When a Malay is not

Subject: Fw: Raja Petra -

Raja Petra Kamarudin
“...more than 90% of those in our police lockups are Malays. And 90% of those Malays in the lockups are
there because of drug-related offences. And 70% of those who are afflicted with AIDS are Malays. And 90%
got AIDS because of their drug habit. And this has been going on since the 1970s. And states or areas that
have the highest incidences are the predominantly Malay states or areas. But none of these people go to
church. They don't even go to the mosque, temple or synagogue. So of course the UMNO website does not
worry about them. It is when they go to church that the UMNO website will start getting very concerned.

That and only that is what matters. ...”

M y mother's name is Barbara Mabel Parnell.

A couple of years after World War II she
became a Moslem and adopted the
'Moslem' name Bariah Kamarudin. Kamarudin is of
course my father's name while the 'maiden' name
Malays have this misconception that if you become
a Moslem then you have become a Malay. And they
would refer to converts as mualaf, in particular
Chinese converts. It is peculiar they do not regard
Indian converts as mualaf but Indian Moslems. Why
Bariah was suggested by Tengku Ampuan Bariah of are Chinese mualaf while Indians are Indian
Terengganu who was in England then with the late Moslems and Caucasians 'masuk Melayu'? Did I not
Sultan of Terengganu (then the Raja Muda of say that the Malay mind is a very weird thing?
Terengganu) and father to Malaysia 's current
I made about nine or ten trips to China from the
Agong. You could say Tengku Ampuan Bariah
early- to mid-1990s and have toured the remotest
Terengganu, who is my father's cousin, 'named' my
parts of China where Malaysians have never been
mother (and they have the cheek to say I would
before. Some parts of China that I visited the
have the gall to insult the Agong who is sort of my
people there have never seen a Malaysian in their
second-cousin by marriage).
entire life or know where Malaysia is (and they
About 25 years or so later, my wife too became a were surprised that Malaysians look like Mat
Moslem.. She was informed by the then-Grand Salleh). And there are many Moslem restaurants
Imam of the National Mosque (Masjid Negara) that even in these remotest parts of China so food,
she can retain her original name, Mable James therefore, was no problem.
Anthony Lee. The wife of Raja Adnan Raja
There are probably around 110 million or so
Abdullah, the one-time Deputy Director of the
Moslems in China spread out all over the country
Special Branch and my brother's father-in-law,
with the majority in the four autonomous regions.
suggested my wife take a 'Moslem' name and she
Beijing has a whole street of Moslem restaurants
proposed the name Marina . So my wife became
and the variety is so exciting because it is almost
Marina Lee @ Mable James Anthony Lee.
like a gourmet's United Nations.
My sister, Norita, married an Englishman but he
In the rural areas the choices are not that varied
retained his English name when he converted to
and it is very difficult to detect which are halal
Islam in front of Pak Abas, my Tok Guru from
restaurants and which are not. But if you ask the
Terengganu who is also one of the PAS grassroots
locals they will be very happy to point to the right
leaders and the 'strongman' of Kampong Kolam in
restaurant and only on entering the restaurant will
Kuala Ibai, a PAS stronghold on the outskirts of
you know that they are Moslem-owned from the
Kuala Terengganu which UMNO has never been able
verses of the Quran adorning the wall.
to conquer.
The oldest mosque in China is in Canton which was
When my mother first stepped foot in Malaysia a
built 100 years after the birth of Islam. On the
year before Merdeka, my father's relatives were
outside the mosque looks like a Chinese temple
delighted that my father had married a 'Mem', a
complete with moon-gate entrance and all; but
novelty in those days, and that she had 'masuk
once inside there is no mistaking that it is a
Melayu'. My mother would indignantly correct them
mosque.
by saying that she 'masuk Islam', not 'masuk
Melayu'. She had become a Moslem, not a Malay, What awed me was that the Moslems I met speak
and she was proud of her Welsh heritage. Arabic and when I told them that I do not speak
Arabic they were very surprised. They asked me

