Kevin Bathman

DON'T CALL US "NON-MALAYS". [THREAD 1/ 13] A reminder to the Malaysian media, government agencies and netizens to avoid using racially-discriminatory language in your communications. Words do matter, and I will explain why it matters.

@unifi Network outage again in 3 weeks. ETA received was 7am and no network till now. I have made a complaint to aduan@mcmc. Pls give me an accurate time for service to resume

@unifi Internet still down past 6:08 PM ETA. Need update / technician ETA

@unifi When is ETA for repair? It is now 8:50pm, past 6:08pm below RM0 Unifi: We’re sorry. Your service may be impacted by a network disruption. Expected recovery on 01/04/2026 06:08:00 PM. Thank you for your patience.

@kevinbathman Hi @kevinbathman. We are aware of this issue and will do our best to resolve it. We’ve received your message and will reply shortly. Kindly avoid disclosing your personal information publicly to protect your information. Thank you. -Dan

@unifi What is the ETA for repair?

Dear friends, I am excited to share an endeavor that we've been preparing for a year. Together with my wife, Dr Vilashini Somiah, a feminist anthropologist at UM, we have launched The Datum Initiative Project, where we believe data is power & a valuable asset for social change.🧵

I do not mean to disagree with TDM, but I would ask rational people to consider the following facts: 1) TDM was Prime Minister for 23 years. If the Malays are weak now, isn't it because he didn't establish the groundwork and foundation for them? Why is he blaming the enemy of the Malays (while he did not state so, history suggests he meant the Chinese)? 2) Malays completely dominate all of the state's important institutions, including the royals, police, armed forces, civil service, and parliament. Since Merdeka, no non-Malay/non-Muslim Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister has been appointed. Since Merdeka, the Malays have held an absolute cabinet majority. So, if Malays are losing power, isn't it because the Malays appointed to all these institutions didn't perform their part in upholding ketuanan melayu? The Chinese were never near power so how are they a threat? In fact MCA is now unable to win Chinese support because they were seen as the 'running dog' of UMNO and unable to promote Chinese interest during your BN/UMNO time. If the most important Chinese party, MCA, cannot promote Chinese interest, then what are you talking about? 3) GLC controls the Malaysian economy and stock exchange. The only area where the Chinese remain dominant is in SMEs; the rest are dominated by GLCs which is a proxy for Malay interests. The NEP and its successors aimed at economic redistribution have created an uneven playing field where Malay businesses are given preferential treatment in terms of government contracts, licenses, and financial assistance. While Chinese businesses have been successful, its despite the institutional barriers. How many Chinese companies are forced to appoint Malay directors? Any Malay companies forced to employ Chinese directors? 4) Malays have privileged access to higher education, their own university, and a variety of other advantages like housing discount. Is this under threat? 5) Ketuanan Melayu is being replaced with Ketuanan Melayu Islam (KMI). There is now a religious layer on top of the ethnic barrier. 6) Chinese population is declining. This is open knowledge. It will reach around 20% soon. It was about 40% at 1957. In other words, the population will be halved in less than a century. Conclusion: The Chinese in Malaysia are not inherently a threat to Malay political power but are seen as such within a political framework where ethnicity and race are central to power dynamics. The perception of threat often arises from the fear of diluting Malay political and cultural dominance rather than from an actual capability to overthrow or significantly alter the established political order. The real challenge lies in navigating towards a political system where all ethnic groups feel represented and empowered without stoking racial tensions or diminishing the cultural identity of any group, including the Malays. This involves rethinking the political narrative around ethnicity and embracing a more inclusive form of governance. Please viral this post if you agree. Thanks. #Malaysia #Race #Religion #Viral #SpeakTruthToPower

I'm working on a media literacy module for Malaysian youths. I'm looking for Malaysians between 18-40 years old from across the country to participate in a workshop in KL and you will be reimbursed for your time. Please fill in this form by Nov 15. forms.gle/2thi1bY6829hPC…

Europe is not my center. Europe is on the outskirts of Africa. Why be a sunflower and turn towards the sun? I myself am the sun. (Ousmane Sembène, Caméra D’Afrique, 1983).

The reason why some East Malaysians are upset isn't the songket, songkok or Teluk Belanga-style lah, but rather because they understand that the name The Malaya exclusively represents a political entity which doesn't include Sabah & Sarawak.

What is Sarawak building? - A new Cancer Centre - A new Science Centre - A few new International Schools - A new University Hospital - A new Performance Art Centre - A new complex for non-Muslims (UNIFOR) Talk about getting your priorities right. Related link in the thread.

