior” races nor are there calls for their enslavement. Indeed nothing of UMNO matches anything of the Nazi Party. The only thing is the mild racism, but that really doesn’t compare with the extreme racism of the Nazi Party. Importantly, as I stated above, UMNO lacks the goal of foreign aggression, regional ethnic unity, totalitarianism, cult of personality, mass violence against minorities and militarization of society. Lacking that, UMNO cannot be compared to the Nazi Party, whose control was secure after just 3-4 years in power, while UMNO must deal with a strong opposition in parliament, and a large segment of the populatio who are hostile to it. It is a shame that Associate Professor Rueban Balasubramaniam has chosen to make the Nazi analogy, it is cherrypicking at most and seems very emotional.
Greg,
You completely misunderstand the meaning of
the term ‘Chosen People.’ You need to refer
to the Old Testament. Jews regard the concept
as a requirement to try and do good as best
as one can-it DOES not mean Jews feel they are special or above others. There is widespread ignorance about this meaning, in Malaysia and throughout the Islamic world.
Malaysians are woefully ignorant of Judaism
and Israel as exemplified by the stereotypes
that prevail in Malaysia about Jews. I am sorry, Greg, but you have also (perhaps unintentionally) engaged in such stereotypes. The founder of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, was a Socialist who welcomed Israeli-Arabs to stay in the new state; in contrast, when Pakistan was formed, Hindus were at best encouraged to leave and often forced to leave or killed.
Please do not misuse the concept of Chosen
People if you do not know its meaning.
There is no correlation between “Tanah Melayu” and “Chosen People.”
Finally, there are some Leftist Israelis
who argue there is racism in Israel. Yes, sometimes there is, but it is not institutionalized because the Israeli public
and the Supreme Court oppose racism and want
a peace agreement with the Palestinians
and for the Israeli-Arabs (who I have already
pointed out prefer to stay in Israel) to be part of society. Simple question: Have you been to Israel ? If not, then you cannot judge from first-hand experience, can you ?. Compare that with my 20 or so years in Malaya/Malaysia.
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UMNO and Nazi Germany
Meanwhile, back in Malaysia….
http://www.tempo.co/read/news/2013/10/13/058521390/Polisi-Diraja-Malaysia-Tembak-Mati-4-WNI
Hormones: Temporary chemistry of rebellion
1) Well, IMO, that’s probably because they were presenting students in an exclusive school in Thailand, and not a public one, where most families are average to above average income-earners as
2) On Toei’s case, bullying was the gist of her story coz Toei can be bullied easily without fighting back of which the students gotten used to. OTOH, Sprite i believe is a fighter that cannot be bullied.
3) Phoo was in the stage of choosing which side he wants to be. Thee was a secondary character so yes, I would agree with your statement.
4) There are always exceptions to the rule.
5) Remember that she was having a family crisis of her own which affected her studies thus was not able to prepare for the exams.
6) That’s just Toei’s character. She’s the most tolerant one.
7) Which friends are you referring to? The guys? And there’s no need to visit Toei anyway because she went back to school the day (or a couple) after the incident, that’s why some girl commented it wasn’t safe for her to go to school yet.
8) I believe this is just a sort of a tutorial class or temporary class, just like the art class Dow enrolled into in one of the following episodes.
9) haha.. IKR. From what I’ve seen on a Special Episode 14, the making of the series, they shot the Big Mountain scene in December, which happened earlier than shooting of the first episodes.
10) Some films of old cameras can do that. The higher the ISO, the higher the sensitivity to light. Some digital cameras and cellphones have that function as well via the Night function. My digital cam has that function which is why I can take a pics in very low light environments.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
Love your spirited defence of Israel. Always thought Jewish representation of the political spectrum is impressive and second to none, Zionists included. Hopefully you are not one of those my country right or wrong patriots.
Despite being America’s best buddy (not a proxy to be sure) and a regional bully (people might think the two are inseparable in more senses than one) Israel is a more tolerant democracy than most, not blatantly and undemocratically anti-communist within its borders unlike most other states including Malaysia and Burma (A legal communist party? Over my dead body.), but then again the US manages the same in domestic politics. Amazing carry on.
Chin Peng, an obituary
What “overwhelming evidence”… in NY Times?!
Hardly likely to flee somewhere other than China whose support only to be expected.
