INTERLOK – A summary for lazy people who like to judge before reading the book

Since I have been receiving many questions by (mostly) lazy Malaysian who never read the book but not ashamed to judge the book based on what they read in by pro-Opposition propaganda websites.

The last time I read this book was in the late 80's but I still remember what it is about.

This article will be divided into 2 sections : (a) Why the book was choosen (b) Why the brouhaha over it?

WHY THE BOOK WAS CHOOSEN?

The Interlock book is a great literary work by Sasterawan Negara Abdullah Hussain. It depicted the life in Tanah Melayu (Malaysia) during the colonial period. This book has been published almost 40 plus years ago and are easily available in bookshops before it was made as part of KOMSAS.

The reason it was chosen because it was in-line with the 1Malaysia spirit that the Govt is trying to build - a united Malaysia.

The book talks about:

• Helping one another regardless of race - Seman rescued Poh Eng when he brought him to Maniam's estate. Maniam agreed to put Poh Eng under his care until the situation was ok.

• Respecting the elders - Mat Rangi respected the decision of Lebai to marry Seman to his daughter although initially he had some reservation about Seman.

• Being appreciative/thankful to others - Poh Eng clarified to his father that Seman was the person who had rescued him. Initially Poh Eng's father thought Seman kidnapped his child.

• Spirit of unity - Yew Seng and Lazim still play with and respected one another although Cing Huat was initially against their friendship. Everybody visited Musa when his father died.

• Love the family - Maniam loves his pregnant wife, Malini. He had a hard time to leave her. Seman also show his love towards his father by staying all night to take care of him. Cing Huat also shows his love for his wife. Tua Pao - and child by taking them to safety to his inlaws house when Japanese troops arrived.

• Love the country - Lazim, Cing Huat and Raman defended their race and agreed that they must unite to create a peaceful nation. Yew Seng and Poh Eng realized that the communist movement that they joined is a sham. They saw that the real fight/struggle was the one that their father is doing.

• Patience & Positive Thinking - Seman started a new life with his mother after being kick out from his home/job. Maniam had to leave his wife in order to improve the life of his family.

WHY THE BROUHAHA?

8. One wonders why the sudden brouhaha over a well-known literary book published 40 plus years ago?

9. In Malaysia today, there are losers who are trying to use every way possible to create hatred amongst the people.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dap-to-use-interlok-in-tenang-says-kula/

10. Their objective is simple - to create disharmony, hatred and chaos among the people. Once chaos is spread, it would be easier for them to unseat the current Federal Government in the next General Election. Political expediency at all cost.

11. According to this people, the book is racist because it contained a certain word to describe a certain race.

Strangely, that same word is in the Oxforf Dictionary and Merriam-Webster! Even the on-line version of both dictionaries have that word:

a) Oxford - http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pariah?view=get

b) Merriam-Webster - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pariah

12. Perhaps we can ask these losers to go and burn these two dictionaries too... LOL

13. The Government has decided that the Interlok novel will not be taken off the KOMSAS list instead will be ammended. Let us see if burning the above two dictionaries will make the British Government to ammend these two dictionaries.

14. It is vital because I can assure you that there are more people with an Oxford Dictionary in their house compared to the Interlok novel. We do not want our innocent children to stumble upon this word, do we? LOL

p/s: If the losers wanted to have a burning spree, below is the address of publishing home. Let me know the date and time so I can call Scotland Yard... LOL
- Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, United Kingdom +44(0) 1865 353705

Thanks to Fatimah Zuhri

IndeepTots:
What was George Washington's connection to black slavery? And yet Americans, despite blacks and any other races accept him as noble US President. In Interlock, theres much more good moral values rather than one look at race perspective.

DAP's way of saying Thank You to Penang voters

En Syed Kassali was asked to "Tutup Kedai, Balik India" ... and further chronolgy HERE!

If this is not bloody RACIST DAPs, what should u call them?

On 1.1.11 for 1Malaysia

I will definitely not miss this date and to begin with...
lets unite under 1Malaysia

.... and this is what our Prime Minister has to say:

PM Najib urges Malaysians to build a better future

New Straits Times
December 31, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today urged all Malaysians to fulfil their responsibility in building a better future for the coming generations and place the country in its rightful position.

Najib, in his 2011 New Year message, said the government's plans and programmes would not be successful without the support and cooperation of the people.

"Let's not be satisfied and just sit back to be mere critics. Let's mould a better future for the coming generations.

"The power to build lies in the hands of the people. Fulfil this responsibility as best as you can," he said.

Najib reminded the present generation not to gamble away the future of the coming generations by making wrong decisions.

"This is not the time to experiment, but a time to renew and strengthen the trust in what has been proven to be effective," he said.

The prime minister said the government always adopted full responsibility in the management of the country, in particular the economy.

"As a government sensitive to the pulse of the people, we will not at all neglect the people's interests by making a promise or a decision which seems to be popular but is actually to the detriment of the interests of everyone," he said.

He said any government which promised or formulated popular but irresponsible policies would gain recognition or support in the short term, but in the long term it would be the people who would suffer.

"Learning from mistakes, throughout 2010, we built a strong foundation to ensure that the nation's potentials and resources can be stimulated and mobilised towards achieving the national vision," he said.

He identified the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) along with the six National Key Result Areas (NKRA) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) with the 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) as the basis of the New Economic Model, the 10th Malaysia Plan and Budget 2011, which served as a comprehensive roadmap to raise the living standard and quality of life of the people to a higher level.

"All this while, the government, which was given the mandate, has striven with sincerity to meet the people's needs and national progress to the best of its ability.

"Unfortunately, some quarters have arbitrarily accused the government of being inclined to implement specific projects, particularly mega projects. Such accusations are not true at all," he said.

Some people, especially the opposition, had criticised the construction of several projects including the North-South Expressway, the Petronas Twin Towers and the Penang Bridge, he said, adding that they were now too embarrassed to admit their mistake because these projects had brought much benefit to the people.

"The question is if their opinions have proven to be wrong in such major matters, how can the people possibly trust any of their promises?" he said, adding that the opposition's proposed 100-day reform announced recently would only raise expenditure as it did not consider the realities of the national revenue and sources of funds.

Saying he hoped that the people would be able to make their own evaluation, Najib said the government had all along focused on the objective of ensuring sustainable economic growth.

This was because a boost in national wealth would provide for a rise in expenditure and enable the implementation of social justice, he said.

"It is directly proportional, meaning an increase in government revenue will result in a rise in expenditure for the people's well-being," he said and urged the people regardless of race and religion to heed the call to strive for the pinnacle of success. - BERNAMA

Listen to the song once again, lets be proud 1Malaysia....