The Amazing Ibrahim Ali

Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali is an interesting case study in politics. This man was a nobody, a person that didn't figure in the political equation, somebody who only got the Pasir Mas seat due to the good grace of Nik Aziz and Pas.

And now, all of a sudden, he's the man in the media. Why? Perkasa. One wonders if Ibrahim formed the fascist Malay supremacist group after reading Mein Kampf or after signing up for the Benito Mussolini Appreciation Society.

Still, love him or hate him, one has to admit that his shock and awe approach to politics has worked. While his grassroots approach - speaking at ceramahs and such - has worked, it is his media bombardment that has brought him and his abrasive ideology to the attention of the greater public.

Ibrahim thinks nothing of spamming reporters a multitude of times every day. He thinks nothing of sending racially sensitive "media releases" to non-Malay members of the media. To the distinguished (ugh) gentleman (double ugh) from Pasir Mas, it is completely alright to send a nonsensical, bigoted SMS about, say, the Chinese race, to a Chinese reporter in the hopes it would be published.

But anyway, here are unedited and previously unpublished examples of some of the messages Ibrahim sends out. My thoughts are attached at the bottom.





AUGUST 26, 2010 (4:06pm)

ULASAN UNTUK MEDIA: K'yataan KJ nak keluar umno(ST.TIMES 26ogos) kalau majoriti ahli umno sokong Perkasa adalah lucu..Apa penyakit KJ?sakit jiwa.Mungkin tidak d lantik sbagai Tim.Menteri, maka kecewanya sudah climax dan jadi Perkasa sbagai alasan.Saya rasa ramai ahli umno gembira kalau dia letak jawatan atau tingal umno,kerana semasa BAPA MERTUA nya jadi PM,operasi Tingkat 4 d JPM jadi isu,menyebabkan antara punca BN dan UMNO kalah teruk PRUI2..Pd saya,tanpa nya mungkin rakyat lagi senang hati pd UMNO..apa pun kesian dia.dulu besar kepala..skg bila BAPA MERTUA TAK JADI PM,maka taring dah hilang,merapu tak tentu pasal.ok.dato ibrahim ali.

My take: KJ richly deserves whatever shit is thrown in his direction, considering the way he behaved when his father-in-law was in power. However, Ibrahim's attack just shows himself up as a vindictive man absolutely devoid of class. Jibes like sakit jiwa and merapu tak tentu pasal indicate a very small mentality indeed. This SMS, is, more than anything else, a tirade against a person who dares oppose him. Echoes of Uncle Adolf, anybody?


AUGUST 24, 2010 (4:32am - seriously)
Kenyataan: POLIS D DESAK SUPAYA SEGERA DAN MESTI BERJAYA MENANGKAP PENGKIANAT YANG Baling CAT MERAH dan 4 BOTOL ARAK Keatas SURAU SIKAMAT.N9.Polis berjaya dgn cepat menangkap mereka yg cuba membakar gereja dan sudah d penjara. Kes buang kepala babi dlm mesjid d PJ belum ada tangkapan dan sudah agak lama. Dlm kes surau d sikamat Polis d gesa segerakan tangkapan. SOI LEK JUGA WAJAR D DAKWA Kerana Menghasut SPT MANA GESAAN TINDAKAN THDP. GURUBESAR Siti Inshah Mansor...sama2 kita tengok..tk.TOK HIM.PREKASA.

My take: Ibrahim seems to think that police produce suspects and arrests from those little manbags they carry. Or is he implying that police should just round up the usual suspects and "produce" an arrest. And the baiting of Soi Lek has resulted in MCA now adopting a more "ultra" approach. The wheels of the bus go round and round...until they come off.


AUGUST 22, 2010 (11:15am)
KOMEN saya thdp Koh Soo Khoon yg tegur saya (Ibrahim Ali P.PERKASA) suruh ambil tindakan positif memperbaiki nasib Bumi bukan dgn hanya bercakap & melukai hati kaum lain.TAPI KAUM LAIN TAK LUKA HATI KAUM BUMI KE? Isunya, sbgai menteri perpaduan, kenapa dia tak tegur cina csl n dia + lcu kena bertanggung jwb membuat melayu p.penang merempat.3O% HAK YG TIDAK ADIL sbb bumi 67%.Nyatakan pendirian.Soon Koon juga adalah 'dlm one force'anti melayu cara halus.SIAPA TAK Hurmat Sosial Kontrak iaitu I53 boleh keluar Msia balek negara asal nenek monyang.Jgn .HIPOKRIT. Drp Dato Ibrahim Ali.

