Frontline politics in Malaysia’s is shifting towards racial isolation

Malaysia’s politics are rapidly shifting from national interests to racial isolation against minorities. But the Malays are not the only ones to blame in this situation.

The political strife in the country is about the Malays fear they will lose their grip on political power. It has been going on for some time now and it is a ‘national’ issue for them.

Parties in power are pushing this agenda, basically saying to the Malays, “Malay political power is in danger!”

True or not, the point remains it is biting among B40 Malays and has crept into the other economic classes. The middle class and the T20 Malays are not impermeable to this campaign.

The concerns of many Malays is whether the non-Malays are gaining more political power? The presence of the DAP in the government for 22 months (2018-2020) acerbated the belief that Malays lost their political power.

THE SCOURGE

For a majority of the Malays, it is about survival as a race and a religious entity. They look around them in the Asean and they see the rise of an ugly monster against Muslims in Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.

They do not want to see that happening in Malaysia, considered to be a sacred land for the Bumiputera.

But for the non-Malays, the battle is about rights and nationalism. This is now under the direct influence of the DAP. The DAP has captured this ‘winning’ formula away from the Keadilan and from other political formations fighting for equal rights and so on.

It has imposed itself as the champion of such causes and its barely two years in power showed to the Malays what they should expect if they lose political power. To the least, this is what the anti-Dapsies are telling them on a daily basis.

Let us explain.

Malaysia is a multi-racial and multi-cultural nation. It’s been built from scratch in 1957 with the sweat of the Malays, Indians, Chinese and other races.

All of them have put in their knowledge and desires to achieve something to make the country great.

But when democracy fails both the Malays and the non-Malays, unity and cohesion snap. Again, this is what both the opposition and the ruling coalition are telling their opponents.

TOMMY THOMAS

Now, the book by Tommy Thomas is making waves across Malaysia. In WhatsApp groups, it is the bestseller, an even bigger seller than the Billion Dollar Whale, if you ask me.

Let us see what an analyst whose views are gold to local and foreign media has to say on Tommy Thomas’s book and the criticism surrounding it?

James Chin, a political analyst, attached to Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia says:

“Something is very wrong when non-Malays Malaysians, no matter how competent, cannot hold a senior position in politics or the civil services when your race is omnipresent and used to explain your every action.”

And he is right. There are a lot of comments and anger among non-Malays who are not given a chance to serve their country.

But then, there is also this to consider.

The Malays would probably not shy away from giving in to the demands or needs of the minorities.

After all, they agreed enthusiastically for the inclusion of the non-Malays in the country’s social fabric at independence.

Chin says the sidelining of non-Malays in running the country “has been happening since the 1970s.” Let us put it this way,: Perhaps it was not that acute in the days as it is today but it is undeniable that non-Malays are not given big posts.

The only time it happened, was under the Pakatan Harapan government and this experiment failed lamentably.

ATTACKING ISLAM

But this is where analysts get it all wrong and it is probably why the Malays are uncomfortable in conceding higher posts to non-Malays. Chin says, “Yet the Malay establishment refused to accept this reality. A section of the non-Malay community also refused to accept this reality. 

“It’s good that Tommy Thomas reminded us that after half a century of independence, Ketuanan Melayu Islam is now cemented into the system….”

Attacking Malays is one thing. But attacking Islam is a mistake in Malaysia. It is the only religion mentioned in the country’s constitution. Attacking it hurts the Malays and gives the extremists the ‘power’ to make the Malay majority rally behind them.

We have seen it upteen times in Malaysia. It was at its peak after the Lim Kit Siang move to call for the approval of the ICERD in Malaysia by the PH government.

It led to massive demonstrations and a famous Bangsa Melayu Congress organised by opposition figures but chaired by PM Mahathir Mohamad. In the end, this episode led to the collapse of the PH regime and the rise of the Perikatan Nasional.

An academic, Chin worked as a journalist in Malaysia and Singapore. Currently, Chin weighs in on the current Malaysian political transition.

But we feel the jabs at Islam tarnishes his reputation as an analyst because it is at the expense of the non-Malays in the end!