YOURSAY | 'Anwar has a valid point about the apprehensions of Malays.'

'Now the time to build confidence, not spook the Malays'

Abasir: Many of the commentators here, I suspect, have very little first-hand knowledge of what is now, UiTM (Universiti Teknologi Mara).

For those in the know, Institute Teknologi Mara which started off as Mara College after being born as Pusat Latihan Mara in the mid-50s has had hundreds of non-Malays in its formative years - as teachers and administrators.

In fact, in the early 70s, the overwhelming preponderance of Indians among the teaching faculty resulted in the quip that the acronym "ITM" really stood for "Indians Teaching Malays".

Arshad Ayub, the Institute's first and perhaps only visionary director had no qualms about the presence of such large numbers of "kafirs". In fact, at one time, his special assistant/advisor was an Indian, just as heads of schools included Chinese and Europeans.

And not insignificantly, a number of students were yes... secretly Tamil-speaking Indian Muslims or what Malays fondly refer to as "mamaks". One such mamak from Engineering even rose to become a vice-chancellor there.

Some of the country's best legal luminaries (Indians again) have served there with distinction just as its English Language only teaching policy and superb methodologies were honed and shaped by Indians.

And lest it be forgotten, the one who conferred university status on the erstwhile ITM to make it UiTM was, well ... someone with an Indian heritage, Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Apa Nama: PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, before this, you should also ask why the Malays are still not confident since the era of Pusat Latihan Mara. The intention of establishing this institution is to uplift this particular race to be on par with others. This a noble intention.

This includes confidence building. Therefore, please let us know the time frame when Malays could be completely and fully confident so Hindraf 2.0 could again raise this issue without offending the Malays, as had happened this week.

I give you the benefit of the doubt. But don’t let this issue die.

David Dass: Whilst I agree that UiTM should not become a battleground for the maintenance or dismantling of Malay privilege and exclusivity, the statement cannot be made that Malay privileges will remain exactly as they were before and that the election of Pakatan Harapan will not bring about a more just, equal and inclusive society.

There must be the clarion call for the coming together of all Malaysians in a common adventure. Otherwise, all this effort would have come to naught.

Whilst I agree that it is not time to fight or even 'debate' this issue, it must be made abundantly clear that all policies and practices that separate and divide us must be examined.

Just to be clear, what is being asked is the admission of a few non-Malays into a national educational institution. Nothing more. It is more significant in the symbolism that we are one nation. The intention is not to reduce the benefits that Malays get.

It is to ensure that poor non-Malays have access to all colleges and universities. That is a statement that should be made. But all should accept that UiTM is not an issue for the present moment.

Proarte: The Reid commission had expressed caution in introducing this notion of 'privilege' in the constitution as it went against the basic constitutional provision of equality before the law.

It was introduced as a temporary measure to redress a perceived backwardness of the Malays relative to other races. The privileges were to be reviewed 12 years after independence but even after 60 years, the review has not taken place. Can Anwar explain why?

It is the non-Malays who should be rightly 'spooked' by Malay privileged class elites like Anwar who continue to give credibility to the notion of Malay privilege. The fact is, it has created a sense of 'entitlement' which to my mind has damaged the Malays morally, educationally and economically.

If affirmative action was not raced-based, Malays would have achieved far more and would not be left with a wrecked economy, a dumbed-down education system, a constant feeling of insecurity and utterly rotten institutions of governance which are in dire need of rehabilitation.

Anonymous 1266851458300133: After all the talk about fairness, politicians still have no guts to walk the talk. I can't say that I'm not disappointed.

On the other hand, if we truly want to help Malays, the right way should be educate them to be self-reliant. A university which only admits lower-score students would be deemed less worthy by both people of Malaysia as well as foreigners.

Instead of focusing on quota, we should focus on how to teach the students to learn lifelong as every student needs. After all, school is not the only place where we educate ourselves. We should all practice lifelong learning.

Leos: I agree with Anwar. The Indians have suffered a long time. A few more weeks or months will not make any difference. In fact, a better environment will be in place.

Malaysians have spoken as one people in GE14 and have gladly contributed to Tabung Harapan Malaysia.

Meerkat: Anwar's position is a good one. Regardless of who is in power, the special rights of the Malays are still in the constitution, so that's beyond questioning. How these special rights are manifested depends on the executive, that is, the government.

We should not be hasty to throw out the baby with the bath water by getting rid of all semblance of affirmative action because some of these actions are constitutional.

Umno, under Najib, had manipulated the actions big time to drive a wedge between the races so that they can exert control and plunder the country.

It has also resulted in poor Malays not getting the help that they need. Proper and just execution of the provisions will be manifested by those really needing help getting it.

Sure, the law cannot be specific and some will successfully exploit it but, by and large, it should work, with good faith.

SoFunny: There is a season for everything. I agree with Anwar - now is not the right time. Priority must be given to kick start the economy and eradicating corruption. Not forgetting institutional reforms.

Lodestar: Anwar's position is very reasonable. We can't rush in to dismantle race-based programmes because that will allow Umno to play the race card and possibly return to government after the next general elections.

Before such programmes are removed, we need to show that it will lead to increased prosperity for the nation. Hence, we can bake a bigger cake and all races will have a bigger slice.

Sunshine: Indeed, Anwar has a valid point about the apprehensions of Malays.

The Malay apprehensions are no doubt also underlined by an awareness that it’s an irrational hegemony of the Malays for some 50 years that has also led to precipitate decline in overall development of the nation in many aspects.

And resulted in the growth, empowerment and entrenchment of a greedy and select class from their own. The votes cast in many constituencies even in the recent GE does not give much confidence that Malays in overwhelming numbers were proactive in wanting change.

This calls for more responsible leadership if we are to make a success of this nation.

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