Tuesday, August 13, 2013

CARA BRUNEI 'MENGAJAR' CINA


Oleh : Helen Ang

Negara jiran kita Brunei tidak menerima sebahagian penduduknya yang berketurunan Cina sebagai warga. Orang Cina ini hanya diberikan taraf pemastautin tetap (PR).

Sungguhpun golongan orang Cina ini sudah generasi kedua atau ketiga lahir di Brunei, mereka masih lagi PR sahaja (bermakna tidak memegang paspot Brunei).

Brunei agak luarbiasa. Ia mempunyai sistem pemerintahan beraja di mana Sultan Brunei adalah Muslim dan Brunei ialah sebuah negara Islam yang agama rasminya Islam. Akan tetapi taburan penduduk Muslimnya sekadar 51.9 peratus sahaja, mengikut anggaran oleh Pew Research Center pada tahun 2008.

Hampir separuh (kira-kira 48 peratus) daripada penduduk di Brunei bukan Muslim kerana mereka kaum minoriti yang berstatus ‘stateless people’.

Kebanyakan penduduk bukan warga di Brunei adalah etnik Cina yang tidak mempunyai hak-hak penuh dan faedah yang dinikmati seorang warga biasa. – laporan tahun 2012 oleh badan hak asasi Freedom House

Penduduk bukan warga (stateless people) tidak dibenarkan untuk memiliki tanah di Brunei. Mereka tidak mendapat rawatan kesihatan yang dibiayai penuh oleh kesultanan kaya-raya itu. Mereka tidak layak mendapat pendidikan percuma tahap pengajian tinggi. – laporan amalan hak asasi oleh Jabatan Negeri Amerika Syarikat (24 Mei 2012).

Brunei adalah sebuah negara kecil yang jumlah penduduknya pun kecil, iaitu 390,000 orang: Melayu (67%), Cina (15%), pribumi (6%) and Lain-lain (12%).

Jumlah stateless people 21,000 orang (5.4%) dan seperti yang disebut tadi, kebanyakan mereka Cina. Kewarganegaraan tidak diberikan secara automatik.

Sesiapa yang ingin memohon untuk menjadi warga Brunei dikehendaki lulus ujian yang mana calon tersebut wajib menunjukkan bahawa dia memahami budaya dan bahasa Melayu.

Jus sanguinis

Kewarganegaraan Brunei ditentukan melalui prinsip jus sanguinis (mengikut kerakyatan ibubapa). Istilah tersebut adalah bahasa Latin dan bermaksud “right of blood” atau hak keturunan.

Talian ‘darah’ amat mustahak bagi banyak negara bangsa.

In Brunei, seorang menjadi warga mengikut operasi undang-undang sekiranya dia Melayu — merangkumi Belait, Bisaya, Dusun, Kedayan, Murut dan Melayu Tutong (sumber sini).

Pada lumrahnya, manusia mementingkan etnik.

Ambil contoh United Kingdom yang terdiri daripada Ireland Utara, Scotland, England dan Wales.

Orang British menggelar diri mereka orang Irish, orang Scot, orang English dan orang Welsh, lebih kurang macam orang Malaysia menggelar diri kita Melayu, Cina, India dan sebagainya.

Kita di Malaysia berlainan agama dan berbeza warna kulit.

Orang asal Irish, Scot, English dan Welsh sama agama (Kristian) dan sama warna kulit (putih). Namun mereka masih lagi nekad untuk membeza-bezakan diri mereka.

Seorang Irish, misalan kata, enggan dikenali sebagai orang English.

Dua tahun kelak, Scotland akan mengadakan referendum untuk menentukan sama ada orang Scot mahu keluar daripada UK dan seterusnya negeri tersebut menjadi sebuah republik berdikari.

Perkembangan ini membayangkan betapa kuatnya jatidiri orang Scot, yang lebih Scot daripada British. Untuk sekian lama, gerila IRA telah berperang saudara berhasrat akan pemisahan Ireland Utara daripada Great Britain – pulau besar terdiri England, Scotland dan Wales – supaya boleh bergabung semula dengan Ireland kerana jati diri mereka ialah sebagai orang Irish.

