> Thanabalasingam speaks

by Rear Admiral (R) Tan Sri K. Thanabalasingam

I AM a septuagenarian citizen extremely worried and fearful for the immediate future of our country. It makes me wonder where we, as a nation, are headed.

Let me begin by stating that I have never ever been politically inclined or belonged to any political party. Even when then prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein suggested that I enter politics in 1974, I respectfully declined, saying I was not cut out to be a politician.

My stand today remains the same. I am neither with a non-governmental organisation nor an activist.

During the Japanese occupation, I saw with my own eyes a few atrocities committed by some Japanese soldiers which left a lasting impression on me.

I served in uniform during the Emergency, which officially ended in 1960, and the Internal Security Act replaced the Emergency regulations. I also actively served at sea during the Indonesian Confrontation. I served in various appointments in the navy and was made our first local chief of navy in late 1967.

It was during my tenure as chief of navy that May 13, 1969 occurred and being at the defence headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, I knew exactly what had happened and what we had to do to restore public order.

The armed forces had to be brought in to complement the police. Those below the age of 40 today were not born or were babies when May 13 happened. It was the black mark in Malaysia's history and that is why I am so concerned about the course our nation is to take henceforth under the prevailing racial and political tensions and the economic uncertainty.

May 13, 1969 was triggered by politicians and the current racial tensions in the country are again being fanned by some politicians on both sides of the political divide.

My plea to all politicians is please control your emotions and think of the future of our country and our children. We cannot afford another May 13 or anything similar.

Foreign investment is already affected and foreign businesspeople and government officials are asking what is happening in Malaysia. Even our chief of defence was concerned enough to make a rare public statement, which I fully support because I was personally involved, with my fellow comrades-in-arms from the army, navy, air force and the police, in the restoration of public order in 1969 and know the chaos that prevailed then and the damage inflicted on the nation.

The recent arrests under the ISA of a reporter, a politician and a blogger have not helped. There has been a lot written recently on the ISA but let me make my piece.

The ISA's original intention was for the sole purpose of dealing with the communist terrorist insurgency and armed struggle conceived to overthrow the duly elected government or to organise violence. The recent arrests and some conflicting statements made by the authorities have amazed me. 

The New Sunday Times on Sept 21 quoted a minister as saying that the police could invoke the ISA even without informing him. I wonder how a powerful act like the ISA can be left entirely to the discretion of the police. I have the highest respect and trust for the police force and am not inferring anything ulterior. Surely, the ISA is a very serious piece of legislation which the government must use extremely carefully and wisely and therefore exercise complete control over it at all times.

I believe that with no communist threat in the country any more, the ISA has outlived its usefulness and become irrelevant and should be abolished or revised. When the ISA was first introduced, it was an absolute necessity because we were fighting armed communist terrorists in the country. If the government decides to do away with the ISA, an "Anti-Terrorism Act" should be enacted to check the worldwide terrorism threat. This act should be very specific and clear in its intent and should be used only for this purpose.

The ISA has mutated in its use over the past 30 years or so and is now being used for what it was never intended.

In Datuk Kalimullah Hassan's New Sunday Times article on Sept 21, he wrote about immigrants and how all our five prime ministers have at least some migrant heritage. I also read an article which was an extract from a book written by a Singapore professor on the anthropological history of the peoples of Southeast Asia, especially Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, wherein it states that even our Orang Asli are descendants from African migration and our Dayaks and Kadazans are actually descendants from the migrants of Vietnam and southern China. This is also attested to in a programme on the National Geographic channel.

So what are we really? In my own family, I have Chinese in-laws, Caucasian in-laws, a nephew married to a Kadazan, another nephew's wife's mother is a Portuguese and so on. To me, our origin is immaterial. We are simply Malaysians.

During difficult times like our communist terrorist insurgency and Confrontation, our armed forces and police, comprising all races, fought side-by-side as Malaysians and many died in the defence of our nation.

I find it embarrassing that 51 years after independence, we still have racially-based political parties. To an extent, this is what has kept us apart racially. In my 70-odd years, I have never seen us more divided than we are today, except perhaps immediately after May 13.

Some of my closest friends are Malays but I am from the old school. Education is so important and children must be encouraged to mix freely with all races from an early age. Racial integration is crucial for a peaceful and harmonious future. We should not be shy of our past history and teach it as it was.

I am not religious but I do believe in God and have been inside mosques, churches, and Buddhist and Hindu temples for various functions or occasions and have never felt out of place. As spelt out in our Constitution, I accept Islam as the official religion and Bahasa Malaysia as the official language of our country and that Malaysia is a state where everyone is free to practise his or her religion and speak his or her mother tongue (language). I also accept the Malay rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

The New Economic Policy (NEP) was born out of May 13, 1969 to correct the economic imbalance between the races and to eradicate poverty for all. When it was implemented in 1970, it was meant to be for a 20-year duration. It has been 38 years since and I understand that the target has not been achieved. If that is the case, then there is something seriously wrong with the implementation process.

I knew personally most of the key people who initiated and contributed to the formulation of the NEP, and even knew of their thoughts and intentions. Sadly, most of them are not with us any more. I think this is why some people have questioned the NEP recently.

Again, this is an embarrassment for us internationally, particularly in this day and age.

*Rear Admiral (R) Tan Sri K. Thanabalasingam was the first local chief of navy (1967 to 1976) 

-NST