Hantu Laut
The 1969 General Election was held on 10th May in West Malaysia, but in Sabah and Sarawak the parliamentary elections was postponed to between 17 and 21 June.
Gerakan and DAP, the two opposition parties intense political campaign was against Article 153 of the Constitution, which outlined special privilages for bumiputras.
The Alliance Party lost Penang to Gerakan and Perak to DAP and Selangor hunged in the balance, which the Alliance eventually gained by one seat in collobration with an independent candidate. UMNO's arch-rival PAS took Kelantan.
What Kit Siang said may be true, but the question is, has he any prior knowledge of the impending trouble?
Gerakan and DAP held a victory march in KL on 12 May, which turned rowdy, with party members shouting racial slurs at Malay bystanders. They diverted from their approved route and changed it to pass through Kampong Baru, a Malay dominated area in KL with the attention of throwing epithets at the Malay bystanders. UMNO countered with its own rally on 13 May, which broke out into full-scale rioting.
Which side fired the first salvo is still very fuzzy.
Kit Siang affirmed he was not in KL on the fateful day. Watch the videos.
Let us good Malaysians hope history won't repeat itself. Let us set aside our ethnicity and cultural differences and think as One Malaysia.
11 comments:
"What Kit Siang said may be true, but the question is, has he any prior knowledge of the impending trouble? "
Perhaps that question should be asked of Tun Razak and Dato Harun Idris.
Were the instigators from the Opposition or the incumbents ?
You must know why the hell this guy comes from......Somestimes I gave up in commenting in some blogs
Well bro, Al-Capone wasn't in Chicago when the Valentine Day Massacre happened.
I hope people who comment and make conjectures about May 13, 1969 were in KL, Petaling Jaya and the surrounding areas to witness the campaign by Lim Kit Siang and gang. There was Goh Hock Guan who spoke imitating the mannerisms of Lee Kuan Yew to a predominantly Chinese audience; there are other examples and there will be witnesses to testify to this.
The provocation was intense although there were no similar responses from the Alliance. I can tell you that the way the 'victors' behaved was uncivilised and it burned many a Malay heart as mine was. It made me want to do something to counter them!
Follow closely the events prior to May 13 and you will begin to understand. For those who were not born yet, you will not feel the sadness and then the anger and you will not understand, and of course you will erroneously blame Tun Razak and Dato Harun Idris. Blame if you must but do so with an understanding of the full facts that support your position; don't just pretend to think you know from accounts by the people who are inclined to twist the facts to suit their own agenda.
If Kit Siang says he was not around but instead was in East Malaysia, then let's ask him to prove that he is right. He stirred up the hornets' and then ran away (so he said) so that no one could hold anything against him.
I hope there are still records in the government's possession to show that Lim Kit Siang was never anywhere near Kuala Lumpur! I saw him parading one night in Jalan Sentul with Tan Chee Khoon as a continuation of the parades held by the opposition in Kuala Lumpur. So he cannot be in two places at one can he?
Lim Kit Siang knows what he did then and many many people know he was the leading instigator that led to the troubles.
I hope people who comment and make conjectures about May 13, 1969 were in KL, Petaling Jaya and the surrounding areas to witness the campaign by Lim Kit Siang and gang. There was Goh Hock Guan who spoke imitating the mannerisms of Lee Kuan Yew to a predominantly Chinese audience; there are other examples and there will be witnesses to testify to this.
The provocation was intense although there were no similar responses from the Alliance. I can tell you that the way the 'victors' behaved was uncivilised and it burned many a Malay heart as mine was. It made me want to do something to counter them!
Follow closely the events prior to May 13 and you will begin to understand. For those who were not born yet, you will not feel the sadness and then the anger and you will not understand, and of course you will erroneously blame Tun Razak and Dato Harun Idris. Blame if you must but do so with an understanding of the full facts that support your position; don't just pretend to think you know from accounts by the people who are inclined to twist the facts to suit their own agenda.
If Kit Siang says he was not around but instead was in East Malaysia, then let's ask him to prove that he is right. He stirred up the hornets' and then ran away (so he said) so that no one could hold anything against him.
