cos this time around, perhaps the fear is unfounded. ya la, the "titik hitam dalam sejarah malaysia" incident that has been bandied around so often, to silence opinions on "sensitive issues", threaten us, or to garner votes during the elections (HAH didnt work now, DID IT).
things are different now =)
a good friend of mine sent me an email containing an article on this matter, which i would like to post. so here it is, fully copy pasted (geez, aren't we all local uni students damn PRO at this). written by someone with the pen name of Asparagus Alfalfa (so cute name =p).
Fellow Malaysians: 1969? Pffft..!
By Asparagus Alfalfa
Like in the Harry Potter series, where the monster's name is always referred as 'He who should not be named', it has been looming, like dark clouds above our head, ever threatening - the number 1969 as the 'Year that shall not be mentioned'. C'mon folks, this is the sole reason why the racial card is still playable- the constant broken recorder-like repetitive threat of them who played the racial card, saying that '1969 will happen again if this, this or this be done, revised, changed, questioned'. Here is a few reasons why I think 1969 is so obsolete, sooo in the past, and not worth mentioning at all unless you are a nostalgic racist slasher: Dude, you're alone.
I say, ignore that thought. Fear has been used by those in power to control commoners like you and me. Just like how the Bush administration used it to win the second term. The proof has been evident: the guy in power who threaten in 1987 to bathe his keris with Chinese blood and the recent younger keris wielding hopefuls in the local KKK assembly. They reinstate and keep the fear constant and of course, it backlashed. Believing what they telling and further occupying our mind with that would only contribute to their successful use of the four lettered f-word. Why do we even bother?
Cliché: the only thing that is constant is the change. Societies evolve. Surely you understand that things weren't like how it used to be. The lives of people of different races are so deeply entwined it is, I must say, very hard to imagine your Chinese officemate start to stab you with a sharpened steelpipe, or the Malay nasi lemak seller refuse to sell you her sambalicious nasi lemak because you Chineses have no right to enjoy a good breakfast. We have so many countless interracial marriage now- it is just futile to define yourself in any racial way. If people in such solidarity could change the whole state majority, I have no doubt that small threats like this could be handled well.
Go out. Live your life as you have always lived. We have so many news portal, blogs and opinions around the Internet to provide us with sufficient alternative info and ideas around. You have worked so hard (through the 'democratic' ballot box) to make the changes and succeeded- don't stunt the growth of the new era that all of us have been hoping for (and to provide reason for those shit-stirrers to accuse that shit happens when you vote for opposition). Racial/religion card is obsolete and can never be played again- just looked at how PAS has dropped the Islamic state from her manifesto and how subsequently, they have been 'blessed' with non-Muslim's vote. The winnings have been so beautiful, I metaphorically cried in joy.
I was worried at first- but come on- we have changed the ruling party for the WHOLE state- not just pinching one or two seats like we pathetically used to. Talk to people- assure them that 1969 would NOT happen- we are in the danger of self-fulfilling prophesy if we think that it would. Shut off your television, fold your newspaper and turn on your computers! May there be more thought-provoking movies be screened, may there be no more threat to organize gigs, may there be more public gatherings of concerned citizens, may there be more allocation for press freedom and free speech, less corrupted cops, less racist manifestos, more attention and aid to the marginalized people and a better judiciary system.
It starts with you walking out to the street. Today.
Good luck Malaysia.
