7/28/2019 Lost for the last half century: Will it be the same
for the next five years?
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Lost for the last half century: Will it be the same for the
next five years? Ahmad Mustapha Hassan
June 13, 2013
JUNE 13 We left a path that we had created to travel forth to
achieve what we had
desired when this blessed motherland of ours was freed from the
colonial yoke in1957.
Now in order for us presently to go forward, we need to reflect
whether we had moved in
the right direction or had we wandered away from what our
founding fathers wanted toachieve.
As the Malay proverb goes Sesat di hujung jalan, balek ka
pangkal jalan, meaning that
if we have lost our way, then we just have to go back to where
we started the journey.
But of course, we have to know whether we have indeed lost our
way. We had beentravelling for over half a century and we have to
ascertain whether we have achieved
anything at all.
In the first place, why did we clamour for independence or did
we? A certain section
of the people did organise themselves for that struggle but they
were crippled by the
British. As for the rest, they were simply caught up in the wave
of nationalism that was
engulfing all the countries still under colonial rule, after the
Pacific war.
The British colonial power was not naive to all the happenings
that were taking place.
They thought they knew how to play their cards. Of course they
knew whom they couldtrust to safeguard their interests. And they
ruthlessly annihilated those they knewwould be detrimental to their
well-being.
The British were masters in the art of pacifying those who
mattered to them. Malay
society was feudal in structure and that made it that much
easier for the British to
control them. So long as the structure was kept intact, peace
and economic
exploitation of the land could proceed unabatedly.
To exploit the riches of the land, they brought in outsiders
from various territories undertheir control and at the same time
kept the Malay societal structure intact.
The Malays were happy and of course the British were much
happier as they were
able to merrily exploit the vast natural resources
available.
But then there emerged among the British colonial administrators
those who did not
understand the political and social conditions in the country.
They thought that all thepeople in their colonised territories were
the same in character and would accept
whatever changes that they wanted to bring in.
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7/28/2019 Lost for the last half century: Will it be the same
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The British now wanted to impose direct political rule so as to
make the administration
more compact and efficient for them. This policy switch
naturally hit at the very heart of
Malay society. The introduction of the Malayan Union had shaken
the Malay feudal
establishment and thus created animosity.
The Malays demonstrated, not because there was mass hunger in
the country, orbecause they wanted freedom and equality or
independence for that matter. They
demonstrated because their societal structure had come under
threat.
There was no cry for independence Merdeka like in Indonesia or
the battle cry in
India Jai Hind (Victory to India) but instead championed Hidup
Melayu (Long
Live the Malays). It was a call to preserve the age-old
structure based on feudalism.
The Malays had been under this societal structure for centuries
and a threat to it
would mean the Malays would have no protector.
Thus Umno came into being, born in the royal palace in Johorto
lead the Malays
against this threat.
The British again in a clever twist made use of Umno to cripple
all other radical
movements against them as they knew Umno would shield their
economic interest.
Umno readily accepted and danced to the tune of the British
colonial
administration. And Umno was very proud that the transfer of
power was smooth
and peaceful. The British had won in this political battle.
With independence, how would Umno move? They had not planned for
this and thus
they said the country would follow the political system of the
free world as compared to
that of the centralised economies.
The first attempt towards this concept failed and the country
experienced a very majordisaster in 1969. Changes were made to
pacify the various groups but the goals, whatever
they were, were not met.
This was a case of losing the way right from the very beginning.
And that was what hasbeen happening for the last half a century.
The country had moved backwards rather than
forward. It is a case of one step forward and two steps
backward.
And the future? It will also be another five years of losing the
way.
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