Di serata dunia, pengenalan diri mengikut etnik adalah begitu mendalam. Contohnya orang Kurd mahu menubuhkan sebuah negara Kurdistan khusus untuk etnik mereka. Jadi kepada Cina Malaysia ataupun DAP khususnya, jangan 'macekeyo' kononnya memfitnah MALAYSIA ni tak adil dalam urusan kaum. Tanya kepada NEGARA ASAL KETURUNAN kamu sendiri, adakah mereka cukup adil dengan kaum-kaum minoriti di negara kaum asal kamu?

sumber dari - Pena minang

Thursday, August 1, 2013

The Chinese dilemma: Dr M

KONGSI’ CONCEPT: Each side has to sacrifice something so that the other can gain something
IN response to the emergence of a Malay political party, Umno and its success in rejecting the British inspired Malayan Union, the Chinese community of the 1940s saw the need for a political party of their own to present their views to the British government.
Thus was the MCA conceived and born, led by Malacca's Sir Cheng-Lock Tan. Although it was intended to counter the influence of Umno and protect the interests of the Chinese community, events changed the strategy and role of the MCA.
In 1952 the Kuala Lumpur Umno leaders and the Kuala Lumpur MCA branch leaders decided that in the Kuala Lumpur municipal elections, they should not contest against each other, but instead should support each other's candidates in their respective constituencies.
The results startled them as they defeated almost all the non-racial parties. Realising the political advantage of cooperating with each other the Tunku (Abdul Rahman) and Sir Cheng-Lock Tan, and senior leaders of the MCA and Umno decided to formalise their cooperation by setting up the Alliance, a coalition of MCA and Umno.
The basis of this coalition was the idea of supporting each other and sharing the power gained. Buoyed by the success of the Alliance party in the 1955 elections, in which the MIC had joined, the Tunku looked more kindly at the proposal of Sir Cheng-Lock that citizenship should be based on jus soli (citizenship by being born in the country) and not jus saguinis (citizenship based on the Malaysian citizenship of the father or mother, i.e. citizenship based on blood relation).
The Tunku did not quite agree but he nevertheless decided to give one million citizenships to unqualified Chinese and Indians.
With that the confrontation between the Chinese and the Malays changed into positive cooperation.
It was a classic kongsi that was set up. The essence is an undertaking to share. Sharing involves a give and take arrangement, in which each side has to sacrifice something so that the other can gain something.
As the Malays made up the majority of the citizens they naturally led the Alliance. But the Chinese and Indians were not without adequate power. In any case Malay political power would be mitigated by Chinese and Indians' voting and economic power.
The Tunku saw immediate benefit from the "kongsi" as he believed Malays only wanted to be government employees and the Chinese wanted to be in business. There would be no conflict or tussle between them.
The Indians would fill up the professional posts. He did not foresee the days when government could not create enough jobs for the greatly increased number of Malays.
The kongsi Alliance worked well. But in 1963 Singapore joined Malaysia.
Immediately the PAP tried to gain Chinese support by condemning the Alliance kongsi for being disadvantageous to the Chinese. Malaysians, said the PAP, were not equal. There should be a Malaysian Malaysia where all the benefits should be based on merit alone, with the best taking everything, irrespective of race.
Without saying so in so many words the PAP was inferring that the Malays did not deserve their positions. The best people should rule the country. In the eyes of the PAP, Singapore was ruled by the best qualified people. That they happen to be almost all Chinese is incidental.
In the 1964 elections the MCA and Malaysian Chinese generally valued their cooperation with the Malays. They rejected the PAP and its chauvinistic appeal, giving it only one seat.
The Tunku realised what the PAP was up to and decided that Singapore should not be a part of Malaysia. But the PAP was not done. The remnant of the party in Malaysia set up the DAP to carry on the Malaysian Malaysia meritocratic formula for undermining Chinese support for the MCA.
Harping continuously on the so-called Malay privileges and the unfairness to the Chinese, the DAP slowly eroded the idea of kongsi in the multi-racial coalition of the Barisan Nasional.
Despite the fact that the Barisan Nasional supported Chinese education and the use of the Chinese language, the DAP convinced many Chinese that the Chinese, their culture and language are not given proper treatment by the Barisan Nasional coalition.
The MCA was attacked for not doing enough for the Chinese.

Realising the political advantage of cooperating with each other, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Sir Cheng-Lock Tan and senior leaders of MCA and Umno decided to formalise their cooperation by setting up the Alliance, a coalition of MCA and Umno.


Read more: The Chinese dilemma: Dr M - Columnist - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/the-chinese-dilemma-dr-m-1.326708#ixzz2ahR5l5Xz