Umno's population engineering a disaster

The Malays are lost and waylaid and at the crossroads of a really serious Malay dilemma. If you don't believe me, check this out.

If you happen to travel around this country and check on the statistics, especially the pasar malam, find out who runs the stalls and their businesses? Check out our beloved Chow Kit Road, and see who owns the thriving commerce? Or visit the Pudu wet market and see who is shouting for customers at 4 am (even before the cock crows).

Half the businesses now are with the foreigners, another half with other races, the Malays only have land titles left (especially reserve land of no value). All the GLC's are still in Malay hands, but not for long; otherwise all will be sold off in no time at all. As a people, the Malays are not known for perseverance and enduring commitment. They have no business acumen. Being entrepreneurial is a steep climb for them and the Malays have no stamina to stomach the strains and stresses. I speak from experience. They are easily swayed by circumstances.

More than half our local workforce are pendatangs (Indons, Myanmars, Nepals, Vietnamese, Banglas!) This country is not only bankrupt as said by Idris Jala, but also - telah dilelongkan. The poorer of the majority Malays left behind will become beggars and mat rempit, mat gian, mat ragut and mat dadah (they are all subsidized by our government funding to buy their No 1 drugs of escapism to run away from a harsh reality - Metadon). Who culled their own Malay race? Nobody but UMNO-BN itself! I rest my case.

Strategy of mind control

Since 1957 UMNO has effectively carried out the population engineering of our country to ensure its own long-term survival by creating the myth of a two-pronged “Ketuanan Melayu” strategy of mind control. “Ketuanan Melayu” for the majority Malay masses who are lulled and numbed into a feeling of being superior over the non-Malays because of their demographic numbers; and “Ketuanan Melayu” for the favored UMNOputra Malay political elites through the accumulation of massive material wealth and power for themselves and their cronies. And while UMNO has failed by almost any measure you chose to gauge them – good governance, ethics or morality – without question they have succeeded too well in the social engineering exercise after the bloody race riots of May 13, 1969.

The duplicity of UMNO in proclaiming 1Malaysia - Satu Bangsa, Satu Negara -while all the while undertaking a relentless program to whittle down the numbers of the non-Malays through a very precise and focused political initiative is breathtaking in its effectiveness!

Consider this -

In 1957:

– 45% of the population were Chinese

– 12% of the population were Indians

In 2010:

– 25% of the population are Chinese

– 7% of the population are Indians

Over 600,000 Chinese and Indian Malaysians with red IC status were rejected repeatedly when applying for citizenship and possibly 60% of them had passed away due to old age.

Since 1957:

– 2 million Chinese have emigrated

– 0.5 million Indians have migrated

– 3 million Indonesians came over to Malaysia to become Malaysian citizens with Bumiputra status even if they stay less than 5 years. (Nett gain 0.5 million and an additional of 3 million manufactured Bumiputras like Muslim Indonesians). The most famous is none other than Mohd Khir Toyo who stayed for 20 years but became MB of Selangor.

Chinese population to dwindle and the Indon to rise

In the not too distant future, I reckon Malay bumiputras may have to worry about 2nd or 3rd generation Indonesian migrants, owing to the virtues of hard work and thrift taught by their parents, or grandparents, would have surpassed the majority Malays in terms of socio-economic progress. Mohd Khir Toyo is smarter than most local-born Malays in terms of amassing his personal wealth at the shortest duration of time. Even Muhammad Muhammad Taib is no match for him. That's how smart Khir Toyo is.

Instead of teaching their people the virtues of hard work and perseverance, the UMNO warlords are proclaiming Ketuanan Melayu to feed off the Chinese minorities like parasites. If not for the Chinese taxpayers, the Malays will be sleeping the five foot-ways. Of course the Chinese isn't a threat - they are just workaholics - they want to create wealth and prosperity so much so that no failures of any kind is going to stop them. Not even the ultra Malay racists spewing blood in their eyes or frothing venom in their mouths.

It is envisaged the Chinese demographics will dwindle to stabilize at 4 percent of the overall Malaysian population but their accumulated wealth and economic power will continue to rise to more than 75 percent of the overall GDP of the country. That’s proof enough how steady and influential the Chinese economic stranglehold over the majority Malays will become; and we believe racial hatred and resentment is well likely to remain for the next 50 years. They work hard for the money but we envy them in our idleness.

Whereas the Indonesian newcomers went out to work before you become awake and they are not home yet when you call it a day and went to bed. Will the majority Malays consider them a threat when they deservedly find new wealth? The Indonesians respect the Chinese for their business acumen and diligence. Do the Malays think likewise if not indulge in unguarded jealousy and envy?

Best to lay the blame where it belongs - not the Malays but UMNO

Now the non-Malays are well aware of this tinkering and engineering of our population and it would do us Malays no good to say that it was UMNO’s doing and that we had no hand in what happened at the end of the day. As a Malay I was then comfortable that UMNO was the dominant partner in the Barisan Nasional. It was indeed comforting to know that Malays controlled four of the five major banks. We were also in control of UMBC, MISC and Southern Bank – all previously owned by the Chinese. But seemingly the Chinese-owned Public Bank which is not in our control is moving ahead of the others still in economic prowess and competitive skills. What’s wrong with our control?

Education?

Between 1968 to 2000:

– 48 Chinese primary schools shut down

– 144 Indian primary schools closed

– 2637 Malay Primary Schools were built

Of the total government budget for these schools, 2.5% were for the Chinese, 1% for the Indians and a whopping 96.5% for the Malay primary schools.

