It has become all too apparent that even now, non-Malays have never been accepted as Malaysians; they will always be "bangsa asing", "bangsa pendatang", "thieves and beggars", and "prostitutes", and Malaysia will always be "Tanah Melayu", land of the Malays. It is disheartening that even after 50 years of independence we still regard each other with suspicion and fear. What is hypocritical is that the upper UMNO echelon who is supposed to be the 'big brother' of the ruling party should continue to view non-Malays as foreigners while publicly espousing the 1 Malaysia vision. What are we to make of all these remarks by UMNO leaders who seem to be undermining the Prime Minister's tireless efforts to be inclusive? The only plausible conclusion we could draw from these attempts to drive a wedge between the races is that the Prime Minister's leadership in UMNO is hardly assured. It does seem to indicate that a faction of UMNO which seems to wield considerable influence is adamantly not subscribing to his 1 Malaysia.
The UMNO executive secretary denied making those derogatory remarks, but in the same breath said that it was a closed-door meeting and no one outside should be privy to what was discussed. He added that it was "normal" and "acceptable' to talk in this manner when discussing "Malay interests". So it is okay to continue to bad-mouth behind closed doors non-Malays as parasites gobbling up the resources of the nation and attempting to strip them of their special rights as bumiputeras? He further added that the student obviously did not understand Malay and so misinterpreted the contents of the closed door discussion. A Malay student who was sent to London for tertiary education doesn't understand his mother tongue?
UMNO official denies racist remarks in London
By Sahzwan Mustafa Kamal
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 11 — Umno executive secretary, Datuk Abdul Rauf Yusoh, has vehemently denied a Malaysian student’s allegation that he made racist remarks at an Umno Club function in London a few days ago.
Rauf led an Umno delegation to London to meet with party members there in a private closed-door meeting earlier this week. There the student, Ahmad Naim Mazlan, heard the party official refer to non-Malays as “bangsa asing” who were trampling on the Malays in “Tanah Melayu”.
In a letter sent to The Malaysian Insider, the finance and accounting student heard Rauf saying “Jangan biarkan bangsa asing pijak kepala kita.” (Don’t let the foreigners walk all over our heads.)
But Rauf denied making any derogatory remarks, stressing that the session was a closed-door meeting and no one outside should be listening in to what was being discussed.
“This was a closed door session... this is not true, because what I said was that Malays must sustain power in order to gain respect from the Chinese and other races,” Rauf told The Malaysian Insider in a telephone interview.
The top Umno official went to great lengths to point out that the function was a party function for “Kelab Umno” and was not a public forum organised by the Malaysian Students Department.
“I think the student who overheard, his BM (Malay language) was not very good,” he added.
The student in London also claimed to have overheard Rauf and an “Umno Youth Exco” defending Datuk Nasir Safar’s recent racist tirade against non-Malays.
Nasir resigned as special officer to the Prime Minister shortly after controversy erupted over an allegedly racist statement he made at a 1 Malaysia seminar in Malacca. It was alleged that he said, “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially the women came to sell their bodies”
“I am not supporting Nasir Safar at all! I am not supporting what he said. Let me just put it this way — there is a right forum to talk about Malay interests, and what Nasir Safar did was not right, talking like that in public.
“If it was discussed behind a closed door session, its normal, but he said it outside... what he said was not right,” said Rauf, who used to be the Umno Youth assistant secretary.
He also maintained that Umno is essentially a Malay party, therefore it was an acceptable practice for Umno to talk about “Malay interests”. Source: Malaysian Insider
Below is the letter written by the student:
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