In Malaysia we do not confine our hate to someone of another religion, or of another race. We also hate another person of a different political inclination or leaning. Politics, just like religion, is based on belief. You believe in a certain religious doctrine and you believe in a certain political ideology. So you follow that belief. However, if that belief contradicts my belief, then I have legal and moral right to hate you.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
In some countries, such as in the UK, hating someone because of that person’s race or religion is considered a hate crime and you will get sent to jail for it. In Malaysia, however, hate is not a crime. So it is not legally wrong if you hate Chinese, Indians, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and so on, although some can argue that it is morally wrong.
But morally wrong does not make it a crime. It is morally wrong to sleep with, say, your sister-in-law, but you will not be sent to jail for that. So we need to understand that while society may perceive you as a pariah for doing certain things, you will not lose your freedom for doing it.
In Malaysia we do not confine our hate to someone of another religion, or of another race. We also hate another person of a different political inclination or leaning. Politics, just like religion, is based on belief. You believe in a certain religious doctrine and you believe in a certain political ideology. So you follow that belief. However, if that belief contradicts my belief, then I have legal and moral right to hate you.
Every day for the last six years since early 2011 I have been subjected to large doses of hate speech. Much of this hate speech are even from some of those who used to be my close friends once in the past. After six years you sort of get used to it and you live with it. So now life goes on for me while those who hate me keep posting nasty comments calling me all sorts of foul names.
Most of those haters are Chinese, of course, but there are Malays, Indians, Sikhs, and ‘others’ as well amongst them. If, however, I was asked to give a breakdown based on race, I would say that at least 70% are Chinese, which makes it quite large considering the Chinese represent only one-third of Malaysia’s population.
By nature the Chinese cannot seem to tolerate and accept anyone who disagrees with their beliefs. Judging by the comments they post regarding the Malays, Muslims, Islam, Umno, Barisan Nasional, the government, the Prime Minister, etc., you can see that most Chinese, somehow, are full of hate. Whether this is because of their education system or the way they were brought up, or whether it is a cultural thing, is something only Chinese can answer. But the hate amongst the Chinese community seems more intense than the hate amongst the non-Chinese community — even amongst the Indian community that is facing a serious social problem due to their attitude that the British abandoned them in Malaysia and hence owe them a living.
The novelty is the Chinese have this notion that while it is okay for them to hate, it is not okay for others to hate as well. They are allowed to hate the Malays, Muslims, Islam, Umno, Barisan Nasional, the government, the Prime Minister, and so on. But if you, in turn, hate Chinese schools, Chinese education, Christian evangelists, Hindu temples, DAP, Bahasa Malaysia Bibles, Chinese-owned massage parlours and brothels, China dolls, Chinese pirate VCD sellers, Chinese ah-longs, etc., they will call you a racist.
The Chinese have this notion that since they are only one-third of the population, and hence are the minority, they have earned the moral right to hate while since you, the Malays, are the majority, then you forfeit the right to hate.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad once cried during an Umno assembly and said he has failed the Malays. “Why can’t the Malays be more like the Chinese?” lamented Mahathir. Tun Musa Hitam, on the other hand, when he was Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister, said the Malays should not be afraid of being kurang ajar and that is it time for the Malays to stop being docile and to be aggressive.
So the ex-Prime Minister and the ex-Deputy Prime Minister have asked the Malays to stop being docile, to be more like the Chinese, to not be afraid of being kurang ajar, and more. Hence if the Malays also want to hate, just like the Chinese, and express this hate with hate speech, just like the Chinese, that is not racism but merely following the example of the successful Chinese. And you cannot be nice if you want to be successful. Seldom are billionaires nice people.
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