UMNO’s Institutionalized racism – a curse we all need to rid this nation of.

                                           

Racism as defined by Stokely Carmichael and Charles V Hamilton in their seminal book “ Black Power” in 1967 is still very applicable 40 odd years on and here in Malaysia. Their definition of racism is “ the predication of decisions and policies on considerations of race for the purpose of subordinating a racial group and maintaining control over that group.” Racism they go on to add is both overt and covert. Acts by individuals they call individual racism is overt and acts committed collectively, they call institutionalized racism is less overt, and in most instances covert.

The first type , individual racism is the sort we see in the likes of utterances of the School Heads, Senior BTN officials and the Mufti of Perlis and the most recent case of a former police PIBG head taking 6 Indian students to the police station who were interrogated for 10 long hours because they rejected the racist book “Interlok”. This type of racism can be easily captured by reports, by the phone or other cameras and displayed in the youtube, in blogs and such other devices and generally it is brought out by acts of commission. There is generally more public condemnation of this type of racism.

The second type, institutional racism is less overt, is subtle, but systematic and many orders of magnitude more pervasive. It is less identifiable in terms of specific individuals committing the acts. This second type originates in the operation of established and respected forces in society and is far less recognizable and it generally receives little public condemnation.

When scores of Indian youth are killed in custody, there is little uproar, for after all they are the scum of society. When there is widespread statelessness among the Indian poor, too bad these stupid people do not know how to take care of themselves, that is their damned fault. When in desperation Indian individuals and families perish in suicides there is public sympathy and derision at the same time for the dead but not the acknowledgement of the impact the system has had on them. When the primary schools that Indian children go to are in shambles, well they have a choice to go the national schools don’t they. This is after all the natural order of things..is it not, so argue the beneficiaries of the racist system.

Institutionalized racism manifests itself in oppression of multiple forms within every sphere of social relations – economic exploitation, political subordination, cultural devaluation, psychological violation,verbal abuse, police harassment, etc. These operate so normally and naturally and are so much part of the existing institutions of our society that the common people are barely conscious of their operation. Casual racial prejudices have over time transformed into a systematized and codified ideology and practice of racial subordination.

Najib, however in his UMNO general assembly speech on the 15^th of October 2009 said, “If Malays are truly racist as alleged we would not have compromised on the cultures of other ethnic groups being practiced here……..We would also not have allowed vernacular schools to be established, …..The true meaning of racism would be like apartheid as previously practiced by South Africa..”.

So, Najib the leader of the beneficiaries of the system denies the existence of anyhting like institutionalized racism?

To answer this let us take Najib’s suggestion and compare with what existed in the Apartheid regime of South Africa which no one will argue was not a prime example of institutionalized racism.

Here are some key features of South Africa’s Apartheid (Apartness) system:

1) A central feature of the Apartheid rule was the categorization of all the South African People into Whites, Coloreds, Indian and Blacks – their Bangsa. Everything else was built on this categorization.


2) Using this racial categorization it decided where each category of people lived, who they married, who they had sex with, where they worked and how they moved about.


3) The Group Areas Act of 1950 partitioned the country into areas allocated to different racial groups. Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 created separate government structures for blacks and was the first piece of legislation established to support the government’s plan of separate development in the Bantustans


4) They segregated education, medical care, and other public services on the basis of this racial categorisation .


5) They all had to carry Identity cards which indicated their “Bangsa” so to speak.


6) They had the apartheid laws – The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949, Immorality Act of 1950, The Population Registration Act of 1950 and so on. And they had laws of repression. Laws such as Suppression of Communism Act of 1950, The Public Safety Act of 1953 and the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1953, The Riotous Assembly Act, The Terrorism Act to name a few of the notorious ones.


7) To oversee the apartheid implementation, the bureaucracy expanded, and, by 1977, there were more than half a million white state employees.


Blacks were not allowed to run businesses or professional practices in those areas designated as “white South Africa” without a permit.


9) Each of the 4 categories of South Africans had their own education system.


Now let us look at comparative situations in the Malaysian rgime:

1) A central feature of our system is also our categorization into Bumiputras, Chinese, Indians and Others from birth to death.Everywhere we go we have to declare Bangsa, Ugama – at birth, at school registration, in all the applications we make, at marriage, at death and in many many more situations.

