Jae Senn summed up the discrimination against Malay-Muslims well

December 8, 2018 12:34 am Raggie Jessy

Mak Khuin Weng

Jae Senn’s article pretty much sums up why the Malay Muslims need to gather (READ HERE).

He touched on how the non-Malays have a victim mentality and I just want to expand on this because he doesn’t give actual examples! Haha.

Before I continue, I’m going to preface this with a disclaimer that this article doesn’t mean the Chinese don’t suffer discrimination, but that they don’t see how they discriminate.

Also note, that your experiences may differ – you are welcome to share your experiences that refute what I’m sharing here.

Language Discrimination

In Penang, my Malay friends tell me the Chinese companies don’t want to hire them even if they are qualified for the job specifically because they cannot speak Chinese and thus cannot communicate effectively with the clientele. Tell me la, what other country allows us Chinese this privilege to discriminate on job offerings based on the ability to speak the language of a minority in the country?

And before you go chew me on the lack of evidence, we actually have a study on worker discrimination. DEGREES OF DISCRIMINATION: RACE AND GRADUATE HIRING IN MALAYSIA

“… Perceptions of Malay graduates are evidently unfavourable, posing deep questions on the quality of education, on affirmative action outcomes and ramifications (both real and perceived), and on deficiencies in inter-group social interaction that may allow such perceptions to become entrenched. At the same time, the significance of Chinese language proficiency and language requirements suggest that social compatibility and work functionality impact on interview prospects.”

Imagine that, a study that shows that the Malays are being discriminated against. I’m sure some of my readers here can chime in and give their own examples of discrimination as well.

So no, the Chinese should not play the “I am being discriminated against” card when they are also guilty of discriminating others.

Loyalty to the country

Immediately after GE14, I saw a lot of social media posts from Malaysian Chinese suddenly declaring that they feel Malaysian again. So these people didn’t feel like a Malaysian before GE14?

But the celebration and sudden feelings of being Malaysian again are rooted in the belief that the elections was a referendum against all that is corrupt and wrong with our government.

After all, the Chinese are very good at complaining about shoddy government service and then quickly point out that Malays are the problem – they are lazy and take a lot of breaks etc.

When I was a MBPJ councillor, a retired Chinese guy was telling me all his ideas about how to fix MBPJ. I asked a simple question – are you willing to work in MBPJ to ensure that your ideas get implemented correctly?

“Too low pay.”

Well. He was retired and living the good life. Serve the country on a low salary? No thanks.

DAP thought it would be a good idea to recruit Chinese to serve in MBPJ too so they came up with a position in MBPJ. I don’t remember the exact title for the position, but it was meant to help with communication between MBPJ and Chinese Malaysians who could not speak English or Malay well (imagine that, catering to Chinese inability to speak some more – tell me la, how are the Chinese not privileged?).

The offer was for a fresh graduate with a salary of RM1,800 and their own office. Starting position was equivalent to an officer. MBPJ advertised in some Chinese daily and hired a fresh graduate… only to see the girl quit after one day because she felt intimidated by the lack of other Chinese in the department.

Nak bagi peluang berkhidmat, salary too low. Nak bagi gaji yang kompetitif, tak cukup orang Cina. Pelbagai alasan, I tell you.

So what’s this got to do with loyalty to the country?

The Chinese talk a lot about politics in Malaysia, but many talk about it through a veil of anger and entitlement. Very few actually want to get their hands dirty and serve. And if you just talk shit about your own country and don’t take the effort to serve, to understand why we face the problems we face by reading up on studies of discrimination in Malaysia and just go on and on with this victimised mentality, how are you loyal to the country?

I have a lot more stories I can tell, but I will stop here. I pretty much concur with Jae Senn’s viewpoint and understand the need for the anti-ICERD rally. To my Malay friends, I wish you all the best in your rally tomorrow.