Do RPK and Perkasa-Umno share a patron?

January 08, 2012

After Raja Petra Kamarudin’s (RPK) interview in Mingguan, many distanced themselves from him. I suspect they did so primarily because of one dimension of the interview, a dimension which makes me fume.

I begin with a caveat: I do not follow RPK; I don’t know the progress of his thought and relationships. So I’m reacting to the single interview reported by Mingguan.

RPK used that Malay 4 letter word several times. Yes, I mean ‘Cina.’

RPK linked the Chinese in Malaysia to the Chinese in mainland China. He did this through a deft use of Deng Xiaoping’s oft-quoted remark: “I doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, all that matters is that it catches the mice.” RPK said Deng intended this to be understood as “prosperity has priority over forms of government, i.e. communism or democracy. RPK added: “that’s what the world’s largest race desires.”

[Note: I suspect RPK meant to say Deng was alluding to capitalism, not democracy.]

RPK said all the Chinese care about is a strong economy, and government non-intervention in their businesses; he said “the Chinese” only care about projects, money, business. He said this is the reason why the Chinese in Selangor are not happy.

That is stereotyping of the worst kind. That’s akin to saying “he’s royalty, so he’s inbred and an imbecile.” That’s akin to saying “he’s Malay. He’s lazy.” That’s akin to saying “he’s Indian. He’s a drunkard.” The “Chinese” section of the interview reminded me of this passage from the pen of the patron saint of Perkasa:

“Races are differentiated not merely by ethnic origin, but also by many other characteristics. . . . The Jews for example are not merely hook-nosed, but understand money instinctively. The Europeans are not only fair-skinned, but have an insatiable curiosity. The Malays are not merely brown, but are also easy-going and tolerant. And the Chinese are not just almond-eyed people, but are also inherently good businessmen.” Mahathir bin Mohamad, The Malay Dilemma (Petaling Jaya: Federal Publications, 1970), 84.

So, does RPK have the same patron saint as Perkasa (and Umno)? If so, has he added a patron saint, OR has he been hiding this patron saint all along? More importantly, does he have other patron saints as well, e.g. Che Guevara? This is the dilemma for those who care about the influence of RPK.

We could say that Malaysians are constantly being formed, deformed and reformed by our racial origins and leanings, knowingly and unknowingly. [I’ve borrowed a phrase from Walter Brueggemann.]

People like me didn’t choose to be born here. We are here because of world events which occurred during the lifetimes of our grandparents or even earlier: famines; political and economic instabilities in India and China; the unwillingness of Malays to work for the British colonists, and the decision of the colonists to encourage immigration to Malaya.

Our ancestors fought the British and gained independence for Malaya: just look at who’s memorialised in Tugu Malaysia, our war monument in Kuala Lumpur. In the process, our ancestors gained citizenship rights for themselves and their descendants — us.

We have nowhere else to go; we have no desire to call anywhere else our home. Our ancestors died for this country, built the infrastructure, developed the commerce; we want to live together, to share common goals, to be good neighbours.

To many of us, “Race is so yesterday,” as an SABM (Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia) t-shirt puts it. This is not to say that we do not recognise ethnic realities.

We recognise there is a need to put right wrongs which have been done in the name of race – a primary reason we are attracted to ABU, Anything But Umno. We recognise that a country needs to be governed, and that progress needs to be guided through legislative and administrative acts. We recognise the historical factors at play and the economic imbalances which must be corrected.

But race must not be used as a tool to dehumanise and demonise people.

We know it’s a hard journey, with many compromises en-route: because we’re all human and we need to keep moving, not remain in deadlock. We know politics is not a matter of black and white, everyone happy, always. We also know racial profiling is wrong.

When RPK broad-brushed the Chinese in his interview with Mingguan, did he speak from his heart? If he did, he’s plain wrong. There’s no two ways about it.

RPK either failed to notice or chose not to notice that many Chinese are active in NGO’s: with no commercial benefit to themselves, and much to the disappointment of their parents. He also failed to notice that many parents in Malaysia are challenged by their childrens’ non-racial orientation – even the patron saint has this trouble.

I applaud those who have distanced themselves from the current version of RPK, without denigrating him. RPK has opportunity to recant; if he does, and proves to be sincere, I am sure his friends will return to him. I congratulate Malaysia for having come to this stage in political development; there really is civil society here!

You can read my previous post about the RPK interview here.

* Rama Ramanathan reads The Malaysian Insider.