No News Is Bad News
Dr M - a man who denies his family tree and roots
KUALA LUMPUR, July 10, 2023: Lawyer-turned social justice fighter Harris Ibrahim tore Dr Mahathir Mohamad's family roots apart, exposing the 97-year-old man as one who has forgotten his roots.
What more can one say about the integrity of a man who denies his roots and claims to be otherwise.
Haris is best known as the founder of ABU (Anything But Umno) that played a big role in in rallying Malaysians to topple the the Barisan Nasional’s 60-year grip on Malaysian politics in the 14th General Election.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below an open letter Haris penned about Dr M claiming to be a Malay:
By Haris Ibrahim
Dear Mahathir,
Malaysian Insider reports that you had "defended the social contract, the so-called unwritten agreement between the Malays and the non-Malays during independence, by affirming that without the agreement, Malaysia would not have been formed".
They quoted you: “If there was no social contract, the terms and conditions of allowing citizenship to non-Malays would have not taken place. One million outsiders were given citizenship at the time."
Now, this quote from you got me curious. Let me tell you why.
I conferred with my aunt, who confirmed that my maternal great grandfather, Eliathamby, of whom I've written previously in a posting entitled "The land that my forefathers helped build", would have left Ceylon and arrived in what is now West Malaysia, around 1870. He died well before the conclusion of that social contract that you spoke of, so my great grandfather would not have come within those 'one million outsiders' who acquired citizenship at the time of independence in 1957.
My maternal grandfather, Vellupillay T. Williams, never lived to see the formation of Malaya so he, too, did not make up the ‘one million outsiders'.
Enough of my family tree. Let's look at yours. I got this from a blog, Malaysiana: Perhaps, the most famous Malayalee to land in George Town was Iskandar Kutty, a merchant who married a Johor-Riau wife Siti Hawa Iskandar. They became the proud parents of Alor Star's top public school, Sultan Abdul Hamid College’s founder-principal and Kedah's royal educator, Datuk Mohamad Iskandar.
Mohamad was the school teacher of Tunku Abdul Rahman. He and his wife Datin Wan Tempawan Wan Hanafi from the Kedah Bendahara's (Prime Minister's) clan, were the proud parents of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's Father of Modernisation and fourth Prime Minister.
And, this from Malaysia Today: Born in December 20, 1925, Dr Mahathir hailed from the state of Kedah, at the capital of Alor Star, whose father was a school teacher. His father was Indian who migrated from Kerala, who married a malay lady and sold banana fritters during the second world war. His early education was through a vernacular school and at the Sultan Abdul Hamid College in the city.
My question, then, Doc, firstly, is whether your father was amongst the ‘one million outsiders'?
And, when did you become a 'Malay', Doc?
When did you move from being a son of an Indian who migrated from Kerala to a Malay? Not that I care, but when?
Speaking of Malay, do you remember your "Malay Dilemma", Doc? Do you remember what you said about the problem of inbreeding amongst the Malay community, and that whole business of genes? Back then, who had heard of this thing called DNA?
Who had ever imagined that science would one day make it possible for all of us to trace our genealogy?
Guess what, Doc? It seems, based on all this new DNA scientific knowledge, that there's no such thing as a Malay race.
It would seem that you've gone from being a son of an Indian who migrated from Kerala to a 'does not exist'.
Just like that! My cyber buddy, Michael Chick, has written extensively on this matter, in a three-parter in Malaysiakini. HERE,HERE, and HERE.
See what Michael writes in his final part: “The people Malaysians call 'Malay', are actually only a tiny sub-component of the much larger Austronesian group. And, all Austronesians are the end-product of extensive inter-breeding between the Taiwanese and Dravidic Indians. All this has finally been irrefutably proven by independent DNA testings from world-class faculties".
I've never been very good at all these sciences, Doc, but if you're any better, and you think Michael's cocked-up big time in his conclusions, why don't you take him on?
Damn, I digress.
So, when and how did you become a Malay? Because of the definition of 'Malay' in the Federal Constitution, Doc? Article 160(2)? That right?
So, right up until the last moments before Tunku's declaration of independence, you were the son of an Indian who migrated from Kerala, and moments later you were magically transformed into a Malay.
Haris Ibrahim is at peace with himself and prays that everyone else does, too
By Haris Ibrahim
Editor’s Note: Even if he knows that his days are numbered, Haris Ibrahim (far left pictured with Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh), the lawyer, veteran activist and crucially, founder of the “Asalkan Bukan UMNO” (ABU) or “Anything But UMNO” movement has never stopped fighting for social justice.
Even in his lame stage, the blogger of “Parlimen Rakyat” (People’s Parliament) wheel-chaired himself to lift the spirits of many lawyers who gathered at Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur on June 17, 2022 for the Malaysian Bar’s “Walk for judicial independence”.