My take: Koh made an entirely fair comment about the need for Ibrahim to do something proactive to improve the lot of Malays. The statement must have hit uncomfortably close to home for Ibrahim, who came out with all guns blazing. Interestingly, he didn't deny hurting the feelings of other races, but merely justified it by claiming that the others have hurt the Malays too. A little tit for tat eh? Ibrahim claims that 30% of the economic pie is an unfair "right" as Bumis constitute 67% of the country's population. Thing is, your economic station is life is not a matter of right. The amount you earn and have is dependent on how hard and smart you work, save and invest. And once again, the old "go back to the land of your ancestors" argument is wheeled out. It's an old, tired and stupid argument. Many non-Malays - such as me - are fourth and fifth generation Malaysians, which is more than can be said of a lot of people who claim to be Malay these days. But that's the problem when a race is defined along the lines of language, religion and custom and not bloodline, isn't it?


AUGUST 16, 2010 (1:00pm)
Note: To All MALAYS and  friends.'I5TH OGOS YESTERDAY PERKASA HELD PC OVER THE ISSUES 'DEMAND FROM CHINESE CÖNGRESS'..STAR AND ST.TIMES NO COVERAGE AT ALL. Star reporter attended.Star have their own ajenda.news dap,pkr or pas good coverage. STAR own by MCA..but no problems..malays pls take note..tq.

My take: The man has the nerve to demand that Star and NST actually cover him and allege a conspiracy theory against him when they don't. The reason why he isn't covered is simple. He is a racist and a bigot and the two papers want to give him and his cock-eyed doctrine as little newsink as possible.


JULY 2, 12:45pm (he sent the message FOUR times!)
Statement.:refer to star repot 2day page n22..... I 'm prepared to be detained under ISA anytime if the police believe perkasa or me detremental to coutry security.i have been twice detained under ISA even thou i defended strongly ISA must be retained.THIRD TIME ISA 4 ME MEANS PHD IN ISA. And if i'm been detained,i will not question the police as some peoples or group who will accused the police wrongly detained,the govt cruel and all kinds of accusation.i believe msia police act profesionally.So no problem with me at all.i will not run away,hiding or getting support from other country as other leaders did..i dare to face all challenges and take full responsibilty what i did.i'm also not kind of person who made statement without using brain and later seek apology.this are all cowards.k.tq. Dato Ibrahim Ali.PRESIDEN PERKASA.


My take: Being detained under the ISA would be the best thing that ever happens to Ibrahim. The detention would elevate him from an being bit-part player in the national political scene to a martyr for his cause. Images of Gandhi, Mandela and Anwar Ibrahim probably flashed through his mind as he sent out this message.

These messages are just snippets of Ibrahim Ali's media blitz. He has sent many, many more messages over the last few months.

It's interesting that Ibrahim Ali, a so-called "independent" MP, comes out so frequently in support of Umno. He doesn't hesitate to bash Pakatan Rakyat or BN component parties like MCA. But he has never wavered in his support and endorsement of Umno.

The easiest explanation would be that this is due to his ties to the party - Ibrahim did, after all, contest the 1986 elections on an Umno ticket.

Still, one does wonder if he is Najib's ace-in-the-hole, wooing for Umno the hardcore Malay electorate while Najib prattles on about his 1Malaysia policies in the (vain?) hopes of regaining the support of the non-Malays.

Only time will tell.

Agama, Bangsa atau Negara?

It's been a while since my last posting. In that time, I've managed to steer clear of "touchy" issues in my NST columns and avoided having too many being turned down.

But sometimes, especially as a writer, issues come up which are impossible to ignore. Writing about it is cathartic and therapeutic. The recent Kit Siang and Muhyiddin spat about "Malay" or "Malaysian" is one of those issues that I felt I just needed to wade into.

Unfortunately, NST is not taking up the piece, mainly because of a lack of space. I'm pretty sure that is the real reason and not just the "official" reason, simply because the editor in charge is a straight talking person. Yes, there are still people like that in the newspaper.

Anyway, that means this blog is scraped out of the top shelf, the dust is blown off its covers and it is pages are once again opened to provide an avenue for the thoughts I couldn't share via the NST.

To those 1 or 2 people who do watch this space, enjoy.

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Setia will probably always be one of the most memorable patriotic jingles to have ever come out of RTM's production line of anthems.

It's unforgettable mainly for Francisca Peter's gorgeous voice, the rousing melody and its soaring ending. The one that went, “Untuk agama, bangsa dan negara”.

Much as I loved that song, that one line was always a source of some discomfort to me. The question that often floundered in the murky recesses of my mind was: Is that the order in which we place our allegiances? Does country come last?

It's a question that has hit the collective public conscious following the lovers' tiff between DAP's Lim Kit Siang and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The question Kit Siang put to Muhyiddin was as simple as it was clever. Are you Malay first or Malaysian first?




It was a Catch-22 situation for Muhyiddin. Choose the latter and risk alienating your Malay supporters. Choose the former, which he did, and be bashed by the naysayers, which is what is happening now.

