Ismail Kassim: Reserved Elected Presidency Is Backward Step For Multiracialism, Meritocracy And Democracy

Thank you PM for your unsolicited gift
But we don’t want and don’t need it
Do you realise that your gift will only
Reinforce the negative images of us
And undermine our past progress

What we want, you don’t want to give
Full equality for our males in National Service
And in all sectors of the Armed Forces
Full employment opportunities for all our
Women including the tudung-clad ones
We have waited for 50 years for equal
Treatment and equal opportunities
Do we have to wait for another 50 years?

If there has been no Malay president for
More than four decades, whose fault is it?
Is it the Malays, the People, or the PAP?
If it is so important to you
Why give SR a second term?
Why not a Malay then?

You have assumed that no Malay
Can ever be elected in an open race
But have you tried? Why not?
After winning 70% the last round,
Why the lack of confidence?
Why the haste to admit defeat?
Or maybe the gift to us is nothing more than
Political expediency to avoid a tough opponent
And to thwart the will of the people

On the day a Malay assumes the EP
Through a reserved race will be
A Day of Shame for us and for all the people
It will be a step backward for multiracialism
And meritocracy and democracy

 

Source: Ismail Kassim

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