Pitfalls and danger lurk but DAP has to keep the door open to more Malays

The Democratic Action Party (DAP) is on the right track in declaring that it intends to raise the number of candidates from Malay-speaking communities in Peninsular Malaysia in a bid for more seats in Parliament.

This is an idea whose time has come nearly 50 years after the Peoples Action Party (PAP), its parent party, seized the reins of power down south across the causeway in Singapore. Even as the PAP’s fortunes are on the wane in the island republic, the DAP’s star is shining ever brightly than before in Malaysia across both sides of the South China Sea.

Spoilt for choice

Malays in their political maturity phase are now spoilt for choice after Umno which has consistently bludgeoned the Malay opposition into near extinction through defections, the Special Branch, the Internal Security Act (ISA), the Bankruptcy Act, the Income Tax Act and the like.

Initially, the Malays made for PAS over the years, and then entered the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) after the sacking of then Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim from the Umno Government. Visuals in 1998 of Anwar’s blue-and-black eye – now the party symbol – after a savage beating at the hands of then Inspector-General of Police Rahim Noor, infuriated the masses like no other incident.

The Malays also realised that there was no more room for them in Umno, and with good reasons. The ruling party has since 1987 degenerated from a mass-based movement into a Holding Company of many ‘Sdn Bhd’ or branches virtually owned, managed and controlled by particular families of mini political dynasties – often the term warlord is used – and focused only on plundering the Public Treasury through opportunities created by the government and the system.

The Umno of today, in reality Mahathir’s Umno Baru from 1987 after the old Umno was declared unlawful and deregistered, is no longer in touch with the masses, Malay and non-Malay alike. This is a party of robber barons living it up as if there’s no tomorrow.

Witness Prime Minister Najib Razak’s wife, Rosmah Majid’s shopping sprees abroad. She continues to live in a state of denial, even when the foreign press have taken to dubbing her as the region’s new ‘Imelda Marcos’ in a reference to the former Philippine dictator’s wife famed for buying 3,000 pairs of shoes while the poor in the country lived near to starvation – and this is no exaggeration!

Why DAP but then again, why not DAP!

The question that arises within Umno circles is why any good Malay would be caught even dead in DAP when they can opt for the mass-based PAS or the PKR if unhappy with the ruling party? Umno no doubt still has pretensions of forming a Malay unity government - “let’s share the loot” -- with PAS and forcing PKR to merge - read Sodomy II - with it. These are strategies the party cannot pursue if the Malays are in the highly-disciplined DAP as well in substantial numbers.

The DAP foray, or intended in-roads into Malay areas, comes close on the realization within PAS and PKR that the former has just about reached its zenith and natural potential based on its main Islamic theme. PKR meanwhile is still work in progress in organising the Malay and other grassroots. Although there are many talented Malays and non-Malays wanting to join Anwar’s party, perhaps many folds more than PAS and DAP, PKR needs to work harder on its internal structures.

The DAP will not be eating into the Malay support behind PAS and PKR but will be seeking instead to woo the Malay fence-sitters in Umno areas. These prefer not to be with either PAS or PKR for reasons of their own.

Whatever the rationale, it is good to seen parties in the Pakatan – PKR and DAP at least – progressing beyond lip service in being multiracial parties.

PAS will get there soon, it is to be hoped, because race-based politics is something that will kill Malaysia sooner rather than later.

Assure the Malays of what is rightfully theirs

DAP will be able to woo Malays by pointing out the degeneration of Umno since 1987 and its continued degeneration under ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad, its unofficial Advisor, and its linkage with Perkasa from the right-wing fringe.

However, the DAP would also need to re-assure the Malays that Article 153 of the Federal Constitution and the New Economic Policy (NEP) would be maintained, albeit as envisaged in letter and spirit.

The DAP would also need to point out to the Malay-speaking communities that it would be in their long-term interest that the power over Article 153 be restored back to the King and that the deviations and distortions in the said clause and the NEP be ended once and for all for the benefit of the malays themselves and the nation at large.

There are no other issues that prevent the Malay-speaking communities in Peninsular Malaysia from flocking to the DAP or PKR and PAS in droves.

Malays should not put all their eggs in one basket

It would not be in the interest of the Malay-speaking communities in Peninsular Malaysia to put all their political eggs in one basket i.e. the decadent and degenerate Umno under a super duper corrupt leadership at every level of the party.

