Hi friends Please read this , what happened in malaysia in1969, may 13. Why people can't forget that day eventhough it was on history. Malaysian Civil War 1969 it is hard to imagine that just over two decades ago the streets of Kuala Lumpur ran red with blood. Agonized cries of "Malai si!" (Death to the Malays!) and "Hutang darah dibayar darah!" (Blood debts will be repaid with blood!) shouted by Chinese paraders were only the prelude to the violence that erupted four days later following the release of the 1969 general election results (Comber. pp 66-67. For full citations throughout, please refer to the biblio). On the evening of May 13th, thousands of Malays who had purportedly assembled for a victory rally began attacking passing Chinese on motor scooters and in cars, and before long, patches of the city were engulfed in flames. Using any available weapons, the initial attacks escalated into widespread rioting, looting, and killing. In the ensuing confusion, rumors of heroic figures who were skilled in the Malay martial art of silat and were possessed of magic powers such as the ability to fly and invulnerability to bullets and knives spread wildly and encouraged continued violence. Mosque loudspeakers which normally would broadcast the call to prayer were exhorting the faithful to continue the struggle (Reid.p 269-70). It is miraculous that when the fires died out, only about 200 people were reported dead with another couple hundred serious injuries. Other unofficial estimates were as high as six or seven hundred dead, which could still be considered fortunate in light of the carnage which might have ensued had the violence continued unabated. In the aftermath of the riots, the government imposed emergency powers, suspended the press and the parliament, and established a National Operations Council which ultimately functioned as a de facto government for nearly two years. When the parliament finally reconvened in February of 1971, it announced that certain racially sensitive issues, now known as isu-isu sensitif, were henceforth not to be openly discussed under any circumstances. This amounted to a decree which forbade any further questioning of the special privileges of the Malays. A contemporary European analyst commented that "perhaps the most serious consequence of May 13...is the apparent decision of the Malaysian rulers to render Malay status inviolable by thought, word, or deed."( Short.p 1089) For over twenty years now, these "sensitive issues" have been tightly bottled up with no hint of release. On the surface, in the official media, Malaysia is a harmonious country characterized by three diverse ethnic groups, each with its own religious and cultural traditions. RTM (Radio Television Malaysia) regularly broadcasts cheerful children from all three races, usually wearing their own traditional dress, singing the national anthem, Negaraku (My Country), or another similarly patriotic song. Underneath this thin veneer of harmony, however, lurks a tension which can be seen in the people's eyes, if not heard in their voices. The collective memory of 13 May 1969 is strong enough among those who lived through it that this tension is bearable if it prevents chaos. Yet it is imperative that this volatile tension be addressed, not suppressed. This paper will examine some of these "sensitive issues" as well as the ethnic tensions in general by tracing their colonial origins. Ref:http://www.huaren.org/diaspora/asia/malaysia/racehis.html