THE brightest news for May 13 this year was that share trade volume across Bursa Malaysia rose to a record high with a volume of 7.77 billion shares, valued at RM3.9 billion.

But when I checked my whatsapp messages, there were a number of messages trying to remind us of the ugly incident on May 13, 1969, and to some extent, rekindling the hate including sharing of videos.

What bothers me is that most of these people who created the messages were not even born yet and others were not even in Kuala Lumpur then. It is as though they want the incident to happen again and I am very sure they have not considered the consequences if it recurs, God forbid.

I was at the epicentre and I do not want it to happen again. There was havoc and a curfew followed. People from surrounding areas sought refuge at my grandmother’s house, where I live.

We were short on food and were not able to buy more because of the curfew and shops were being gutted.

The messages were aimed at a certain group that apparently still harboured communist doctrine.

For the record, the Peace Agreement of Hat Yai marked the end of the Communist insurgency in Malaysia. It was signed and ratified in Hat Yai, Thailand, on December 2, 1989. It required the disbandment of armed units, ceasing militant activities, destroying its weapons and pledging loyalty to the Agong.

Are there still Malaysians who are not loyal to the Agong and practise the communist doctrine? It would not be too difficult for our Special Branch to find them and those who know them to make a police report. It is not difficult to make a police report nowadays.

Why, after more than fifty years, are we still circulating this hate?

The major source is the politicians. Some of them have succeeded in poisoning the minds of Malaysians. These are the kinds that do not have many ideas to develop the country but thrive on fanning racial sentiments and they managed to get positions in their respective parties.

Are they ready to face the difficulties we had in 1969? A small test from God through this Covid-19 pandemic is already very trying for them. Noises made on loss of income and jobs, worries about the economy, the stock market dived and they are crying for more help from the government. 

I am not sure whether the government can provide any more big assistance if there is any social unrest.

Politicians should instil and motivate Malaysians to be more self confident and think of ways to meet future challenges where more jobs will be lost through new technologies and not creating messages of hate. To those who are still attracted to these messages, they exhibit their mental capacity and are not forward-looking.

If they still want to remember 1969, there have been suggestions to build a monument. The government/politicians should construct one near to the Chow Kit and Kg Bharu area. Every May 13, politicians should congregate there and speak on allegiance to the country and the Agong and vow not to let the incident happen again.

But looking at how politicians shift allegiances in the last couple of months, I am afraid this will not happen and we will be receiving hate messages forever and cybertroopers will always have a job.

I am encouraged by the message from the Johor sultan about political infighting and backstabbing for personal gain, where such activities were akin to creating a “virus” that would infect the rest of the country with their divisiveness. “Those infected with the virus will forget about the people’s needs, as long as they are looking out only for themselves.”

What say you? – May 16, 2020.

* Saleh Mohammed reads The Malaysian Insight.