The more number of Malays in DAP, the more multiracial the party would eventually become in Parliament.

Hence, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if the number of Malay legislators in DAP, perhaps as many as 35 MPs eventually, equal that of the party’s non-Malay representatives in Parliament. This will reduce the number of Malays MPs from Umno to 35 including 13 from Sabah.

There are 10 Chinese MP seats for the DAP’s taking in East Malaysia - Sabah (3) and Sarawak (7). That assumes that the party, in a worse case scenario, will not able to pick up any Dayak MP seats in Sarawak through its Dayak Task Force. In Sabah, it’s unlikely that the DAP can pick up any Dusun – including Kadazan or urban Dusun and Murut – MP seats or any non-Dusun Muslim seats.

The DAP can pick up at least another 25 seats in Peninsular Malaysia from its Chinese and Indian candidates.

That is the best-case scenario that pundits are now calling. As we go closer to the 13th general election, this forecast can deteriorate or even improve. Whichever it is, Pakatan is expected to trounce BN.

DAP turncoat?

The greatest worry though is that DAP turns traitor! Yes, talk is growing Umno has begun negotiations with DAP for an alliance post GE-13, whether BN or Pakatan wins. If true, Lim Guan Eng, the DAP secretary-general, will be committing suicide for his party. His dad, Lim Kit Siang, and DAP chairman Karpal Singh are bound to resist such a move but these men cannot live forever – legends though they are!

Even if DAP declines crossing over, the new members it picks up from Umno might do what Zahrain Hashim, Zaid Ibrahim and gang did to PKR. This has been a sensitive topic of discussion amongst the top Pakatan leadership. It is a real worry because Umno has the big bucks. The party itself may have little money but the Umno elite feature among the richest people in the world! What is several billion to them when they can rape the country for hundreds more if they get to cling on!

But the wheels of time wait for no one and Malaysians must be brave in facing the future. Malaysians must learn from the horror rule of Umno and BN never to depend on anyone or any party solely. They must stand up for themselves, their rights and the way they wish to live and be governed by.

Otherwise, we would go mad from the all betrayals – past, present and future. So take heart Malaysians and face GE-13 bravely. First step, get rid of Umno-BN. Then insist Pakatan carries out reforms immediately to protect the people from any form of political hegemony ever again.

That is the first order of the day, the most important to prevent us from ever losing our freedom again. Malaysians must reclaim their own rights before they can reclaim their nation.

by  K Suresh & Wong Choon Mei

Malaysia Chronicle

When All The Non-Malays Leave Malaysia .......

As the days go by, more and more depressing news is cropping up. Deputy Education Minister Wee has made a statement that the PSD scholarships for bright students have been abused. Many students with 10A’s are not offered PSD scholarships , while those with 4-5A’s managed to secure them.

It shows that even our brainy, bright, young talents are being discriminated against and barred from a chance to further their education overseas.

These will a big loss to our country’s talent pool and to the nation’s future. What a sad state of affairs, when even being the best is not enough.

Will an investigation be conducted as to who these beneficiaries are and whether they rightly deserve such coveted scholarships ?

Although it may not be a serious controversy, our bright young minds and talented geniuses who cannot afford an overseas education without financial support will only contribute to the unstoppable brain drain of this nation. Our hopes to be a first world nation are dashed on the rocks.

These are our future leaders who will chart the course and contribute to the grand design of this nation.

Today, our pool of leaders are nothing to shout about. Some of them are a bunch of clowns. Every time they open their mouths, we can see through their idiotic minds, no matter how very hard they try to hide the fact that they are not very bright. Even some leaders have questionable overseas degrees. Without highly skilled intellectuals to be our leaders who can see through the greed, corruption and inequality, it will be very difficult
for Malaysia to attain First World status.

Malaysia seems less and less a ‘Promised Land’ to the non-Malays. With a mock democracy and an authoritarian system of Government in place, Malaysians who cherish democracy, meritocracy, freedom of expression, equality and freedom of religion are discouraged from regarding Malaysia as their homeland.

Those who can afford it have to save to send their offspring overseas to further their studies and to seek employment. Once their offspring have secured an education and employment in their host countries, many will apply for Permanent Residence to join their offspring. Bringing with them all the wealth and talent to their host country. Malaysia continues to lose its wealth and its valuable human resources.

