Malaysians Say The Darndest Things!

What Is May 13 To Me?

May 13, 2008

May 13th 1969. I’ve been fascinated with this date ever since I was in my teens. The History textbooks only mentioned it in passing, and if I am not wrong, such an important event in the history of our young country has been relegated to a secondary event not worth remembering, since it only warranted a 1-paragraph mention.

As a child of the 80s, I do not have any personal stories or anecdotes about the racial riots. The only thing my parents have mentioned over the dinner table was something about soldiers and a cinema, but I don’t remember the details too well. I assume it was a story that was told to them by others. Basically, there is just a reluctance to talk about it, especially from the older Malaysians that lived through this period.

Given this lack of information (besides books, Wikipedia, and news reports), what have I managed to learn from May 13? I have also learned that we as a people, should NOT be so easily influenced by politicians and the media, especially those that try to clearly divide Malaysians by race. Only the weak-minded let the politicians and media cloud their judgment, only the weak-minded allow the politicians and media to plant seeds of hatred into their minds, only the weak-minded allow themselves to join an angry mob of similarly weak-minded people to maim and kill other human beings, as though human life is disposable like plastic bags.

This year, there have been calls to bring closure to this event. The question I would like to ask is, if nobody, especially those in the government, is willing to talk about it and formally recognize this event as a watershed in the history of race-relations in our country, then how do we achieve closure?

Until now, when academics and historians talk about May 13, the focus is nearly always on who is to blame for the event, trying to find a single cause for the riots, when there doesn’t seem to be one single cause. 39 years later, May 13 is still used as a psychological weapon by politicians from both UMNO and MCA to cow the country into voting for them, for their version of ’security’. Is this how we achieve closure?

To achieve closure, let’s acknowledge that we as a country fucked up. Put it in the history books. Let our kids learn about it, so that they will not repeat the mistakes of their ancestors. Let our kids know that the only people to blame in this event are egotistical politicians, and the people who killed and injured others during this period of time.

Let’s achieve closure by doing it the right way, and not just forgetting that it ever happened.

Let’s remember all the victims of the racial riots who died needlessly.
Let’s honor all the heroes who stood for and protected other Malaysians during the riots.
Let’s stop thinking of each other as Malay, or non-Malay, and more as Malaysians.
Let’s reject political parties and media that continously play up the feelings of Malay vs non-Malay and use May 13 as a psychological weapon.
Let’s treat each other with respect as human beings, the way we want to be treated.

Perhaps one day, when we do finally achieve closure, May 13th can then be declared a National Unity Day, in remembrance of what happaned and a reminder to what could happen if we take the life of other human beings for granted.

Other May 13 articles on the blogosphere:
The Obnoxious 5xmom “Where were you on May 13, 1969?”
InspiRasi 1982 13 Mei - Wajar Dikafankan / Dikuburkan ?

Susan Loone’s blog has a host of comments with readers’ experiences of May 13th 1969.

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