APA PENULIS BERBANGSA CHINA KATA BERKENAAN ORANG CINA DI MALAYSIA

 APA  PENULIS BERBANGSA CHINA KATA      BERKENAAN ORANG CINA MALAYSIA

                 

      (Ye Lin-Sheng The Chinese Dilemma (East West Publishing, Australia, 2003)

                                                                          (Harga RM 40)

     

1.Pandangan ini adalah dari Ye Lin-Sheng yang berasal dari china tetapi seorang ahli perniagaan di Malaysia, Hong Kong dan Australia, Thailand, Singapura, Britain dan Amerika Syarikat. Beliau mempunyai banyak pengalaman yang melibatkan orang Cina di negara yang disenaraikan itu. Tetapi orang Cina di Malaysialah yang paling tidak bersyukur, kejam, serta mengkhianati perjanjian ataupun dipanggil perlembagaan. Dalam buku Ye Lin-Sheng The Chinese Dilemma (East West Publishing, Australia, 2003), Ye Lin-Sheng menulis:

2.Pengiktirafan orang cina:

"Orang Cina Malaysia mendapati mereka lebih mudah untuk menerima dominasi oleh orang-orang putih kerana mereka dapat memberi pengiktirafan terhadap kehebatan orang Barat. Tetapi Orang Cina Malaysia amat susah untuk menerima kehebatan orang Melayu kerana perasaan iri hati dan hasad dengki mereka bahawa Malaysia ini milik orang Melayu. Mana mana orang Cina Malaysia sama sekali tidak boleh menerima tentang konsep ketuanan Melayu, mereka percaya bahawa mereka adalah lebih baik" -(Buku The Chinese Dilemma - Ye Lin-Sheng)

3.Keangkuhan orang cina:

"Keangkuhan orang cina Malaysia telah membuatkan mereka sentiasa memandang rendah terhadap keupayaan orang Melayu, walhal ramai orang Melayu sebenarnya bekerja atau belajar lebih pandai dari kaum cina Malaysia ini. Perkara ini sudah lama saya perhatikan, kerana saya memiliki perniagaan di Malaysia dan telah bercampur dengan orang Cina Malaysia ini. Sikap mereka suka cakap belakang dan tekan orang Melayu adalah menjadi tabiat dan budaya mereka. Mana mana orang Cina Malaysia yang tidak menghina orang Melayu dikatakan kolot dan membelot bangsa cina" -(Buku The Chinese Dilemma - Ye Lin-Sheng)

4.Perkauman orang cina:

"Kejayaan orang Cina Malaysia hanya tercapai jika mereka dapat menindas orang Melayu dalam masa yang sama menggunakan kudrat dan kelebihan orang Melayu. Mereka juga tidak akan mengakui bahawa kepimpinan Melayu adalah sangat mahir, cekap serta bagus dalam pengurusan politik, ekonomi dan sosial. Cina jarang menyifatkan kejayaan Malaysia kepada orang Melayu. Apa yang ada diminda mereka adalah semua kejayaan di Malaysia ini kerana orang Cina. Sebab itu orang cina yang asal dari China tidak suka bergaul dengan cina Malaysia kerana sikap mereka yang ekstrim ini. Mereka masih lagi mengamalkan ideologi komunis" -(Buku The Chinese Dilemma - Ye Lin-Sheng)

5.Penghinaan orang cina:

"Sampai hari ini, sesetengah orang Cina Malaysia masih menggunakan istilah menghina terhadap orang Melayu. Dalam dialek tertentu, orang Melayu dipanggil dengan nama yang bermakna ‘orang hutan’ atau ‘orang liar’. Maknanya, bangsa yang tidak bertamadun. Orang Cina yang memeluk Islam dikatakan ‘masuk Melayu’. Jarang ibu bapa Cina membenarkan anak mereka menjadi askar atau polis kerana anggap itu kerja kotor dan eksklusif kepada kaum Melayu. Mereka sentiasa percaya bahawa budaya dan tamadun Cina lebih tinggi berbanding budaya dan tamadun Melayu termasuklah penggunaan membersihkan diri menggunakan tisu dianggap lebih bertamadun. Umumnya, orang Cina boleh menerima ‘ketuanan orang putih’ kerana menganggap tamadun dan budaya Barat lebih bagus, tapi tidak terhadap orang Melayu-Bumiputera." -(Buku The Chinese Dilemma - Ye Lin-Sheng)

6.Sikap negatif orang cina:

"Kejayaan orang Melayu turut dipandang sinis. Ia biasanya dikaitkan dengan bantuan kerajaan atau hak istimewa yang diberi kepada mereka. Kebanyakan Cina Malaysia sukar menerima hakikat kejayaan usahawan atau syarikat Melayu dimana mereka berniaga secara jujur dan bukan seperti orang cina berniaga. Jadi sebenarnya majoriti orang Melayu ada peniaga tulen yang jujur dan dicapai menerusi kerja keras mereka. Sikap sebegini sebahagiannya berpunca daripada kesukaran menerima hakikat orang Melayu lebih pandai daripada mereka dan sebahagian lagi bertujuan menunjukkan pencapaian mereka sebagai lebih hebat" -(Buku The Chinese Dilemma - Ye Lin-Sheng)

7.Isu Tuan Rumah:

