The Twisted Etymology of Malaysia?

I came across a series of posters on the internet, entitled “The Literal Translations of Country Names”, which as the title says, lists out the literal translations of the names of the countries in this world. (Please click here for my article in Malay)

Skimming through the posters which was made in a map format, I was excited to see that Malaysia is also listed, but was really shocked to find out their literal translation of the name of my country!

As most of us know, the ‘word’ Malaysia is originated from two Greek words which are ‘Malay’ and ‘-sia’.

Like English, ‘Malay’ is the Greek for the word ‘Malay’, the dominant race in South-East Asia; whilst ‘-sia’ is a suffix which means ‘land’ in Greek (‘-σία’ in the Greek alphabet), which may also sometimes be shortened to ‘-ia’, as in Mongolia, Columbia and others.

So, the literal translation of the word Malaysia to English is ‘Malay Land’ or more precisely, ‘The Land of the Malays’.

However, the poster states that the literal translation of Malaysia is ‘Mountain City’!

I find this weird because the poster translated Russia and Mongolia as ‘Land of the Rus’, and ‘Land of the Mongols’ respectively.

The question is, if Russia is literally translated as ‘Land of the Rus’ and Mongolia as ‘Land of the Mongols’, why must Malaysia be literally translated as ‘Mountain City’ and not as ‘Land of the Malays’?

Malaysia is a country and not a city and geographically it does not make any sense for Malaysia to be called ‘Mountain City’.

When I checked their reference, it turns out that they referred to the Oxford Dictionary, which states that the word ‘Melayu’ was originated from two Sanskrit words which are “Malai” which is Mountain, and “Ur”, that means city.

The point is:

1. The poster is supposed literally translate the word Malaysia, and not Melayu!
2. The word Melayu or Malay in this context is referred to the Malay race and not a place or a city. 

Now, is this a silly mistake or is it a deception in order to slowly erase the fact that Malaysia actually means Land of the Malays or Tanah Melayu from the mind of the people?

We had been seeing a lot of efforts done by various groups to deny the fact that Malaysia is actually the ‘Land of the Malays’ or Tanah Melayu.

I can’t help but to wonder if this is another effort to confuse and to corrupt the mind of the people by using the term Mountain City instead of Land of the Malays in order to distance and eventually eliminate the Malay race from the meaning of the word Malaysia.

We as the citizens of Malaysia must be patriotic and put an effort into understanding the history and ideology of our beloved country and not to be fooled by others who are spreading false informations about our country.

As stated by eminent historians, Tan Sri Khoo Kay Kim and Datuk Ramlah Adam, Malaysia is indeed Tanah Melayu or the Land of the Malays!

An Answer To Boo Su Lyn’s, “Why don’t we eat together anymore?”

The Malay Mail Online columnist, Boo Su Lyn wrote an article discussing why she thinks the Malays and Chinese do not eat together anymore.

Interestingly, in the article, she seemed to put all the blame on the Malays, implying their “obsession with “halal” food“, as the main cause of the problem.

This is not the first time Boo Su Lyn makes malicious statements about Islam, the Malays, the Muslims and Islamic authorities.

(Please click here for MMO Did Not Apologise For Boo Su Lyn’s Seditious Article).

In her article, “Why don’t we eat together anymore?”, she wrote:

This unhealthy obsession foments suspicion on Chinese food sellers, even if they’re not selling pork, and discourages Malay-Muslims from dining with other Malaysians at the same table, at the same restaurant, or even at the same section in a food court.

She complained that the Malays do not even want to eat at pork-free Chinese restaurants.

She further accused the Malays of having, “persistent myth that associates the Chinese to pork”, saying:

Why can’t Malays eat at non-pork Chinese restaurants? Not all Chinese dishes contain pork. I don’t understand why there is a persistent myth that associates the Chinese to pork, or why there are irrational fears of so-called pork “particles” contaminating the air. Not only do such concerns sound ridiculous; there’s also an undertone of racism.

I feel really offended by people like Boo Su Lyn, who likes to insult other, calling others racists and behaving as if she understands Islam better than the Muslims.

Having negative perceptions towards the Malays, she wrote that the Malays avoid eating at Chinese restaurants because of racial reasons but says nothing about the Chinese who avoid eating at Malay restaurants.

The night before, my family and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a Chinese Muslim halal restaurant in Kota Tinggi, Johor.

The Chinese restaurant serves delicious Chinese food but the people eating there are mostly the Malays, I saw only one Chinese customer waiting for his order to be packed.

My question to Boo Su Lyn is, why must the Chinese avoid eating at the restaurant despite it is a Chinese restaurant?

Is it because the Chineseman who runs the restaurant is a Muslim?

So, by Boo Su Lyn’s logic, it is the non-Muslim Chinese who are actually racists.

The non-Muslim Chinese have no limitation in food affairs so they can eat at halal restaurants, and if non-Muslim Chinese like Boo Su Lyn eats at halal restaurant, everybody will be eating together.