Talent Corporation is facing an uphill daunting task to encourage Malaysians to return and serve the country. Those who say it is another for-show hype by Prime Minister Najib Razak are right. Malaysia simply doesn’t offer a conducive environment for the highly skilled and talented to return and help build this nation. Current policies in place, are a gross hindrance. Those who actually return mourn the rashness of their decision, and many cannot wait to leave again.

Malaysia could be such a lovely place to build an existence. Its citizens could have coexisted in peace and harmony. There is so much going for this country, but our leaders have made a terrible mess of it. The level of corruption is simply unacceptable. Equal opportunities are in shambles. Threats of racial conflicts and religious sensitivities still
exist. Dinosaur leaders refuse to relinquish their powers and continue to overstay their welcome. Malaysians are humiliated and abused by the government that is supposed to serve them.

Beyond the limit

And now, they continue to threaten the peace of this country by resorting to racial conflicts to split the nation. Non-Malays are constantly reminded that Malays own this country. Malay Supremacy should not be questioned and Islam is superior to all other religions - this is being shoved down their throats each day.

Non-Malays feel sidelined as 2nd class citizens, humiliated that they cannot be equal and even encouraged to leave the country if they are not happy. Barisan Nasional, who is supposed to be the only political coalition capable of serving this nation, stands blind and impotent, as the abuse continues unabated.
One day, we may see the exodus of the non-Malays from this country. When the last Chinese is gone, we will start to miss the pretty, mini-skirted Chinese lasses, and the corporate-dressed Chinese executives. Gone will be the sound of Chinese music during Chinese New Year, the dragon dances, the firecrackers, the red angpows, the Chinese operas and kung fu movies on TV.
Left behind will be empty buildings from Chinese businesses and the friendly neighborhood sundry shops , whose owners used to chatter in 'broken' Malay. Gone will be the Chinatown in Petaling Street , with its cheerful bright lights, myriad of colors and all kinds of everything for sale amidst the incessant Chinese chatter.
When the Indians follow, there will be no more dark beauties in colorful saris, no more colorful temples, no more Hindi movies and the interesting Indian and Hindu culture. No more fiery chicken curries, tosai, tandoori and papadam.

And with it goes the Hindu culture with the carrying of the Kavadi and Chariots of the Gods of Thaipusam and Festival of Lights of Deepavali. No more laughter of happy Indian children playing.
With the Christians joining the exodus, there will be no more sounds of Christmas carols, green Christmas trees dressed in white cotton and decorations. No more Santa Claus in the Shopping Complexes and Shopping Centres. No more Christmas turkey dinners in hotels all over the country and no reason to celebrate the New Year, which Malay hardliners say is a Christian celebration.

Kuala Lumpur, as Malaysia leans to a more Islamic way of life, will see masses of people going to work all dressed in headscarves and Baju Melayu, with even your own sister hardly recognizable among the crowd. How boring it will be without the non-Malays to lend flair, culture, color, identity and fun to our way of life.

Malaysia may one day be like Saudi Arabia . All work and no play or is the other way around - all play and no work!

It will be really sad for Malaysia to lose all its ethnicity, diversity, its potpourri of culture and its identity. Aren’t we selling Malaysia as truly Asia ? Why must the government continue to play with our sensitivities and keep tearing us apart?

If the non-Malays go, I will leave too. No sense hanging around and continue to be abused by these 'half aliens' even though they may be of the same race as me. Suddenly, New Zealand sounds very appealing. I’m sure they need average journalists like me with no sense of humor.





Written by Iskandar Dzulkarnain,
Malaysia Chronicle

A day in the life of an ordinary Malaysian — By Mariam Mokhtar

I wake up and retrieve the newspaper lodged in the letter-box. My “Keling paper” has delivered it faithfully, come rain or  shine. 

I go to the kitchen and make breakfast. Into the toaster goes the bread sent to my home, the previous afternoon, by my “Keling roti”. It has been made by the local bakers, the FBI — Federal Bakery Ipoh — owned by a mamak. 

But if I am out for breakfast, it is usually a roti canai at my local Indian’s. Followed by a char kway snack from “auntie”, a Chinese lady. 

Halfway through the morning, the sound of a horn alerts me that Ah Fatt, our “grocer on wheels”, has arrived. He brings me fresh vegetables,  fish and the usual dried condiments.

 Once a month, our local “Keling botol” comes round to collect our empty bottles. Our “Cina paper” too comes to collect the old newspapers.