War never was pretty and no one has a monopoly on indefensible atrocities, My Lai, agent orange, depleted uranium all included.
Mandela was a terrorist, so was Menachim Begin, but nothing succeeds like success, history being written by the victors.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
Greg, Rueben and Dominic:
Please read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_supporters_of_Israel
The late President of Indonesia, Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid) was one of them
and said:
Israel “is a democracy in a sea of misunderstanding…”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/news/rare-support-for-democracy-in-a-sea-of-misunderstanding/story-e6frg6v6-1111113456817
http://nationalinterest.org/article/jihad-archipelago-896?page=1-5
He also said:
“I think there is a wrong perception that Islam is in disagreement with Israel. This is caused by Arab propaganda […] Israel has a reputation as a nation with a high regard for God and religion – there is then no reason we have to be against Israel…”
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/a-friend-of-israel-in-the-islamic-world-1.127792
Another example:
The Qur’an’s Covenant with the Jewish People
Claims to the Holy Land
by Imam Muhammad Al-Hussaini
Middle East Quarterly
Fall 2009, pp. 9-14
http://www.meforum.org/2464/quran-covenant-with-jewish-people
Sheikh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi
http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=15099
Enough for now.
Review of Singapore, ASEAN and the Cambodian Conflict
Does the book address the important fact that the DK regime was actually the one who broke those Westphalian principles with its military aggression against Vietnam? This is something I have missed in those Singaporean (and Chinese) accounts of the events that I’ve been able to find so far.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
Referencing other’s work without first-hand
experience of Israel is not objective. Malaysians often reference Leftist Israelis
to support their point of view but have never
met or spoken with these individuals to gain their full perspective. I have. Yes, there are Leftists and Left-leaning Israelis
as there are some on the Right, because Israel is a Democracy that allows a diversity of such views. The many postings here only reference self-congratulatory viewpoints but
leave out commentary on the social and political diversity that allows for such views to propagate. This is because they
are trying to defend a viewpoint and concurrently delegitimize the very nation that allows such views. This is contradictory and disingenuous at its worst.
Malaysia, does not allow calls for the overthrow of the country; it will lead to
imprisonment under the ISA. Israel allows
Arab-Israelis and Israeli Communists to call for the dissolution of the very state that they reside in. This is Democracy. I have already said this many time, but it does not suit anti-Israel people to hear this. It refutes their second-hand based views of Israel.
Israel is not Sri Lanka and not Malaysia. Israel does not round up Arab-Israelis or attack them like the experiences in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the LTTE is a terrorist organization that assassinated Sri Lankan leaders and killed many other Tamils, not just Sinhalese. There is no legitimate defense of the LTTE and their internal and external conflicts. The LTTE, like the CPM, killed many supporters as well as opponents.
Comparisons with Sri Lanka are as equally
unsupported as comparisons with Malaysia
vis-a-vis Israel. This is the usual academic gobbledygook at its worst.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
Arabs are not considered inferior in Israel
and the Nazi comparison is offensive and ridiculous. Again, a voice from one who has
not visited Israel and has no first-hand experience to base comments on.
Chin Peng, an obituary
Chin Peng was a proxy for China. The evidence
for this is overwhelming. It is not “right-wing” propaganda.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/world/asia/chin-peng-malaysian-rebel-dies-at-88.html?_r=0
What is tiresome is the unceasing Leftist support for Communist bullies and terrorists
like Chin Peng, Mao, Castro, Kim Un, etc.
And, yes, the US did support Batista, Marcos,
Pinochet, Ngo Din Diem, Park Chung Hee, etc.
with monetary and political support. And one
can rightly debate the worthiness and cost
of that support. You deflect attention away
from Communist Part atrocities by pointing out right wing world leaders. “Two wrongs
don’t make a right..” Chin Peng committed
wrongs and so did Marcos and Pinochet (for example). Chin Peng, remains, however a terrorist and did nothing to help the Malayan
people.
Chin Peng, an obituary
I rather find this Cold War line that every CP in the world was a proxy of either the Soviet or Chinese CP and must be taking their marching orders from them very old hat and tiresome right wing propaganda.
Does it then follow that Batista, Pinochet, Syngman Rhee, Ngo Din Diem, Park Chung-hee, Marcos, Suharto etc. were all US puppets? Shouldn’t cnvergence in political and economic goals let alone ideological ones sufficient in themselves? Chin Peng was Chinese. Big deal.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
Dominic,
You are partly correct that the comparison
between UMNO is somewhat extreme. Perkasa
and Nazism would be a better comparison.