When a Malay is not – Raja Petra 1/3

whether I can read the Quran and when I replied
that I most certainly can they were perplexed.
They wanted to know how I can read the Quran
when I do not speak Arabic. And when I replied
that I am just like 99% other Malaysian Moslems
who read the Quran without being able to speak
Arabic, they shook their heads in disbelief at this
demonstration of Malaysia Boleh.
Yes, Chinese Moslems are mualaf as far as Malays
are concerned. But the Chinese were already
Moslems 700 years or so before the Malays when
the Malays were still Hindus, Buddhists or
worshipped trees in the jungles. And the Chinese
Moslems speak Arabic while most Malays, save a
handful, do not. And Malays look down on Chinese
Moslems as second-class Moslems. Much the Malays
do not know outside their very small world.
In an article called 'Si Binatang Raja Petra Jantan
Jalang Biadab' that was published in an UMNO
website, they asked this question: Masihkah Raja
Petra ke Gereja lagi menemani isteri? Nak tanya
Raja Petra, apa agama isterinya sebenar? Nak
tanya saja.
This is another peculiar trait of the Malays. They
are very concerned about what religion you
profess. They demand to know if you are a Moslem
or Kafir (infidel). They treat this as their right to
demand you inform them of your religion. Moslems
are good people because Islam is the true religion
and is above all other religions which are
considered false. So they must know if you are a
Moslem or Kafir so that they can gauge whether
you are a good or bad person. "Islam adalah agama
suci yang kita pegang," said this same article in
that UMNO website.
This high and mighty attitude make Malays very
arrogant and they carry this holier than thou chip
on their shoulder. Non-Moslems should not take
offence though because they are not the only
target of these people. Moslems like me who they
view as not 'true' Moslems also suffer persecution.
Malays want to dictate what kind of Moslem you
should be and if they discover through an
anonymous SMS that you are in the process of
leaving Islam they will rise in anger and
demonstrate their displeasure, even if it is not
true. Heaven forbid you leak that you are really
leaving Islam. You will face the full wrath of the
Malays. And if for one second they suspect that you
are not their type of Moslem but of a different
'sect' they will come down hard on you. You must
not only be a Moslem but you must be their type of
Moslem as well. That is the Malay mind.
It is quite pathetic really and I sometimes do pity
Malays who spend their whole life preoccupied
with finding out what type of Moslem you are and
When a Malay is not – Raja Petra
whether you have secretly left Islam rather than
worry whether they could instead be deviant
Moslems.
They of course assume and insist that they are
following the correct Islam and if they differ from
you then you, and not them, are the deviants.
They will not accept the possibility that you are
right and they are wrong. They are most definitely
right and you are most certainly wrong.
Let us look at a hypothetical situation. Say you
walk into a mosque on a Friday and shout, "The
Bible is the true Holy Book and the Quran is false"
or "Jesus is the Son of God and Muhammad is a
fake". This will be just like walking into a
Manchester pub wearing a Liverpool jersey. Rest
assured you will not walk out of that mosque in
one piece. Okay, now say you protest when Malays
declare the Bible false and that Jesus is not the
Son of God. The Malays will argue that they are
allowed to say this because Malaysia is a Moslem
country.
See this email which was published in The People's
Parliament
[ http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com ] to
demonstrate what I mean:
Most of my friends are Malays and through
them I learnt the language. I feel that I've a
certain bond with them, until the topics of
Malay privileges and Islam are discussed. I
usually just listen and do not put my two cents
because I'm usually the only non-Malay. From
their discussion, I've come to understand how
they view the non-Malays. Generally, we should
never question their privileges as we should be
grateful that we still get to retain our Chinese
names, surnames, Chinese schools etc. We
should never complain. And they have no
qualms criticising Christianity to my face, e.g.,
the Bible is corrupted through many
translations, comparing against the Koran being
"suci" as directly from God.
I've always wondered what made them feel so
special that they can criticise but we do not
dare in their face. Now I understand that no
matter how they wronged other races, they are
somehow protected – e.g., the May 13 incident.
I think the govt owes the families of the
victims an apology. Because of that tragedy,
the Chinese generally think that Malays have
the tendency to be violent; and the Malays
think that they have the upper hand as they
can threaten the Chinese into silence. I'd be
grateful if you would share your thoughts and
view on what I've said.
Okay, here's another hypothetical situation. Say
you repeat this same thing in England , which is
not a Moslem country but a Christian country. Will
it then be considered allowed? No, of course not!
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The Moslems will still protest and hold
demonstrations. The bottom line is, Moslems are
allowed to whack others but others are not
supposed to whack Moslems. And this is the Malay
mind as well.
So Malays, like these UMNO types, resent anyone
whacking them, their party, Ketuanan Melayu, the
New Economic Policy, and anything at all
considered 'sacred cows'. But they can scream,
even in 'sacred' places like Parliament, that Islam is
the religion of this country, the Malays own
Malaysia , and if the non-Malays or non-Moslems do
not like this they can leave the country and
migrate to another country.
Malays can give Qurans to non-Moslems but non-
Moslems who give Bibles to Moslems must be sent
to prison. Non-Moslems can convert to Islam in
droves but even if just one Moslem leaves Islam
there will be blood on the streets. Malays can label
DAP as racist but if the Chinese label UMNO as
racist they will make a police report and charge
you under the Sedition Act and try to take away
your citizenship as well.
Malays can question as to whether you have left
Islam and have become a Christian and now go to
church but you must never question the Malays as
to whether racial discrimination goes against
Islamic teachings and whether both the Quran as
well as the Prophet's last sermon lie testimony to
this.
Malays are very concerned about whether you pray,
how you pray, whether you believe in God,
whether you really think that Prophet Muhammad
is the true Prophet, and so on. Once you pass all
When a Malay is not – Raja Petra
these 'tests' of the articles of faith with flying
colours this will make them very happy.
Their happiness rests with you being a Moslem and
the type of Moslem that they approve of on top of
that. Okay, so you drink, gamble, have sex with
another man's wife, visit the brothel once a week,
and, to top it all, take bribes from Chinese
contactors, pig farmers, brothels, illegal gambling
outlets, drug haunts, etc. That is okay. The Malays
will not demonstrate on the streets because of all
this. But if you go to church, notwithstanding that
you lead the life of Mother Theresa, then God have
mercy on your soul. What bad you do is not
important. Whether you share their same belief is.
And this is why that particular UMNO website is
very concerned whether I still follow my wife to
church. That is the most important thing in the
world to them and the entire future of this country
and the fate of future generations depend on them
knowing this most crucial piece of information.
Oh, by the way, more than 90% of those in our
police lockups are Malays. And 90% of those Malays
in the lockups are there because of drug-related
offences. And 70% of those who are afflicted with
AIDS are Malays. And 90% got AIDS because of their
drug habit. And this has been going on since the
1970s. And states or areas that have the highest
incidences are the predominantly Malay states or
areas. But none of these people go to church. They
don't even go to the mosque, temple or synagogue.
So of course the UMNO website does not worry
about them. It is when they go to church that the
UMNO website will start getting very concerned.
That and only that is what matters.
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