Ong Kee Tiat... and then some

Dina Zaman wrote in her opinion piece, Jalur Gemilang, starting with this to greet Malaysia's 52nd National Day:

“Who’s that minister? Tu... yang MCA tu... Ong Kee Tiat? Tat?”

“Tee Keat,” I say.

“What the hell. He keeps harping and harping on Chinese rights...

Then, she gave a 52nd Merdeka poser:

Among the dominant race in Malaysia, the Malays are facing an identity crisis: be a Muslim first or Malay? They may be synonymous with each other, but there is a marked difference between the two.

[...]

In another survey conducted by the Merdeka Center for MyFuture Foundation, Zaid Ibrahim’s youth-based non-profit organisation, in January 2009, young Malays polled saw themselves first as followers of a religion (Islam), while young Chinese and Indians were very patriotic and saw themselves as Malaysians first.

Hence the question of national pride and unity: since young Malays (at least the ones polled for the survey) saw themselves as Muslims first, why is nationalism not high on their agenda?

We are regressive as a nation. Where is your Malaysia?

To commemorate a nationhood so soon forgotten by its children, I am wearing black for Merdeka, this year. It was decided long before Dina got her piece published.