Hishammuddin says sorry for wielding keris

Year 2005- '...let the keris soak in their blood...'

Year 2006- Do it again, this time with a lame duck CM







Year 2007- '...we will use the keris again...'













































Year 2008- '...Sorry..'

Excerpt from The Star

Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has admitted that his raising of the keris was among the causes of the Barisan Nasional’s poor performance in the general election.

Apologising to all Malaysians for his action, he said: “If it affected anyone, I cannot run away from the reality of it. I apologise to the non-Malays and the Malays.

“To the non-Malays because of the fear to a symbol which was not my intention. And to the Malays for not being able to uphold their symbol of heritage.”

Describing it as a “sad lesson”, he said as a leader, he must be gracious and accept the consequences because the party came first.

The wielding of the keris was introduced at the Umno Youth assembly in 2005 to symbolise Malay tradition. At the start of the assembly, a procession carrying the keris would proceed to the hall to hand it to the Youth chief, who would then unsheathe and kiss it.

In the 2006 assembly, there was uneasiness among non-Malays when some speakers made racially slanted remarks about using the keris. Things were made worse as the proceedings of the assembly were telecast live.

MCA and several other Barisan component party leaders criticised the use of the keris in such a manner.

However, Hishammuddin had then defended his action, saying the keris was a symbol of Malay culture.

Hishammuddin, who is the Education Minister, however did not want to say if the tradition of kissing the keris would be stopped at future Umno Youth assemblies.

What a racist dickhead we have for an Education Minister. I accept his apology, but I have also got to thank him for opening our eyes. It was divine intervention and not Hisham's act alone. The keris incident made me realized that the 'social contract' between UMNO, MCA, MIC and other component parties was a pact with the devil, not an agreement for hope, peace and harmony. The first episode took place on November 2005; and subsequently a year later, both at UMNO AGMs. By the second time time Hisham wielded his keris in public, many Malaysian citizens had made up their minds for the year 2008 Elections.



Update:

To balance the tone of this blog posting, please check out Rocky's Bru and Hard-T's view point on keris waving.