"1-Malaysia" in Blinkers- Dancing to the Fascist Racism Tune.

"It is time we shed the crude nationalism
which refuses to acknowledge things “not invented here”.
This country had a great start in life because we had inherited
a system of laws, rights and conventions that had been refined
over more than seven hundred years."
- Tg. Razaleigh, The Infrastructure of Institutions

Isn’t this exactly why normal people become racist when they see
this sort of shenanigans happening right in front of them?
-James Chin, How you become a racist ...

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There was a time when Malaysians would burst with pride when they speak of their country. They sand the song "Berjaya" with much gusto back then. They watched the "Merdeka Day" parades with awe. "Satu Negara, Satu Bangsa" was the catchword.
Those were indeed the good old days when Malaysians were full of hope for a bright future, in a young nation, forged out of an agreement with the colonial "masters" who were keen on a "new world order.
Tun Razak started a "new order" himself through May 13, 1969 - although with a racist twist to it. Things were fine for a while, with plenty of idealistic rhetoric about a "just" system to benefit all and sundry.

Fast forward to 1981 and onwards - enter the Mahathir era .....(imagine a scratching record here for sound effect). We had "Bersih, Cekap, Amanah", "Look East Policy"and what not which resulted in the dismantling of "colonial institutions" with a newfound spirit of Malaysian-ness. We had Razaleigh in S46, fighting a losing battle against the forces of Mahathir, and then the constitutional crises .... and something had to be done - real fast to repair his injured fortunes.

First, we had to abandon our links to the past - which gave us the excellent civil service and a credible judiciary, which could spoil it all for "our man".
The Mahathir tentacles spread quite fast into the Media, Judiciary, Police, Army, Petronas and even JKK to get a grip on the nation.
He wanted a "Malaysia Incorporated" his way.
It resulted in mega projects and privatization of things like Proton, TNB, Perwaja, Telekom, Indah Water, Alam Flora, PUAS/Syabas, IntraKota/RapidKL, SUKOM, KL Tower, KLIA, KLCC, MSC and what not. The health services would've been added to the list of viable companies/services appropriated by pirates aligned to Umno.

Malaysia was flush with money as a result of apparently never-ending flow of FDI which required immigrant labor to do the "dirty jobs", while Malaysians enjoyed the fruits of Mahathirism. Many an instant millionaire "entrepreneurs" were created out of thin air with the many indirect taxes imposed upon the people who were flush with cash - Tolls, APs, import duties on foreign cars, and the creation of a virtually collapsing public transport infrastructure to increase the sale of over-priced tin cans called the "national cars". Price of real estate sky-rocketted. Massive urbanization was encouraged, while rural agriculture was destroyed. Big businesses were encouraged in Mahathir's "think big" ideas, while small enterprises were destroyed or collapsed.

Malaysians were glowing with pride when they said, "Malaysia Boleh" (note: in some business circles today, it is a code-word for bribing officials/ politicians). It also heralded a period of unsurpassed state of apathy in Malaysia, when the people squandered away their rights for the apparent goodies which the Mahathir regime doled out. Everyone was on the take, and life was good.

Then came 1997 - and many a dream was shattered, and reality hit many Malaysians .... you're not gonna get anything, nor are you immune to brutality of the regime, unless you're aligned to Mahathir's Umno Baru.
With the shrinking of the pie, Umno has pursued an agenda of unbridled corruption, racism and religious bigotry ever since. Everything needed a government hand/ patronage to work. Everything was dished out with a few factors in mind - Money, Influence, Race, Religion or Political affiliation - these were the only criteria needed to be filled for any venture (with plenty of 'grease', of course)..... if you were on the right side and believed in "Malaysia Boleh", you made it. Merit had nothing to do with anything anymore ...

Nope - You cannot get a permit for this or that, unless you practice "Malaysia Boleh". You cannot sort out your legal issues unless it is "Malaysia Boleh". You cannot get a seat in the University unless it is "Malaysia Boleh". You cannot get a contract unless it is "Malaysia Boleh".
The other criteria was of course - "Bumiputra", or just plain good ol' "Malay" status (in which case, it didn't matter if you had "Bumi" status") ...... or you're out on your bare ass!!

From education, justice, security, finances, industry, services, business - they all needed a government crony to make it. The government/ cronies were in on everything - even religion. They dictated to you on even what you do behind closed doors! Malaysians started getting a dose of what Mahathirism or rather, Fascist Apartheid was all about.
After all, apartheid was about "separate development", while fascism was defined by Mussolini as "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state", and "Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power".

The best (nauseating) part of it all is - despite all the troubles that have hit them, Malaysians are still singing and dancing away to this music of Racism ... albeit, to the "1-Malaysia" rhythm. They go on like parrots, "Indian this Indian that"; "Chinese this, Chinese that"; "Malay this, Malay that"; "Bumi this, Bumi that" - while being totally and happily ignorant that it is the very pretext upon which the plunder of the nation's resources is perpetrated, and they are impoverished.
You'll see plenty of shamelessly (or unknowingly) racist rhetoric - about how the "pendatang" or the natives of Sabah/Sarawak would need to accept the Ketuanan Melayu ideology, and assimilate.(read the naive batsman's - 'PAS, the Chinese, the Malays and the Sabahans' on Malaysia Today, while thinking that he was being very "intellectual").
Or else, you're only fit to be classified as being ungrateful for the good life that Umno (and not all of us who together worked our asses off for the country) has given you ...

That's "Ketuanan Melayu" for you, with a fresh coat of the "1-Malaysia" paint .......

Note:
Heard that Rosmah Mansor was in Sentul yesterday giving out hampers, goodies, free makan, and cash to the poor - and many who were asked to come for them to make up the numbers went away empty-handed, and ashamed that they were lured to the event.
A point to note is that many "Indians" were given these goodies, while many more Malays were left seething in anger, seeing what was happening - that's "1-Malaysia" for you .....