The fact that 2637 Malay primary schools were built between 1968 to 2000 implied that the engineered process of retarding our majority Malays or bumiputras is getting obvious. At the end of their school lives, they have nowhere to go except to stay put in this country, as like idiots they have nowhere else to go because everywhere they are faced with a serious language problem and a communication breakdown with others. They will, like it or not, have to support the Ketuanan Melayu concept to survive for their freebies or welfare. The mentality is - No need to work and money will still come. Scions of the rich and wealthy UMNOputras will be educated overseas and return to continue to rule over their poorer local cousins.

Petronas petrol stations?

Of the 2000 station the Malays owned 99%. Yes…we the Malays were indeed in control. In control of what? We were in control of all the business licenses and permits for Taxis and Approved Permits (APs).

We were in control of Government contracts of which 95% were given to Malays.

We were in control of the rice trade through Bernas that bought over 80% of Chinese rice millers in Kedah. Even Robert Kuok aka Sugar King was forced to sell his sugar franchise to UMNO crony interests so that the Malays are deemed to be in control of the sugar market; and the other essential basic items.

We were in control of bus companies. Throughout Malaysia, MARA buses could be seen plying all the routes. Non-Malays were simply displaced by having their application for bus routes and for new buses rejected. Many local Chinese owned bus companies are already kaput in the urban centers.

Every new housing estate being built had a mosque or a surau. None, I repeat “no” temples or churches were built for any housing estate even if the majority residents are non Malays! We even blare the loudspeakers in every mosque calling for Azan at maximum volume just so to tell the non Malays and non Muslims that we are in control!

How come still poor with so much control?

So why with control over all these highly visible entities and business opportunities are the majority Malays still unable to stand tall and with pride over and above the non-Malays?

We are unable to so do because it was not the Malays that benefited from these opportunities - only the favoured UMNOputras enjoyed the benefits, and the poorer among the majority Malays were merely taken for a ride as their name were used by UMNO to hijack the national agenda.

The Chinese bogeyman and the Malay hobbyhorse work wonders for UMNO to play one against the other in their evil scheme of Divide and Rule to suit their survival plan.






Malaysia Chronicle

The state of the stateless in Malaysia

Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of United Nations , Article 15 states that everyone has the right to a nationality and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Malaysia being a member of the UN should be strictly adhering to this noble declaration however in reality Malaysia has an alarmingly growing in number of stateless people that have been denied their citizenship which is their legitimate birth right as a human being.

Unfortunately in Malaysia, the ruling elite within the UMNO dominant government have been systematically using 'citizenship' as one of their ways of means to continue their autocratic rule over this country.

It has always been a 'numbers' game. There have been allegations that it appears to be a hidden tacit UMNO government policy to reduce the number of non Muslim voters and at the same time increase Muslim voters in critical areas that UMNO's dominance is seen to be weak. In Sabah particularly, several Kadazan, Dusun, Murut (KDM) leaders have alleged that 'project M' was implemented to ensure Filipino Muslims and Pakistanis were granted citizenship's in large numbers to dilute the KDM majority of Sabah. Dr Chong Eng Leong in his book 'Lest We Forget' estimates that around 600k citizenship's were issued in 1986 to Filipino and Indonesian Muslims. In west Malaysia , Indonesians are seen to enjoy the privilege of obtaining citizenship with relative ease as compared to many other races who still hold red Identity Cards even though being born in Malaysia before independence.

The new 'soft Muslim vote bank' who forever will be dependent on UMNO, provides the ruling elite within the BN government a perfect counterbalance against not only the non Muslims but also against the growing number of Muslims who have become more politically enlightened of the gross abuses and corruption that has become so widespread under the BN.

Another methodology employed by UMNO is the act of omission and commission to deny citizenship's to the softest target within the Malaysian community, the Malaysian Indians, some of whom are into their 6th generation born on this land. .

The Human Rights Party of Malaysia (HRP) estimates that there are currently 450k Indians in Malaysia that do not possess Malaysian citizenship. Though this number appears to raise some eyebrows in disbelief amongst some, the following facts may prove that this indeed could be shockingly true.

In 1976 the MIC formed a bureau to register Indians in this country who had issues concerning citizenship. Within a mere 5 years or so there were more than 40k Indians who registered themselves as being stateless.The numbers were staggering and MIC did nothing more than just getting them registered as applicants. Alarm bells rang and eventually in 1981 MIC was ordered to close down that bureau and along with it the more than 40k Indian stateless applicants were swept under the carpet. From whom the orders came from to close down that bureau is anyones guess but coincidentally it was about the time that Dr Mahathir came into power. In 1981 the numbers at the very least stood at more than 40k stateless Indians, today that figure definitely would have risen significantly. Malaysia's population stood at 13.43 million in 1981 , today the population is around 29 million. Just on that account only one could estimate today that there may be more than 100k stateless Indians, however it must be noted that MIC conducted the registrations during those years in an extremely quiet manner and as such there may have been many thousands more who would not have known about it back then to have come forward to register.

On January 21 2008, the then Selangor Chief Minister Khir Toyo had advised the Home Ministry to set up a body to look into the plight to handle 40k Indian children in the state of Selangor who did not have birth certificates. Subsequently no one ever heard anything about it ever again. If there were 40k stateless Indian children just in Selangor, what about their parents and grandparents as well as elder siblings that are above 18 years of age ? This could possibly mean, just in the state of Selangor there may be more than 100k stateless Indians today.

On 13/08/2010, HRP met with the top Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) brass in Putrajaya. They informed the officers that the HRP currently estimates the stateless Indians to number 450k nationwide. HRP's detailed investigative conclusion that this huge problem is due to multifactorial reasons mainly:


1) Tacit UMNO government policy of ignoring this problem,

2) Lack of political will to resolve these issues both from BN as well as PR elected representatives,

3) Application processes too complicated for the illiterate and semi literate Indian poor,

4) Racial religious bias,

5) Insensitive and hostile over the counters JPN staff,

6) Sheer ignorance of these officers of the magnitude of the problem.