While UMNO does not engage in the rounding up
of Chinese and Indians and place them in camps (like the Nazis did with Jews, Slavs, Russians and others), some in UMNO (Zahid, for example, and certainly in Perkasa,
promote racist beliefs. Yes, UMNO has not
tried to invade other countries, as the Nazis
did. I think rather than engage in subjective name-calling (which you do with
Israel, by the way-more below). It is more
useful to examine the basis for ethnocentrism
in Malaysia, which is not restricted to Malays, by the way, but is used by UMNO to
perpetuate a Malay-skewed vision of Malaysia
and the world.
“I’m sorry Peter, but you must have ignored the Israeli party Likud and their warmongers, the likes of Lieberman who openly call for a “cleansing” of Gaza, and the rise of the Religious Right in Israel. And the religious right in Israel does use religion to legitimize the continued occupation of Palestinian lands as well as settlement building. And btw Israel does discriminate against its Arab populations, http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.550152 and http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/18/discriminating-against-arabs-costs-israel-billions.html.”
Likud are not “Warmongers”; this is an absurd
ad hominem comment with no foundation. Likud
is a conservative party that takes a conservative political stance on Arab-Israeli issues. Likud has not invaded neighbouring countries nor does it advocate rounding up people under a version of the Malaysian ISA.
Is Gaza cleansed ? Like most Malaysian ignorant of Israel, you forget that Hamas controls Gaza; your term “cleansed” is pedantic and offensive and has no basis. Israel has no interest in Gaza other than
preventing Hamas, a radical Islamic terrorist
organization, from causing terrorist attacks
which they do frequently. The religious right is about 15 % of Israel, not supported
by most Israelis and, while one can debate
settlements on the West Bank, does not represent the vast majority of Israelis.
Lieberman has no support in Israel, has been
censored by the Israeli Parliament, and I personally find him objectionable but recognize that he is a minority viewpoint.
You ignored my posting about Arab-Israeli
participation in Israeli society because you
are essentially anti-Israel so naturally you
take a viewpoint inimical to Israel. Why quote Haaretz since you don’t accept Israel’s legitimacy; that is inconsistent. No, Israel
does not institutionalize discrimination against Arab-Israelis, like some Malays
and Perkasa advocate return of non-Malays
to “countries of origin.” I already mentioned
Arab-Israelis prefer to remain in Israel, even when there are incidents of discrimination which the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled must be addressed (I share that view).
Like most Malaysian, you rely on second-hand sources and quote only those views that support your biases. In addition, like most
Malaysian, you have never been to Israel, and
are unable to make first-hand judgements based on actual first-hand experiences. Thus, your views are not objective because they are based on relying on other’s opinions and not
personal experience. This subjectivity and
stereotyping of Jews and Israel is prevalent
in Malaysia (and the Muslim world in general) reflects poorly on the knowledge level of Malaysians regarding Israel and other regions of the world not visited by Malaysians.
A peace agreement requires both parties. Arafat and Abbas rejected one three times.
This has been detailed by Clinton and Barak
and I have spoken with Clinton’s former
negotiator directly who I know. Again, you
speak without direct knowledge of the situation or having had contact with parties
to negotiations over establishing a separate
entity in the West Bank. First visit Israel
and talk with Jews, Arab-Israelis, Druze, Bedouin and others, before you pass judgement.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
Your Chomskyan view of Israel is skewed and
there is no correlation between authoritarian
UMNO-led Malaysia and Israel.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
There are TWO forms of discrimination in Malaysia. The Nazi-like form is the institutionalized one against the Chinese and some Indians who are considered more competent in economics, academics, etc. Then there is the Israel-like that applies to the Indians and non-Muslim ‘bumiputra’ who are considered inferior. Unless you delineate these clearly in your argument, it leads to nowhere, as seen in the comments published here.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
Thanks, that’s useful information. I was not aware of this work.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
Very interesting Peter.
I should investigate this further.