"Siapakah tuan rumah negara Malaysia? Ia adalah orang Melayu selaku tuan rumah , dan orang Cina dan India sebenarnya hanyalah tetamu ataupun dipanggil menumpang kerana tiada tempat. Orang cina Malaysia sepatutnya malu kerana telah datang secara asal untuk menjadi pekerja dan selepas diberi kerakyatan akhirnya mereka hendak merampas serta menindas tuan rumah. Sudahlah mereka datang dengan jumlah yang besar serta. Jika saya (Ye Lin-Sheng, penulis Buku) adalah orang Melayu, saya tidak akan membenarkan perlembagaan dan sosial kontrak dicabar. Saya akan merasakan maruah dan penghormatan saya akan tercalar" -(Buku The Chinese Dilemma - Ye Lin-Sheng)

8.Orang Melayu sebenarnya sedang dijajah cina:

"Tetapi itulah keistimewaan orang Melayu, mereka adalah bangsa yang bersopan santun dan seorang penyabar. Sudahlah mereka bersusah payah berjuang untuk membebaskan diri dari jajahan barat. Sekarang mereka perlu bersusah payah untuk merampas dari orang Cina yang memegang ekonomi pula. Sepatutnya orang Cina yang perlu berbakti kepada orang Melayu kerana sudah diberi peluang mendapat kerakyatan, tetapi saya selaku orang asal dari China berasa malu dengan sikap bangsa saya yang tinggal di Malaysia. Tidak ada perkataan yang dapat saya berikan kerana dasar orang cina terlalu keras, ekstrim serta perkauman. Kami sendiri orang yang tinggal di China tidak menerima ideologi Komunis, tetapi orang Cina di Malaysia lebih selesa untuk mengamal serta menyebarkan ideologi Komunis. Sebenarnya jujur saya mengatakan orang cina Malaysia sedang menjajah orang Melayu, mereka seperti menganggap bahawa orang Melayu adalah musuh yang nyata" -(Buku The Chinese Dilemma - Ye Lin-Sheng)

                                                        Random Reviews - 4

The Chinese Dilemma

by

Ye Lin-Sheng 

(East-West Editions, Kingsford, NSW, Australia, 2003)

                                                                                       

When I pick up a book whose cover blurb tells me, "This is a book every (lumberjack/Mongolian/card player/lorry driver etc) should read,"  my dormant critical faculties, such as they are, immediately become alert. This, of course, is a book that "all Malaysians, Chinese and Malay alike, should read," according to Mahathir Mohamad, the author of  The Malay Dilemma according to the cover blurb.

Despite Ye's self-effacing protestations at the start of the book, it is very well written and easily readable. Within a short time I was beginning to be convinced that Mahathir's recommendation wasn't too far off the mark. Here was a Chinese Malaysian setting out to examine a set of fairly usual moans and groans of his fellow Chinese Malaysians about the affirmative action in favour of the Malay population since Mahathir came to power. What is more here was a Chinese Malaysian setting out to argue that the New Economic Policy (NEP) was a 'good thing.'

Generally he does make a fairly convincing argument that is, for the most part, cogently argued in the first half of the book. For those who have not lived through the period of change, there are ample statistics to demonstrate the increased Malay participation and leadership in many aspects of life where they barely featured before the start of the NEP. Few would argue that the virtual exclusion of the majority of the population from these areas was something that needed to be redressed. Again most would agree that the policy, despite the grumbles, has been a success. It's gratifying to read these views being endorsed by a Chinese Malaysian, although one wonders to what extent he himself has made the total commitment to the country that he advocates for his fellow Chinese Malaysians. The book was published in Australia and his brief biography states that he's an international businessman. So one wonders whether Malaysia is still his home, but maybe that's being unkind.

However, nothing in life is perfect, including the NEP. When Ye starts to tackle criticisms of the NEP he is on weaker ground. Generally in the book he's the master of generalisation with very few facts or statistics to back up his assertions. This really made him ill equipped to argue against the critics of the policy. For example he attempts to tackle complaints that people have been discriminated against on account of their race. He speculates that individual failures may be the result of individual inadequacies. True, but what about those who have suffered purely because of their race and the inadequate who have advanced purely because of their race? He either does not tackle this issue or fudges his response.

The statistics which fail to be used by the author do show that that both Malays and Chinese have benefited from the NEP. However to what extent has it and successive affirmative policies benefited those at the bottom of the heap? Interestingly the Mahathir quote on the front cover of the book only makes reference to Malays and Chinese, but, as in the quote, the Orang Asli, Borneo tribes and Indians barely get a mention in the book. The poor Malays and Chinese are also forgotten in the book. One could argue that affirmative action policies in Malaysia and elsewhere might produce more harmonious and egalitarian societies if they were based on uplifting the economically marginalised rather than members of one or more racial groups.

Despite all that, the Chinese Dilemma is certainly a book that needed to be written. It's refreshing to read something from a member of a minority in support of a policy which in some shape or form was certainly necessary and has had more successes than failures. In fact I would agree that it's a book that needs to be read by all Malaysians who may then be better equipped to deal with the next phase of the country's economic and cultural development. The book is likely to provoke thought, but also many more questions  than answers. The author can be seen to be trying too hard to argue that all in the Malaysian garden is lovely. However he may have provoked someone some day to write a more rounded assessment of all that's happened in the country since Mahathir's The Malay Dilemma was written. The new book's title could well be The Malaysian Dilemma.

The Chinese Dilemma is available at The Penang Bookshelf at RM40

saifulfromslim