So it is not as if the UMNO government is totally ignorant of the gravity of the problem as well as the causes of it.

On 23/01/2011, the Deputy Secretary General of Registration and Immigration Datuk Raja Azhar Raja Abdul Manap was quoted to have said "We do not know how many of these people are without the documents ." (Source Staronline)

On 19/02/2011, the Special Implementation Task Force (SITF) on the Indian community in collaboration with the Home Ministry of the government established a campaign to register, process and eventually provide fast tract birth certificates and MyKads to stateless Indians. That was the officially stated purpose but given what has transpired since, it looks like it is just another 'wayang kulit'. The campaign was run for only 8 days in 9 states through the 61 JPN branches. Even though in reality the MyDaftar team only registered each application and gave them a reference number but the propaganda that went about nationwide through the mainstream medias gave it an impression that citizenship's and birth certificates were resolved for as many numbers as they shouted about who turned up in response. Interestingly within a mere 52 hours of work, there were in total 14,882 applicants. This would roughly translate to 5 applications were made to register every 1 minute or rather one stateless Indian registering every 12 seconds. It was also stated that another 10k forms were taken for their friends or relatives but had not returned the forms. The MyDaftar team which is under the Special Implementation Task Force (SITF) with Dato Seri Najib as the chairman of cabinet committee, then chose to extend the campaign another mere 5 days even though the numbers that had come up to register were so high. The extension of 5 days however was in a very quiet manner , without much media fanfare probably fearing it may attract further larger numbers to turn up.

19/02/2011, PPP WP chairman Datuk A. Chandrakumaran reported that 8 days were not sufficient and his party received 'never ending visits' of stateless Indians. (Source Sinarharian)

20/02/2011, Johor MIC state chairman Datuk K.S Balakrishnan said that there are more than 5k Indians in Johor that still do not have proper identification documents.(Source Star)

As all methodologies used in national population statistics data in this country are not transparent and is a closely guarded state secret, protected under various draconian 'secret acts' by the government, one only can use the various data available and read in between the lines to look for the correct information that reflects the true gross critical ground reality that we see.

To look for bees one has to trace the trail where the honey is.

Considering that stateless people are deprived of the ultimate social security net which is citizenship and are hence trapped as they are excluded in virtually every sector ie health, education, employment, security and housing, it should come as no surprise that Indians have the lowest development index in the country.

They have the lowest life expectancy rate , 67.3 years compared to the national average of 71.2. Indians have the 2nd highest infant mortality rate, highest school drop out rates ie less than 5% of Indians reach tertiary level of education. They have highest incidence of alcoholism, highest incidence of drug addiction as well as highest number of prisoners in proportion to the population. Indians are involved in 45% of the country's crime and they record the highest percentage of deaths whilst under police custody > 95%. Indians constitute the highest rate of suicides of any Malaysian community 21.1 suicides per 100,000 population as compared to Malays 2.6 suicides per 100,000 population and Chinese 8.6 suicides per 100,000 population. More than 60% of the inmates at the Simpang Renggam Detention Centre are Indians. Around 40% of male Indian youth are in the grips of crime. 14% of juvenile delinquents in this country consists of Indians. 41% of the beggars in Malaysia are Indians and more than 30% of Indians do not own a home. Only a minuscle 1.5% of the nations corporate wealth of the country are in the hands of Indians and if Tan Sri Ananthakrishnan and Datuk Tony Fernandez wealth is taken out of this, it may even be less than half of that value.

Beneath all these depressing statistic is probably where lies hidden the estimated 450k stateless Indians in this country.

The stateless in this country are generally trapped in poverty. They feel marginalized and ostracised in virtually every sector in this country : hospitals, schools,institutions,enforcement agencies, government and corporate. To survive they need to seek a defence mechanism to overcome their woes and challenges. They either have to beg or to turn to crime as there is no other alternative in a government that is devoid of caring and sharing.

Mr Uthayakumar of HRP estimates that the majority of the 450k stateless Indians in this country lie within the states of Kedah,Penang,Perak,Selangor,KL, Negeri Sembilan and Johor. Coincidentally these states also represent the highest distribution of thug gangs that mainly consists of Indians.

HRP came out with several proposals to JPN to address the statelessness problem among the Indians :

1) The government should set up a special transparent unit within JPN. This unit should be adequately resourced all the way from field workers to department director. Their charter will be to :-

a) Identify all Indian Malaysians who do not have birth certificate, MyKads or have problems with their citizenship status.

b) Create a database of them and establish appropriate programs to clear them one by one by 31/12/2011.

c) Simplify the procedure for applying for delayed birth certificates and MyKads. Make the process 'poor friendly'. Do not require the applicants to fill out so many forms and to provide so much of documentary evidence which most often are redundant.

Do not require them to come to the JPN offices so many times and sending them most often on a wild goose chase. Do not reject their applications because they did not cross the 't's or dot the 'i's. Treat them with more respect and support them throughout the process.

d) Authorize senior and respected members of the community to certify births and parentage where a hospital is unable to do it.

2) Religion, race and marriage should not be made non constitutional barriers to birth registration.

3) Parents must be empowered to decide the religion of their children on the basis of equality of all religions.

4) The JPN or other religious organizations should not impose the Syariah law on non Muslims. Mixed marriages are one of the major reasons for the stateless Indian problem.

5) Empower this special unit to address this problem without interferance from any religious bodies.

6) The JPN should discard procedures that were set up a long time ago using outdated technology like photographs to establish resemblances with newer mehods like DNA profiling where necessary.

7) All that is required is for the hospital where the child is born to be made responsible for the registration of the births. The birth is registered and a birth certificate should be issued.

8) In the case of births at home or for abandoned children, a similar simple enough alternative procedure needs to be established.

