IT can be said that non-Malays/non-Muslims (NMs) sometimes do find themselves trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea.
This comes about as one Bangsa Malaysia (literally, Malaysia Race) proponent expressed sympathy for NMs who are often labelled as “lacking national; spirit” or having “no desire for integration” by failing to master Bahasa Malaysia (BM) yet they are looked at with suspicion when they come out with social media content in the national language.
For context, 🇲🇾إدوين 🇲🇾 (@SimpletonED) was taking a potshot at Muslim convert preacher Firdaus Wong Wai Hung who questioned why suddenly NMs are eager to post social media content on BM.
“Everyone has to understand Malay given it is the national language. Why does the Chinese convert like to make a fuss with NMs? Islam has never taught its followers to spread hatred,” fumed 🇲🇾إدوين 🇲🇾.
Sebab Bahasa Melayu bahasa kebangsaan, semua orang faham. Kenapa Mualaf Cina suka buat kecoh dengan bukan Islam? Islam tak pernah ajar umatnya sebar kebencian. pic.twitter.com/gccvn3UU9G
— 🇲🇾إدوين 🇲🇾 (@SimpletonED) September 24, 2024
“Strange la this Firdaus Wong. NMs who don’t speak BM are accused of being not patriotic, having no desire for integration. But when they make BM content, they’re viewed with suspicion.”
“It’s really difficult when there are reverted non-Malays who are more Malays than the original Malays. We need to truly evaluate their agenda (if they are riding on religion for their self-gain).”
Firdaus who is also the Multiracial Reverted Muslims (MRM) president has drawn a distinction between content created by Apek Cina (social media influencer Tai Zee How) to those done by other NM social media influencers which are merely for economic gains, notably to penetrate the Malay market.
“They oppose the teaching of Jawi in schools but have no problem to use Jawi on their product label/brand,” he chided in reaction to the perception that Malay men are easily enticed by Ah Moi (literally unmarried Chinese girls) who can string sone Malay sentences (in their sales pitch) despite not being fluent in the Malay language.
Describing people like Firdaus as batu api (instigator), 🇲🇾إدوين 🇲🇾 contended that the former “doesn’t represent anyone” but is merely trying to garner support for his own agenda “which is the Malay support which unfortunately comes at the price of sparking (racial/religious) disharmony”.
At the end of the day, one commenter was spot on with his observation that “language has nothing to do with being a Muslim”.
“Appears this bloke doesn’t know the Koran and it’s not surprising for he’s just an influencer singing his convoluted songs to earn a living and his followers are just a pathetic bunch of losers,” he opined. – Sept 26,2024
Main image credit: Shermine Hau-Ah Moi/Facebook