Trying to teach the Malays again, Boo Su Lyn asked, “Why can’t Malays eat at non-pork Chinese restaurants?”

By asking the question, she is telling the Malays that they can eat at non-pork Chinese restaurants or in another word, the non-pork Chinese restaurants are halal restaurants.

Boo Su Lyn should check with JAKIM the criteria of halal food before making silly conclusion about halal food.

And to further insult the Malays, Boo Su Lyn wants the Malays to share a table with a Chinese who is eating “bak kut teh”, knowing that “bak kut teh” is a pork-laden dish where the word ”bak” refers to pork in Chinese.

Why can’t we have Malays eating nasi lemak, the Chinese dining on “bak kut teh” and the Indians consuming roti canai at the same table? Do dietary restrictions really mean that one cannot dine with someone else who doesn’t have those restrictions?

If this is her idea of promoting unity, she must be a very inconsiderate and self-centered person for she fails to respect other people’s religion.

Instead of putting the blame on the Malays, why don’t Boo Su Lyn tell the people who have no dietary restrictions to eat at halal restaurants so that everybody can eat together?

As a non-Muslim, Boo Su Lyn has no constitutional rights to talk about Islam and teach the Muslims about what is halal and what is not.

In fact, she has to look at herself first, the fact that she is an atheist means that she is against the National Principles of our country because being an atheist is against the first Rukun Negara, which is, “Kepercayaan Kepada Tuhan” or Belief in God.

She must learn to respect the National Principles and the Federal Constitution of Malaysia before telling Malaysians what they should do.

By making malicious statements regarding Islam and the Malays, it is her who does not respect the national unity and not the other way around.

The Malays of Malaysia – The Unique, Generous Race

Malaysia is a country of many races, ethnics, cultures, and languages.

But despite of the variety of races and religions of its people, there is only one race and one religion that is mentioned in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia which is the supreme law of the Federation; that is Malay and Islam.

The Article 3(1) of the Federation Constitution of Malaysia states that Islam is the religion of the Federation while the Article 153 of the Federal Constitution wrote about the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities.

Article 152 states that the Bahasa Melayu or the Malay language is the national language of Malaysia.

Not only “Malay” is specifically mentioned in the supreme law but the Federal Constitution also gives the interpretation of the Malays.

The Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution:

 “Malay” means a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay  language, conforms to Malay custom 

So, that makes the Malays of Malaysia so unique, for it is the only race in this whole world that is legally bound to a religion, which is Islam, the religion of the Federation.

Islam, the Malay language and the special position of the Malays are not only protected by the Federal Constitution but are also protected by the Section 3(1)(f) of the Sedition Act of Malaysia, which protects the four sensitive issues: 

1. Article 153: Special Rights For The Malays

2. Article 152: Malay As The National Language

3. Part III: of the Citizenship Rights

4. Article 181: Rights, Status, Sovereignty Of The Malay Rulers

In respond to critiques regarding the Article 153, our great forefathers, Tun V. T. Sambanthan and Tun Tan Siew Sin said that the Malays are very charitable, polite and “generous enough to relax the citizenship laws of this country”.

If the Malays were not generous, the Chinese and Indians who were immigrants at the time, would not be given the citizenship of this country and therefore became stateless people.

 

Article 153 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia was based on the Social Contract where the Malays and the Malay Rulers agreed to accept the immigrant races to become citizens of Malaysia.

In the contract, it was agreed that while the immigrant races were given citizenship, the Malays who are the subjects of the Malay Rulers must be given special position.

The great Malay Rulers of nine Malay Kingdoms had sacrificed their own absolute powers over their own sovereign countries to unite into the Federation of Malaya, which later becomes Malaysia with the addition of Sabah and Sarawak.

With the motto, “Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu” or “Unity is Strength”, the Malay states becomes a Federation and is now a great country.

PAS Made Another U-Turn

PAS’s Fadli Ghani made a statement saying that PAS wants ‘ketuanan Melayu’.

Everybody knows that UMNO fights for ‘ketuanan Melayu’ while PAS has always been against it and for that reason, they accuse UMNO as ‘assobiah’.

In fact, PAS’s spiritual leader ( Musyidul Am PAS), Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said that UMNO does not follow the Prophet Nabi Muhammad S.A.W. because UMNO fights for the Malays.

And even PAS’s president said that UMNO is assobiah for fighting for the Malays.

There are articles like Nik Aziz: Tiada Istilah Ketuanan Melayu Dalam Islam by Malaysia Today, Ketuanan Melayu: Nik Aziz Pohon Raja-raja Melayu Selesai Guna Al-Quran by TMI and others stating PAS’s stance against ‘ketuanan Melayu’ that UMNO fights.