9) The government should extend the e-Govt system to cover this crucial need and set up a mechanism to monitor and report on this effort in the JPN website.

10) This special unit in the JPN must be authorized to work with the Health Ministry, the Education Ministry, the Human Resource Ministry etc to resolve any associated problems pertaining to those ministeries.

So why should one care for these stateless people ?

First and foremost there shouldn't be a reason. Just based on empathy and on compassionate grounds, each one of us must take on this responsibility to put pressure on all our political leaders to make serious efforts on solving this ever growing number of stateless people in this country. Politicians that just give mere lip service and ignore this issue need to be exposed and censured.

Secondly as we notice crime is on an ascending trend in this country and it could in some way be simbiotically linked to the rise in the number of stateless people in Malaysia. It will be pointless to build higher fortified walls around our house and put up expensive elaborate security systems as well as live in gated, guarded homes but continue to choose to remain blind to the fundamental root causes of this problem. If left not addressed, Mother Nature has her own unique way of 'correcting' these imbalances.


The problem of exclusion is one universally acknowledged to be the source of all various social ills of any given society. The statelessness of the Indian poor, reduces Indian participation in Malaysian democracy and the shortsighted and self serving view of UMNO has far reaching consequences. If you were to connect the dots, you will see that the thinking that generates this shortsighted position on statelessness is what is perenially keeping us in a state of mediocrity among the community of nations. Those of you who have been fortunate enough to step out of the country and see what is happening around the world will recoqnize the true folly of this kind of myopic policy of the Malaysian elite.

Due to our selfish self centred lifestyles we could get 'bitten' in the process for not exercising our civic duty in helping these poor and vulnerable stateless people.

Albert Einstein once said that the world is a dangerous place not because of people who do evil but because good people who just look on and do nothing about it.

We are run by diversity. We become divided because we think that we are many . This feeling of diversity , the psychology of plurality, the sentiments of multiplicity lead to conflict, confusion, and chaos; whereas the feeling of unity and harmony, the sentiment of synthesis and the experience of oneness is unity.

Let us all be united in bringing the state of the stateless in Malaysia to its valid and justified attention.






Dr Paraman VS

Malaysia after regime change - PAS and Islam

As Malaysia prepares for its 13^th general elections, due no later than April 2013, the long-standing competitive authoritarian regime will face one of its most difficult tests. The 2008 elections dealt a surprise blow to the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN), and ever since, Prime Minister Najib’s government has struggled to protect its now-fragile majority. After four years of renewed opposition activism, rumours of defection from UMNO (the United Malays National Organisation), and the recent acquittal of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysians will have the chance to vote the BN out of office once and for all.
In a post-BN Malaysia, observers will closely monitor the role of Islam in public life. Much of what happens will depend on the shape of the government that follows. In terms of the composition of a post-BN government, two outcomes seem most likely: (1) a multi-ethnic Pakatan Rakyat-based (PR) coalition in which PAS (Parti Islam SeMalaysia/Pan Malaysian Islamic Party), PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat/People’s Justice Party), and the DAP (Democratic Action Party) all participate, perhaps along with one or more East Malaysian parties; or (2) an UMNO-PAS “Muslim-Malay” coalition, again perhaps involving the cooperation of one or more East Malaysian parties. Either way, PAS—an explicitly Islamic party—will be part of the government.

That PAS would advocate for a greater role for Islam in Malaysian public life is undeniable. PAS describes its goals as follows:

• Memperjuangkan wujudnya di dalam negara ini sebuah masyarakat dan pemerintahan yang terlaksana di dalamnya nilai-nilai hidup Islam dan hukum-hukumnya menuju keredhaan Allah. [Fighting to create a society and government that is run according to Islamic principles and the laws which please Allah]
• Mempertahankan Kesucian Islam serta kemerdekaan dan kedaulatan negara. [Defending the sanctity of Islam alongside independence and national sovereignty.]

The prospect of PAS in government alone is worrying for those many Malaysians (both Muslims and non-Muslims) who express concern about the Islamisation of Malaysian politics and society. Moreover, a PR-based government would struggle to balance PAS’s goals with the DAP’s largely non-Muslim constituency. That would make an UMNO-PAS alliance all the more attractive to PAS, while UMNO, whose membership is not restricted to Muslims but is overwhelming Muslim anyway, would likely not hesitate to return to power with a new coalition partner.

Questions about PAS after the BN may reflect the concerns that many non-Muslims in Malaysiahave about the role of religion in public life, and Malaysia’s Hindu minority in particular has cause for grievance on this account. But this obscures the corrosive effects that six decades of ethnic partisanship have had on the prospects for Malaysian democracy. It is a mistake, in other words, to focus narrowly on PAS, or broadly on Islam itself, when anticipating Islam in a post-BN Malaysian political order. Doing so confuses the potential consequences of PAS in government with the factors that have contributed both to PAS’s popularity and to the current state of Islam in Malaysian public life.

PAS itself has not played a major role in the Islamisation of Malaysian politics or Malaysian society. Rather, it was Malay politicians in the pre-independence period (the very same group that went on to found UMNO) who enshrined Islam in the constitution and legally defined Malay-ness with reference to Islam. This was done not in the name of Islam, but to protect what were perceived to be “Malay interests” (see for example A History of Malaysia, pp. 256-257). After independence, with communism illegal, social democracy discredited (through its historical affiliation with a largely Chinese opposition party), liberalism cast as antithetical to Malaysian values, multiculturalism or pan-ethnic solidarity discouraged through the party system, and the bumi/non-bumi split underlying every aspect of social and economic policy, the only “Malay” alternative to UMNO’s Malay platform was PAS’s Islamist platform.