 My neighbour comes round with some pisang grown in her garden. She is Indian, married to a Chinese policeman. I am grateful for his tips on how to keep my house secure. When my ubi kayu harvest is plentiful, I’d go round and return her kind gesture.

 I have a gardener. His name is Velu. From the name, you can guess he is Indian. He is much adored by my children. If my son is not in his room, I know where to find him — under the mango tree, in the garden, sharing chapatti, dhall and “tapau” teh tarik with Velu. I told my son off for demolishing Velu’s packed breakfast, but Velu was happy to share his meal. Both were sporting toothless grins — Velu has no teeth and can’t afford dentures. My toddler has just lost his two front teeth.
 
 I’ve no idea what they chat and laugh about. Sometimes not a lot of gardening gets done. But who cares? At least they're happy. When Velu died, my son was distraught. He had been with our family for decades and refused to be pensioned off.

 My general practitioner for the usual coughs and colds is Chinese. All women have a gynaecologist — mine is Indian.
 And my dentist is Chinese...  These people provided services to my parents in the past, and I simply carried on with them. No complaints. Good service.
 Reasonable fee.
 
I did go to a Malay doctor once, but he was more interested in “tackling” my younger sister. I dismissed his lack of professionalism as testosterone driven. He was still a bachelor then..
 And on the second visit, years later, he was fishing for information about other members of my family. One personal question might be excusable.
 
 But twice is too much of a coincidence. I never did return to him. In my eyes, his professional conduct was compromised by these intrusions.  I know I shouldn’t be generalising, but this was my personal experience.

 When I had to be admitted to hospital, the surgeon who operated on me was Indian. The nurses were either Chinese or Indian.

 I once had to use the services of a lawyer — an Indian.

 The person who supplies me with stationery is a Chinese woman married to an Indian man. She once supplied my father’s business with his office stationery needs.

 When I once had a leaky water tank, the plumber who successfully mended it was an Indian. He now takes care of all the house’s plumbing repairs. He was my parents’
 plumber too.

 When my house needed new electrical wiring, the electrician was a Chinese person. When I needed outside electrical work to be done, the electrician was Indian. Both had provided long-term services to the family.

 Before Raya, I would go to my Chinese tailor to make my baju kurung. My hair is cut by a Chinese woman. As before, these people once supplied my mother, all her
 tailoring and hair-grooming requirements. My father’s barber is an Indian.

 Again, before Raya, my mother’s Chinese friends at work would send tins of “love letters”, kueh kapit, for us to enjoy and serve at our open house.
 And early on Raya day itself, several plates of pie tee would arrive and my father’s Indian colleagues would send a big pot of chicken curry and putu mayam.
 The dining table groans with our rendang and the contributions from our friends, of all races and religions.

 For several decades, until my parents were too old and infirm to receive guests, we would have an open house that was a riot of people sporting various national costumes. A real melting point — a true reflection of Malaysia .

 These people once provided my grandparents and my parents essential services. Either that, or they were colleagues at work, or friends from their younger days.

 They, who have grown old alongside my grandparents and parents.

 And now, people are telling me that these non-Malays whom I have grown up with and who have remained friends, through thick and thin, are second-class citizens..?

 That they do not deserve to be Malaysians? That they are far inferior to me?

 So am I to believe that should my neighbour’s husband, a Chinese, make the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, that his life is not as valuable as a Malay policeman’s?

 Who are these self-serving, self-righteous bigots kidding?

Revisiting Malaysia’s Social Contract

The contractual glue that keeps Malaysia’s races together seems to be running out

It was the turn of Malaysia’s Bar Council this time to host a public forum over the weekend in Kuala Lumpur on the country’s Social contract, the arrangement between Malays and non-Malays at the country’s birth to share its wealth.

In the end, no surprises were in store. The four panelists were evenly split, two calling it a piece of fiction, two disagreeing in polite terms. This is an endless debate and we can be sure the Bar Council Forum won’t be the end of the matter. Every school child in Malaysia has been well fed in the early years of independence with tons of material on the Social contract. It’s the younger generation that seems perplexed. Hence, the issue is revisited at regular intervals and the debate continues.

