(Petaling Jaya, Saturday): Last Friday, Singapore Mentor Minister Lee Kuan Yew has commented that Chinese in Malaysia (and also Indonesia) were being marginalized systematically.

Lee must have said this to serve his party's agenda, i.e. to influence Singaporean Chinese to support PAP so that his party could continue to rule Singapore. But I'm afraid what he has said was not very far from the truth in Malaysia.

Gerakan's outgoing chief Lim Keng Yaik and his heir apparent Koh Tsu Koon have no credibility to tell Kuan Yew off as their party, Gerakan, is being marginalised by their own partners in the Barisan Nasional coalition, i.e.UMNO and MCA.

If Keng Yaik is true to himself, he should know more than anybody else that how Chinese were being marginalized in this country.

As a long-serving minister, I believe he knows exactly how the non-Malays were being discriminated and marginalized under the New Economic Policy(NEP). And looks like the non-Malays will be haunted by the NEP for many more years to come if people like Khairy Jamaluddin and Hishamuddin Hussein continue to have their say.

Keng Yaik should know how the Chinese schools were being marginalized in this country.If UMNO continues to push for the 2-4-3 formula and finally decided to hold examinations only in English for Maths and Science come 2008, that will be the end-of-the-road for Chinese schools in Malaysia.

He should also know that the cultures of the non-Malays were not even considered as part of the national culture. He should still remember how Lion Dance was almost forced to change to Tiger Dance, and how Chinese signboards were almost forced to be taken down without any justification.

Keng Yaik should not forget that until today, non of the non-Malays have made it to the top in the police force, armed forces and public universities. Do you mean we could not find a single non-Malay who was qualified for the top job?

He should still remember that we used to have a Chinese Governor in Melaka, and non-Malays were used to be given the opportunity to lead some important ministries, such as the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Trade and Industry. Not anymore.

Keng Yaik could not agree with Kuan Yew probably because he felt ashamed for not being able to saveguard the interest of the non-Malays in this country as a minister. He probably realised that by admitting that the Chinese in Malaysia were being marginalized would not be a good reflection on him.

I may even argue that even the Malays were being marginalized in this country under the rule of Barisan Nasional Government. Only UMNO-putras, MCA taikos and MIC warlords stand to benefit with their special political connections. They run the country as if they own the whole country, and the rest of poor Malaysians were being marginalized by them for the past half a century.
 

(23/09/2006)