East Malaysians ! Beware the Malayan Disease

By SakmongkolAK47

The Allah issue between Muslims and Christians in Peninsular Malaysia does not affect Sarawakians because they are a tolerant people, said Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud. Here is an interesting statement coming from Taib Mahmud. Are peninsula Malaysians intolerant?

In other words, he is saying to Najib, keep out from Sarawak. Since you can’t handle an issue regarding Allah, don’t burden Sarawak with your indecisiveness and morbid intolerance. Najib and his brand of politics has no place in Sarawak. Even though Taib invited Najib to officiate and be present at the PBB congress, Taib didn’t waste any time in giving Najib a few lessons in mature politics.

Taib has the mental disposition to disassociate himself and PBB from UMNO’s machinations.

In regarding the issue as being simple and localised, Taib Mahmud adds salt to injury by instructing Najib on living a life of tolerance. Taib went on to say- “To us (people in Sarawak) there is no issue. We have lived with people of different races and different religions for many decades, even before Malaysia,”

See, the issue wasn’t even heard of before Malaysia was formed. Once Malaysia was formed, the aggressors in peninsula wanted to invade the east Malaysian states and wanted to superimpose their stupidity in East Malaysia. They brought in the Malayan disease- intolerance and racism.

When Sarawak and Sabah joined Malaysia, they entered into agreement as sovereign states with the Federation of Malaya as a single entity. That put both Sabah and Sarawak on the same level as Malaya as a whole, not placed Sabah and Sarawak as component states in the federation. The inclusion of Sabah and Sarawak isn’t like the inclusion of Hawaii as an additional state into USA. The chief Ministers of Sabah and Sarawak should be styled Prime Ministers of Sabah and Sarawak respectively.

So 'PM' Taib Mahmud declared the ruling was not binding on Sabah and Sarawak. PM Najib, the PM of Malaya must take note of the hidden messages in Taib’s comments “We cannot alter the status quo in Sarawak”.

He then went on to instruct Najib on how to live a life of tolerance; the use of the word was not a problem in the state as the “spirit of tolerance” among Sarawakians is high, one of the features of multi-racial Sarawak which made it a bedrock of stability and harmony. “When I travel to the longhouses, I'd just look for a Muslim cook from the city and they (the longhouse folks) would buy the food and even buy praying mats for me to pray in one of their rooms. “This is quite natural with us in dealing with people of different religions.

In other words, the way peninsula Malaysians deal with the problem is unnatural. Taib said it did not bother him when other people made the sign of the cross because it’s their religion, expressing their respect for the Almighty. I can understand it.”

Najib and the UMNO right wingers don’t understand it. Taib said he would bow and offer his own prayers the Muslim way when his Christian friends made the sign of the cross in their prayers. “The Chinese would probably do it their way. The intention is the same. “It's all praying to the superior being which we believe is the Creator of this world.”

“It's this kind of spirit we have in Sarawak,” Taib said, stressing again that it is not the thorny issue that is in the peninsula. “The Ibans, the Malays, the Chinese have shown their respect for other religions and cultures even before Malaysia. “When we came to Malaysia, we carried this with us and it has become one of the features of Sarawak.”
 In 2010, Taib had also spoken out against an attempt to prevent Bahasa Malaysia bibles from being freely brought into the state. He described the order to stamp the Bahasa Malaysia bibles with serial numbers by the Home Ministry as a “stupid idea” that should not be applied to Sarawak. He had also called the strictures on the Al-Kitab nonsense.

Taib uses the PBB Congress to turn the tables on PM Najib- instead of East Malaysians being looked down, Taib is saying, the west Malaysians are the stupid ones.

The AG and then the Home Minister both said, the banning of the word applies only to the publication of Herald. What happens if the Christians now decide to publish another paper using the term? Will the ruling on Herald which everyone said was specific thereafter be extended as a general rule applicable in almost every means of dissemination?