Original Article featured on The Star (3th October 2010), published with permission.
Race remains a testy subject in the country but is it time to get the skeletons out of the closet? Young Malaysians speak up on the viability of discussing the topic openly.
IN their printed white shirt uniforms, it is easy to mistake the 1Malaysia Graduates Youth Club for any of the political party youth wings. But its committee members are quick to set things straight: “We are independent.”
In fact, this youth club reveals, they are self-funded. Many of their activities are paid for with money out of their own pockets.
When they organised a 1Malaysia medical camp in Setiawangsa a few months ago, for instance, they collected up to RM50,000 through various fund raising-activities to pay for it, says vice president U. Chandrasegaran.
Echoing his clubmates’ claim, secretary-general Ezaruddin Abd Rahman stresses that the club was definitely not established to take advantage of the 1Malaysia campaign, or the funding.
“We realised that there are many graduates in Malaysia but there is no platform for them to meet or voice their concerns, so some of us got together last year to set up the club. We don’t support any political parties. We just thought that the 1Malaysia aspiration is good and wanted to work towards it.
“We knew that there are already many NGOs out there but we felt most are tied to political parties, so we wanted to set up an organisation that is clean and not affiliated to any political parties,” he explains, highlighting the concept behind it, which is to gather all graduates and young working adults under one roof.
The platform may be “old school” for some but it caught on as the club registered some 12,000 members from all races nationwide (6,000 in Sabah and Sarawak) in the past year.
They even got the stamp of approval from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who is their patron.
As its president Tan Kian Soon puts it, the initiative aims to address young people’s issues and rally everyone to move with one voice.
“I agree that there are people out there who are misusing the 1Malaysia slogan but I believe that if someone is not sincere, people will know. With this club, we want to foster better relations between the different races so that we can achieve the higher income economy that the government is aiming for.
“It is the right time for all races to grow together – we need to create jobs and compete economically in the region,” he says.
Education is the most sensitive issue for many young Malaysians, Tan adds.
“Many young people are blaming the government for their problems. Chinese graduates feel that the government had not been fair to them and the Malays are angry that they cannot get jobs.
“We feel that we can play a role to guide them to improve their situation instead of just blaming the government. At the same time, we can voice our concerns about the quality of education and other youth issues to the government.”
Recently, the club lodged a police report against the National Bar Council’s MyConstitution Campaign which they say is trying to mislead Malaysian youth, especially the Chinese, about citizens’ rights.
Last year, they lodged a police report against a government-linked company.
The club’s priority remains the welfare of young Malaysians, says Sunil Hasmukharay, its Education and Training Bureau chief.
“For example, we try to help unemployed graduates by providing skills that some members lack, such as soft skills to make them more marketable. If their qualifications are below par, we guide them on how to upgrade their qualifications.”
Another VP, Gary Chan, believes that the club is the best platform for young Malaysians to unite after years of leading separate lives.
“In school, young Malaysians are segregated into Malay, Chinese and Indian. After they graduate, they still go on separate paths: Chinese and Indians mostly go into the corporate sector while Malays mostly go into the civil service. When they join this club, they can meet and exchange opinions. Maybe then they realise, this is 1Malaysia: Malays can go into the corporate sector and the Chinese can go into civil service, so there is sharing.”
When asked about how “real” the connection is, Tan says it is all in the sharing experience.
“We studied the programmes in universities and schools, and we saw that although everyone was divided mainly into different groups according to races, they did the same things and had the same activities. So we thought, why not combine the activities – get everyone to do things together. This is something the club is working towards,” shares Tan.
Hence, it is not all work for the club as their programmes include games and sports such as paintball. Activities in the works include a motorcycle road safety programme and gigs for indie bands and buskers.
Still, they all agree that it is not time yet to openly discuss “sensitive” issues like race and religion.
“We are Asians,” says Tan. “It is better to talk about it behind closed doors. We should not copy the West. If open dialogue is so good, why are many countries in the West facing conflict?”
Chandrasegaran believes that it will take another decade before Malaysians can talk openly about racial issues.
“We need more time to grow before we are mature enough to talk about things openly. We need to learn how to talk about these sensitive issues respectfully first.”