The contract, a simple unwritten arrangement fostered between Malays and non-Malays by the founding fathers, brought about a rare unity among the multiracial peoples of British Malaya and expedited the advent of independence on 31 Aug 1957. The Social contract also paved the way for the inclusion of Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei in an enlarged Federation within just six years of the midnight air ringing with shouts of “merdeka” – “freedom” – in Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur. Brunei stayed out over oil revenues and Singapore, as we will see later, was soon booted out. The Social contract remained intact.

At independence the Malaysian economy was held almost 29 percent by the Chinese; less than 2 percent by the Malays, who were largely outside the money economy; less than 1 percent by the Indians and about 69 percent held mostly by the British and other foreigners. (Malaysia introduced the 20 year 1070-90 New Economic Policy in late 1969. The NEP pledged to eliminate the identification of race with economic function and place of residence; eradicate poverty irrespective of race, color and creed; and ensure that the Malays and other indigenous races own, control and manage at least 30 percent of the nation’s corporate economy by 1990.

But deviations soon set in and there was rampant nepotism, cronyism and corruption to sabotage the NEP and send the economy into a tailspin by the early 1980s. The NEP had to be scaled back to bring the economy out of a recession in the mid-1980s.)

The thrust of the contract was simple: since the Chinese of the towns in particular had considerable economic power in comparison with the largely rural-dwelling Malays who saw themselves as the indigenous people of the country, it was felt that it was only right that the Malays held the reins of political power firmly in their hands in a quid pro quo. This power they would then share with the non-Malays and thereby underwrite the continued economic success of the country. Malay hopes, unlike the disastrous route taken by economic nationalists in so much of Africa, Myanmar and Fiji, hinged on the economy going right. Had the Malays been overwhelmingly in the majority, it is unlikely there would have been a social contract of any sort. The non-Malay numbers almost matched the Malay, even after being bolstered for nearly 150 years by immigrants from the Malay Archipelago. Had overwhelmingly Chinese Singapore been included with Malaya, the Malays would have been in a distinct minority in their “own land”.

There were shades of New Zealand, Australia, Mauritius and the Americas here, all lands where the original inhabitants were reduced to an insignificant minority caught in a vicious cycle of alcohol and drug abuse, poverty, ignorance and disease in vice-ridden shantytowns or in god-forsaken reservations apportioned the most inhospitable and difficult terrains.

The founding fathers, perhaps in a stroke of genius, saw no reason for a time-frame-bound social contract, nor did they see any reason for preserving the arrangement in print for posterity. The social contract, it was foreseen, would serve the nation well and melt away when its time came.

As the nation ends its celebration of its 50th anniversary of independence, an important watershed when we look back at this moment in history in the years ahead, the thinking among many Malaysians is that the social contract has entered the history books as a minor footnote. They point out that not only have Malay numbers increased significantly but the community itself has considerable leverage in the economy of the nation within and without the context of an expanding economic pie.

The levers of the economy at the policy level are almost totally in Malay hands, albeit because of their sheer numbers, although the community continues to be edged out at the retail level. The market is a different ball game altogether.

Not so, scream a vociferous minority, who not only see the social contract as far from having outlived its purpose but insist that it also includes other aspects like the granting of citizenship status to hundreds of thousands of stateless and immigrant non-Malays and their descendents; the position of the Malay rulers, the position of Islam as "the religion of the Federation" according to Article 3 of the Federal Constitution; the position of Bahasa Melayu as the basis of Bahasa Malaysia, the national language, and the sole medium of instruction in education; and the special privileges of the Malays, and by extension, other indigenous peoples of the Federation in the peninsula and Borneo.

This revisionist approach among a diehard Malay nationalist core hasn’t gone down well with the Indians and Chinese in particular and they have made no bones about it in the vernacular media and other channels. Malay moderates feel it’s high time to take the debate behind closed doors, not so much to re-negotiate the social contract, “but to remind community leaders about the history of the past so that they can re-assure themselves and their people once again and renew their faith in the nation and a common destiny, sharing and caring alike”.

(Article 3 of the Federal Constitution states that "Islam is the religion of the Federation but other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation." Wanita Umno called in November 2007 at the Umno Assembly for the insertion of the word "official" before the word "religion" to prevent any "misunderstanding".)

Essentially, the various issues being bandied about outside the social contract are either well covered in the Federal Constitution or backed by social convention. Hence, the question of including these in an unwritten political arrangement like the Social contract should not arise at all. Generally, non-Malays are even more for the Malay rulers and see the institution as an important bulwark against mob rule and rabble-rousers. Meanwhile, the Federal Constitution remains secular, despite Islam being recognized by the otherwise color-blind document as the official religion. There’s a fine distinction between official and national and the fact remains that Malaysia does not have a national religion and the Federal Constitution guarantees complete freedom of worship.

