"The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation." - Bertrand Russell

 COMMENT Since pro-opposition media (solely) do not inform my political stance and since the general election is creeping up on us, I thought I would just address an issue that has some currency in pro-establishment circles and is a very overt propaganda tool of the current regime inflicted on Malaysians. The issue is one of "gratitude" and before I go further, the usual caveat applies. I write as a pro-opposition supporter who speaks on behalf of no one but himself. On this subject, kudos to Universiti Utara Malaysia law student KS Bavani for declaring her political sympathies outright and not having to do the uncomfortable explaining when pro-establishment types unearth her political party leanings.

 If you are going to take stands against the status quo or against conventional pro-establishment ideology, credibility demands that everyone is aware of the platform you are speaking from (if any). I do admit though, I cringe whenever local leftist point to good old "Che" as a source of inspiration. Surely, Parti Socialis Malaysia (PSM) can come up with relevant and perhaps geographically correct icons for their young adherents and I do not necessarily mean Rashid Maidin, whose ideology is often willfully confused with socialism.

 However, back to "gratitude". Every time Umno hegemony is threatened, this old canard is dug up and thrown in our faces. Every time this issue crops up, and depending on the partisan nature of the media concerned amongst the civil comments, you will discover the rantings of (especially) Umno race supremacists or DAP apparatchiks. I would really love to put them in a virtual cage together. I wonder what happens when delusional brainwashing meets hypocritical groupthink. Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has added his particular venom to this meme when he declared that Tunku Abdul Rahman "had done worse" when granting citizenships to the non-Malays as a "defence" against his own black operations in Sabah.

 So added to the idea that we (non-Malays) should be grateful is the threat that our citizenship is suspect. The Malays, on the other hand, should be grateful to Umno for protecting their "rights" which seems to include being subjugated to a particular form of Islam (I am not being seditious or insensitive here, seeing as how Umno has declared that they have been chosen by God or Tuhan or Allah) and sheltering them from any kind of egalitarianism. Citizens (Malay and non-Malay) who do not subscribe to this dogma are considered ungrateful interlopers or race traitors. One rather provocative expression of this kind of thinking is the idea that "nobody consulted the Malays when citizenship was granted to the non-Malays", which was part of our Merdeka deal brokered with our British overlords.

 My question is did anyone consult the Orang Asli when it was discovered that their lands were part of the greater ‘Malay' diaspora? Did anyone consult the ‘Malays' when the various Malay rulers in the great game of British imperialism carved up their lands? Were the indigenous peoples of Sabah consulted when their land suddenly enjoyed an influx of newly-minted citizens?

 'Melayu sudah bangun'

 As a former pro-establishment spin-doctor told me, it is not that "Melayu mudah lupa", it is just that for a certain section of the Malay polity, it is "Melayu sudah bangun". What Umno fails to realise is that they have endured for so long because a majority of Malaysian were apathetic and this to Umno translated to "gratitude". It was anything but. Beneath it all, was years of resentment building up. Politicians from both sides of the divide played up the communal fears and expectations, which was the real social contract.

 This resentment takes many forms. Class and race politics are conflated with religious issues. Malaysians regardless of race - thanks to a resurgent opposition, a freewheeling alternative media and a regime involved in its own internal power plays - suddenly find themselves having to address their issues of resentment in a very public manner. As far as the presence of non-Malays in this country, forget about the historical distortions and the racial re-engineering. The most credible argument that the rot of fascism is present in any political entity is when political parties (for instance) demands "gratitude" from the electorate.

 What the Biro Tatanegara (BTN) courses have done remarkably well is to divert the sense of resentment of the Malay community away from Umno towards the non-Malay communities.
Fortunately, for us non-Malays, Umno has been derelict in its duties towards the Malay community that after years of affirmative action, the community still are unable to compete with their fellow Malaysians and their community being racially re-engineered to suit the hegemonic purposes of a political party that was supposed to "protect" their rights. The rhetoric coming out of Pakatan Rakyat is that the alternative alliance is better suited to this goal than a decrepit infighting BN.

 Non-Malays are resentful that they are constantly told to be grateful for citizenship when their presence here has contributed to the economic viability of this country. They are resentful that laws are applied selectively where proponents of the regime are allowed a measure of free speech while those associated with oppositional politics operate under a sword of Damocles. They are resentful of racial policies meant to help the disenfranchised but were in reality used to consolidate power.

 For far too long this regime lectured us that we had to give up certain rights for the greater goal of peace and stability. Public demonstrations were anathema to our so-called Malaysian values and they were detrimental to the economic well-being of this country. We were told that we should be grateful that Umno and Umno alone protected us from the forces that would destroy the delicate fabric of racial harmony. In just one day, the Jan 12 Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat buried that lie. Never mind the numbers but the reality is that a large mass of people congregated with diverging political, religious and social agendas and it was not the end of the world. It could be an indication of the end of the Umno world but that is another story.

 We are all in this together

 I wish more non-Malays participated in the event because it was a moment in Malaysian politics where for a certain section of the voting public, our aspirations and resentments was an avenue to express our dissatisfaction with the current regime. The only gratitude that one felt was the feeling of gratefulness that for that day at least we were all in this together. The irony is that the longer Umno stays in power, the less likely Umno will be able to make the case that the public should be grateful for what Umno has given. The longer the split within the Malay polity, the more evident that "gratitude" asked is a morally and intellectually bankrupt proposition.

 The more citizens rediscover the history of this country, light shines on the lie that non-Malays have to be grateful towards a specific community through their self-appointed political guardian. Let me be very clear. I will never feel any gratitude towards any single community for my place in the Malaysian sun. I expect none in return. This is our country. We (and by "we" I mean every single Malaysian regardless of race and which includes political alliances like the alternative coalition) helped build it and nothing will change this fact. However, this does not mean that gratitude has no place in the discourse. For Malaysians, whichever "side" you are on, who have attempted through rational discourse in spite of differing perspectives to make this country a better place, I unearthed my copy of Alexandre Dumas's ‘Count of Monte Cristo', for a line which best describes my attitude towards gratitude:

 "Be happy, noble heart, be blessed for all the good thou hast done and wilt do hereafter, and let my gratitude remain in obscurity like your good deeds." Malaysiakini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (rtd) in the Royal Malaysian Navy. The headline of this piece is a corruption of a title of a book by Harlan Ellison, that great American wordsmith.