KUALA LUMPUR, Thursday 6 January 2011 -- Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Sri Nazri said that it was not that the Malays lacked confidence, but it was rather that some political leaders had yet to wake up and were still continuing to remind the Malays not to be too capable!
He said that, in fact, many Malays were now self-reliant.
He told Sin Chew Daily in an interview that there were many Malays who were confident of themselves now; and did not really want to rely on the Government's bumiputra policies, and they desired to show their abilities.
"Many Malay students already have the ability in their own right to gain entry into famous foreign universities for studies, but unfortunately, many leaders are still repeatedly reminding the Malays that they need government support."
Nazri used his own family as an example and said that more and more Malays could sustain themselves without government support.
"My grandparents came from Hulu Perak; they were not rich. Although there was no bumiputra policy at that time, my father managed to go overseas to study law and became a lawyer. I later followed in his footsteps and went to UK to study law at my own expense."
"PAS which was very conservative has already become open. Everyone should change; I hope Umno will not revert to its old ways."
Malaysian society going backwards
He said that the more advanced our times had become, the more backwards Malaysia seemed to be going. In an era without borders, many people continued to emphasize their ethnic race, advocate a singular point of view and were increasingly fanatical.
When on the topic of how a lot of people were afraid of becoming less Malay, Chinese or Indian, Nazri’s first response was: "I never worry about becoming less Malay, even though among leaders, I am one of the few who have this kind of thinking!"
He was also not worried that because he "is less of a Malay", he would be unpopular with people of his ethnic race, and said that that many in the Malay middle class agreed with him.
Nazri stressed that education was important as it allowed the Malays to become confident.
He also encouraged all races to interact with each other, and not to limit themselves to those of their own ethnic group.
Nazri: history textbooks will be honest and not cover up Yap Ah Loy’s contributions
Nazri pointed out that Kapitan Yap Ah Loy was a major founder of Kuala Lumpur. This is the truth, why should we cover up this fact?
He stressed that the history books must be based on facts and must be inclusive, so that history could be a tool for nation-building.
He told Sin Chew Daily that an in-depth study of Malaysia’s history would reveal that the ancestors of the various ethnic races have fought for national independence, and their contributions should not be concealed.
He said that the government wanted the people to feel proud of the nation’s independence, and wanted young people to wave the national flag on National Day to express their patriotism, but on the other hand told them: "Your race did not make any contribution." "How can we then convince the people?"
Therefore, Nazri suggested that before the compiling of history textbooks, the government should organize seminars, so that we could reach a consensus and accept these history textbooks.
Chinese are also Malaysians; it is understandable for them to want fairness
Nazri felt that it was reasonable that the Chinese had their demands for fairer opportunities in education and business, since Chinese were also Malaysian citizens, and the Chinese were living in this country.
Nazri felt that it was a very stupid action to question the patriotism of non-bumiputras from time to time, and described those who tell Chinese "to return to China" as having no common sense.
He regretted that the patriotic spirit of non-bumiputras was questioned, and in the matter of "non-bumiputras being accused of not joining the army because they are not loyal", he felt a strong sense of injustice.
"A lot of Malays, including myself, do not send their children to the army. Does it mean that the Malays, including me, are not patriotic?"
"If it is said that it is not patriotic of the Chinese to not send their children into the army, then are the Malays not the same?"
No need for racial remarks
Nazri said that he understood the deep disappointment and anger felt by the Chinese community over calls to Chinese to go back to China and remarks that the Chinese were disloyal and stressed that such racial remarks were totally unnecessary.
"They should not have casually called on the Chinese to go back to China... These people have something wrong with their brains."
"When China opened her doors in 1978, the Malaysian Chinese did not return to China in bulk. Malaysian Chinese only travelled to China for sightseeing; and returned to Malaysia. They did not return to China."
Nazri, who is the Member of Parliament for Padang Rengas, Perak said that the ancestors of many Malays were also from other places, and they also had a habit of returning to visit their ancestral homes. So why can the Malays do it and why can the Chinese not do it? Why have two sets of standards?
"So what if we call this piece of land Tanah Melayu? Thailand have 6 million Malays living there even though it is known as Thailand, and the United Kingdom is called England (English land), but there are many black people staying there. How do you explain it?"
People in Umno playing political games cause resistance to Najib’s reforms
Nazri did not deny that there were too many people in Umno who were playing political games, and causing great resistance to Najib's reforms.
"For example, I recently met with Wong Meng Chee. And some Umno members wanted Najib to dismiss me. I just ignored them, and I also could not care less."
Nazri said that as the first cabinet minister to announce himself as "Malaysian first, Malay secondarily," it did not pose any problem for him.
He agreed that many people did not dare to make such a declaration, and it might be due to self-preservation.
"I do not care what others think of me. I only want to service the people. I do not regard the official position as a personal honor. I have no worries. I have been a minister for 11 years; it would not be a problem for me if I were to retire. For me, being a public servant means I have to serve the people. This is not personal glory, but service. As long as the government still needs me, I will continue to serve."
A lone ranger in Cabinet
Nazri admitted that he was "one of the very few" in the Cabinet as he acted and talked rather differently from other ministers. He said probably due to political considerations some Cabinet ministers had not put the 1Malaysia concept into action even though they agreed to it.
He said he believed Perkasa was against 1Malaysia, but did not understand why some ministers still lent their support to the organisation.