Again, the country is definitely multiracial, multi-religious, multilingual and multicultural, as anyone with eyes can see, and nobody can take that away – “Malaysia Truly Asia” runs the official tourism theme proudly all over the globe -- despite conflicting claims that it is an Islamic state one day, Muslim the next day, run according to Islamic principles the third day while admittedly not a theocratic state, a bizarre contradiction in terms.

These shifting mindsets even among the religious moderates can best be seen as their coming to terms slowly and painfully with secular Malaysia and preaching a brave, new way to combat the dangerous mix of politics with religion. Religion is religion, and politics is politics, and never the twain shall meet in Malaysia. We need not go so far as to echo DAP MP Karpal Singh’s infamous outburst not so long ago that, “Malaysia will only be an Islamic state over my dead body”. Karpal was quickly hailed as “the tiger – shouldn’t it be lion – of Jelutong.”

The current debate over the social contract is not the first time that attempts have been made to revise history for reasons of political expediency.

Nearly 40 years ago, after the searing Sino-Malay race riots May 1969 in Kuala Lumpur, many historians attributed the bloodshed to the “breakdown” of the social contract when non-Malay political parties made substantial gains in the May 1969 General Elections. The island of Penang, the Pearl of the Orient, had fallen to the newly-formed Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, which was in fact mostly composed of ousted rebel leaders from the Malaysian Chinese Association, a key member of the ruling Alliance Party.

The DAP (Democratic Action Party), the Malaysian chapter of Singapore’s ruling PAP, had almost half the seats in the Selangor State Assembly, while the PPP (People’s Progressive Party) made similar gains in its Perak heartland. The MCA saw no further purpose in being part of the Federal Government and pulled out while still remaining as a member of the Alliance. The MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress), the other key member of the Alliance, stayed put in the Federal Government and in the states and at the local levels even as quite a number of panicky families sold their properties for a mere song and packed their bags for India. Elsewhere, long queues of would-be migrants formed for weeks outside the Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian High Commissions in particular and the US Embassy.

The MCA pullout from the federal government was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Race riots erupted first in the Chinatown area of Chow Kit which had a Malay hinterland and soon spread all over the capital city. The incomplete polling was abandoned, Parliament was disbanded, democracy suspended, a state of emergency declared by the caretaker government and Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, seen as too pro-Chinese, was ousted and placed virtually under house arrest for a while. It was like a coup d’ etat. There were isolated incidents everywhere. The police were hopelessly outnumbered and overwhelmed and the Malay Regiment was brought in while the multiracial Federation Army and the famed Sarawak Rangers of elite Iban and other Dayak troops were both confined to their barracks. The Malay Regiment were mindless robots who contributed to the carnage as well in perceived defense of race, religion and country. They were eventually ordered, albeit reluctantly and gently, to return to their barracks but not until the blood-letting had dragged on for some ten days or more of unspeakable tales of horror.

In hindsight, the apologists and conspiracy theorists rationalize that the Malay Regiment ran amok in revenge for the killings over two weeks by the Communist Party of Malaya’s Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army which virtually had a free run of the country while awaiting the return of British troops in strength following the Japanese surrender after the 2nd World War. The Japanese looked on. The MPAJA’s victims were mostly Malays seen as Japanese collaborators. There were feeble attempts in official circles to blame the communists for May 13 but these were quickly denounced and roundly condemned by the man in the street. At the height of the Vietnam War, the communists were the eternal bogeyman in Southeast Asia and everywhere in the Free World.

The Malay Regiment, disgraced in the eyes of the non-Malay population, was replaced by the Federation Army and the Sarawak Regiment and calm quickly returned to the burnt-out streets of Kuala Lumpur. There had been a heavy price to pay in innocent lives, all because extreme-right Malays in Umno, the lead player in the Alliance, had been rattled by the electoral setbacks suffered by the MCA and feared the unraveling of the Social contract. Apparently, the rightwing game plan was to intimidate the political opposition, punish the voters and force the MCA back into the Government. The fact that the political opposition had never been party to the Social contract was lost on the rightwing instigators of the May 13 bloodbath.

