On Khoo Kay Kim and Utusan Malaysia

By Eddin Khoo

I was in Kelantan on field work so was not able to respond to all the controversy relating to my father and his statements published in Utusan Malaysia last Friday.

These were taken out of context, perverted and fabricated in fact.

More on this in future posts since the outrage (rightfully so as it was read prior to the clarification) has since taken a pernicious and very personal turn (and now in spite of a clarification having been published) and an element of reason needs to be injected amidst all this vitriol.

The task of the historian is not an enviable one, especially in the context of a Malaysia where there is almost NO sense of history, or whatever sense of history which exists is confined to the anecdotal and sentimental (eg. "I am not a racist because I have non Malay/Malay friends) variety.

Suffice to say even as Khoo Kay Kim's words and context were twisted (he didn't call the Chinese "racists"; he didn't even use that term, not on ANYONE) when he talked about how "communal interests still take precedence over national interest."

Rightly or wrongly that is position he has held firm to for 50 years.

Having perverted this today, the Utusan had, however, no problems expressing this 'opinion' last year: "Prof Khoo Kay Kim agak nakal bila dia kata Ketuanan Melayu tak ada dalam perlembagaan. Kadang kadang kita terlalu besar-besarkan dia. Dia ini ada agenda halus." (Prof Khoo Kay Kim was quite naughty when he said the concept of Malay Supremacy was not in the constitution. We too often glorify him. He has a hidden agenda.")

The point then, of course, is not to entertain the likes of Utusan in the first place.

That, no one can argue with, and following Friday's debacle, I doubt Khoo Kay Kim would argue with it.

But for all of you who have continued to take great satisfaction in spewing the vitriol (because it is vitriol and not reason) please continue with your smugness and sanctimoniousness but it is time you get over the fact that your individual vote was only a SMALL albeit, I will admit, SIGNIFICANT attempt at dragging this country back to some form of common sense and decency.

Now perhaps you can refrain from offering your twee opinions on your blogs, FB and twitter (tweeting is for birds not for the articulation of thoughts), read and do some homework to realise the great distance we have still to go; perhaps by reading at least one of the many hundred essays that have been written by Khoo Kay Kim on every single community and event in Malaysia's history that have laid the scholarly foundations for us in that field.

Yes, my father was one of those individuals closely involved in the 'national project', including the conceiving of the Rukunegara and he has always expressed consistent views from within that platform and purview of history. That may appear obsolete and anachronistic to some but it is still a position to speak from.

And yes, he is a Conservative, but even they have a place in our evolving democracy, don't they? Or have we, in taking the smallest of steps in democratic practice by 'throwing our vote' transmuted into modest tyrants who believe those who don't share our views have no right to speak?

And by the way, I do personally disagree with my father's position most of the times, but that has always made for animated discussion and disagreement, and not vitriol, within the family setting which helps keep family life animated and lively.

If only our public life could be that way...

*This is the personal opinion of Eddin Khoo.