[LOOKING FOR INTERVIEWEES] If you are currently a tenant or seeking rental properties and have experienced such discrimination, your participation in this research is needed! Kindly fill out the form by 18th JUNE 2024 if you interested: bit.ly/4c0WKgB *Zoom interview

Mark your calendars! The 20th edition of the FreedomFilmFest! Join us and celebrate Why Freedom? Reply and tell us what you’re looking forward to at the festival! Stay tuned for our full list of programmes and screenings. #20YearsOfFreedom #FreedomFilmFest

Self-censorship happens when the overarching media environment is hostile towards media outlets if they speak out against the government or other powerful elites. For the government to themselves infer that it is self censorship, this represents a far more chilling effect 🧵

The post The comment : And it’s coming for a well known Malaysian icon is truly saddening. Of course an apology statement is coming

Desa Park City is privately maintained TTDI and Bukit Tunku has lobbyists and NGOs If you want local elections: 1. KLRA+SD is organising UndiLokal, a movement to push for local elections in KL 2. Undi18 is organising UndiKL, also another movement for it below

Just a small sample of the casual #racism I sometimes cop as an Arab Australian journalist 🤌🏽 Notice how polite I was to him before he declared immigrants are the root of all problems. I was covering a hit and run by the way…but I guess the culprit is always “immigrants”.

Happy #LunarNewYear to all who celebrate. Here’s a look at how some young Aussies with East Asian & South Asian heritage celebrate, plus a quick glimpse into the Chindian community - @kevinbathman drawyourbox.com/posts/lunar-ne…