2) Large areas of most cities and towns are segregated not by law, but by practice and without the need for such segregation laws. Clear example is in Penang the Island is mainly populated by Chinese, and the Malays mostly prefer to live on the Mainland. In Shah Alam it is mainly Malays. In Seremban it is mainly Chinese in locations like Seremban Garden, and Malays in Ampangan or Paroi areas. In Kuching you have South and North Kuching for the Chinese and the Malays. In practice but not in law.

3) In several housing areas State Consent is required if one wants to sell the property especially if it is in a predominantly Malay area. It is quicker to get consent for inter Bumiputra sale than it is for a sale across the Bumiputra /Non-Bumiputra divide. Again in practice but not in law.


4) Malaysia has repressive laws like the Internal Security Act to put away who UMNO considers to be trouble makers without having to go through the court processes, the Official Secrets Act to blot out all decisions made by the UMNO controlled Administration from public view, The Printing Presses and Publications Act to control the print media from publishing too much anti UMNO news, The Seditions Act to shut people up from speaking up againts UMNO policies – to name a few of the repressive laws that helps maintain the current regime.


5) The bureaucracy is entirely made up of largely one ethnic group , Bumiputras – eight hundred thousands of them, all implementing UMNO Policy. The Police force is almost entirely Malay, the armed forces are almost entirely Malay. The judicial system is almost entirely Malay. The public Universitieis are almost entirely Malay. The GLC managements are entirely Malay. Again in practice but not in law.


6) Most Government and Government linked businesses are off limits to non- Bumiputras. There is a complete system of screening vendors that limits vendors to almost entirely Bumiputras.


7) Business licences are largely awarded to Bumiputras or must have mandatory minimum Bumiputra participation – Bank Licences, Educational Institutions Licences, Permits in the Transportation businesses and so many more.


8 ) Participation in all government development schemes are entirely for Bumiputras – MARA, FELDA, FELCRA, RISDA, PERDA, KESEDAR, KEJORA to name a few. In practice but not in law.


9) Educational opportunities in Public Educational Institutions are grossly in favour of Bumiputras.


10) Cross religious relationships between Non muslim Malaysians and Muslim Malaysians is a complicated affair, especially if a problem develops along the way.

If we consider these two sets of situations it is apparent that there are significant number of similarities between the apartheid system and the Malaysian system created, developed, finetuned by UMNO from 1957 to 2011. The key difference seems to be the lack of ambiguity in the South African expression in all its laws. In Malaysia a lot of the racism is in practice not in the law. To any right thinking person it is so obvious, the racism that underlies our daily life. Therefore it is really audacious for Najib to say UMNO is not racist – the party that is responsible for this terrible state of affairs. He is in a terrible state of denial still..

Allowing the practice of cultures of the Indians or the Chinese in Malaysia or allowing Chinese Medium and Tamil Medium schools in Malaysia, or of allowing the use of Chinese and Indian names does not in any way define the character of the regime in Malaysia. Allowing all this actually now becomes convenient argument for UMNO to take everything else away, it seems. It is the structure of the economic political system that defines the character of our system. And it is blatantly racist.

I do not say the Malay people are racists. I am saying that UMNO, the political party is. It is indeed a blue blooded racist party – the entire cause for the racism that is so rampant in Malaysia.

Racism is “the domination of one ethnic group over other ethnic groups on the basis of some claimed superiority”. In South Africa – White Supremacy, In Hitler’s Germany – the Superiority of the German race, In the British Empire – the Civilizing Burden of the White Man, in Malaysia, Ketuanan Melayu or Malay Supremacy.

Do we need to say more.

Let us all wake up and in solidarity fight this curse of institutionalized racism. We have no choice if we all Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Dusuns, Muruts, Dayaks want a vibrant prosperous and robust nation in Malaysia.





Naragan
HRP.com

ATTORNEY GENERAL SHOULD DROP ALL CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST HINDRAF SUPPORTERS

RE: ATTORNEY GENERAL SHOULD DROP ALL CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST HINDRAF SUPPORTERSCRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST HINDRAF SUPPORTERS POLITICALLY MOTIVATEDATTORNEY GENERAL PROMOTING HATRED AGAINST THE JUSTICE SYSTEM BY VIOLATING ARTICLE 8 OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.

HINDRAF calls on the Attorney General to drop all criminal charges against HINDRAF supporters arrested and charged for attending the peaceful gathering last November 25th.

