[interesting article to be read by all chinese and indian bersih 4!] Those missing Malays? Look all around you

All the snide remarks on social media will backfire, come the next general election

By Hafidz Baharom

While the Bersih protest is still going on, there are already those wondering at the lack of Malay protesters, as their attendance seemed to have dropped, to little as 10 per cent or less, by some measures.

While political leaders and supporters are quickly turning the issue around by saying “We only see Malaysians” or even “They will appear today”, others have already taken it upon themselves to mock all Malays, with such accusations as Malays are comfortable, the Malays are privileged, the Malays are cowards and my favourite thus far, the Malays are missing their balls.

Quite humbly, I will just call all of them out as morons. They have obviously failed to notice the fact that there are Malays everywhere but they themselves failed to notice.

I was at Nu Sentral in Brickfields yesterday, near one of the gathering points.

Did other rally-goers also at Nu Sentral fail to notice just who the heck was serving them breakfast? If you took public transport, who the heck was manning the train or the LRT control centre? Who were the baristas who prepared your coffee at Starbucks while you rushed to charge your phones? Or the waiters at the Chicken Rice Shop, or the Nando’s or the Texas Chicken with the controversial sauce?

From whom did you buy your last minute yellow t-shirts, just in case that last minute order was enforced?

Who were the police officers and the Federal Reserve Unit members manning their stations? Who are those investigating the threat of violence made via SMS against Bersih?

Here’s another fact you may have failed to notice.

A Merdeka Centre survey says that those most disapproving of Bersih, while Malays, are also those earning below RM2,000.

There is already a story going around about one uncle from Perlis, for whom attending Bersih meant forgoing an entire week’s wages.

Safe to say, the majority of those who disapprove of Bersih or absent from Bersih are those who cannot afford it.

Shame on you, those mocking the majority population. For whom are you “saving the economy”? Just for yourselves?

It is for those who do not earn enough, for unemployed graduates about whom even Tun Dr Mahathir was asked about while he was in Pasir Gudang before turning up for a look-see in Kuala Lumpur.

It is for those who cannot take a weekend off to join your protest, especially when it means triple-time wages because it’s a three-day weekend.

It is for those who have lost their houses in Kelantan and Terengganu and still live in tents after last year’s floods, still waiting for houses to be rebuilt and cannot spare a dime.

Have you forgotten them in your eagerness to be gung-ho propagandists?

Those so militantly supporting Bersih, to the point of calling the majority population cowards, obviously do not know your own country’s people well enough.

If you say it was because of PAS, you also do not know what they had to spend to bus people into the city in past rallies. Religion and politics may be all you think of, but such endeavours entail costs and logistics.

I will say this once more to all those detractors. Malays voters, though poor, are still the largest group in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah. They might not be at Bersih, but they read what you say about them.

Maybe Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian might take a page out of alternative media and publish all your social media posts for all to read.

For every derogatory statement and comment you make, all your detractors, including myself, will be right there to remind those Malay voters in 2018 of what you thought about them – who supported you quietly but could not attend – because they missed your 34-hour shindig.

If you believe that Bersih is more important than the 2018 General Election, keep mocking those who were not there.

But if you believe that the rally is just the start of a marathon to finally end a 60-plus ruling streak, then I suggest you shut up.

You keep saying the whole world is watching. Who else are watching? The Malay and Malaysian voters who will determine the next government.

Hafidz Baharom is an FMT reader

Source : fmt