Chinese Malaysians

That is the correct term, not Malaysian Chinese, although some might disagree.

Who are they, these Chinese Malaysians so despised by many, especially the UMNO Malays?

They have been labelled as chauvinists, racists, greedy, materialistic, ungrateful, etc.  Also, we have the typical stereotyping of Chinese as rich & greedy, the Malays as lazy,  and the Indians as alcoholics.

The thing is, all those unflattering adjectives are personal traits rather than a collective one. Most of us would realise that the typical stereotyping is not true. We see those traits in all races, in all peoples regardless of race. So, why do we still subscribe to such views? Well, like it or not, that's what people do, classify things to simplify things.

Anyway, in this post, I would like to talk a bit on the Chinese Malaysians, who have been at the receiving end of various attacks lately. From racist rants to outright threats. The credit goes to the BN & PR politicians & supporters. Of course, their hardcore supporters will disagree, blaming each other instead, because as we all know, love is blind!

Utusan

Google results: here, more.

Anyway, there's a lot more, some are truly racist and criminal, but that's the general sentiment among a large segment of Malays particularly supporters of UMNO.

The question is, are the politicians racists? Perhaps some, but I believe the majority are not. Then why do they stir racial issues? That's because they are saying the things their audience wants to hear, which means you, the people. The very fact that racial issues worked so well in politics is because a certain segment of society thinks and feels that way. That's also you, the people. What they say reflects the sentiments of the segment of society they represent. Well, most of the time anyway. Sometimes, their statements are plain idiotic. :)

Ok. Let's get back to the Chinese Malaysians...

1. The majority of them are saturated in urban areas, big towns and cities in the West coast.

2. Mostly Mandarin speaking, in conjunction with their respective dialects. There's also a large number whose mother tongue is English, especially in middle-class areas such as PJ & Subang Jaya.

3. 90% sends their kids to Chinese schools.
Surprisingly, among those, in large numbers, are parents who were products of the national schools. The reason?

a. Perceived deterioration of education standards. I'm not going into the details but that is the perception.
b. Increase in religious influence and racism.
c. Mastery of Mandarin language.
d. Some did not have a pleasant experience during their time in national schools.

Most of these non-mandarin speaking parents had to spend extra money for after class tuition for their kids so that they wouldn't fall behind. The general thinking of these parents is that with English, Mandarin & Bahasa Melayu, their kids will have better chances of furthering their studies, especially since public unis have limited places for non-Malays. In addition, Mandarin is useful with the rapidly developing China in this region. Moreover, with the strong anti-Chinese sentiment after GE13, I anticipate the exodus to Chinese schools to be even higher.

With the incessant and continuous threat from the government and Malays, these Chinese parents are insecure about their future in this country and tries their best to prepare their kids to have the choices they do not have. As much as the Malays would think this as being ungrateful, it is definitely not. We have to look at it from a non-political viewpoint. The Chinese, just like the Malays, feel equally if not more insecure. But as history has shown us, in this country, as well as neighbouring Indonesia, as recently as 1998, it is not fun to be on the receiving end of the stick. Unfortunate for the Chinese, but that's the truth.

4. There are 2 distinct groups, the Chinese educated and English/Malay educated.
Within these 2 groups, the Chinese educated ones form the majority in the business sector. The other group tend to be employees and professionals. And within this 2 subgroups, they are the buddhists/taoists and the christians, mostly born-again.

5. They have an identity crisis. Most of them relate more to Hong Kong & Taiwan popular culture, as oppose to mainland Chinese culture. Most are not even educated or exposed to their own cultures and traditions. They are oblivious to the teachings of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, which are part of Chinese culture. Unlike the Malays who pass on their culture to their offsprings who also receive religious education early in life, the Chinese on the other hand, does not, focusing instead, too much on academic achievements. This has resulted in many young Chinese who are ignorant of their culture & traditions, which are important for character building. Today, we see young Chinese, well, not that young, in their 20s-30s mostly, who are rude, crass, disrespectful, and more.