Public confidence on the administration of justice in this country is seriously eroded with the selective arrest and prosecution of HINDRAF supporters.

The Attorney General is vested the highest prosecutorial power in the land by the DYMM Yang Dipertuan Agong under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution and it is incumbent upon him to exercise his duties judiciously without fear or favour and in the best interest of the Country.
HINDRAF questions the motive of the Attorney General in the selective arrest and prosecutions especially when it involved the ethnic Indian community. The recent Muslim mob, which confronted and disrupted the Bar Council forum, was aided and abetted by the Royal Police Force and the aggressive protesters were given full protection by the Police. None were arrested nor was there any criminal investigations instituted. It was obvious the Royal Police Force were acting against the spirits of Article 8 of the Federal Constitution for the simple reason that these protesters were Muslims.

Justice system should work in tandem with the democratic need of the rakyat (people) but if the rakyat began to lose hope and despise the system , the country would be lead in the dark alleys of anarchy.

The Malaysian public has not forgotten the sins of the Attorney General in vindictively charging 31 peaceful devotees of Batu Caves with attempted murder for the alleged assault on one policeman, linking them with terrorist organisations, and objecting bail on grounds of National Security. Finally when his thirst was quenched with the arrest of the 4 HINDRAF lawyers all that he could say was “it was only the fairest thing to do” to drop the attempted murder charge.

The Malaysian Indians had enough and do not let them despise you (Mr.AG) and the Justice system of this country.

It is now time to decide what is the fairest thing to do and it would be to withdraw all criminal charges against these more than 100 innocent people who have been made scapegoats by the political system of this country. They have suffered enough and do not oppress them any further.

HINDRAF calls you to exercise your utmost discretion and powers conferred upon you by the DYMM Yang Dipertuan Agong under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution to immediately withdraw all criminal charges against the more than 100 charged with various offences related to the November 25th peaceful assembly.

P. Waytha Moorthy

CHAIRMAN - HINDRAF

Currently in London

The ulama and Malaysian apartheid

In American history there is this case of 187 Americans including the famous Davy Crockett who withdrew to a fortress called the Alamo to resist the advance of 4000 Mexican forces. The Mexicans laid siege to the fortress and then executed an intensive assault lasting 12 long days. Needless say, all but six of the outnumbered American defenders were killed in the fighting. The six survivors were ordered killed by the Mexican commander Santa Anna.

This brief event in history can be used to analogize the modern day experience of the Ketuanan Melayu mentality. Ever since Independence in 1957 the Malay mindset has been developing a siege mentality. It perceives that the Malay race is about to be wiped out; that the Islamic religion it practices is surrounded by ‘musuh-musuh Islam’, or enemies of Islam; that the purity of the Malay language is being eroded by foreign influences; that its culture, morality and etiquette similarly are being polluted by corrupt western values.

It was only a perception created by an insecure mind for Malays like everyone else are as capable as the next man. But it has been repeated over and over again in the days, weeks, months, and years on end so much so that it has become a concrete truth to some segments of the Malay community. It is true that when a lie is repeated often enough it becomes a truth.

This mentality then has withdrawn into its fortress Alamo, and began to protect this ‘truth’. It used the emotive ‘untuk agama bangsa dan negara’ (for religion, race and country) to legitimize as well as to provide the necessary energy for it.

It appears that there are two segments or categories of this Ketuanan Melayu mentality. The first is the secular segment, i.e. one that runs the country, namely the political leaders, the civil servants, the incumbents in the public services like the police, military, customs, and immigration. They look into the secular and physical aspects of this mental framework. They ensure employment in the government sector is the preserve of the Malays, and being so non-Malays are restricted.

Non-Malays who somehow got into the government services are quickly categorised either as pro- or anti-Malay. Either way, promotion and career prospects for them are in any case dim and limited. Ask any former non-Malay military, police, customs and immigration officials, and they’d eagerly confirm the truth to this matter. The pro-Malay government then goes all out to ensure a generous Malay bias towards the issuance of licenses, the formation and application of public policies, economic policies, even education policies. The secular leaders create the first level Malaysian apartheid.

Tough decree to follow
Then there is the second segment, namely the ulamas, i.e. those religious leaders who make it their duty to assume the role of religion and morality policemen. They are the architects of second category Malaysian apartheid.

