Thread by @uglyluhan

If Malaysians know one thing about local history, it's the beloved tale of why the constitution grants special privileges to "natives". What's less well known is that the mainstream narrative is very one-sided

https://twitter.com/TajuddinKZ/status/1394602681398792193

The story goes that Malays fought for independence from the British, but non-Malays begged for citizenship. Malays were forced by the Brits to accept the immigrants, but were given special privileges in exchange. This is what the right means when they tell you to belajar sejarah

In the first place, we would've had a non-Malay population even if we had never been colonised. They were here before the colonists, and even those who arrived during the colonial era weren't as unwelcome as the right would like to believe

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1129669074894688256?s=19

The right of non-Malays to practice their culture, start businesses, and run their own affairs is not unique, not new, and not a gracious "sacrifice" from Malays. It was business as usual in Southeast Asia, and had the approval of native rulers across the region

Did Malays really not want non-Malays to be granted citizenship, as is so often claimed? Despite their cursory mention in our school textbooks, the Malay leftist movement was not insignificant or unpopular. It was just wiped out by the British and Umno

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1379666817430392834?s=19

Under the People's Constitution, no particular ethnic group had any special position. Of course this hadn't gone through the same process of negotiations as our Federal Constitution, but it does prove that equality was at least on the table. Umno wanted ketuanan from the start

History was written by the victors, who happened to be the pro-British Umno-led Alliance. Non-Malays agreed not necessarily because it was what they wanted but because it was a necessary compromise which allowed the country to achieve independence. There weren't many options left

Furthermore, Malay special privileges were meant to be a form of affirmative action to aid the Malays economically to bring the community up to par with the urban Chinese

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1391304507926093824?s=19

And as such, defense of such aid should take into account each community's needs. Not all non-Malays are rich. Mind-blowing right? Should Malays continually be given priority regardless of whether an individual needs the help?

malaymail.com/news/malaysia/…

Also despite the lip-service that supremacists give to other natives, the rights of Orang Asli are not protected at all. Not their culture, land, or religion. The community is only nominally bumiputera. Bumi privilege is really just Malay Muslim privilege

m.malaysiakini.com/news/472417

As for "assimilation", there is admittedly room for improvement, particularly on the topic of language. But what have these proponents of assimilation done to encourage non-Malays to better integrate? (whatever they believe that means)

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1188468716305956872?s=19

Anyone who says there will be equality when non-Malays "assimilate" is either naive or deliberately untruthful. One need look no further than the oft-cited example of Indonesia

thejakartapost.com/academia/2019/…

Or better yet, just look at the treatment of non-Malays who speak perfect BM but hold views that run contrary to the Malay right. You love non-Malays who speak good BM until they have a different opinion. Twitter is full of them, so I won't even give examples

If you want to abolish vernacular schools (which I believe should be done at some point), where's the effort to make national schools more inclusive?

thecoverage.my/national-schoo…

If you want minorities to speak the national language, don't discourage its use by banning certain words. Make non-Malay friends and don't laugh if someone speaks with an accent

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1370707986050543616?s=19

Yes, as the majority, it's on Malays to reach out, not the other way around. Non-Malays DO NOT have to be grateful for being allowed to exist

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1304956759367323650?s=19