1. The political bashing and slander on the
Malays and UMNO institution is brewing again. However, the tempo now was orchestrated
against the Malay academics whom were slammed a major 'below the belt' blow by
labeling them as bunch of incompetence.
2. The article written by RVW or perhaps a
Malaysian under disguise in the Malaysian Insider could jolly well win the
Oscar for being the most racist article ever written against the Malay
academics. RVW single out one potent Malay academic as iconic and stamp the
rest as substandard and deficient.
3. There were actually two notable
elements to this bizarre article which were both equally hard hitting against Malay academics and UMNO, the strongest Malay political
institution. What a better time to publish the article in the wake of the Kajang by-election.
4. One would presume that RVM maybe an agent of
some sought for leveling such atrocious and appalling attack on the Malay
academics and UMNO. RVM may have a different target audience but definitely not
the ordinary or reasonable man in streets of Kajang and certainly not the
'stuporous melayus' academics or professors whom he has labeled as english
speaking freaks that strive on the vile UMNO ideology.
5. The motive behind this 'No Holds Barred'
condemnation and political innuendos against the Malay academics is baffling as
much as it was unwarranted and incomprehensible. Naturally the article invites
heavy criticism and the tide of battle has now turned against the beholder.
6. RVM may be ignorant of the fact that english
was never used as a yardstick to measure intellect and intellectualism, otherwise
many great scientists would have been disqualified - so too were other great
inventors who would all be labelled as unfit and inadequate under RVM's
criteria.
7. From his article, many would infer that RVM
is a victim of his own intellectual morass judging from his myopic perspective
and wild allegations as well as his lack of understanding on social
complexities and wisdom. RVM and his academic idols were actually casualties of
their own idiosyncrasies, thus blaming others for their own shortcomings.
8. In his notoriously pathetic article, RVM also
linked the so called 'stuporous' Malay academics as UMNO professors and went on
his lambasting campaign against UMNO with distorted and malicious intents.
9. Since independence, Malaysia has gone through
many trials and tribulations to be a developed nation. When we were hit by the
financial crisis in 1997, it was not the writer or his gang of pseudo
intellectuals that came to the rescue but it was the BN government with the so
called 'incompetent' UMNO leader defying
IMF formula took us out of the economics doldrums.
10. UMNO has never been a racist party. If at all
it was deficient, it was only because UMNO was just merely safeguarding the
federal constitution, preserving the social contract and upholding the very
tenets of our democracy which are now being relentlessly manipulated and
maneuvered by its adversaries for their own political gains and agenda.
11. The politics in Malaysia can never be the
same again ever since the politics of lies, hatred and provocation propounded
by unscrupulous politicians took centre stage and became the order of the day.
It seems that the rule of law and respect has taken a back seat in today's era
of neo-politics in Malaysia.
12. If UMNO had ever subscribed to cronyism then
it has discharged it's duties and responsibilities well as under BN and UMNO
every citizen has equal and equitable access to education and economic
opportunities. The fact that there is only one Malay businessman listed amongst
the 10 richest man in Malaysia is another testimony that UMNO allows everyone
to prosper irrespective of race, religion or creed.
13. Yes, there maybe disgruntlement on the ground
in regards to the behaviors and conducts of some dubious politicians within and
outside the ruling party but to generalize everyone in the UMNO systems as
racist, deficient and malingering is obnoxious and preposterous.
14. Coming back to the Malay academics, it is too simplistic to
benchmark them with top notch professors from America and Britain who hail from
a different academic culture and environment. But still in many instances, our
academics are far superior than those in the region to say the least. Our
international publications have surpassed most of our immediate neighbors and
as we speak more are being referred and published. Of course, academics publications are also
not devoid of political game just like anything else, its who you know.
15. To say that there are hardly any non Malays
professors left in the country is also a shooting statement in the dark. RVM
may have written his article with malicious intent overlooking the true fact of
the case. He may not be aware or deliberately whitewash the fact that in the
five research universities, the Malays and non Malays professors are given
equal window of opportunity in terms of research grants and funds. There are
also almost equal number of Malay and non Malay recipients in the Merdeka
Award, the most prestigious award given to academics, scholars and NGO for
their contributions to society and the country.
16. 16. One cannot simply condemned another merely on
their language orientation or preference. The Russians, the Germans and the
Europeans academics and scientists as well as the arab scholars would also be
the subject of parody under RVM definition. How does RVM categorize all these non English speaking scientists, inventors and scholars if RVM used english proficiency as a barometer to measure intellect and intellectualism.
17. Malaysia is committed in her quest in restructuring
it's society and recognizes that talent, hard work and discipline as well as
unity and harmony as prerequisites to economic growth and prosperity.
18. We hope that the Transformation Agenda being
embark by the current government will not create human capital to the likes of
RVM but one that stand steadfastly on respect, care and understanding. We need
to build and transform Malaysia into a healthy and prosperous country to
benefit every level of our society. There is no one size fit all.
19. Let us all put aside our differences and
paranoia, at the same time pull all of our resources together and make our
country, a better Malaysia. Many born again Malaysians who have come back to
this land would appreciate that the grass is not always greener on the other
side and they would vouch that there is no better place like home.
Article written by Tengku Rethwan bin Tengku Mansor
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