Sadly the Malaysian government reflects the attitudes of its majority constituents, the Malays. Their patience is legendary. But go too far and not even social media will save those irresponsible users of social media space from the wrath of an angry provoked section of the population pushed against their limits. The current generation of young Malaysians has little or no memories of May 13 and what it is that provoked that violent backlash.
It made my flesh crawl when I saw a video shot of a group of Chinese youth at the last Bersih rally symbolically with a broom in hand sweeping the Malays (an effigy of the Prime Minister Najib Razak) in a repeat of a gesture not too dissimilar to that which the Chinese used to spark May 13 in 1969. To that I say, those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.
Najib Razak’s propaganda teams are more easily recognised than ever these days. They are the ones saying black is white and complaining that media outlets not directly controlled by the Prime Minister are ‘abused’.
Top of the Pops in this department is a suddenly promoted former nonentity, one Quintin Rosario from Brisbane and the online platform ‘Malaysia Today’ run by Najib blogger RPK.
So, when you have Quinton quoted by ‘RPK’ warning Chinese Malaysians with the vicious and sinister threat that the ‘ever patient’ Malays will soon be ‘provoked’ into another ‘May 13th’ massacre against them, owing to criticism of Najib, everyone knows what is going on.
Yet Najib has thrown himself and the ‘ever patient Malays’ at the mercy of Asia’s super-power China both financially and politically in response to his own corruption crisis, thereby undermining Malaysia’s economic and political independence.
How does he imagine his powerful new patrons are going to react to these dirty threats against Chinese communities, so many of whom lost their lives when his own father presided over the ghastly massacre which he dares to mention as a weapon in this way to frighten people with?