Latest news with #AwangSolahuddinHashim
Malay Mail
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
The future, with fewer bigots and Chinese, will have more Malaysians
AUG 7 — There was a kerfuffle in Dewan Rakyat this week. It's been polite days in the house but on Monday, Pendang got Jelutong's knickers in a knot by warning racial inequalities in a careless 13th Malaysia Plan may result in another May 13 riot. When and if Malays are left behind. Three times, May 13 was mentioned in that news report covering the petty parliamentary exchanges between legislators Awang Solahuddin Hashim and Jelutong's RSN Rayer. The portal is traditionally pro-Umno. The story was fine, it was the headline which caught me strange, or reactions to it. 'Pendang MP's May 16 tragedy quip if 13MP sidelines Bumiputera causes a ruckus (Kaitkan tragedy 16 Mei dengan RMK13 ketepikan Bumiputera, ucapan Ahli Parlimen Pendang cetus kecoh) Without intending it informs more about the present. For, the headline somehow misunderstood May 13 as May 16. Until a short while ago, there were two kinds of Malaysians. Those who lived through the race riots in 1969, and those who lived their lives learning about the race riots as a cautionary tale. The columnist falls in the latter. For a fair bit they both inhabited the land. Apparently, as a natural function of time, a new generation sprung and eventually nudged into play the game. These younger ones know somewhat about the riots as historical information. However are not encumbered by it. They will soon dominate the population as the first generation of Malaysians to slip away from centre-stage. The younger, uploading editors did not fret that they got the 13 as a 16. It is an error, and errors happen on the news floor, it is not a mortal sin to them. Forty-eight hours later, the headline remains uncorrected. Nobody alerted anybody. They did not grow up when May 13 meant May 13. What a wonderful reality to wake up to. Generation oldest would be incensed. Up in arms about it if nap time did not interfere. And their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, from the youngest generation remain lukewarm about the distant past. And they'll be increasingly in charge until the next generation comes in to replace. To the generation yet to emerge, it would be cold news. It's not only the overlook about the headline, there is a sense that the conviction that the hateful can shout in the dark and wait for a pliant lynch mob is fast expiring. The spectre of May 13 is not quite a thing to many, surely not as much as Anwar Ibrahim being imprisoned in 1998 or Mahathir Mohamad being PM again in 2018 or Muhyiddin Yassin the lockdown watchman in 2020. The recent past to them matters more than what grandma told mama. And in a further future, our recent past is a distant past and for other grandmothers to retell. That is expected, which leads to the material focus of the report and another recent development. Does — as Awang Solahuddin Hashim the two-time parliamentarian from Kedah does here quite inelegantly — scaring people about irrational fears still work anymore? A row of Jalur Gemilang flags adorns a building in Kuala Lumpur, celebrating Malaysia's Independence Day August 5, 2025 — Picture by Raymond Manuel He reminds the rakyat that a government which fails to immerse itself in Malay survivalism in a phase of faceless enemies at home results in comprehensive betrayal at levels only witnessed in scripture. Awang used the general mention of funding for Chinese New Villages and entrepreneurship as a segue to insist Malays are being left out. It bordered on pretending New York was geographically situated besides New Caledonia. He had no specifics, probably overwhelmed by his own allegations. The fact he is a PAS MP does him few favours, though it confirms stereotypes. This leads to the other press report mentioned. The one which stipulates in 2059 the Chinese, those alleged to be prime persecutors of Malays by the Malay right, slides down to 15 per cent. From close to a majority in pre-war Malaya, to 3 in 20 Malaysians in another 25 years, the presumed yellow terror seems less intimidating even to the completely racist. How much longer will Awang and his ilk milk racial insecurities and social upheavals? Historians may mark 2022, the last general election, as the final push by ethnic purists to pursue power in the country. Pendang proves he is the past. The other half of Perikatan Nasional (PN), Bersatu's senior leadership, toned down rhetoric and asked for better parliamentary processes, committees and even considered equitable economic restructures to fit all Malaysians. They realise madness as a method has limited applications. The shifts in demography, upping four in five Malaysians to be Bumiputera in 2060, turns arguments about a potent foe against Malays sitting in our midst more and more ludicrous by the year. There is social media evidence to the contrary currently but it'll over time dissipate. Not because the column is an oracle but the numbers do not lie. The real opponent for Malaysia is a larger world, filled with competition, as seen with the contest among countries to end up with lower tariffs when exporting to the United States of America. For Malaysia's sake, whether a future child is one or in the four in five, future tariffs and economic battles are the same. In the future it's about when and if Malaysians are left behind that should worry Malaysia. That works better when Malaysians look less wearily at each other and remember they are allies regardless of demography. Improving a Chinese New Village is improving a part of Malaysia which has Malaysians in them. That is true today, and no less true in 2059.
New Straits Times
24-07-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Opposition to provide legal support for anti-Anwar demonstrators
KUALA LUMPUR: The Opposition said it would provide legal assistance to any civil servants facing action for participating in the upcoming "Turun Anwar" rally, scheduled for Saturday. Pendang member of parliament Datuk Awang Solahuddin Hashim said legal support would be extended to those who face action for taking part in the rally. "I want to emphasise that if any civil servant faces action (for joining the rally), we will provide them with lawyers," he said when debating the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) 2023 Annual Report and Financial Statements in the Dewan Rakyat today. Awang said this after Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar and the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) reminded civil servants not to participate in the opposition-organised rally. Awang said Article 10 of the Federal Constitution guarantees citizens the right to free speech and peaceful assembly. On Sunday (July 20), Shamsul Azri said civil servants must adhere to the pledge enshrined in the Rukun Negara. "They cannot attend. Civil servants recite the pledge every day, every week. The Rukun Negara includes the principle of loyalty to the king and country... Have they forgotten? Be loyal to the king and country," he said. Yesterday, the AGC in a statement said civil servants who participate in the rally may face disciplinary action for breaching civil service regulations. The AGC stressed that civil servants are bound by the pledge outlined in the Public Officers (Appointment, Promotion and Termination of Service) Regulations 2012, as well as the Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993.
