I once read this from a forum in Malaysia, “If it is an Indian problem, it is no problem. If it is a Chinese problem, it is a racial problem. If it is a Malay problem, it is a national problem’.
Race-based politics has been the corner stone of Malaysian politics since independence. UMNO being the dominant and majority party has honed the skill to exploit every opportunity to ensure it continued survival and leadership within BN and the country. Their top leaders have mastered the intricacies of manipulating communal and religious politics to an art form.
In a diversified country such as Malaysia, UMNO is able to exploit its majority status by capturing the hearts and souls of Malays through the affirmative action, championing of the Malay rights and defending the religion of Islam. The NEP provided bumiputras with guaranteed quota in education and preferred business opportunities.
When Mahathir sacked his deputy Anwar Ibrahim during the Asia financial crisis, the Malays were inadvertently divided. Jailing Anwar aggravated the situation. Urban Malays better educated and more prosperous middle class can no longer be easily manipulated by UMNO leaders through scare mongering. The rampant corruption and self gratification that only benefit few UMNOputras certainly do not go well with the average Malays.
The Preaching of ‘Ketuanan Melayu” or Malay supremacy to the Malay masses has been an essential sloganeering tool that encompass all thing Malay. At every UMNO General Assembly, the battle cry was to protect the Malays at any cost. Many of the past and present leaders have invoked spilling of blood to defend his race. The unsheathing of the Kris has been a ritual that antagonises non-Malays for many years.
Whoever uttered any words against Malay, will almost be guaranteed to get a spontaneous and vigorous response. At times UMNO Youth members are mobilised to go on demonstration. It has done against many Chinese associations, Indian temples relocations and even against Singapore LKY for stating that non-Malays are marginalised in Malaysia. Some of the demonstrations can be ugly and uncivilised and yet we don’t see any UMNO leadership coming out to condemn it. Instead it always justify that it is fair for the Malays to upset and need to show their emotions for the feeling of hurt.
And the UMNO controlled newspapers continue to spew venom and attack whoever is deemed to have encroached on Malay ground. It continues to highlight the negatives of anyone that has worked against any Malay establishments. It is not adverse to twisting facts and insinuates to defend its Malays interest. Classic examples were the death of Teoh Beng Hock and the “cow head demonstration”.
Over the years, UMNO politicians have succumbed to the temptation of appeasing Malay-Muslims constituency merely for the votes with hand in gloves. Often a blind eye is turned on UMNO demonstrators but any others can expect a very heavy- handed response. Court cases too advance faster whenever anti government figures are involved. Seditions charged too are selective. Investigations process and decision to prosecute can easily be guessed. Many key UMNO members are never investigated despite having wealth beyond their means.
The demon I am talking about is the playing of the Malay race card. It is useful at times for political expediency, widely used as a means to justify its relevance and improve its credibility and popularity among the Malay masses. This demon has become part of UMNO legacy. It has become an uncontrollable and heinous monster that brings fear to its own master. Just to temper it require utmost sensitivity and care, otherwise it will turn around and haunt whoever tried.
The lack of firmness from the whole government in this “Allah and church arson” episode illustrated my point. It fears offending the Malay and Muslim ground. It has appealed to the courts for a stay of order. It did not stop street demonstrations. In its effort to cool the situation, it only shows conciliatory gesture to the Christian quarters.
At the present moment, I do not see any strong UMNO Malay leader that has the guts to exorcise this demon. Even strong man Mahathir continued to coddle and play the race and religious card to his his advantage. While serving as Malaysia PM, he declared that Malaysia is an Islamic State to the shock of his countrymen. He always play the race card especially when criticising Singapore. On his recent blog. he was sympathetic to the Muslim over the court ruling on the use of the word "Allah".
Under the circumstances the only exorcist has to come from a Malay in the opposition camp. If not, the country has no alternative and Malaysians are destined to live under the shadow of this UMNO demon. Also this ghost will continue to haunt the hand that feed it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment