Social Contract deserves a chance for change when needs arise!

Tun Dr. Mahathir,

Shall I call for your attention to an article contributed by Madam Tan Siok Choo? Madam Tan is the sister of the late Tun Tan Siew Sin. Madam Tan's father, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, was one of the memorable great founders of MCA:

http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=25455

Let us make a comparison between two persons who are involved in the argument about the issue "Chinese are just penumpang (squatter) in Malaysia" as flared up by Ahmad Ismail.

It is said that Ahmad Ismail's grandfather was an Indian citizen who migrated to Malaysia and then got married to a Malay girl. Most people in Malaysia like to call the descendants of Indian-Malay cross-marriages by the name of "Mamak".

A nephew of Madam Tan Siok Choo is a personal acquiantance of mine. As far as I know, most Madam Tan's family members practice the "Baba" and "Nyonya" lifestyle and are only well versed in Malay and English and they can hardly communicate with other Chinese in the Chinese language. In view of the long history of loyalty and national attachment to the then Tanah Melayu and now Malaysia by Madam Tan's family and their ancestors, what is it that really makes Ahmad Ismail justifiable to call Madam Tan a "penumpang" and to claim that he himself has much better rights and is better qualified than such a loyal Malaysian resident of Chinese blood as Madam Tan Siok Choo to deserve a citizenship of Malaysia?

Since we all live in a dynamic society, a social contract that is perceived to be so good and so well-balanced amongst multiple races 51 years' ago shall not be forever taken as a predestined testament which is never changeable. If a change is really needed, then I sincerely believe that it will be good if the change in the social contract is to be made possible in good faith by mutual agreement amongst the multiple races of Malaysia. Parliament seems to be the best place to discuss on such a change and the change should be brought about by casting a majority vote in the parliament and not by exchanging unseeming or sensitive words between two hostile parties on the street or on any roadside political forum. Of course, the change which some people demand now may also include the permission be given by the Speaker of Parliament for tabling a special motion which requires "a vote of no confidence against someone" in the Parliament and vote-casting in relation to this motion be permitted to carry out during the parliamentary session.

Changes are just the common natural responses that are usually initiated by humans in order to make much better adaption to the living environment. Therefore, I believe that a social contract should be allowed a chance for revision when needs truly arise.

Onlooker