Malays not ‘pendatang’ but ‘perantau’, says Isma

 Quigonbond: ‘Pendatang’, ‘perantau’, what’s the difference, all are Malaysians now – so what exactly is Isma’s point? Is Isma vice-president Muhammad Fauzi Asmuni trying to unravel the constitutional right to citizenship?

He’s talking about the few hundreds of thousands that were ‘pendatang’, but for the millions of whom who have been born and bred in this country as citizens – are they ‘pendatang’ too?

This is misleading, and definitely an attempt to incite hatred. How come I don’t see any police investigation on this bloke?

Think: Regardless if one is ‘pendatang’ (immigrants) or ‘perantau’ (travellers), unity and peace can never be achieved if either party behaves more like a ‘penjajah’ (colonialist).

Debating on terms such as these will take us nowhere. We need to learn how to compromise and be fair to all regardless of race and religion, or else ‘Hari Merdeka’ (independence day) will become meaningless.

Ksn: From what this man says, Malays are ‘perantau’ and the Chinese, Indians, etc, are ‘pendatang’.

It appears to me then that the immigrants, who are settlers, being permanent in nature, have more rights than travellers, who are just passing by, stopping for a while, right? The man’s logic is strange, to say the least.

Unmasked: Muhammad Fauzi, you must have had sleepless nights thinking and coining for the right ‘ketuanan’ word to use to describe yourself. Poor thing. We are all Malaysians.

Appum: We have to put an end to this stupid notion of ‘pendatang’ and ‘perantau’, for the sake of Malaysia. Only the PM can put a stop to all this nonsense.

If I were the PM, I would call up all the political party heads – both from the government and opposition – and together declare that we are all Malaysians, and dismiss these divisive terms that lead us to nowhere.

Will the PM be capable of carrying out such a majestic act? Or it is more politically convenient to keep this status quo and let the ‘divide and rule’ agenda prevail? How sincere are our politicians in wanting Malaysia to be a peaceful and harmonious country?

But unfortunately, I am not the PM.

Continue-The-March: Malaysia is the only country where citizens spend time insulting one another, calling names, etc, while the world passes them by. You don’t see this happening in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, even Vietnam – why?

Because Umno Baru invented all this segregation, different classes of citizens, bumi and non-bumi, Muslim and non-Muslim, category to divide and rule and to divert the citizens’ attention so they can rob and steal in the name of helping the ‘poor’ Malays, when they are actually helping themselves.

There were no such classifications until former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad came to power. He himself is a Kerala Indian descendant. In the name of helping the poor Malays, he actually helped himself and his cronies and made his family filthy rich through unfair competition and rent-seeking.

Unfortunately, they have the Malays hoodwinked and thinking Umno Baru is their saviour. (If that is so), why is it after 44 years of the New Economic Policy (NEP) the Malays still the poorest community?

Jiminy Qrikert: Umno Malays applied the label ‘pendatang’ to all Chinese as a means to distinguish themselves as being superior as well as to underline their claim to being original inhabitants of this land.

But in face of both public ridicule and becoming the butt of jokes over their preposterous claims when historical facts demonstrate otherwise, they then claim to be the first ‘pendatang’ to whom the land now belongs, never mind the presence of the Orang Asli here and the Borneo islands for centuries before they even sighted this land.

Now, they admit to being just merely ‘perantau’. Laughable Umno logic as always. So, from ‘bumiputera’ to ‘first pendatang’ to ‘perantau’, Umno Malays are slowly but surely losing their legitimacy to any kind of ‘ketuanan Melayu’.

Losing the GE14 will shut the door on their claim to supremacy forever.

Proarte: The fact is the Orang Asal are indigenous to Malaysia. Did the ‘traveller’ Malays ask permission from the Orang Asal whether they could stay permanently? The term ‘Malay archipelago’ Fauzi used is a colonial imperialist term.

Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea are part of the so-called ‘Malay archipelago’. Malays are not indigenous to that vast island and the inhabitants are negroid and similar to Australian aboriginals.

Indonesia has a ‘transmigrasi’ programme which has changed the demographics of Irian Jaya. This has led to destruction of the environment and pillaging of the rainforests.

Those ‘Malay perantau’ who are no better than pirates have been nothing but a source of trouble for the Orang Asal of Indonesia, as they have been for the Orang Asal in Malaysia.

Rtd Airforce: ‘Perantau’ or traveller means they are going around trying to ‘cari makan’, while ‘pendatang’ means they come and do not leave. So when is Isma going to sail off?

AkuMelayu-Tetapi ABU Jugak: Many commenters inMalaysiakini have got it wrong. In the Nusantara context, ‘perantau’ are pirates, nothing more, nothing less.

The people of Bugis and Aceh within the Nusantara were traditionally encouraged to sojourn to look for booty to bring home. Is Isma admitting they are pirates?

Labis Guy: Stop the nonsense of labelling Malaysians. We are all born here, so why label us as ‘pendatang’ or ‘perantau’? Yes, our forefathers are ‘pendatangs’, but we have been here for generations.

So can anyone who has some sense in their head explain to us why call us ‘pendatangs’, when we are calling ourselves Malaysians?

Anonymous_4031c: There is no need for any of us to refer ourselves to anything else other than as Malaysians. We are all Malaysians, and this ‘mightier than thou’ attitude has to stop.

The federal constitution is clear on the rights of all, and no one person or party is above the law.

Keturunan Malaysia: If today they don’t call you ‘pendatang’, tomorrow they will call you something else, just to have this clear-cut dividing line drawn between ‘them’ and ‘us’.

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