Today, in a society in which economic function and demographic characteristics such as urbanisation no longer distinguish Malays from non-Malays as easily as they once did, core issues such as religion have a new importance for voters whose political identities are constructed through an ethnic framework.

The strategic logic of political competition in Malaysia’s plural society therefore rewards parties seeking Malay votes when they appeal to the characteristics that define Malays in opposition to non-Malays. It should not surprise anyone that when Malay voters find UMNO politicians wanting, they are likely to vote for the only opposition party whose political outlook has not been labelled as “un-Malaysian” for the past half century.

Facing this, non-exclusivist opposition parties such as the DAP and PKR have struggled to transcend the ethnic paradigm in Malaysian politics. The choice for non-Malay, non-Muslim voters has been whether to cast their lot with their own regime-allied (and ethnically-constituted) parties, the “un-Malaysian” multiethnic opposition, or the Islamist PAS.
The fundamental challenge for public life in a post-BN Malaysia is not Islam, it is ethnicity’s dominant role in defining Malaysians’ political identity, and this challenge is just as pressing today as it would be if a new government with PAS comes to power following the upcoming elections. Of course, PAS’s explicitly religious goals are important to note, but there are few things that it could do in government that are not already within UMNO’s capacity today.

UMNO has presided over—and its campaign messages and public policies have encouraged—the rise of Islam in public life. It is tempting today to see what Judith Nagata called the “reflowering of Malaysian Islam” as merely a local instance of a global Muslim awakening, but this misses the very politics of Islamic politics in Malaysia.

In the Malaysian context, the rise of religion is the unavoidable consequence of the politicisation of ethnicity. A PAS-led government might go further than the BN has in prosecuting perceived insults to Islam, or in expanding the domain of Islamic family law, but such worries already mark Malaysian public life. The religious issues facing Malaysia are far deeper than the ruling party’s religious outlook, and having PAS in government is best understood as the outcome of decades of social change and religious conflict rather than a possible independent cause of future religious tensions.

It is reasonable to wonder what Malaysian politics would look like with an avowedly Islamist party like PAS in government, but as always, the meaning of Islam in Malaysian public life cannot be separated from the dominance of ethnicity in Malaysian politics.

The “solution” to the “problem” of Islam in Malaysian politics—if one believes that Islam is indeed a problem—is the same as the solution to many of the other issues that face contemporary Malaysian society: a post-ethnic movement (not merely a multi-ethnic one) in which Malaysians identify, assemble, and act as Malaysians rather than as representatives of ethnic groups in a zero-sum competition for power and resources.
This is what many hope that a PR government would mean, and in rhetorical terms, that is what Najib’s 1Malaysia campaign promises. A recent article in the Economist suggests that many young Malaysians would welcome such a post-ethnic politics. But they will have to wait, for Malaysian politics as BN-versus-PR restates the ethnic politics framework without moving past it.







Thomas Pepinsky is assistant professor of government at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY,USA. His work focuses on comparative politics and international political economy, with a special focus on contemporary issues in island Southeast Asia. His interests include the politics of finance, authoritarianism, Islam, and finding a way to move Ithaca to the tropics.

MIC’s subservient and self centered support for UMNO has eroded the basic human rights of Malaysian Indians

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk S.K. Devamany supported the proposed race Relations act by referring to incidences such as the Kampung Jawa temple demolition and the Interlok novel controversies which have been could have been avoided. He further added we must understand that Malaysia is a multiracial country and we want to preserve unity in main stream newspapers. The examples Devamany gave seem to be puzzling. Is the Race Relations act just to avoid minorities and victims from voicing their grievances?

Race Relation Act is needed to eliminate racial discrimination in public and private sector employment, entrance to university and matriculation levels, open tender in government procurements and providing equal opportunities in employment.  At the same time, the government needs to set up a Race Relation Commission which is made up of all races in Malaysia.  This act will also outline the mechanics and methodology in implementing the Race Relation Act.

Instead of giving the above mentioned reasons for supporting Race Relations Act, Devemany is giving the examples of Kampong Jawa temple breaking and interlok novel as reasons why Malaysia needs a race relations act. The Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, along with the squatter settlement of Rimba Jaya, was demolished in 2007 by the then BN-led state government as part of its Zero Squatter programme. The kampong Jawa temple breaking in November 2007, infuriated the Indian community to revolt against the BN government which lead to the loss of 5 states to PR and the denial of 2/3 majority in parliament. The introduction of interlok novel upsets and irked Malaysian Indian parents who persistently campaigned against the novel till the government withdrew as school text book.

Before introduction Race Relations act the government must remove all discriminative policies and practices. All race based political parties must be disbanded. All higher education institutions for exclusively one race must be converted into multi racial institutions where students of different backgrounds meet and mingle with each other. Without preparing the ground for such open and inclusive interactions amongst all Malaysians, race relation act will be another peaceful assembly act.

From the incidences referred by Datuk Devemany, as reasons for introducing race relations act, the intent and purpose of Malaysian race relations act looks sinister and restrict Malaysian human rights and not to provide equal rights. With MIC henchmen like devemany around UMNO will wipe out what ever little space the minorities have.  Malaysian Indians must resolve to wipe out MIC from the political scene once and for all to redeem their dignity and pride as citizens of this country.

Senator S. Ramakrishnan

Racial eyesores on the Malaysian landscape

The recent outbreak of violence with racial overtones at Petaling Jaya Selatan squatter settlement requires Malaysians to face up quickly to this most critical yet unresolved problem of racism and racial discrimination in Malaysian society. 

 

This agenda is highly appropriate and timely because this year happens to be the year the United Nations will hold its conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) in Durban, South Africa in August.

Racism and racial discrimination have been part of Malaysian political, economic, social and cultural realities ever since colonial times. Today, race has been so deeply institutionalised that it is a key factor determining benefits from government development policies, bids for business contracts, education policy, social policy, cultural policy, entry into educational institutions, discounts for purchasing houses and other official policies.

