Malaysia red shirt protest rally

Yesterday Malaysia celebrated Malaysia Day in a different manner. A group of Malays donning on red shirts and calling themselves the Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu took to the streets to assert Malay dominance in Malaysia. They wanted the minority races to know that they are guests to the country, there are only allowed to live in Malaysia under the grace and generosity of the Malays. Malaysia belongs to the Malays.

The protest rally came about in response to an earlier rally a month ago called Bersih 4 calling for a clean govt after the 1MDB incident. Though that protest was attended by all the races, including Mahathir Mohammed and Muhyiddin, and the issue was corruption, it has been interpreted or turned into a racial issue. It becomes a Chinese and Indian insult to the Malays and Islam and Malay dominance in Malaysia.

The protest march in the centre of Kuala Lumpur was intended to move through the Chinese majority districts and Bukit Bintang where past racial riots were at its worst. It was a show of force to intimidate the Chinese and other minority races not to trifle or insult the Malays. How the Bersih 4 protest against corruption can become an insult and challenge to Malay rights, dominance and Islam is only a matter of politicking. And the protest was very real, tension very high, fear was everywhere. The threats of another racial riots and bloodbath were clear and imminent. Credits should go to the police to keep the protestors under control and not to break into another killing field. Businesses in the district were at a stand still, all shops closed.

The Sultan of Johore has taken a very strong stand against promoters of hatred and instability. He warned anyone trying to do it in Johore that he would deal with the agitator personally.  ‘Anyone who creates disharmony and spreads hatred here by promoting racism, will have to deal with me personally.  Take this as a warning. This is not the stone age, do not be ungrateful – the Malays, Chinese and Indians all played their part. Johor Darul Ta’zim is home to the Malays, Chinese and Indians; they are Bangsa Johor.’

Looking from across the Causeway, Singaporeans must be very grateful that we don’t have to face such threats and tension every now and then. The non Malay Malaysians must take this incident very seriously as to how far they could go. Race and religion are highly sensitive issues that can be hijacked and turned into an inflammable political issue. All Singaporeans must also not to take the good inter racial relations for granted. New citizens must also take note of the effort the govt and Singaporeans have put in to keep racial and religious harmony as a top priority agenda in this city state. The govt also must take note that keeping 4 major ethnic communities living peacefully is not an easy task. To add into this mixed pot with more diverse ethnic groups from all over the world would risk creating more troubles down the road.

Singapore is good as it is. Tempering with the concoction that has stabilized over the years by adding more inflammable mixes into it would ensure a very unstable future. Don’t be stupid to think that race and religion are so easy to handle and manage. They are age old ingredients for wars among people, ageless.