Nothing wrong with word ‘pendatang’, says BTN chief

 Quigonbond: National Civics Bureau (BTN) director Raja Arif Raja Ali probably needs schooling in both public sensitivities and historical sensibilities.

The only ‘people of the soil’ in Malaysia are the aborigines. The rest came onshore from somewhere else. Just because someone migrated here and they happen to be minority, does not mean they get to be called ‘pendatang’. The term is calculated to disinvite, to eject.

There is absolutely zero proper use of this word in the context of race relations or political discourse between people who have been staying in Malaysia for decades.

Isn’t BTN under the government? Is the government encouraging divisiveness? If it is not, that officer must be disciplined, censured or otherwise sacked.

It is either this, or the minister in charge of national harmony should resign in protest.

Res Ipsa: Now PM Najib Razak is certainly going to have harsh words for BTN for stirring the hornets’ nest by classifying the natives of Sarawak as ‘pendatang’.

Have they forgotten that Sarawak was one of the FD (fixed deposit) states for the BN?

And to all Sarawakians, especially the Dayaks, don’t you think this is the right time for you to take the appropriate action to vote out BN once and for all now that the state elections are just around the corner?

All this talk about ‘Satu Malaysia’ counts for nothing when this government-funded entity plays the racist card.

Gerard Lourdesamy: The word may be applicable to the Chinese and Indians who emigrated to Malaya in the 19th century but is it still applicable to them in the 21st century after six generations in this country?

The Iban and Kadazan ought to be appalled that this Malay has the audacity to call them ‘pendatang’ when they are the original inhabitants of Sarawak and Sabah.

The BTN is nothing but an Umno-controlled racist outfit funded by taxpayers to instil hatred and suspicion among the different races and religions in this country.

The sooner the BTN is disbanded and its functions taken over by the National Unity Department, only then will nation building can begin.

Asitis: While the ancestors of the Malays, Chinese and Indians may have been ‘pendatang’ to this country, the Malays, Chinese and Indians of today are born in this country as its legitimate citizens.

They are not immigrants to this country, therefore the word ‘pendatang’ cannot be properly applied to them. It is as simple as that.

If you want to still call them ‘pendatang’, then you are redefining the meaning of the word ‘pendatang’ to mean one who is descended from ancestors who migrated to this country.

In this case, everybody in this country is a ‘pendatang’, including the Orang Asli. This is because all human beings today can genetically trace their roots all the way back to Africa. Our common human ancestors originate from there.

Pemerhati: Raja Arif said the historical origin of the various races in Malaysia should not be denied.

Yes, especially the origin of the present Malays, whose ancestors are ‘pendatangs’ from Indonesia (e.g. Mohamad Khir Toyo, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Najib Razak), India (e.g. Dr Mahathir Mohamad), China (e.g. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi), Middle East (e.g. Syed Hamid Albar), etc.

According to the latest anthropological evidence, the first human beings appeared in Africa and they then migrated and populated the rest of the world.

Thus it can be said that all human beings now living in the various countries outside of Africa are all ‘pendatangs’, including the Orang Asli in Malaysia who arrived in Malaysia before the other ‘pendatangs’ like the Malays, Chinese, Indians, etc.

Unfortunately, the people in BTN like Raja Arif are either ignorant of this fact or are deliberately propagating the ‘pendatang’ falsehood so as to justify the racist and discriminatory apartheid-like policies against the non-Malays.

Anonymous_40bb: The word ‘pendatang’ or immigrant is but a word. Malaysians should not get emotional and angry about this because other than the Orang Asli and any other natives, most Malaysians are actually ‘pendatang’.

Freedom of speech must be upheld at all times if we are to believe in it. Those who are upset at the word will have to learn to get over it.

That said, Indian or Chinese Malaysians are ‘pendatangs’ with voting rights and citizenship. The constitution of Malaysia protects the rights of all ‘pendatangs’.

That is something that cannot be denied unless some people are trying to abolish the constitution and Malaysia is no more. I see this as a national threat and is very seditious in nature.

Oh Ya?: I fully agreed that there is nothing wrong with the term ‘pendatang’ but using it to slur other races is wrong and should be banned.

For example, it is wrong for Raja Arif to label the Ibans and Kadazans as ‘pendatang’. They, together with the Orang Asli and other indigenous groups are indeed the First People of the land.

This is a historical fact that nobody can deny.

Lamborghini: It is the connotations of the term ‘pendatang’ used negatively by one group of non-original people of the land whose ancestors also came as foreigners calling the other immigrant races ‘pendatang’ that is causing so much racial resentment in Malaysia.

And truly, history also shows that apart from the Orang Asli in West Malaysia, and the Kadazandusuns in Sabah and the Ibans and Orang Ulus in Sarawak, all the others races are ‘pendatangs’, including the Malays.

So is Raja Arif not offended if other races also call the Malays ‘pendatang’? And why is BTN continuing to promote the negative concept of ‘ketuanan Melayu’ when they are not the original inhabitants? What is it based on? Surely not history.

Vijay47: Looking at your holistic approach to the etymology of the word ‘pendatang’, nobody can fault you for holding that the word merely refers to a fact – that Malaysians generally came from another country.

So I am sure you will similarly agree that no offence can be drawn if you and the other Malays were also referred to as ‘pendatangs’, an honour shared with Najib of Bugis descent and Zahid from some unknown back lanes of Yogyakarta.

Further, I am intrigued, Raja Arif, by your argument that “it cannot be denied that the Indians and Chinese were from there, that we cannot deny history.”

Such being the case, I am somewhat lost that our history books no longer mention a Hindu gentleman named Parameswara. Or did he in his new identity of the sultan suddenly emerge from bumi Melaka like Dhrishtadyumna of Mahabaratha fame?

Kangkung: BTN is no different from the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda and I think they are using the ‘Mein Kampf’ as their guide book.

There is no other way to explain the racism that is ingrained in these ultra-racists.

Mark Anthony: Raja Arif, would you describe the present PM and DPM as ‘pendatang’ in your lectures as both of them have their origins from Indonesia?

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