Practically every aspect of Malaysian life is permeated by the so-called 'bumiputra policy' based on Malay-centrism. This is unabashedly spelled out by political leaders in the daily mass media in Malaysia.

It is an established fact that racial polarisation is prevalent in various Malaysian institutions. A new survey by Universiti Malaya shows that 98 per cent of Malay students do not mix with non-Malays while 99 per cent of Chinese students and 97 per cent of Indian students do not mingle with the other races.

While the government tries to account for this problem by blaming other extraneous factors such as the existence of vernacular
schools, it is clear that the roots of polarisation lie in this institutionalisation of racism and racial discrimination.

Integral part

Racism is an integral part of the Malaysian socio-political system. The ruling coalition is still dominated by racially-defined component parties, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC). These parties compete for electoral support from their respective constituencies by pandering to 'racial' interests. Invariably, their racist inclinations are exposed at their respective party congresses.

Some opportunistic opposition parties likewise pander to their constituencies using racist propaganda to win electoral support and they have also contributed to the vicious circle of racial politics which has characterised Malaysia all these years.

Umno, the ruling party, continues to insist that 'Malay unity' and even 'Malay dominance' is essential for national unity. 'Malay dominance' is invariably used interchangeably with 'Malay privileges', which the ruling Malay elite justifies through the Federal Constitution.

Consequently, we have witnessed the periodic controversies over the alleged challenges to Malay special privileges every time sections of Malaysian society call for non-racist solutions to Malaysian problems. The recent fracas over the appeals by the Chinese Associations of Malaysia (Suqiu) is a case in point. There have been other cases in recent Malaysian history in which the ruling party has allowed racist reactions to be used against the non-Malay communities.

White Paper

The official White Paper on the mass ISA detentions of 1987 documents the Umno Youth rally at the Jalan Raja Muda Stadium on Oct 17, 1987, at which racist and seditious sentiments were flagrantly displayed, e.g.: "May 13 Has Begun; Soak it (the kris) with Chinese Blood…" Umno leaders, including those who are ministers today, were among the rabble rousers on the podium. 

The ruling party condoned such racism on the grounds that theirs was a reaction to the protests by the Chinese organisations over the posting of unqualified officers to the Chinese schools in 1987. In the same way, Umno Youth tried to justify their recent boorish protest over Suqiu at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall by the fact that they were 'provoked' by Suqiu. These realities are principally because they were trying to externalise the internal problems within the ruling party, Umno itself.

Even more recently on Feb 4, 2001, a Malay Action Front rally was organised by former and current Umno leaders using the emblem of an unsheathed kris (Malay dagger) against a blood-red backdrop and calling for the further extension of Malay rights and privileges. Racism and racial discrimination are also manifested in the way indigenous peoples are uprooted from their traditional homelands and displaced to ill-planned resettlement schemes to make way for dams, plantations and other industrial projects. Many development agencies do not respect their native customary land rights. The underlying assumption in official circles is that their cultures and way of life are backward and they need to be 'modernised'. They are rarely properly consulted over these projects and their fate is tantamount to 'ethnocide'.

Migrant workers, including foreign domestic workers, are another group of people who face racism and racial discrimination in Malaysia. There are over two million foreign workers in the country, out of which there are over 10,000 hired as domestic help. The negative and derogatory perception of foreign workers held by many Malaysians condone the abuse of these workers. As women, foreign domestic workers are often subject to verbal, physical and even sexual abuse. The are discriminated against because of their gender, race as well as class.

Affirmative action

The ruling party Umno prides itself on the supposedly 'successful' affirmative action in favour of bumiputra. Bumiputra literally means 'princes of the soil', the official epithet for Malays and other indigenous peoples but which excludes the original peoples, i.e. the Orang Asli of Peninsula Malaysia. This has been the cornerstone of development plans since the New Economic Policy was started in 1971.

Consequently, while this populist bumiputra policy has been applied to the benefit of bumiputra as a whole, the new Malay ruling elite is strategically placed to reap the full benefits of this racially-based policy. Totally committed to capitalism and to privatisation, this policy has ensured that the non-Malay local and foreign elite have also gained from the New Economic Policy since 1971. This class cohesion among the Malaysian ruling elite underpins the racialist politics which has characterised Malaysian society since Independence.

It is time for Malaysians to reaffirm the non-discriminatory basis of the Federal Constitution and to uphold human rights principles which are strictly anti-racist.

Article 8 (1) of the Constitution clearly spells out the principle of equality of all Malaysians while Article 12 (1) allows no discrimination against any citizens on the grounds of religion, race, descent or place of birth.

Article 153 on the special position of Malays was inspired by the affirmative action provisions of the Indian Constitution to protect the minority under-privileged class of harijans. Ours is fundamentally different from those provisions because the ethnic group in whose favour the discrimination operates in Malaysia happens to be the one in political control, the Malays.

Malay dominance

At the time of Independence in 1957, four matters in relation to which the special position of Malays were recognised and safeguarded were: land; admission to public services; issuing of permits or licences for operation of certain businesses; scholarships, bursaries or other forms of aid for educational purposes. The Constitution certainly does not adhere to any notion of "Ketuanan Melayu" (Malay dominance), which is a totally racist concept.

When the Constitutional (Reid) Commission was considering whether such a provision should be included in the 1957 Constitution, it made the following comments:

"Our recommendations are made on the footing that the Malays should be assured that the present position will continue for a
substantial period, but that in due course the present preferences should be reduced and should ultimately cease so that there should be no discrimination between races or communities." (Report of the Federation of Malaya Constitutional Commission 1957, Govt Press, para 165, p.72)

After the Tunku was deposed in 1971, the new Malay ruling elite felt that adequate opportunities had not been made available to Malays, especially in education and that there should be a larger proportion of Malays in the various sectors. In 1971, under Emergency conditions, Article 153 was duly amended to introduce the quota system for Malays in institutions of higher learning. Clause (8A) specifically provided for the reservation of places for bumiputra in any university, college and other educational institutions.

