Divide & Rule still prevalent?

History has a habit of being conveniently reinterpreted by victors or those who have gained liberation from their former political masters. When we were impressionably young, our teachers instilled in us that the British were evil because they propagated the “Divide and Rule” system of governance on its Malayan subjects of various races so that we would not stand united to fight against them and in the absence of this unity, the British would be able to tighten their ruling grip on the country.

To further augment their point, our teachers would often cite the classic example of Chinese living in urban areas, Malays in kampongs and the Indians concentrated mainly in rubber plantations. Of course, I accepted this line of argument as sacred truth but inexplicably, it dawned upon me somehow that this could not be a deliberate act by the British. The way I see it now, it’s just a natural development that we lived in different settings then.

Let’s reflect for a moment, before our Chinese and Indian forebears immigrated here, were the towns and estates already in existence? I doubt so. It was only after we extracted tin and tilled the land that the older generations eventually developed the areas they lived in. Consequently, what was a forest transformed into town. If you accept this reasoning as logical, you will realise that we had been accepting blindly what was told to us.

Fast forward to the present, the British had left and we are the rightful masters of our country but the real “Divide and Rule” method is actually taking place now. Look no further than our public higher institutions of learning where the intake of students tilts towards certain people. Apart from that, our politicians always pit fellow Malaysians against each other by their incendiary remarks smacks of racism. Even certain political parties open exclusively to the races they represent; UMNO, MCA and MIC quickly come to mind. On the other hand, regardless of whether you are a Malay, Chinese or Indian, you can always join the DAP or Parti Keadilan Rakyat as members.

Some people just can’t afford to allow Malaysians of all races to be truly united because if we are allowed to, there won’t be any more smokescreens for them to continue plundering the country’s wealth. To my fellow beloved Malaysians; I say this to you, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall. Or should I say, “Bersatu Kita Teguh, Bercerai Kita Roboh”?

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.