Malay Unity or National Unity

I refer to the Sun report where MCA Youth Chief Datuk Liow Tiong Lai was reported to have declared MCA's support for the UMNO-PAS talks. I find it retrogressive for him to state that MCA takes it with an open mind in an effort to unite the Malay community, and even urged the Chinese community to be united in support of MCA. This gives rise to parochial communal thinking and an old narrow mindset of racial politics.

As a Malaysian who believes in a social contract which is enshrined in our Federal Constitution and based on the notion that ‘all Malaysians are created equal’, I am indeed puzzled by his above statement. This is because it gives rises to the implication that Malaysians are still divided along ethnic lines and that communal politics continue to dominate the political scene, rather than National Unity in the first place.

The idea of Ketuanan Melayu as espoused by UMNO is going bankrupt, as the recent talks between UMNO and PAS seems to indicate they are desperate enough to go to that extent to salvage their waning support among the Malay electorate and to stem the tide of the Anwar factor. I dare say, if not for the losses suffered by UMNO in the recent March 8 Elections, where they lost 5 states to Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO would not have bothered having secret talks with PAS.

Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad’s caution against turning the dialogue into a racial issue completely misses the point. This is about putting national interest first and not party interest. All Malaysians irrespective of their race are stakeholders in the affairs of our nation, and that nation building should not solely belong to any one particular race or religion. Non-Malays are not foreigners in their own land, but that as a multi-racial nation, we should strive to achieve national unity and economic prosperity for all Malaysians, irrespective of their race, religion, status or political beliefs.

All Malaysians of rational minds must make a heart-searching reappraisal as to what they conceive to be Malaysia’s destiny. If it is the common hope that our destiny lies in a multi-racial nation, where there is no discrimination on the grounds of race, then the Malaysian dream of ensuring opportunity and security for all will become a reality, as there will indeed be national unity.

However, if there is no agreement on this fundamental issue, where we continue to harp on racial unity talks, instead of national unity, then clearly there is no will or determination to build a multi-racial nation, that is based on one common Malaysian dream or identity – Bangsa Malaysia.

Public Confidence in Police in Tatters

How to trust the police? To trust or not to trust, that is the million ringgit question. It's simple enough to understand the fears of Anwar that the DNA sample could be tampered with, considering the fact that the accuser, Saiful Bukhari Azlan is under police protection.

A DNA expert has revealed that a DNA sample could be kept for many years under optimal conditions, so why can't they use that? Another reason for the fear is that it would lead to fabrication of evidence just like what happened in the 1999 sodomy trial, when the proceedings saw the illegal removal of DNA samples from forensic custody and the "planting" of blood samples.

The disclosure of these incidents in court led to the expunging of the entire DNA evidence. It was a disgrace and a black mark in the impartiality of the whole proceedings. The DNA is merely corroborative evidence and not primary evidence, as pointed out by Anwar's lawyer, Sivarasa.

So the whole question now lies with the Police, are they going to be impartial, independent and professional in discharging their duties in respecting Anwar, and not treat him like the most wanted criminal in Malaysia, when they sent in a squad of balaclava clad commando style of arrest on Anwar long before the deadline in broad daylight. This is most despicable and shameful and has brought back memories of the shameful episode 10 years ago when the highest member of the police gave Anwar a black eye. Shameful because of the amount of human rights abuses inflicted on him.

By arresting him before the deadline, they have breached confidence and public trust in the police. If they can do this to him, I can't imagine what they will do to lesser mortals. Certainly, public confidence in the police is in tatters, when justice for Anwar is what matters now.