But, how does one prioritise any of these loyalties over the other anyway?

The idealists and nationalists would say that fealty to nation should be placed above all. That we should look at everything in the greater context of being a Malaysian. That there will not be peace, unity and stability unless we look at ourselves as Malaysians and not Malaysian Portugese, Malaysian Ibans or Malaysian Orang Asal.

Try telling that to those with a religious bent. To them, it is God and religion above all else. And when you consider that adherence to religion directly affects you in the afterlife, is it any wonder that the faithful choose to place religion above all else?

And then we come to race. On the surface, this seems like the flimsiest of ports to which to anchor our loyalties to. But, like it or not, race is often one of the most crucial components in a person's – especially a Malaysian's – sense of identity. There's a chicken and egg situation in this. Has Malaysia become so hypersensitive to “race” due to the largely race-based nature of its politics and policies? Or have those politics and policies arisen mainly due to the diversity of Malaysia’s races? As with all chicken and egg scenarios, there is neither an answer nor an end to that argument.

The fact is, it is the people of our own social group that, for good or bad, often make up our support systems; reinforce our beliefs and generally influence our lives in a great many ways.

These social groups can range from people of similar interests and hobbies, to members of sporting clubs, those of similar sexual orientation or people of similar occupations. But at the most basic level, it still often comes down to race. Our race is our culture and our diverse cultures makes up the gorgeous tapestry that is Malaysia. It is not something to be sneered at, looked down on or belittled.

So, it comes back to Kit Siang's conundrum. Which is supreme? Agama, bangsa atau negara?

Could the answer be none of them, and all of them?

After all, why do they have to be mutually exclusive? Why does any one have to be superior or inferior to the other? Why can't they all be of equal importance?

At the root of it, I am a Malaysian by nationality, Indian by race and Catholic in religion. Being Indian doesn't mean having to pledge allegiance to the flag of India. Being Catholic doesn't mean being any less Malaysian. Being Malaysian doesn't mean the dilution of my Indian heritage.

And why can't one fight for the people of his race without being any less of a Malaysian. As long as that fight is not to the detriment of people of other races, where's the problem? Would Kit Siang's question have been put to, say, an Orang Asal activist? “What are you? Orang Asal first or Malaysian first?”

It's striking that when a Malaysian meets a fellow Malaysian outside the country, the question is never “Are you Malay, Indian or Chinese?” It's “Are you Malaysian.” And the joy in an affirmative answer is always genuine and unforced. It's odd, and a little sad, that the moment we step back onto our shores we immediately have to break it down to petty sub-categories.

Let's look at Setia again through the lenses of this particular controversy. Maybe we've been placing the emphasis on the wrong words of that closing line. Maybe it's not the “agama”, “bangsa” or “negara” that's important. Maybe, just maybe, the operative word in that line is the humble “dan”.

Race, religion AND country. All at once, all equal, all important.

I can live with that.

The BTN story, from the inside.

There is a lot of hoo-ha about the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) these days. The National Civics Bureau is being accused of a lot of things, from being a brainwashing centre to sowing racial and religious prejudice and many others in between.
However, none of the articles that have come out so far (the ones I've read at least!) have actually interviewed a person who's gone through the BTN course.
So, I took the liberty of getting in touch with somebody who did, just to hear what it sounds like from someone who's "been there and done that".
I know this piece will not have a snowball's chance in hell of making it into the pages of the NST, so I'll just go ahead and put it up here.
Here, in the person's own words, is the BTN experience:

Yes, I'm a graduate of the program and hated it but unfortunately, I'm afraid I can't talk. I would love to, but I'm waiting for an answer for my scholarship extension and really need it to finish my studies next year.

However, I can tell you that there is the "Malay supremacy" idea in the program esp by some of the speakers, and there is no 1Malaysia concept whatsoever. And the instilling patriotism thing... well, let's just say (it's) patriotism according to how they want us to feel. So felt like brainwashing although at the end of each day I would complain about it with a friend there who hated the program as well.

The experience was not that bad for me since it was for sponsored students (Mara, JPA, universities) who will be doing their graduate studies overseas. They were not particularly strict on us. Probably because there were some Chinese and Indians students in the group. I heard it is worst for undergrads since there are some political play in the program (I managed to avoid not attending them while in UiTM).

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So there you have it - BTN in a nutshell.

The Column That Never Was.

It can be very frustrating writing for the mainstream media in Malaysia. Stories have been killed because they're too "sensitive". Articles have been made to disappear sometimes because the of the subject's friendship with the higher-ups in the company. Worse still, reporters are sometime made to write stuff because of connections certain people have.

I feel it a little more now that I've become a columnist. There are certain "no-go" areas, certain things we're not supposed to write about. One of these things is the recent spate of religious fucked-upness that's been going on in the country.

