M.Krishnamoorthy
A media coach, adjunct professor and author
PATRIOT has reminded decision-makers, the public and politicians of the right of any race to preserve its culture and history. There is unity in diversity.
“All ideas and initiatives are meant to enrich Malaysia's future further. As much as the Chinese citizens of Malaysia have a right to preserve their past, all of us today have a reciprocal duty to protect and celebrate our honest history.”
In a statement, PATRIOT (National Patriots Association) president Lt Col Datuk Zarazilah Mohd Ali (PATRIOT) said, “It is with vexed feelings that PATRIOT takes cognisance of sentiments raging over the declaration of Chinese villages as world heritage sites in the country. Why are we in this state of unjustified prejudices and are seen to be peddling discriminating fears when it comes to Malaysian citizens of Chinese ancestry having their long-standing villages or ‘Chinese New Villages’ preserved for posterity?”
Zarazilah said PATRIOT knows too well our victorious national history that is punctuated with gallant stories of how we fought off the advances and infiltration of the communists.
“Suppose today we enjoy and benefit from the country's peace, harmony and multi-racial co-existence. In that case, it is because our Malayan soldiers (and police) of Chinese ancestry stood shoulder to shoulder with other Malayans to defend a young, struggling nation once upon a time – not too long ago to fight off the communists successfully. The Chinese villagers could have bandied together and betrayed our rulers and government. But no, they instead demonstrated their stubborn loyalty to their ‘new nation’ Malaya and helped our defence and security forces fight out the communists.
“No one of sound mind and a decent heart can deny how Malaysian Chinese have worked together, fought, and stayed together to build this nation. In all of these gallant endeavours, one significant truth that emerges is that our Chinese villages have and do continue to play a symbiotic role in nationhood,” the statement was published as a letter in Focus Malaysia.
“Instead of celebrating a world heritage recognition for our distinctly deserving Chinese new villages, we seem to be drumming fears and sowing more anti-racial feelings. We should be working towards gaining more world recognition for how our unique country preserves and thrives on nurtured traditions, cultures and customs; we are instead seizing the opportunity to keep suspicion at a higher crescendo and belittling our ‘Malayan’ and even ‘Malaysian’ achievements.
“Not only is all this divisiveness ruining the country’s economic potential for the future, but it is also causing irreversible damage to the power of co-existence and thriving on diversity,” Zarazilah said.
Freelance Writer M. Krishnamoorthy (www.imkrishna.net) is a media coach, adjunct professor and undercover journalist. He has freelanced with Bernama, NST, The Star, and Malaysiakini. He also freelances as a fixer/coordinator for CNN, BBC, German and Australian Television networks and the New York Times. As an undercover journalist, he has highlighted society's concerns.
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