Chin Peng, an obituary
I agree with your assessment that leaving out his relations with the CCP and the bloody internal party purges make an incomplete historical evaluation of CP. Specifically the relationship with the CCP, its possible that Chin Peng and the CPM really were proxies and receiving marching orders from the CCP which would dent the image that Chin Peng built for himself, that he was a freedom fighter. I personally believe CP was a puppet of the CCP or at least a dutiful follower of it, afterall most people here seem to forget that in the 1960s, CPM propaganda was complete with references to Mao Zedong Thought and condemnation of “Soviet revisionism”. Lets also not forget where CP stayed for a good 20 years.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
Greg,
You are spot on.
Indeed, there is work being done by Sujit Choudhry at NYU on these issues (sons of the soil policies) and I am looking forward to seeing the fruits of that analysis. His work draws resources from various disciplines including political science, political-legal philosophy, constitutional theory, and even political geography.
What is fascinating about the comparison is the similarity between the repertoire of concepts both conceptually and substantively employed in both Israel and Malaysia. Here work on ethnocracy and/or ethnic democracy by some of the thinkers I mentioned is especially powerful but needs development.
This line of analysis is vital to get a handle on the dynamics of systematic authoritarianism and oppression cloaked in a claim to democracy and legality.
I would be excited to hear from others who are thinking along related lines, especially in the context of Malaysia.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
I think it is ridiculous to make comparisons with Nazi Germany. For one thing UMNO has not declared other political parties illegal, nor have they used their own party militia (they don’t even have one) to harass the ethnic minorities. There is no cult of the leader, i.e Najib is not being sold as the Fuehrer and savior of his people like Hitler was. There is no goal of achieving the unity of the Malay race wherever they are (note Nazi ideology called for the unity of Germans everywhere in Europe). There is no ideology of Malays as a superior race, in fact UMNO ideology argues that the Malays are a weak race needing government support etc. There are no goals for foreign expansion, or the need for “living space” or in fact the militarization of society. There is also no encouragement of mass rallies in support of the Party. There is also no call for extermination of “inferior” races nor are there calls for their enslavement. Indeed nothing of UMNO matches anything of the Nazi Party. The only thing is the mild racism, but that really doesn’t compare with the extreme racism of the Nazi Party. Importantly, as I stated above, UMNO lacks the goal of foreign aggression, regional ethnic unity, totalitarianism, cult of personality, mass violence against minorities and militarization of society. Lacking that, UMNO cannot be compared to the Nazi Party, whose control was secure after just 3-4 years in power, while UMNO must deal with a strong opposition in parliament, and a large segment of the populatio who are hostile to it. It is a shame that Associate Professor Rueban Balasubramaniam has chosen to make the Nazi analogy, it is cherrypicking at most and seems very emotional.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
I’m sorry Peter, but you must have ignored the Israeli party Likud and their warmongers, the likes of Lieberman who openly call for a “cleansing” of Gaza, and the rise of the Religious Right in Israel. And the religious right in Israel does use religion to legitimize the continued occupation of Palestinian lands as well as settlement building. And btw Israel does discriminate against its Arab populations, http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.550152 and http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/18/discriminating-against-arabs-costs-israel-billions.html.
UMNO and Nazi Germany
Greg,
You completely misunderstand the meaning of
the term ‘Chosen People.’ You need to refer
to the Old Testament. Jews regard the concept
as a requirement to try and do good as best
as one can-it DOES not mean Jews feel they are special or above others. There is widespread ignorance about this meaning, in Malaysia and throughout the Islamic world.
Malaysians are woefully ignorant of Judaism
and Israel as exemplified by the stereotypes
that prevail in Malaysia about Jews. I am sorry, Greg, but you have also (perhaps unintentionally) engaged in such stereotypes. The founder of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, was a Socialist who welcomed Israeli-Arabs to stay in the new state; in contrast, when Pakistan was formed, Hindus were at best encouraged to leave and often forced to leave or killed.
Please do not misuse the concept of Chosen
People if you do not know its meaning.
There is no correlation between “Tanah Melayu” and “Chosen People.”
Finally, there are some Leftist Israelis
who argue there is racism in Israel. Yes, sometimes there is, but it is not institutionalized because the Israeli public
and the Supreme Court oppose racism and want
a peace agreement with the Palestinians
and for the Israeli-Arabs (who I have already
pointed out prefer to stay in Israel) to be part of society. Simple question: Have you been to Israel ? If not, then you cannot judge from first-hand experience, can you ?. Compare that with my 20 or so years in Malaya/Malaysia.