“…. Whereas in the fight for Independence, we were looking to strike a balance between the forces at play to enable the community to pursue its happiness, today we must be looking at liberating our soul from similar forces within ourselves to enable the individual to do likewise. And unless we can master and control the demons that put fear, doubt, and inhibitions into us, then we will never stand on our own, nor will we ever find true fulfilment. Tok would have called this a jihad….”
“……… “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” We’ve spent 50 years of Malay nationalism trying to understand whom we perceive, rightfully or wrongfully, to be the enemy. Now we need to learn how to know ourselves… “
“…….. So to me, the third struggle of the Malays should now be internally driven. It should be premised on the objective of creating a fundamental cultural shift in the Malays. It means to not just focus on keeping political opponents at bay, and managing your community joint venture partners. It means to not just create economic and educational opportunities for the Malays, expecting them to grasp these opportunities and then anticipating that cultural transformation will necessarily follow. Instead, it means focusing efforts on ensuring the success of the cultural transformation as an end in itself, which once achieved, will enable the Malay to grasp any opportunities with a greater chance of success…..”
“…… The Malay struggle should be driven internally, to create a Malay with these four qualities: He takes personal accountability; he is achievement orientated; he has the capacity to independently understand and analyze a problem; and he plays by the book.
……………………………………..”
Other Key Themes Of Reset
-Why Bother?
-The Notion of Hospitality
-The Malay Struggle
-Democracy Vs Special Rights
-Communal Prejudice
-Race Politics
-Sailing With The Wind
-Maintaining the Equilibrium
-Meeting the Principles
-The Proposal
I like the way this chapter was done. Unless there is a fundamental shift in mindset by the Malays to be able to appreciate the advantage that multiparty democracy brings, it will be hard to push them to accept leaving the comfort zone of relying on UMNO and PAS..
Thousands of UiTM students, almost all of them Malays, took to the streets yesterday to protest Selangor MB’s suggestion of establishing a 10 per cent intake of non-Bumiputra students, claiming that their institution must forever be in the hands of Malays.
This a classic example of what you have described as being the mindset which will ultimately be the Malays’own undoing…
ahh uitm,favourite subject of mine.. the incident is an example of how certain parties have managed to instil a sense of fear and threat to the malay students..the organisations involved in the protest were also not particularly non-partisan..a student even went as far to say, “aku mengaku bangsa aku tidak boleh berdiri dengan sendiri,jangan susahkan kami lagi” proclaiming a so-called “weak” race..