I hope there are still records in the government's possession to show that Lim Kit Siang was never anywhere near Kuala Lumpur! I saw him parading one night in Jalan Sentul with Tan Chee Khoon as a continuation of the parades held by the opposition in Kuala Lumpur. So he cannot be in two places at one can he?
Lim Kit Siang knows what he did then and many many people know he was the leading instigator that led to the troubles.
Whether he had any prior knowledge of the impending trouble is not relevant. HE started it.
Kit Siang's bold statement is made with the fact that he was fully aware with the understanding that his movements before and after May 13th could never be verified by anyone and him knowing the fact that Malaysians, Malays especially, are easily duped. I am very sure he knew of the game plan with the aftermath of the 1969 general elections, that was the Chinese second crude attempts to seize power! I do not buy his version one bit!
Ask him also if he knew of the massacre of Malays in Singapore in 1967 after PAP took over Singapore!?
The bottom line is if we have forgotten our own history then it could happen again. Are we ready to gamble our harmony and stability with arrogance demands? Are any of us regardless of race origin dare to face the circumtance? Arrogance and ignorance will bring the reoccurance of event nearer and nearer... good luck.. one for all if we dare.. why not..
Let me first clarify that I was around when the May 13 incidents occured but I was in the house and not allowed to go out.
To Ayah, I do understand that sentiments were running high but Malaysians have never been apprised of who caused this darkest incident in the history of Malaysia.
While Suhaimi Baba can exercise her creative licence to produce her film of the incident as her view point, can others be allowed to produce their version from another view point ? That is left to be seen by the censorship authorities. Given the current political administration, it is unlikely that any other view point be allowed.
But we do have first hand accounts of people who were there such as Ahmad Mustapha Hassan, who wrote this in Malaysian Insider. This also explains why I commented earlier on posing the question to Dato Harun Idris.(I am assuming that the writer is writing truthfully!)
+++
AUG 21 — Allow me to explain about the above controversy.
I was there on that fateful day as an executive member of Umno Youth. The gathering was organised by Selangor Umno Youth whose leader was Harun Idris and the secretary then was Ahmad Razali Ali.
The whole area was dominated by Umno Youth members and no non-Malay could ever enter the place. That being the case, it was impossible for Lim Kit Siang to be there and did what he was purportedly accused of. If he did, he would have been killed by the mob.
In fact the first killing that I witnessed was outside the gate, on the road. A young coffeeshop boy, about 13 or 14 in age, was slaughtered by the mob and his body kicked into the drain running by the road. He was an innocent boy trying to earn some pocket money.
I mentioned the May 13 incident in my book “The Unmaking of Malaysia”.
+++
Malaysians, from whatever ethnic group you belong to, should be ashamed.
Bro HL,
Good short article. I believe we will NEVER know what happened that fateful day. Talk to the Opposition supporters & they will say Harun & Razak started it. Talk to BN supporters & they will say that the DAP started it. Just look at the comments posted here!
I was 7 years old then & we were staying at the Pekililing Flats slap bang in th emiddle of KL & a 20min walk from Chow Kit Road. I remember vaguely the curfews & the stories. My mum was pregnant with my youngest sister (who was eventually born on the 31st of May).
I remember she said she saw or maybe it was she heard that there were dead bodies (at the hospital where she gave birth to my sister) painted black (supposedly to cover their race identities). Even those first hand memories are very sketchy!
Your last Paragraph says it all! Opposition or BN win in the next GE does not matter. What matters is that common sense prevails & we ALL either swim or sink together!
God help us..
Purple Haze, you are correct. I lived around KLH near Chow Kit. The question I ask is this. If the reactions from the Malays were so spontaneous, who were the instigators? Among all Malaysians who lived through this shameful chapter of our history, we have seen bloodshed, hatred, fear but surprisingly the various races helped each other to escape the violence! Anyway may pass some snide and nonsensical remarks but God (in any religion) shall bear witness. My sincere hope is not to allow this to happen again because of the selfish interests of ALL OUR POLITICIANS. Selamat Hari Raya to all Muslims, especially those who helped me and my family during this unfortunate debacle.
Post a Comment