Even so, the Gerakan and the PPP were virtually blackmailed, with the promise of democracy being restored, to become members of an enlarged Alliance which was renamed Barisan Nasional. The Social contract was back on track. The Alliance, symbolized by a sailing boat, had sunk. The BN chose the scales of justice as the new symbol.

Hardly five years before May 13, Singapore had queried the social contract as a member of the Federation and was quickly ushered out. It's important that Malaysian history books explore the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation. However, this tragedy along with the Japanese occupation is simply glossed over. The key lies in former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's "infamous" outburst: "If these people (Kuala Lumpur) think they can squat on Singapore and get away with it, they are sadly mistaken." Apparently, Lee was alarmed that Kuala Lumpur had rapidly changed track after Malaysia with the extreme right wing in Umno calling the shots.

A serious deviation of the social contract was the misinterpretation by the right wingers that it was a carte blanche for Ketuanan Melayu --Malays first -- Malay political dominance and supremacy. This was anathema to Lee. Many saw Ketuanan Melayu as nothing less than an unabashed amalgamation of the Nazism of Hitler's Germany and the Apartheid of South Africa's white supremacists with the caste system of the Brahmins of India. Surely, such a system could not be good for anyone, even including the great majority of the Malays themselves.

Sabah and Sarawak, the Borneo states, remained in the Federation after some initial demands for a review by Sabah. Kadazandusun leader, Donald Stephens (later Mohd Fuad Abdullah), was eventually packed off into exile as the High Commissioner to Australia, before making a stunning political comeback in 1976 and dying mysteriously in an air crash shortly after with almost his entire State Cabinet.

Is the social contract still relevant in this day and age? Every two people have three opinions.

A simple reading of history and the demographics shows that the Malay factor will henceforth continue to be an important aspect of the nation’s politics unlike in the early days when the community genuinely feared being swamped by the immigrants from India and China and their descendents. No longer can a non-Malay be the Prime Minister of Malaysia, for example, unless with the consent of the governed, predominantly Malay and other indigenous peoples.

Malays have also entered the money economy in a big way as a community and made considerable gains as well in this field. As the Malays prosper and emerge more educated and universal in outlook, having a stranglehold on politics will be less and less the community’s main pre-occupation and obsession. Herein lie the seeds of destruction of the social contract despite having served the nation well. It is unlikely too that the Chinese parties in government will ever contemplate leaving the ruling coalition and should they do so, as was the case with MCA in the aftermath of the 1969 polls, they would not be wooed back. The Chinese in the political opposition, too long in the wilderness, are waiting in the wings for a historical opportunity to taste the spoils of office.

Written by Joe Fernandez

Racial Tensions Rise in Malaysia

Smiles fading between Malays and Chinese

The political aspirations of Malaysia’s ethnic minorities are rising uncomfortably, threatening the country’s delicate racial balance, analysts in Kuala Lumpur say.

The minority communities’ political discontent over 40 years of entitlement programs given to ethnic Malays helped fuel the results of the 2008 national elections that saw the opposition gain power in five states and the federal territory of Selangor.

Existing tensions have been exacerbated in recent weeks by a number of issues, including the suspicious death on July 16 of Teoh Beng Hock, an aide to a top opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) leader, whose body was found atop a building next to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters. He had driven there voluntarily to be questioned over allegations of wrongdoing by his boss. No one saw him fall, but authorities say his death probably a suicide. The incident is only one of many unexplained deaths at the hands of law enforcement officials in Malaysia over recent years, but since the victim was Chinese, racial overtones have become unavoidable.

In addition, the MACC is believed to be investigating an unknown number of DAP lawmakers on corruption charges, leading to allegations that the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition is using law enforcement agencies for political purposes. Barisan figures, however, argue that the MACC is after their people as well.

"If you take UMNO as a perfect 10 on a corruption scale, I'd say that Keadilan and the DAP are at about mid-level," said a Malay businessman. "The triads are part of Malaysian realpolitik and have connections to both side of the political equation, especially when they are in power."

At the same time, the umbrella Pakatan Rakyat coalition, which made stunning gains against the ruling coalition in 2008, is fraying at the edges due to squabbling between the Malay fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia and the DAP, which is dominated by Chinese, over a variety of issues including an attempt by a DAP councilor to stop a PAS raid on beer supplies at a 7-Eleven, and the destruction of a pig slaughterhouse in the northern state of Kedah.