The club is the right platform, Tan insists: “Young people can use the 1Malaysia Graduates Youth Club as a platform. We express our concerns as one voice, not individually, because it will be chaos.”
Like Namewee, for one, says Mohd Nuwairi Karim who heads the club’s Recreation and Arts Bureau.
“He is talented and we understand his concerns but he does not have to be so angry about it. Or be alone. We invite him to join our club.”
“How do you solve a problem like Namewee?” student Jason Chong sings to the tune ofSound of Music’s Maria.
This must now be a recurring tune in the heads of many politicians, the administration, authorities and, as Chong jokingly describes, “older people of a certain generation”.
To the 22-year-old psychology major and his friends, however, Namewee has a point.
“We may hate his rap but we agree with some of the things he is saying. I think Namewee reflects the frustration of our generation. I’m glad he is speaking up; he has a right to be heard.”
True, regardless of how one feels about the young rapper’s musical style or aesthetics, many acknowledge that he is only venting about what many are saying behind closed doors.
Namewee, real name Wee Meng Chee, landed in hot water, again, for his latest rap-rantNah! – a three-minute rap video on YouTube on the case of a Johor school principal who allegedly made racist remarks to her students.
He was hauled in for police grilling over the clip on allegations of sedition, but he maintains that he is only trying to highlight the fight against racism in the country and claims that his detractors are missing the point of his video.
“I am first and foremost a Malaysian. But if I see something wrong, I’ll say it out loud, I will not keep quiet,” says the 27-year-old.
“As a musician, I write songs when I get inspiration or feel strongly about something. If we can express our feelings of love in a song, why can’t we express our anger and frustration in a song too? Anyway, if I only make love songs, it will be boring.”
The reception has not been all good on his home and Facebook page, he admits.
“Not all are my friends; some attack me. What worries me more is that many are missing the point and leave racist messages in my support. That is not my intention. I don’t want to incite hatred. I hope they can read the message behind my video. I am anti-racism. I have explained many times I am not anti any particular race; I have friends of various races.”
Even Yayasan 1Malaysia trustee Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes recently pointed out that there is a lot of suppressed frustration among the people, especially the younger generation. The first step to overcome the problem, he opined, is through public dialogue.
Hasbeemasputra Abu Bakar, former coordinator of civil group Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia, agrees, saying that a platform is needed to talk about race and racial issues.
“What kind of platform (it should be) can still be debated. Generally, there is a lack of safe space for discussions of any sort of ‘sensitive’ matters in this country, and this leads to a host of other problems,” he says.
“Our leaders either say ‘this is a non-issue’ or ‘jangan pertikai’ or both, which contributes to a culture of fear. This shows a lack of understanding of history – the understanding of the inevitability of change, of social reform that can, must and will come.”
Hasbee feels that on the ground, “race” relations are generally cordial but there are always people seeking to exploit the situation in the country.
“Unfortunately, race and religion are common tools used for manipulation by those with vested interest to exploit the situation, not for the public good, but for their own agendas,” he says.
Assistant producer at Apparat, Nadira Illina, however, feels that it is time to look beyond race.
“How many platforms do we need? I think we need to talk about race less, not more. We won’t cease to be Malaysia if we don’t talk about it. We won’t forget our heritage either, embracing it would come more naturally.
“I don’t see what we can achieve by developing more guidelines on how to interact with each other when we can just be.
“Imagine if Malaysians couldn’t talk about race or religion in a large way for a year. Who would we be then? What would we think about? What could we achieve if race and religion were not constant issues?”
Nadira, who is from Sabah, reminds fellow Malaysians that there is a world beyond being Malay, Chinese, Indian, Muslim, Christian, Kadazan or Iban.
“I believe that fighting over racial issues the way Malaysians do only segregates our people. We don’t look at the bigger picture,” she says.
Conceptual artist Chitoo feels that the two bogeymen – May 13, 1969 and the “Social Contract” – are being used constantly to restrain open discussion.
“I find it ridiculous that we young people are being held ransom by the state with the incidents of 1969, considering that we weren’t even born then.
“I think it is about time we start dealing with that and define a Malaysia that is relevant to us and the current times, not our forefathers’.
“I truly appreciate the struggles of our forefathers. It must have worked really well back then but to be absolutely honest, we cannot deny that things need to be reviewed.”
courtesy of myConstitution
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