But suddenly, a PAS youth leader Dr. Fadli Ghani said that PAS fights to protect the ‘ketuanan Melayu’ while UMNO is fighting for the Malay Rights and not for ‘ketuanan Melayu’ as what was reported by The Malaysia Insider (TMI).

This is the first time I heard that it is PAS who fights for ‘ketuanan Melayu’!

Is Dr. Fadli Ghani confused or is PAS making another U-turn?

He went on to say that PAS always wants to make Islam the official religion of Malaysia, unlike UMNO who makes Islam the religion of the Federation of Malaysia.

Dr, Fadli claims that as Islam is stated in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia as the religion of the Federation of Malaysia, that makes Malaysia a secular country!

Katanya, apabila Islam disebut sebagai agama Persekutuan dalam Perlembagaan, maka ia secara tidak langsung menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara sekular. “PAS berpegang Islam mesti menjadi agama rasmi supaya Islam boleh ditegakkan secara adil. “Umno berpegang Islam menjadi agama Persekutuan dengan maksud negara ini berpegang kepada keduniaan atau negara sekular,” katanya. – TMI

Is Dr. Fadli Ghani really, really confused about these issues or is he trying to spin facts to confuse other people about the meaning of a Secular State?

Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution says that:

“Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation”.

And because Islam is the religion of the Federation, it means that Malaysia is an Islamic country as what PAS claims what it is fighting for.

I wrote a few post on why Malaysia is not a secular country; please read,  “Gobind Singh: Malaysia Is A Secular State – Another Fairy Tale?” and “Is Malaysia A Secular State?“

A very senior lawyer, Datuk Hj Naser Disa said that if Islam is only the official religion of Malaysia, that means Malaysia has other unofficial religions; having more that one religion means Pluralisme of Religion which is against the teaching of Islam.

So how could having Islam as an official religion is more Islamic than having Islam as the religion of the country?

Does PAS leaders really want Malaysia to be a Secular State when at the same time the same leaders tell their supporters that they are fighting for an Islamic State?

Is this another U-turn by PAS?

Politicians must not talk on the subjects that they do not understand and they must learn from lawyers who are expert in Constitutional Law like Uncle Naser Disa and Dr. Shamrahayu A.Aziz before speaking on topics related to Constitutional Law.

(Please click here for: Video: Naser Disa Polemik Isu Kalimah Allah)

Penyokong Wan Azizah Kecewakan Hannah Yeoh?

Opposition leaders call UMNO leaders and members racists and boasted that Pakatan leaders and supporters are open minded and against racism.

(Image credit to helenang.wordpress.com)

As we drove around Kajang on the election day of the N25 Kajang, we saw lots of party supporters by the roadside waving their parties’ flags, especially around the voting centers.

The Muslim PKR supporters shouted to my parents that they must vote for PKR’s Wan Azizah because she is a Malay Muslim and must not vote for BN because BN’s candidate is a non-Muslim and a Chinese.

After we put on the BN T-shirts that were given to us by the BN’s team, a lot of PKR supporters shouted bad and foul words because they said that we are supporting a non-Muslim.

Some old men even stuck their tongues out at me, which is very rude.

Will Hannah Yeoh call them racist and tweet about it?

But of course Hannah Yeoh won’t call them racist because they are Pakatan members and supporters!

BLACK 505: Photos Of Black 505 Demonstrators At The Parliament

Photo from AAKJ

BLACK 505 demonstrators walked to the Malaysian parliament this morning to stage another illegal demonstration over there, ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of Members of Parliament today.

Please read: BLACKOUT 505: Photos That Raises Lots Of Questions

BLACK 505 is organised by the Malaysian opposition parties.

They were led by a PKR leader Badrul Hisham Shaharin or Chegubard and Hariss Ibrahim.

Police personnel have refrained from any violence, apart from pushing those trying to break the barrier to the ground.

Anyway, the demonstrators tried to breach the barrier formed by police personnel in front of Parliament, resulting in scuffles with the police.

Blogger AAKJ reported that a police officer was injured when he was punched by the demonstrators.

The police officer who was injured by the violent demonstrators.

At least 25 of the demonstrators had been arrested.

From the photos, I can see that the demonstrators are Malay.

They should be ashamed of themselves because their actions are against the teaching of Islam and the Malay values.

They are not kids any more and they must stop behaving like spoilt kids who love to throw tantrums even in the public places.

There is no fool like an old fool!

Their action are against the Malay values. Photo credit to Melanau Blogger

They should be ashamed of themselves! Photo credit to Melanau Blogger

They must learn to behave like respectful adults. Photo credit to Melanau Blogger

Photo credit to Generasi Pejuang Bangsa

Opposition leaders should teach their supporters good values and good manners!

Say NO! to BLACK 505 and the Pakatan Rakyat!

Related Articles:

  Himpunan BLACKOUT 505: A “Peaceful Demonstration”?

  Black 505: Video Keganasan Di Padang Merbok

  BLACKOUT 505: Photos That Raises Lots Of Questions