At 63 years-old on April 4 last year, Haris Ibrahim was diagnosed with Stage Four of lungs cancer. Below is his latest Facebook post as he shed light into his ailing health which he is not giving up without a fight.
HI all. Got back from the dietetic clinic a little while ago.
Before going into my discussion with the doctor, and sharing decisions made, a quick reminder: I am a Stage Four patient.
From a scientific and medical perspective (yes, let’s leave faith and religion out of this, please), there is no cure for cancer. You can only send the disease into remission which means it can (and most often, does) come back.
Positive results from undergoing this gruelling 42-day diet and fast:
· Significant improvement in bowel movement and gut health (no more swings between constipation and diarrhoea);
· Improved blood glucose management without diabetic medication (fasting blood sugar now mostly ranging from non-diabetic to mildly pre-diabetic);
· Improved weight management (weight reduced from 86kg to 80kg while visceral fat levels down without further muscle mass loss);
· Reduced numbness in hands and feet; and
· No longer suffering the side effects of earlier chemo and immuno therapies.
However, the following evidences of a rapid escalation of the cancer disease – observed only recently – would seem to lend support to the conclusions arrived at by the oncologist in January which I have previously shared with all of you:
1. The rapid deterioration in the lung capacity in the last 21 days; and
2. The increase – in the last month – in the pain intensity and frequency of occurrence in the primary disease region.
For these reasons, after discussions with the doctor today, I have decided to no longer continue with the full rigours of this diet/fast protocol. I will spend the next few days evaluating if i should continue with a diet that is much reduced in its strictures so that I will be allowed to also enjoy the remaining days.
To those who are fighting this disease but caught it at an earlier stage – or know someone who is – I would urge that you seriously consider this diet. PM (private message) me for details if you like.
Will say again now what i said before. I have had a full life and am at peace with how things are. Please be at peace for me, too.
Love you all. – March 17, 2023
COLUMNS
COMMENT | Haris Ibrahim and the impossible dream
D Ananda
Published: Mar 29, 2023 9:30 AM
⋅
Updated: 10:29 AM
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow…
To fight for the right
ADS
Without question or pause
To be willing to march, march into Hell
For that Heavenly cause
- The Impossible Dream from the musical “The Man from La Macha”
COMMENT | Haris Ibrahim, the lawyer, the activist and the man has a dream.
A dream where Malaysians are one, identifying themselves not by race, religion or culture. But by the fact that we are all… Bangsa Malaysia. A Malaysian by race.
An unrepentant and obstinate optimist, Haris (above) never gives up on his fellow Malaysians to do the right thing.
In an interview with this news portal last year, he said: "When push comes to shove, when Malaysians decide enough is enough and come together… we are an unstoppable force."
His NGO, ABU (Anyone But Umno), became a rallying point that played a big role in toppling the BN's sixty-year grip on Malaysian politics in the 14th general election.
Haris advocates unity in diversity, never allowing idiotic concepts like religion or race to get in the way of forging a Malaysian identity based on being… Malaysians.
To bring his message of unity to the fore, he has organised a picnic for the people where everyone brings their own delicacies and favourite dishes to share with other Malaysians.
Haris has a sharp sense of social norms and participants are reminded of the peculiarities that prohibited certain meats.
The idea is novel. People of differing cultures sit down to a Malaysian meal and interact like members of a family out at a picnic.
He is acutely aware of the dangers of initiating lawatan sambil belajar (study tours) to places of worship which can and have been exploited by fringe members of some political parties bent on dividing Malaysians further.
Lawyer Haris Ibrahim
Bangsa Malaysia
To many, forging a "Bangsa Malaysia" is an impossible dream. We have gone down too far down the rabbit hole to think and behave as one people, one country with one hope.
The hope is that everyone will have a fair go at life and not because of any tribal affiliations. If you work hard, you toil at what you do best, you will be given a shot. That's it.
And yet, the percussions of social, and racial prejudice and persecution are being drummed up by members from both sides of the political divide.
I dare say that if the late Tunku Abdul Rahman had met Haris, he would have said, "Here is the real Malaysian we all ought to be."
No obstacle is too big or too hard for him in his quest for a better Malaysia for all to navigate around and leap over.
He uses diplomacy, a kind word, and sometimes, when he has to be, a figurative bang on the head to get his universal message of love and mutual respect through.
Today, Haris is stricken with stage four cancer. It has taken cancer, not bigots, racists and fanatics to put a damper on his dream.
The fight for that dream is now ours, every right-thinking, wholesome Malaysian, who still believes in the nation, duty and a better place for the generations to come.
D ANANDA is a reader/subscriber of Malaysiakini and Bangsa Malaysia.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
An example of forked-tongue Dr M
No comments:
Post a Comment