masalah pemahaman kaum india 1

There are three by-elections coming soon -- one each in Perak, Kedah and Sarawak.

While there appears to be no problems thus far in Perak and Sarawak, it looks like Kedah is going to face problems even before Nomination Day. And the problem is as follows. The Indians are not happy with Pakatan Rakyat’s choice of candidate and they will probably boycott or sabotage the by-election if they don’t get their way.

Okay, I have no problems with that. After all, most of the Indians, the majority of them, are all ex-MIC supporters anyway. This means they have kepala otak MIC. They think like MIC and throw tantrums like MIC and demand this and that like MIC. That is to be expected.

But what is unsettling is the way the Indians constantly talk about Indian this and Indian that. Every time these ex-MIC Indians open their mouths it must be about Indian rights, Indian interests, hak India, kepentingan India, and whatnot. These Indians are just like the Umno chaps, minus the little rusted curved knives. These ex-MIC Indians and the Umno chaps are like pinang dibelah dua, or, as the English would say, like two peas in a pod.

I know that people from Italy are called Italians, people from Germany are called Germans, people from Russia are called Russians, people from China are called Chinese, people from India are called Indians, and so on and so forth. Therefore, it goes without saying that people from Malaysia are called Malaysians. But those Malaysians whose forefathers came to Malaysia from India in the 1850s to around 1920 or so still want to be known as Indians even though they and their parents were all born in Malaysia.

Read my lips, very slowly. Those born in Malaysia are Malaysians while those born in India are Indians. You can’t be born in Malaysia and yet still be Indians. Get it? Or must I repeat that?

Enough of all this Indian this and Indian that! Who the shit cares about Indian rights and Indian interests? We are fighting for Malaysian rights and Malaysian interests. It is Ketuanan Rakyat. Not Ketuanan India just like Ketuanan Melayu a la Umno.

I once had an argument with a Hindraf supporter and he tried to impress upon me that the Indians need to be represented and they need an Indian to represent them. I asked this chap whether he is Indian and he replied that he is. Then go back to India, I told him. Indians live in India. Malaysians live in Malaysia. He then corrected himself and said that he is a Malaysian.

In that case, I replied, why do you want an Indian to represent you? Can’t I, a Malay, be your representative? Why must it be an Indian? I too can represent the Indians and serve the Indians.

This Hindraf chap then asked me how I would feel if an Indian represented me. Considering I am Malay, can I accept an Indian Prime Minister? Of course I can, I replied. In fact, I accepted an Indian Prime Minister for 22 years. The only thing is I never saw him as an Indian or even addressed him as an Indian. I just addressed him as Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

I am not the problem, I told this chap. You are. You look at things from an Indian perspective. I look at it from a Malaysian perspective. Anwar Ibrahim is half-Indian. Wan Azizah, according to Umno, is half-Chinese. I am half-Malay. Many of my very close friends and relatives are half this or half that. But we never, I repeat never, address each other or look at each other through coloured lenses. We are absolutely and thoroughly colour-blind.

I would like to pack all those who shout and scream that they are Indians into a tongkang and send them back to India where they belong. Bodoh punya India!