Quota system

Nevertheless, the quota system was not intended to be the totally non-transparent and non-accountable and unfair system we know it today:

Firstly, Article (8A) makes it clear that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can only order a reservation of a proportion of such places for the Malays. It would therefore mean that the quota system is applicable only on a faculty basis and more importantly every faculty or institution should reserve places for students of every race. No faculty or institution under this provision could cater for the Malays alone to the exclusion of the other races.

Years after the implementation of this racial quota system, there was no trace of any such order being made by the Agong nor was there evidence of any such order having been gazetted. Such a directive would thus seem to have been made by the officials of the Ministry of Education.

Thus, it is not clear whether the quota system is made applicable on an institutional basis or on the basis of the total number of places available in a particular course of study of all the universities in the country. To apply the quota system on the total number of places available in any particular university will again be a wrong interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution.

Article 153 (8A) does not authorise the administrators of any university to refuse admission to any student of a particular race. It only allows a proportion of the places to be reserved for Malay students. On such a reasoning, the constitutionality of institutions like the Asasi Sains in the University of Malaya or the science matriculation course of the Universiti Sains Malaysia which cater only for bumiputra students is doubtful.

Furthermore, the Constitution of the University of Malaya expressly prohibits discrimination on grounds of race for the admission of any student to any faculty or institution of the university. In this context too, the constitutionality of other institutions which admit students of a particular race only to the exclusion of other races is also doubtful as it violates the equality provision of Article 8.

From the above, it is clear that the question of the constitutionality of the quota system as it has been practised since 1971 especially in totally bumiputra institutions has never been tested.

Original intentions

We know what the original intentions of the 'Malay special privileges' provision in the Merdeka Constitution were, but to maintain that it is a carte blanche for all manner of racial discrimination as we have witnessed since 1971 is a violation of the spirit of the Constitution.

International law sets major limits on affirmative action measures. Notably, affirmative action policies must be carefully controlled and not be permitted to undermine the principle of non-discrimination itself nor violate human rights. Holding the equality principle uppermost, the raison d'etre and reasonableness for differential treatment must be proven.

Another important criterion to ensure successful affirmative action and synonymous with international law is that such special measures should be introduced for a limited duration as was suggested by the Reid Commission in its Report of the Federation of Malaya Constitutional Commission in 1957.

A consequence of the so-called affirmative action policies up to now is that for the poor of all ethnic communities, including the
indigenous peoples in Malaysia, these objectives of wealth redistribution for their benefit have not been met.

While it is widely recognised that racial polarisation exists in many Malaysian institutions such as schools, universities, the civil service, it must be stressed that this is not a 'natural' consequence of a plural society.

On the contrary, through the years there have been deliberate attempts by those in power to create divisions among the people.
 

There is general agreement that racial polarisation has its origins in the colonial divide-and-rule strategy. This has been well-documented in studies by W R Roff (The Origins of Malay Nationalism, 1974:24) and Hua Wu Yin, (Class and Communalism in Malaysia, Zed Press 1983)

The racialist formula was institutionalised in the Alliance at Independence and perpetuated by the Barisan Nasional to the present day. Attempts at creating racial discord among the people continue to be perpetrated in public institutions and the mass media whenever it suits the politicians.

These instances have been well-documented. (See Kua Kia Soong (edited) 'Polarisation in Malaysia: The Root Causes', K Das, Ink, KL 1987; 'Mediawatch: Use and Abuse of the Malaysian Media',Huazi Research Centre 1990 )

Of all the official policies and public institutions which practice racial discrimination, there is none more pervasive than the New Economic Policy (NEP) which was implemented as a fait accompli after the Emergency was declared in 1969.

Elite cohesion

Although its specific objectives were 'restructuring of society to correct the economic imbalance of wealth holding which led to the identification of race with economic function' and 'eradication of poverty irrespective of race', the NEP has been implemented these 30 years in a racially discriminatory way with little transparency or accountability.

Just 10 years after the NEP was implemented, the 1980 census showed that more than 80 percent of all government executive officers were Malay; Malays held 75 percent of publicly-funded tertiary education places; and 96 percent of Felda settlers were Malay.

By 1990, it was widely held by observers that the wealth restructuring policy objective was very much on target if nominee companies listed under 'other Malaysians' were analysed. It is also well-known that many of these nominee companies have been formed by the bumiputra elite.

All the same, these figures showing ownership of equity capital, however distorted, also reveal that the rich non-Malay elite have done quite well under the NEP. This perhaps accounts for the elite cohesion which has held the Barisan Nasional coalition together for so long. The evidence further shows that the NEP's 'wealth restructuring' has mainly resulted in increased wealth concentration and greater intra-ethnic inequality.

By the mid-80s, it was found that the top 40 shareholders in the country owned 63 percent of the total number of shares in public companies; the top 4.4 per cent of investors in the Amanah Saham Nasional had savings amounting to more than 70 percent of ASN's total investments.

The ASN is a prime example of a savings institution, secured by Malaysian taxpayers irrespective of race, but which blatantly discriminates against non-bumiputras. This racial discrimination extends to loans, end-financing, purchase of housing, shares
allocation, etc. 

Problem ignored

Racial discrimination in the education policy is manifested in unfair financial allocations to the different sectors and language streams and the reluctance of the government to allow development of the mother-tongue schools of the non-Malays.

