YOURSAY | Justice for Palestinians; justice for all M’sians too

YOURSAY | ‘That the PM dared mention the word ‘apartheid’ is astounding.’

COMMENT | Why minorities did an eye-roll over Umno PM's 'apartheid' remark

BobbyO: We know what Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob's agenda is by giving a speech at the United Nations about the oppression of Palestinians. He knows the local press will print it on the front pages. This will help him gain political support.

Meanwhile, world leaders who listened to his hypocritical speech would laugh among themselves. Like they would have done each time a Malaysian leader took the stand and gave their shiok sendiri speech.

Since 1MDB hit the headlines in the world press, many eyes are looking at the nation.

We were among the top nations in the list of Covid-19 deaths, beating nations that are many times bigger in population. We are a nation that had a democratically-elected government snatched away.

We are a nation where one race has more privileges than others. The non-stop abuse of using race as a political issue remains. There are attempts to take it even a notch higher.

There was a proposal for all freight forwarding companies to go into partnership with bumiputeras. Not by holding 20 or 30 percent but 51 percent of the company. Just like that. Not having to toil, sweat, or even put in a day’s work. Just take over a company that took years to build.

The foreign embassies in Malaysia will be having a field day sending these reports back to their home country.

It is a known fact that over the years, this abuse has gone on. Today, most of the nation's companies, civil service, and political power are in the hands of the Malays.

Some may deny it, but if everything is audited and placed before the world to see, there will be many more Malay billionaires who will crawl out of the woodwork.

Can Ismail Sabri stop this abuse before speaking out for others? The Palestinians are not the only ones being abused. There are many minorities all over the world who are being mistreated.

Why just pick on one? Expose all of them. This should be a trait of a world leader. Stand and speak out for the oppressed. Will he, or can he?

Enlightened Globalist: Spot on. We have been fed a ton of lies, hypocrisy, and duplicity by our politicians through the years.

Most non-Malays I speak to are fed-up and realise discrimination will never end. Many feel they do not belong to the country. Many encourage their children to migrate. They realise the future of the next generation is bleak.

Today the Malay-Muslims have full political power. The events after the 14th general election clearly showed Malays won’t agree to share political power with the non-Malays.

Gerrymandering has further shrunk the political representation of the non-Malays. Economic power is also passing into bumi hands. GLCs are in the hands of the bumis. Almost all banks are bumi-owned. Public Bank will most likely change hands once the current chairperson is no more.

What is happening in the freight forwarding sector might soon apply to other segments of the economy.

And finally, the space for cultural diversity is shrinking. This is exemplified by dress-code requirements in government departments and even in vaccination centres. In due course, today's multicultural society might be replaced by a mono-cultural one.

Justice: Indigenous natives remain as third-class bumiputera. Look at how many are appointed in the federal and state civil service, government-linked companies, and how many are let into local universities and awarded government scholarships.

Even their rights to their ancestral lands are now disputed, obstructed, or denied, making them squatters on their own ancestral lands.

Malaysia talks big on the rights of the Palestinians on the global stage but does exactly the opposite to its own indigenous people at home, who continue to suffer all sorts of discrimination.

Headhunter: The fact the PM dared mention the word "apartheid" is simply astounding. Malaysia is probably the only country left in the world that practices that system to the hilt.

Stop being a hypocrite in condemning others for what you are practising at home.

PurpleHare0843: Malaysiakini columnist Martin Vengadesan, this is an excellent article. Factual, articulate, and speaks from the heart of many Malaysians.

The key takeaway for me is indeed the fact that the voting majority has chosen to elect governments that have perpetuated the “all are equal but some are more equal” doctrine.

And yet waiting in the fringes are those who outright say infidels don’t belong here. Like yours, my next generation has set roots across the waters.

Recently, some high-profile leaders talked about Malaysia’s brain drain. Any primary school kid of the “right” background can tell you why this is happening.

Being treated as not-so-equal and even because you are “tolerated” hurts at a very fundamental level of your soul, especially after I have given it my all.

I love my country. I love its lands, people, and promises. I’m slowly accepting though that it doesn’t love me back. It’s painful but true.

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