They nurture the elitist image that Islam is an exclusive religion thus separating the Malays from the non-Malays. They enunciate the principle that all Malays are Muslim by birth, and must remain Muslim all their lives. Malays are in other words never allowed to apostate, or to denounce their Muslim faith. Nor are new converted non-Malays allowed to revert to their original religion. On both counts, they claim that Islam is not a religion to denounce at the whims and fancies of individuals.

They insist for Malays and non-Malay Muslims as well as all Malaysian citizens to subscribe to Islamic values. This is a tough decree to follow, because religion is a personal matter and relates to the relationship between an individual and his God: Yahweh the Jewish God, Jesus the Christian God, and of course Allah the God of all Muslims. There are of course other gods like Brahma of the Hindu, and Brahma’s many thousands of manifestations, as well as the other god or gods of other religions and cultures around the world. The ulamas somehow have the view that there is only one God, and He is Allah. All other gods are to them false.

All these restrictions and prohibitions are made despite the Quran’s overt declaration that there is no compulsion in religion. Surah 2.256 of the Quran, the primary source of authority in Islam, expressly states that there is no compulsion in religion.

Together the two segments of Malay mentality work in concert, in perfect teamwork, much like the left hand working with the right. To the Malays these two segments work to help ensure the survival of the Malay religion, or Islam as perceived and understood by the Malay, Malay culture and the progress and prosperity of the Malay motherland of Malaysia.

Perhaps it is more accurate to state that the ulamas have been playing the secular leaders with the simple minded Malay individuals. The ulamas would team up with the individuals (who got the voting numbers) to contain the leaders. In Malaysian democracy number is all important, so leaders ‘kowtow’ or listen to the ulamas as they have the power to influence Malay voters.

Likewise, the ulamas would team up with the leaders to contain the individuals. This can be done by way of controlling the mindset of the Malays. How they do this is explained below. Either way, the ulamas are securing their positions.

The fact still remains that this mental environment leading to this siege mentality, is only an assumption, a perception, even a cultural trait. It is never the truth. It does not help to think that it is akin to the now dead era of apartheid of South Africa. Where is the truth that government servants must be Malays, that all government policies must be geared and applied to suit Malay interests? Similarly where is the truth that all Malays are born Muslim? There are some Malays in this country who are closet non-Muslims. There are ‘Malays’ in Thailand and the Southern Philippines and Indonesia who are Buddhists or Christians.

Where too is the truth that a Malay person cannot apostate?

Another overdrive
Obviously the Malay mindset is working in an environment of contradiction and emotion. The painful truth is that the Malay mind works on the basis of an assumption, even on a lie. It is perfectly understandable therefore that they have retreated into the stressful siege mentality and environment.

They also work in an atmosphere of absolute power, having cast aside the check and balance system of governance in a healthy of democracy, curtailment of basic human rights, setting aside the rule of law, and fusing together the elements of state and religion.

With these in place, the Ketuanan Melayu leadership incumbents went on another overdrive, this time not so much to protect race and religion, but more to take advantage of the awesome power that lies for grabs when these basic principles of democracy are demolished. Herewith is a list of the some of the abuses perpetrated by the Ketuanan Melayu which by now every knowledgeable Malaysian are very familiar with: massive corruption, rampant abuse of power, cronyism and nepotism, arrogant leaders, blatant disregard for human rights, suppression of the rights of the individual

The theological segment of this mentality, the ulamas, in the meantime has been intimidating the Malay, new non-Malay converts, and non-Muslims with their brand of intimidation and coercion. In this the ulamas operate in many ways.

One, stealthily they work in the background to ‘advise’ the secular leaders on matters of religion. In this way they help ensure that the secular but Muslim Malay leaders are not too far adrift from the leaders’ heritage and commitments to Islam. The leaders are constantly counseled that Islam and democracy are identical; that being so Islam and the state are not contradictory; and that Islam is to be made as the ‘official’ religion. The ulamas have done so with remarkable success.

Two, the ulamas again by way of constant repetition and use of the fear factor (fear of death, fear of committing sins and having to answer for them in Hell) have been brainwashing the Malay mindset reminding the individual Malays of their elitist Malay heritage and commitment to Islam. In this way the Malays are to adhere to the postulates of the Islamic state above.
Three, the ulamas create for themselves the role as bureaucratic intermediary between a Malay individual and God. They do so despite the basic principle and tenet of Islam being Al-Deen (pronounced as ‘Addeen’) stating there is nothing between God and man, and God and other man.