So why is Israel doing this? Is there anything in it for Israel but virtually global hate? Because it doesn't seems like there is. A couple days ago I said I was going to provide an explanation why Israel has chosen to conduct itself like it has. Here it is. It's very provocative, and it's going to mess with your mind quite a bit. I will also remind you that I am Jewish and I have the perfect right to my own opinion on Jewish affairs. - Before I go on, and as I know many people are going to read this, make sure that you follow me. What I have to say doesn't end here. Stay connected. - Throughout these months, I am sure you have asked yourselves why Israel is acting as if its design is to maximize the amount of hate it stands to receive from a global community of shocked and terrified people. There have been so many occasions for this, but I'll bet last week, when IDF soldiers executed 3 Palestinian men in a hospital, it stood out to you as outrageously brazen. That's because the IDF took special care to get it televised. They didn't confiscate cameras or servers, and didn't hack or destroyed files. It's almost as if they were acting for the cameras. A world wide audiences got the message, and everyone was talking about Fauda, the TV series meant to portray the humane face of Israel's apartheid. How peculiar, right? And wait, what about all those videos by soldiers of themselves joyfully blowing up stuff? And what about the naked men filmed in their humiliated hundreds? Let me reminds you, for contrast, that in two years of Russia's was in Ukraine, not once have you seen Russian soldiers celebrating the destruction of civilian infrastructure. And you've never seen naked and humiliated Ukrainian soldiers loaded on trucks, or sitting on the ground, eyes covered. There may have been things like that happening. We don't know. But if scenes like these actually occurred, the Russian military took special care to conceal them from us. The IDF did not. Why? - Keep this question in mind, and let's make it ever more interesting. Let's ask: what is the justification, the reason, or cause for the existence of organizations such as AIPAC and ADL? I mean, seriously. Are American Jews in so much danger, and face so much persecution in the US, that perpetual billion-dollar operations are required to guard them from harm? Are Jews disproportionally jailed in the US? Designated victims of violent crime? Harassed by the authorities? Cannot be out on the street? Is American society that laser-focused on hating Jews? Aren't there other American communities who are more exposed to danger, harassment, poverty and crime? I mean, seriously? And say an organization like AIPAC does have some nostalgic reason for being, what is doing pushing for wars? More specifically and currently: why are Jewish organizations in the US, alongside Israel, doing all they possibly can to place Jews at the epicenter of a possible world war? Why are organizations that are supposed to keep Jews safe making Jewish affairs the formal declared reason for a clash and a war the could destroy civilization as we know it? Isn't it the opposite of what they're supposed to be doing? Say like a military that constantly broadcasts its own astonishing cruelty, and destroys its own image? - We are getting closer. But one more hurdle needs to be removed for us to see the answer. Stay sharp. - Two very obvious opposites in seeing the world: paranoia and basic trust. This is true for people, but it is just as valid for political societies. Some societies are more paranoid and some are more relaxed, but no society on earth is more paranoid than the super-mega-ultra Jewish part of the Jewish people, or wider society. There is no other group on earth the world is so contently on its feet defending. No other society, too, decided to use trauma as the center of its identity. I know many of you, especially Americans, have come to see this as just Jewish. But it is not so (and maybe you need a Mizrahi Jew to tell you this). It is one strand of Jewish perception that derives its sense of identity from pogroms and the Holocaust. Israel and IPAC act like this is natural and the only way to be Jewish. That's nonsense. Pogroms and the Holocaust were not all the experience of all the Jews. Many Jewish communities knew long percids of safety and prosperity. Not all Jews were victims all the time, and Jews are definitely not the only victims humanity has even known. Personally I always found it more than a little offsetting to hear American Jews refer to their misery and victimhood constantly, in a country where millions of natives, organized in hundreds and thousands of flourishing communities, were wiped of the face of the planet. A country and culture that operated industrial scale slavery of black people for hundreds and hundreds of years, and fought not to recognize them as equal humans for centuries more. I would never do that. A country that has so much terrible, dehumanizing poverty and homelessness, so much pain. How come the most successful, heavily represented in all things power and money minority in this society is also its greatest victim? I know this is the norm and this is the description of reality I should conform to, but no. It doesn't make sense. - You can choose trauma and paranoia or trust and basic optimism as your guide in life. But the biggest Jewish organization in our lifetime chose one clear path: that of trauma, suspicion and what can be called Armageddonism. Always alert. Always someone out there to get you. Everybody hates us. And as we're almost at the end of it, I will say the final part a little more directly. In choosing trauma and paranoia, both Israel and AIPAC found and unexpected source of false power. Because existential fear can bring a society of people together, but it's not going to be a society many people would want to live in. So you keep people afraid all the time, and you make sure they are feeling, or actually being, hated all the time. This is how you maintain your power over them. And as Jewish trauma has become such a huge international political thing (again: I wouldn't do that), the incentive was always there to keep this mentality alive. To organize around it. To make sure it remains the formal doctrine of Jewish institutions. Such as AIPAC and Israel. - So Israel and American Jewish organizations took it upon themselves to keep Jews afraid and isolated. This strategy of intentional paranoia has been working for a while, but it gradually eroded. It especially eroded in the US, as younger Jews became increasingly aware that the stories they've been told are lies, and that no one really cares about their ethnicity. That erosion in the power of instilled exceptionalism, isolationism and existential fear poses a very serious problem for Jewish organizations built around paranoia. The Palestinians and Arabs were a wonderful solutions for this problem for a while: by keeping Palestinians oppressed and thus hostile, the old myth of antisemitism as a huge international force could be kept on life support. But this, too, began to fade, as younger American Jews started getting more familiar with Palestinian perspectives. - And then October 7th hit. And the right wing, nationalistic, paranoid section of the Jewish political spectrum, realized it could be translated into political gold. This could be used to revive the old sentiments. The ghetto, the pogroms, the trains to the east. All of it. This is why Nazis were invoked so early on. Jews were once again the persecuted minority AIPAC and Netanyahu always told you they were. How wonderful for them. But October 7th was not enough, because people would immediately put it in the context of the occupation. They would ask the eternal human question: why did this happen? What happened before? If you're Netanyahu or AIPAC, putting Jews in the context of normal human behavior is the last thing you want. What you want is boiling rage and fear to be extensively covered in all the media and all the briefings. Need I say I would not do that, either? - And this is where my final point arrives. It doesn't seem like Israel is trying to be hated globally. It is actually what it's doing. It is intentionally airing its cruelty and barbarity so that it will remain closed up to the world, thus guaranteeing the continued rule of the paranoia camp. They are doing it on purpose, for cynical political gains, out of a twisted reading of history and of human nature. Palestinians are just crash test dummies in this scenario. They count for nothing. Their deaths are used to get people angry and Israel hated, so it becomes even more paranoid. - For the same reason, AIPAC is putting the Jewish issue at the epicenter of the lead up to WW3. They cannot not know that Jews will be called as responsible, or at least a major factor in it. Can you imagine millions of dead Americans, destroyed cities, populations stressed into panic and despair - all because of a war Jewish organizations pushed for? How does anyone who purports to represent Jews and care for them not recoil from this scenario? Do these people have any idea at all of what they're doing? And I am sorry for sounding this impolite an not nice: we are on the eve of a potential world war. As a Jew I am terrified. The last thing I want is to be blames for a world war. But the Jewish paranoia camp seems to relish the opportunity. Maybe they are sure this is how the messiah comes. I have my reservations. - Finally, Jewish organization centered around trauma found a very welcoming and happy to help friend in American imperialists. It is so wonderful when you can market middle east invasions as battling antisemitism. Who could argue with you? In the name of defending Israel, the US can do whatever it wants. It has the perfect moral cover. It will support an actual genocide. It will go completely insane. What they - both AIPAC and US establishments - are not including in their calculations is that a big war in the middle east can have very devastating results for both the US and Israel. In their quest for creating a Jewish psyche and a world beneficial to their paranoid vision (which America shares as a colonial power), that don't take into account that reality is a whole different business from propaganda. - But this is why they do it, and televise and broadcast it. So that we are hated, isolated, fearful and controlled by Bibi and AIPAC forever. There's nothing that reassures those people as hate for Israel. - Don't fight people who thrive on hate with hate. Fight them with clarity and resolve.