Thus the number of Chinese and Tamil primary schools in the country have actually dropped from 1,342 and 888 at Independence to 1,284 and 535 today respectively, even though the population of the communities has doubled in the last 44 years. The government has continued to ignore the grave problem of the shortage of qualified teachers for these schools for years.

By 1990, the realities of the racially discriminatory quota system in education were as follows: an average of 90 percent of loans for polytechnic certificate courses, 90 percent of scholarships for Diploma of Education courses, 90 percent of scholarships and loans for degree courses taken in the country and almost all scholarships and loans for degree courses taken overseas were given to bumiputras.

Regarding the enrolment of students in residential schools throughout the 80s, 95 percent of them were bumiputra. The enrolment in Mara's Lower Science College, the Maktab Sains Mara, was almost 100 percent bumiputra throughout the 80s.

High time

Racial discrimination in the realm of culture is seen not only in the education policy but also in the discrimination against non-Malay cultures and religions in the National Cultural Policy. Non-Muslims face obstacles in their freedom to build places of worship and access to burial grounds, among other complaints.

Racism and racial discrimination have dominated Malaysian society for far too long. Now that the Malay ruling elite has clearly gained control of the Malaysian economy, it is high time for a new consensus based on non-racial factors such as class, sector and need to justify affirmative action.

It is time for all Malaysians who hunger for peace and freedom to outlaw racism and racial discrimination from Malaysian society once and for all and to build real unity based on adherence to human rights, equality and the interests of the Malaysian masses:

Non-racial solutions to Malaysian political institutions

1) Political parties formed on the basis of race to further the interests of their respective races should be outlawed as such
practices are inconsistent with international conventions against racism and racial discrimination;

2) Ratify all the international covenants and UN Conventions that have not been ratified by the Malaysian government to ensure that all legislation in the country abide by international human rights standards;

3) Enact a Race Relations Act and institute an Equal Opportunities Commission to combat racism, racialism, and racial discrimination in all Malaysian institutions;

4) Delineation of constituencies must be based on the principle of 'one person, one vote' and there should not be wide discrepancies between the number of voters in different constituencies;

5) Reintroduce elected local government so that problems of housing, schools, etc. can be solved in non-racial ways;

6) Ensure that there is no racial discrimination in the civil and armed services and that every ethnic community has equal chance of promotion;

7) Establish an Independent Broadcasting Authority which is fair to all ethnic communities in Malaysia; 

Non-racial solutions to Malaysian economic development

8) There must be full transparency and accountability to ensure that contracts and shares are not dispensed on a racial basis through nepotism, cronyism or corruption;

9) Public money must not be used to bail out failed private businesses under the guise of affirmative action;

10) Government policies should be strategically aimed at reducing income disparity between the rich and poor regardless of race, religion, gender, disability or political affiliation;

11) Small and medium industries, the backbone of national industrialisation, should be developed without racial discrimination;

12) Fair and adequate support should be provided to all sectors including pig farmers especially during times of crisis;

13) Land should be fairly distributed to farmers of all ethnic communities;

14) The racially-based quota system should be replaced with a means-tested sliding scale mechanism for deserving entrepreneurs; 

Non-racial solutions to Malaysian social development

15) Modernise the 450 or so New Villages in the country which have existed for more than 50 years, in which many of our small and medium industries are located and where basic infrastructure is inadequate;

16) Improve the living conditions (e.g. a guaranteed minimum monthly wage) and basic amenities such as housing, education and health facilities of plantation workers;

17) Ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and members of their families;

18) Set up an Equal Opportunities Employment Commission to address all forms of discrimination in the workplace;

19) Gazette all communal lands of the Orang Asli and other indigenous peoples so that they can control their own land resources and choose their own way of life;

20) Enact laws to confirm the rights of urban settlers and obligations of developers to provide fair compensation and alternative housing to urban settlers;

21) Cater to the special needs of women, children, senior citizens and the disabled;

22) Provide more recreational facilities for the youth regardless of race to allow them to develop positive and healthy lifestyles and to encourage tolerance and awareness of cultural diversity and equality;

23) Establish a housing development authority to direct construction of low and medium-cost public housing for the needy irrespective of race;

24) Poverty eradication programmes to benefit the poor of all ethnicity must be seriously pursued;

Non-racial solutions to Malaysian education

25) Special assistance must be based on need by under-privileged sectors and classes and not on race;

26) Institute a means-tested sliding scale of education grants and loans for all who qualify to enter tertiary institutions regardless of race, religion or gender;

27) Recognition of educational certificates, diplomas or degrees should be dealt with by the National Accreditation Board on strictly academic grounds and not politicised or subject to racial discrimination;

28) Schools using the mother tongue of Malaysian minorities should be built as long as there is a demand for them in any catchment of these ethnic communities and they should not be racially discriminated against in financial allocations;

29) Establish a long-term solution to the crisis of teacher shortage in the Chinese and Tamil schools;

30) Amend the Education Act 1996 to reflect the national education policy as originally stated in the Education Ordinance 1957 ensuring the use, teaching and development of the mother tongue of all Malaysian ethnic communities;

31) Make available compulsory Pupils' Own language (POL) classes within the normal school curriculum as long as there are five pupils of any ethnic community in any school;

Non-racial solutions to Malaysian cultural policy

32) Promote knowledge, respect and sensitivity among Malaysians on Malaysian cultures, religions and ethnicity;

33) All places of prayer and worship for all ethnic communities should be gazetted in their areas of domicile free from any encumbrances and there should be no arbitrary restrictions on these places of worship;

34) National artistic and literary awards and scholarships considerations should be for all works by Malaysians regardless of the language in which they are written;

35) All ethnic Malaysian cultures should be fairly represented in official cultural bodies and the media. 

DR KUA KIA SOONG, 

former ISA detainee 

Member of Parliament

Director of Suaram.