For example, they do so by way of insisting Malays who’d wish to marry to first of all get a certificate (of readiness, fitness, health); by insisting on the ‘halal’ certification to all meats to be eaten by Muslims; and by banning of books, periodicals, magazines, films, deemed to be detrimental to the nation’s well being and to public order.

They do so by insisting that all Malays who wish to denounce Islam must get their permission first of all. But when these individuals do come forward, they are advised to repent, and not given the permission and authority to apostate.

They also do so by way of the horrendous body snatching – the claiming for Muslim burial of non-Muslims suspected to having converted to Islam at some point before their death.

Poor self confidence
The ulamas have been able to shape the psychology, philosophy and world view of both the Malay leaders and individuals by their clever manipulation of several factors. Up front they make the claim that as ulamas they are the inheritors and benefactors of some special religious principles directly from the Prophet Mohammad. In reality they are just myth creators, and of similar league with the priestly class of religious adherents found in other religions. In this country, they are in fact the civil servants and government functionaries running the religion departments and the specialized Islamic agencies like IKIM and JAKIM.

Secondly, the ulamas capitalize on the poor sense of self-confidence of the Malays in seeing the world. As it is the world is changing at a frenetic speed. So do the Malays, from their agrarian and rural background, to the modern technical and urban background; from their feudal past to the democratic present.

The Malays have no historical and cultural continuity to begin understanding what is going on. They are not even aware that they are undergoing change in the first place.

Neither do the ulamas have any such inkling. But being smart, they create the pretension and myth that they are in the know. They have to be smart, for the alternative is for them to lose out in the modern technical era of knowledge and competition. In other words, they’d lose their jobs. And as they do not have any technical knowledge besides Islamic theology, they’d find the real world very cruel and unforgiving. Their economic productivity would be zero.

So they play on the sense of uncertainty and fear of the Malays, telling them that should the Malays renege from their religious commitments, they would surely go to the deepest levels of Hell. The Malays grab this wonderful lesson and wisdom for at least this gives them a sense of solace and security they sorely need.

Santa Anna came to assault and virtually demolished the Ketuanan Melayu Alamo in the form of the 12th general elections held last March 8. There is no strength in lies, and in any case truth no matter how long suppressed has a way of coming out. The elections have amply demonstrated this wisdom. By all accounts it was a complete and comprehensive rout, not seen in this country since 1969.

Blame for the rout has been apportioned all around, starting from the former Prime Minister for creating the atmosphere of totalitarianism and authoritarianism during his 22 long years in office. The present Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is receiving the greatest heat for sleeping during his 4 short years in office, for unfulfilling on his election promises, and for allowing his lieutenants and relatives having a merry time raiding the nation’s treasury.

Other lesser top tier individuals are not spared; for example Najib, for his arrogant assumption that the premiership is his birthright, and for his perceived corrupt act of securing hefty commissions in the country’s defense purchases; Hishamuddin for his keris threatening antics.

Even Umno as an institution is also not spared, for being arrogant and completely out of depth with the changing times.

The good news is that plans are already mooted to address all of the pre-Alamo shortcomings, at least if Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is to be believed. Will he lead the country to seal the demise of Malaysian apartheid (for this is what the post-election latest developments in this country amounts to), or will he continue as though nothing has happened? For this only time will tell although he has not got much of it.

The bad news is that almost in all of the analyses the concern and criticism has almost all the time been focused onto the secular segment of the Ketuanan Melayu mentality. This being so, perhaps only its secular weaknesses might get to be addressed in the weeks and months ahead. In the event there is a glaring omission.

The important omission is this: that the ulamas have so far at least been left fairly untouched and unscathed while they have been instrumental in nurturing and maintaining the conservative, orthodox and conforming Malay status quo all along and as mentioned above.
Should this be so, then the Malay mind might have to experience another Alamo at some point in the future, this time expressly to be rid of the theological apartheid the ulamas have been championing all these while. So much better if this urgent point is addressed now, so the country can proceed with catching up on lost time immediately.

So, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has two main jobs to do in the coming period: he has to radically alter the secular segment and particularly the theological segment, of the Ketuanan Melayu mindset. Should he succeed he would go into history as the person who effective killed apartheid, Malaysian style.




AB Sulaiman - Malaysiakini