"We should oppose Perkasa if we say we support 1Malaysia. Unfortunately I do not see any minister voice up against Perkasa. Yes, they say they support 1Malaysia, but I am not sure whether they have any practical action to support their claims."
When asked whether he belonged to the "one of the very few" in the Cabinet, Nazri said, "It seems to be this way. I don't know. We are not much different when it comes to talking. They know what I ask for, but are not doing anything."
"Probably there are some viruses inside my brain that make it hard to operate in a normal way. Since I belong to that minority group, the majority would do things in a way very different from me."
He also said he would just say it out directly if necessary, regardless of how senior a minister was, because he supported the prime minister and cared about the rakyat.
Nazri reiterated that the prime minister had not entrusted him with any particular mission, and all that he had done or was doing was from the bottom of his heart.
Need for continued existence of ISA
Nazri felt that it was necessary for the continued existence of the ISA, citing the reason that there were simply too many self-proclaimed heroes who would manipulate racial issues to protrude themselves.
Without ISA, he said, it would be very tough for the government to deal with these people.
Nazri admitted that racial relations remained fragile and tense even after the country had been independent for 53 years.
He nevertheless believed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was capable of handling the issue through the wealth of experiences he had accumulated over his past 23 years in politics.
Support from Malays still high
Nazri said he was not worried that his moderate talks would cost him the votes of the Malays, adding that he had the support of some 72% of Malays.
"You say leaders playing up racial issues will have good market demands, but in a democratic country, I only need 51% to get elected. I think I can get 51% if I do the right things. So, I don't worry about the market. Sure enough there are people supporting narrow-minded remarks, but they are not the majority.
"When talking about pluralism, I believe I am not one of the very few. While newspaper reports and blogs will draw the attention of many, the majority of Malays living in kampungs will not give them a heed. Newspaper reports and blogs do not represent the majority."
Nazri said direct BN membership was one way of diluting the ethnic tone of a political party. He said Umno, MCA and MIC would probably be no longer in existence if direct members of BN were to outnumber members of all component parties one day. However, he admitted that this could take a very long time to come through.
Quota system should go on
Nazri said unreservedly that he supported the country's existing quota system, and that this system should be based on the racial make-up of the country, i.e. 51% for bumiputra and 49% for non-bumiputra.
When asked whether the bumiputra policy would hinder national unity, Nazri said the quota system would ensure that national wealth was fairly distributed to all ethnic groups.
But does that mean meritocracy is no longer required in this country?
"When we talk about 51% and 49%, it should be distributed based on the lowest requirements. This is what I call meritocracy.
"For example the government wants to give away 100 scholarships to students scoring 5A's. While all the 45 non-bumiputra students score 5A's, only 30 out of 55 bumiputra students score 5A's. If we offer scholarships to the 25 bumi students not meeting the criteria, then it will be unfair and is against the principles of meritocracy."
"To me, quota system is required, as we are a multiracial society. We do not want any particular ethnic group to fall far behind and get unhappy. That said, the quota system must be fair and implemented based on meritocracy."
Religious conversion is not the way to avoid responsibility
Solve all the family and marital problems first before the conversion. Religious conversion is not the way to avoid responsibility. This is the advice of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz to those who wish to embrace Islam.
Nazri urged those who want to become Muslims to settle all their problems with their non-Muslim family members, including their former wives or husbands, as Islam should not be used as a tool to avoid responsibility.
Religious belief for those under 18 years old
According to Nazri, it is wrong to say that when one of the parents converts to Islam after their divorcement, he or she has the right to convert their children.
Nazri said that he sincerely believes that there is a constructive contract between every couple and their children have to be raised under their religious belief.
"Many Hindus have converted to Islam recently and the children were converted when the husband converted to Islam. According to them, children under 18 years old have no independent personal religious belief and their parents can raise them based on their own preferred religion,” he said.
"However, it is wrong to say that there is no religious belief for those under 18 years old as when their parents got married, they were both Hindus and the children, regardless whether they are eight or nine years old, know what is their religion as their parents had bought them to Batu Caves and Hindu temple. They also celebrate Deepavali. This shows that they have a religious belief," Nazri said.
As for the S. Shamala case, involving the unilateral conversion of children to Islam by one parent, Nazri said that any dispute before the conversion to Islam must be resolved in a civil court as the jurisdiction of the syariah court is only applicable from the date of conversion.
"Shamala's husband converted to Islam after their marriage and therefore, the case should be settled in a civil court,” he said.
Federal Court has no right to make judgment on religious belief
Nazri said he does not agree with the claim that the Federal Court has missed a golden opportunity to identify and clarify vital issues in the Shamala case.
He pointed out that as no amendment had been made to the relevant laws, the Federal Court has no right to rule on a person's religious belief, and the people must respect the existing legal provisions.
"The failure to amend the law means the problems still exist and the civil court will not and cannot hear cases related to Islam, which are rightfully under the jurisdiction of the syariah court," Nazri said.
On whether the civil court or the syariah court is the more appropriate court to rule on a person’s status as a Muslim, Nazri said: "The court should not be the forum to decide whether or not a person is Muslim. It is very controversial, and I do not know which is the most appropriate forum. If we amend the law, the civil court would be the best forum."
Translated by Adeline Lee, Dominic Loh and Soong Phui Jee
Sin Chew Daily