Thankfully, I still have this blog. So, here it is, the column that never was:




When I was a child, my favourite song at church used to be called Pass It On.

It had an opening line that I really loved, which went, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.”

A very positive message indeed. But those same words can be used to describe the possible outcome of the repeated poking and prodding of the religious hornets’ nest that is being carried out by some elements in our country.

I refer to the increasingly shocking cases of religious baiting that have suddenly become the “in” thing to do for protestors who want to make a splash, people who want to make a flashy point or journalists that want a cheap headline.

In January, a student found a pig’s head on a PAS flag in a surau at Universiti Malaya’s Islamic studies academy. A month before that in Malacca, a wild boar head was found hanging next to a banner highlighting issues concerning Malays there, including that of a pig farm in Paya Menkuang.

Then, a couple of months ago, there was the case of the two crusading journalists from Al-Islam magazine that “infiltrated” a church hoping to land a story about Muslims being surreptitiously converted to Christianity. When they didn’t find any, they decided that they would partake of the Holy Eucharist – the holiest of Catholic rituals. They then spat out the sacred wafer, took pictures of it and published the story in their magazine.

And now, we have the case of Shah Alam’s Section 23 residents who were apparently so angry at the relocation of a Hindu temple to their area that they thought it warranted a cow’s head being dragged and defiled in front of the state secretariat.

All it takes is one spark to get a fire going. These insensitive actions are being uneasily tolerated by the larger segments of society. But, it’s impossible to expect that cooler heads will always prevail. It’s inevitable that the more people tear down each other’s dearly held beliefs and values, the more likely it is that we will eventually arrive at a disastrous flashpoint.

We’ve seen it happen over and over again in many countries around the world. The Bombay race riots of the 90s. The lynching of blacks in America’s Deep South. Hitler’s persecution of Jews during World War II. Time and time again blood has been spilt because insular and chauvinistic beliefs have held sway. Time and time again evil has flourished because good people have done nothing.

What if one day, some decide they’ve had enough? What if they decide to strike back? How long will it take for it to descend to all out racial and religious warfare? How long will it take for our streets to become as troubled as those in Sri Lanka or Gaza? How long will it take for Malaysia to literally become tanah tumpahnya darahku, spilt by our own brethren?

It’s not as farfetched a scenario as you can imagine. After all, the instigator behind the cow’s head incident proudly told the media that the residents will not budge an inch, “even if lives are lost and blood is made to flow.”

In To Kill a Mockingbird, lawyer Atticus Finch, in an attempt to divert his children from his town’s bigoted worldview, tells them that they can never understand a person until they consider things from his point of view, until they climb inside his skin and walk around in it.

These people would do well to do the same. The protestors, who say they are residents of Section 23 insist that there shouldn’t be a temple there because 80% of its population is Muslim (reports vary on the actual demographic mak-up). They would do well to put themselves in the skin of the remaining 20% and ask if they too deserve a right to have a place to worship. How would they have felt if residents in a non-Muslim majority area were to have paraded a pig's head in response to reports of a mosque being built?

The reporters from Al-Islam should ask themselves how unhappy they were when the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad appeared in Scandinavia. Or, closer to home, when The Herald used the word Allah in a Christian context?

The culprits who put the pig’s head in the surau should do well to ask themselves if they’d like their house of worship desecrated in such an awful manner. Is it too much to ask for everybody to just treat others the way they themselves would like to be treated?

What can the larger populace do about this though, is a question that still boggles many. A veteran reporter I was talking to about this voiced his own dismay and confusion at the terrible turn things are taking.

“It doesn't go away any more. It goes everywhere, immediately, and stays forever,” he said. “What do we do? Forgive them, for they know not what they do? Or crucify them? Make examples of them?

“In the past, education was always the answer. One learned. One understood. One figured things out from the facts - even the facts of others' myths. Understanding wasn't impossible. I'm sure this still holds true for many but, I fear, not for most,” he told me.

The authorities are quick to come down hard on civil rights’ protestors. They’re quick to use the various laws of the land to incarcerate those who are deemed to be disturbing the peace. They’re quick to come up with harebrained ideas to censor the Internet (and equally quick to dismiss them when they see that they don’t find favour!). Why can’t they be equally quick to do something about this, be it through education or enforcement?

At the same time, the rakyat these days are becoming increasingly aware of their rights. They’re becoming increasingly effective in finding ways to air their grievances. Isn’t it time for people of all stripes to get together and tell those among us that would sow strife and discord that hate will not prevail, that we, as a nation, want peace, love and harmony?

It’s impossible to expect Malaysia to be a utopia of rainbows and daffodils, where everybody loves each other. But is it too much to ask that we at least respect each other?