Confucius

6. Except for the older generation residing in the smaller towns, and a handful of city dwellers, the rest of them hates BN.

Yes. Hates BN specifically UMNO & MCA. Unless there's a transformation in the political landscape, the Chinese will remain out of government for a long time. UMNO, being the party with the strongest position in BN, has absolute power to decide on the path for Malaysia. For the better or worse, who knows. Political power is firmly in the Malay's hands, in UMNO, PAS & PKR.

7. In politics, traditionally, the Chinese have always voted opposition in certain areas. Although most are not really crazy about DAP back then, it was by convention that they use DAP to 'make noise' in parliament, so to speak. Who can deny the stellar performance from the likes of Lim Kit Siang & Karpal Singh.

In recent years, because of their disgust with MCA, their votes went en masse to DAP which resulted in the infamous "Chinese Tsunami". Yes. it was indeed a Tsunami. It's not entirely due to the efforts of DAP though, but rather it happened by design. It was already planned by UMNO, which is to create a situation whereby the Chinese votes would be overwhelmingly opposition, thus, driving/spooking the Malays back to UMNO & BN. Since 2004, Tun Mahathir, in order to pull down Pak Lah, organisations such as PERKASA were set up to push the Chinese away to weaken BN/UMNO, so that they would have to depend on Malay votes. Pak Lah of course had to step down and Najib took over. However, with the tacit collusion of MCA, the Chinese bashing continued through GE13, and although Najib tried to win back some Chinese support, it was too late. Even BN were surprised by the high percentage of Chinese votes going to the opposition, some seats even set new records for the majority votes.

How do we explain the phenomenon? It's cause and effect. The push by UMNO + highly effective PR propaganda = DAP. It also shows us that sustained actions cannot be undone so easily. In my opinion, the Chinese have blundered big time. Taken in by the anti-government propaganda, they have been misled to think that the Malays were ready to change. In fact, up to a certain extent, the Malays were, just that the Chinese bogeyman, created and embedded into the Malay psyche through the years, is not that easy to overcome. Was it worth it?

Of course, it is understandable that the Malays will think that the Chinese wants to grab power in the country, going by the latest election outcome. That, of course, is not true. The Chinese, although less politically savvy than the Malays, are acutely aware of the political realities in Malaysia. That's the cultural difference between Malays and Chinese. The Chinese views to politics is different from the Malays. By Chinese, I mean the general population, not the politicians. The Chinese are not as emotionally attached to political parties as Malays. To the Chinese, just like their approach to business, if their employee fails to his job, he is fired. The same view applies for political parties or government.

Speaking of business, more Chinese businessmen supported the opposition this time compared to previous elections. We would need to put aside race for a moment and analyse this without prejudice. The Chinese businessmen, most whom have been in business for a long time and supported BN all these years, were fed up with the level of corruption. Not corruption per se, but things has gone so bad that it has become more like extortion. From big businesses to the small shops. With each successive change in leadership, the worse it got. It doesn't just happen in one level, but in some instances, it goes on at various levels of different government agencies. Today, even UMNO/MCA/BN supporters lament about the money-grabbing culture prevalent in UMNO & government, from leaders to rank & file. Left unchecked, this had led to unhealthy increases in the cost of doing business.

It not that I condone corruption, but it is something that happens in business whether we admit it or not. I'm just stating reality.

8. So, what next for the Chinese? Nothing.
There's nothing the Chinese can do nor will do that will change anything. They've never had that power. It's up to the Malays, up to UMNO. The supporters of UMNO are in fact very worried about the turn of events. The Chinese votes, or non-votes to be precise, has actually put UMNO in a very vulnerable position, which makes their internal power struggles worse. Hence the constant Chinese bashing, blaming, boycotting, and what not. Although some are just being their true self, racists. Others, it's insecurity. How things pan out will determine our country's future.

In the meantime, the Chinese bashing continues...