The infighting has become so intense that Lim Kit Siang, the venerable leader of the DAP, issued a statement warning that the alliance could become a “one-term wonder” if the spat isn’t settled.

Malaysia has existed in an uneasy racial mix since July 1969, when hundreds were believed killed in pitched battles between Malays, who make up more than half the population, and the Chinese, who make up about 25 percent. The Chinese continue to control most of the
country’s economic wealth despite the 1971 imposition of an affirmative action program for ethnic Malays called the New Economic Policy.

Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader, has called for an end to the NEP, charging that it has only enriched a handful of rent-seekers and cronies of the United Malays National Organisation.

“Overlaid with the current problems is rising ethnic awareness,” said a longtime political analyst with a Kuala Lumpur think tank. “Hope that a multi-racial opposition would dilute ethnicity in politics hasn’t happened. Instead, the opposite has happened. A group in PAS
feels ignored, or slighted, or exasperated and is now flexing its muscles in Pakatan. And this group finds common ground with UMNO, which is prompting growing rapprochement between the two political parties.”

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who came to power in March, is attempting to pull together what one longtime political analyst called a “Singapore model” — economic liberalization coupled with political authoritarianism. Opposition rallies have been raided or declared
illegal on a regular basis, even down to busting up a birthday party.

The latest occurrence was an announcement Friday by Rais Yatim, the information, communications and culture minister, that the country is considering a “green dam”style Internet filter to stop access to undesirable websites, particularly pornography. Even the Chinese government has backed away from instituting such a policy in the face
of international criticism.

Najib’s tactics appeared to be working at first. He came into office even less popular than his predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, tarred by a wide range of scandals ranging from allegations of bribery during his stint as defense minister to questions over his involvement in the murder of a Mongolian woman jilted by his best friend. However, his economic policies pulled up public approval sharply for UMNO, the leading ethnic party in the Barisan.

However, continuing public fury over Teoh’s purported suicide cut into Najib’s good news, especially after the water cannons and truncheons came out at a massive (by Malaysian standards) demonstration on July 31 to protest the government’s continued use of the colonial-era Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without habeas corpus. The demonstration drew as many as 20,000 participants; some 600 were arrested amid a haze of tear gas in the crackdown.

“If you’re Chinese you’d like to believe the Malays killed him,” says a lawyer connected to UMNO. “But so many Malays die in police custody. Prior to this, the MACC investigated 22 UMNO MPs and 12 were charged.But as soon as the MACC investigates five Chinese, it’s the MACC targeting Chinese. The DAP has made this into a race issue. No, we have a serious race problem in this country. Perhaps that’s what everybody wanted – push the envelope to see what happens.”

Certainly, there is plenty of envelope-pushing on all sides. In a flamethrowing article earlier this week in the UMNO-owned Malay-language Utusan Malaysia last week, journalist Noor Azam called on ethnic Malays “not to be cowards anymore and rise up to face the challenges being posed by the Chinese and Indians in Malaysia.” The article accused the DAP of manipulating Malay leaders in the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition and warned that should it come to power, “Malay special rights and the NEP are no more.” He accused the opposition of stirring race hatred and called ethnic Malays “a race of stupid cowards, and people who are cowards will die before even their deaths.”

The temperature is set to rise higher during expected annual district and regional conclaves for UMNO, when the rhetorical pitch grows more intense. There is spreading anger among Malays over a remark by Jeff Ooi, a blogger and popular DAP activist from Penang, who called Jemaah Islah Malaysia, an Islamic missionary organization, extremist for advocating shariah, or religious law.

“That’s an insult to all Malays,” said the UMNO lawyer. “It’s an insult to all of Islam. All of us Malays would like shariah law.” The question is how the anger will play itself out in yet another by-election. The Pakatan Rakyat coalition has won five of six by-elections since the March 2008 national polls eliminated the Barisan’s longstanding two-thirds majority in the parliament.

On July 31, a PAS assemblyman from the Permatang Pasir district in Penang died of a heart attack. The lawmaker was PAS’s only representative in the Penang state. The by-election, for which the date has yet to be set, will determine whether the Pakatan coalition’s political strength is still rising.

In the most recent by-election, in the heart of opposition territory, the Pakatan candidate won by only 65 votes. Permatang Pasir is part of Anwar’s stronghold. If the opposition loses the seat, or even does badly, it will be an indication that its popularity is declining.





Asia Sentinel