Monday, January 12, 2009

Malaysia's visions of a more equal future.

I was reading through kennysia's website as usual and I saw a very interesting short note link from his blog. I read through it and makes me wonder even more. Where are we heading and what's next in it for us?

We have extremist and at the same time we have really humble people despite of their religion and race. But what will this cost us?

I don't know, really.

And, so I read the writting of Mukul Devichand who is a reporter with BBC Radio 4 in which he has came to Malaysia, interviewing people from all race on our future.

Quoted,
From weary red-eyed Indian labourers on plantations to urban middle-class Malay Muslim women, a new generation of Malaysians is pushing to end a system of racial inequality. But can their different visions for the future be brought together?

Amongst the people that he have met has made very intesting remarks and "speech". In which I have stumbled across and would like to share it on my blog.

Quoted:

"A DISASTER IS HAPPENING IN THIS COUNTRY"

luqman
I met 22-year-old undergraduate Luqman Ul-Hakim Bin Muhhammad Idris under a metal Arabic letter M, known as "meem", which keeps watch on the extensive campus of the Universiti Teknologi Mara.

Meem stands for Malays - because while other parts of the education system have ethnic quotas, only bhumiputras are allowed to study here.

Luqman is the elected head of the student body. Last year he led a street protest after a state official remarked that perhaps one in 10 university places should be opened to minorities.

Education is a live issue, not only for Indians but also for the entrepreneurial Chinese. They make up a quarter of the population and hold much of the nation's wealth, which allows many to study privately.

This is our land basically. We have already given one special privilege to the non-Malays, that is citizenship
But in Malaysia's growing blogosphere, there's an increasingly vocal sense of exclusion, mixed with frustration at severe security laws that allow detention without trial.

Luqman, a proud Malay, has no sympathy for this new activism. He points out that even after decades of affirmative action policies the ethnic Malays remain relatively impoverished.

But it isn't just about wealth. "This is our land basically. And we have already given one special privilege to the non-Malays, that is citizenship," he says.

Regarding the blogosphere he has a question for Malaysia's new prime minister: "When you're talking about opening the freedom of speech, how far do you want to go?"


Click here for the original article.

Now, what do u guys think?

No comments: