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Moving history

Ahem....warriors? Heroes? Not a history facts that will backfire.

Some hisotrian try to portrait JWW Birch assasination for "disrecpect the local custom", however, there is little solid writing mentioned it.

In facts,the assasination of JWW Birch is due conflict of interest : outlaw slavery . And Maharajalela is the biggest slave master, by capturing the native Orang Asli and sold them as slave.

And don't forget the incident happens after Pangkor treaty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangkor_Treaty

And Birch assasination show some local political trait that continue until today : simpleton. Apparently some of this people think they can monopoly the power by killing Birch.

These 2 guys are called Malay warrior just simply b'cos they had killed Mat Salleh ???

From Project Gutenberg's : The Golden Chersonese
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext02/gctwt10.txt
Excerpt

The slaves of the reigning princes were
very easily acquired, for a prince had only to send a messenger bearing
a sword or kris to a house, and the parents were obliged to give up any
one of their children without delay or question. In debt slavery, which
prevails more or less among all classes, and has done a great deal to
degrade the women of the Peninsula, a man owing a trifling debt
incurred through extravagance, misfortune or gambling, can be seized by
his creditor; when he, his wife, and children, including those who may
afterwards be born, and probably their descendants, become slaves.

This clearly show that Bernama selectively snipe some history facts for local "political correctness".

There is hardly a Malay of substance to warrant a place in the annals of human history. So we create a lot of heros, whether you like it or not! Pity the insecurity of people who feel it necessary to change history just to feel good!

They are heroes because they stoop up for their beliefs, for their way of life. Other heroes elsewhere were slavemasters too, the American republic was founded by slave owners, William Wallace had his fair share of self preservation when he fought the English.

As I've said before, some comentators here have a twisted/prejudiced view of the Malay, which really does not qualify as an informed discussion.

I came across this posting on September 8, the day it was posted. After reading the comments from Jefus, moo_t and anand, I felt compelled to reply but needed time to research some dates and facts.

We have to look at the events in the context of the period in history but Jefus, moo_t and anand, in their hatred for all things Malay, looked at the events in isolation.

Observer's comment is an insult and should not go unreplied.

There were comments made about the personalities concerned being nothing more than slave owners who killed the White Rajj because, out of the goodness of his heart, he wanted to liberate the enslaved Malays.

Let's look at the facts. Birch was killed in Nov. 1875. The American Civil War was fought from 1861-1865 when President Lincoln abolished slavery in the US. This was a period when slavery was a fact of live all over the world (even in good old mother India and China). The Americans got their slaves, kicking and screaming, all the way from Africa.

I was unsuccessful in trying to get a timeframe for the except posted by anand. The method described appears very feudal and was used in Europe as well. So, anand, why pick on the Malays alone?

Therefore to imply that, during that period, only Malays are involved in slavery is vicious. Even to this day we come across stories of plantation contractors holding workers in almost slave-like conditions. These contractors are not Malays.

The Pangkor Treaty was signed in Jan, 1874 after 4 wars, known as the Larut Wars, were fought in Larut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larut_War).

The main reasons for the wars were the conflict over tin mining rights between 2 Chinese Triad gangs, the Ghee Hins and the Hai Sans. The British used the wars as an excuse for intervening in the Malay states.

At this point in time the Chinese could not be bothered about being ruled by the British because this was not their homeland. They lived in their own kongsi with their triads, opium dens and gambling dens doing whatever it takes (fighting, bribing, etc.) to mine tin.

The influx of Indians into the Malay states was between 1857 and 1938, especially after 1888 when H.N Ridley pioneered the rubber industry here. As such, the Indians during the events at Pasir Salak were mainly the Sepoys who were doing the killing of Malays for the British.

Observer said: "There is hardly a Malay of substance to warrant a place in the annals of human history." You went on to say that we Malays had to create our heroes. This is the history of the Malay states that eventually became Malaysia. The annals of human history as you call it is the aggregation of the histories of all races.

We all know the roles played by the various races during that period in history and one race saying the other race is re-writing history is like the pot calling the kettle black.