AKU MELAYU.

To my Malay ‘friends’ who have reminded me to be a Malay first. To the Malays who have questioned my ‘Malaynese’ and my loyalty to Tanah Tumpahnya Darah Ku. And to those who call me a traitor to the Malay race and who tell me to stay Downunder and never think of coming back to KL again on pain of physical harm...….let me now have my say.

Living most of my life abroad does not make me less a Malay. And I am talking about me, not my children, not my grandchildren. My children are adults and they can choose to be Malays, Bugis, Greek, Australians or Canadians - for they, by their birth, can choose to be a Malay, Bugis, Greek, Australian or, in the case of my daughter and granddaughters, Canadians. The choice is theirs because what time they have spent in Malaysia is just a drop in the ocean considering the time they have lived on this earth.

So I will speak for myself, not for them.

What I want to know is simply this. Are the Malays saying that Malaysia (without Sabah and Sarawak) is only for the Malays? This has been drummed into the Malay consciousness by UMNO, PAS, and almost every Prime Minister that we have had….including DSAI. And if you do not agree with me that that is what DSAI is now doing….then go ask the non-Malays and they will tell you that is what they think DSAI is now doing. And politics is 80% perception.

Why don’t the Malays drop all pretence of Malaysia being a cosmopolitan, multi-racial country for all Malaysians and tell the non-Malays that Malaysia is only for the Malays? No need to pretend that we still need the NEP. No need to have Ketuanan Melayu, discounts for the Malays, or quota in education for Malays ….just get on with the business of governing Malaysia for the Malays. Everyone else comes second…or third or fourth.

If the non-Malays want to leave Malaysia, help them with assisted passage to any country that will take them. If the non-Malays want to stay in Malaysia….no problem, but they are at best, second-class citizens. And we will treat them as second-class citizens.

No need to pretend. No need to say this or that…just make it clear to all non-Malays…you do not belong in Malaysia. Everything is out in the open. No more confusion.

No more confusion for me too because I know what I will do. Stay in Australia!

BUT, if there are enough Malaysians out there who passionately believe that Malaysia is for all of us that call Malaysia home, then let us get on with the business of making it so. Let us move forward together and make Malaysia Malaysian and let us do so without fear or favour. Let us start now and make this beloved country of ours into the very image of what it once was not too many decades ago - a wonderful place that we can all call home and know that we belong. And I will come home and begin the process of bringing back my own children and grandchildren to Malaysia as I am sure, so many others too, will also do.