BN has got it wrong: Political parties are not God and unity is when Malaysia is for all Malaysians

Since taking over as prime minister in 2009, when has Najib Razak shown himself to be an inclusive leader for all Malaysians? A prime minister that speaks for the people of all colors, faiths and creed living in Malaysia? Has he been able to transform the Malaysian landscape divided by communal lines to a single melting pot, where people from different ethnic backgrounds can sit at the same table and enjoy a common meal and drink together, chat and discuss national affairs as fellow Malaysians?

Not only is the answer in the negative, but the situation is actually much worse than before when his predecessor Abdullah Badawi could at least still cajole the people to cool off. Now with Najib at the helm, extremist groups such as Perkasa and Jati have been allowed, even encouraged, to thrive. But meant to galvanize the Malays and Muslims to band together behind Umno, they have failed. Those who support these two groups belong to the conservative, right-wing hardline. Very few, if any at all, of the more moderate or liberal-minded Malays have been persuaded to shift camp.

Yet the belligerence displayed by Perkasa and Jati have roused anger, prompting the normally silent Christian community as well as the non-Malays, in particular the Chinese, to fire back. Look at the alternative media or community websites on the Internet, the sense of long-suffering in silence has been replaced by activism and calls to reach out, stand up and help themselves by taking a political stand at the ballot boxes. Such awareness will change Malaysia and inadvertently, it is thanks to the devious but clumsy politcal machinations of Najib himself.

Malay first, Malaysian second

But what riles Malaysians most is the political stance Najib has taken since assuming the role of prime minister. First and fore-most, he has been unable to shake off the shackles of his Umno presidency. The premiership comes a distant second. Unable to lead Umno in the direction he wants, he is bound to follow the whims of his powerful Umno colleagues and to place the party's core voter base - the Malays - first.

Malay unity is key to national unity, Najib recently said. And for anything to go well in Malaysia, the Malays have to be appeased first. In other words, if the Malays don't do well, the other races can forget about a peaceful and harmonious lifestyle. It is actually an extremely sinister statement to make especially when it was enunciated at a 'silat' or Malay martial arts association event.

“A silat association truly reflects Malay unity and its struggles. Its spirit of togetherness and brotherhood must be adopted by all. If we are to achieve national unity, the main key to it is unity among the Malays. Therefore, it is important for the race to remain united,” he was quoted as saying at a gathering of Seni Silat Pusaka Gayong Malaysia members.

Would Najib dare to make the same insinuations at a gathering of Chinese martial arts practitioners? Don’t the various schools that promote Chinese wu-shu, for example, also show a ‘spirit of togetherness and brotherhood? More likely, if he were to comment at all, he would say something along the lines of '...a wu-shu association truly refelcts Malaysian unity and its struggles...'.

Note instead of Chinese, he would use the right word - which is Malaysian. The same should have been applied in his silat speech - Malaysian instead of Malay. And this is the crux of the issue.

Umno itself is responsible for Malay disunity

Najib's deputy Muhyiddin Yassin - a simpler man - dared to say he was Malay first and Malaysian next. In his silat speech, Najib is actually affirming those words. He too is Malay first and Malaysian next. The difference is, Najib doesn't have the guts to say it right out.

Would Najib treat the people of Sarawak and Sabah the same way too, since for centuries the communities living in Sarawak and Sabah have all be living in a ‘spirit of togetherness and brotherhood’ and it has only been in recent times has the fabric of understanding between these communities have been tainted by ideas of Malay 'supremacy' from the peninsula.

Najib must be reminded, that the problems of unity amongst the Malays is due to his own Umno party. It was former premier Mahathir Mohamad who split the community down the line when he sacked and jailed his then deputy Anwar Ibrahim on trumped-up sodomy and corruption charges.

To unite the Malays, Umno must listen to what the Malay community NOW wants and shift in that direction rather than use the fear of other races to keep them tied to Umno. Otherwise, the Malays will always be disunited, because fear is a poor motivator of people. There will always be feelings of dissatisfaction, grouses that they were 'forced' to go along because of Umno, the perennial big bad wolf.

Minorities the biggest victims

The other victims of a ruthless Umno are of course the minority races, who are basically innocent by-standers of this Umno-prodded 'internal' tussle within the Malay community. They are unfairly demonized and thoroughly abused as bogeymen to keep the Malays obedient to Umno. Worst of all, non-Malays also get the shortest end of the economic stick due a policy of affirmative action based on racial favoritism.

The Umno-led BN government has been in power for more than 55 years and Umno has always called the shots. Because of this, every government policy passed at Parliament has and will be slanted to give the Malays an advantage against the other communities unless there is a regime change. And this is looking more and more likely as the 13th general election approaches.

Malaysians and the Malays are getting wise to the Umno bluff. The chances of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim leading his Pakatan Rakyat and their needs-based policies to victory is getting stronger by the day. For despite Umno's pro-Malay talk and policies, despite Perkasa and Jati, the ordinary Malay folk never ever get to board its 'gravy train'. And this is why, 96% of the poorest 40% of Malaysians are still Malay despite 5 decades of 'preference to be given to the Malays'.

Another Umno oddity worth noting is that no-where on earth, would one find legislation that makes a person who embraces Islam an automatic Malay. Only in Malaysia, can one see such worded legislation and it can be found in the Federal Constitution.

Keeping the Malays poor and the elite rich

Yet, despite Umno's total dominance over Malaysian society, why has it not done more for the Malays? Firstly, it has got to do with the greed of the Umno leaders themselves. Then, the poorer a community is, the easier it is to control.

And this has been BN’s game all along. When Najib took over three years ago, he had grand plans to ‘transform’ Malaysia and further promote cohesiveness amongst the communities. This grand plan fell apart at the seams when the rest of the Umno elite refused to have anything to do with it. In Umno’s eyes, it is best for the Malays to be kept begging for aid from BN.

Even in his latest Budget 2012 planning, Najib is still using this outdated carrot and stick approach. The one-off RM500 BR1M released to the lower income ahead of GE-13 is one such example. It is a short-sighted plan to rope in the poor Malays to vote for BN. Otherwise, if the Pakatan takes over, they can forget about such goodies.

But for how many years can Umno afford goodies like BR1M without putting in long-tern structural solutions? Is it not better that Umno cuts out corruption and suppresses super-mega deals and re-distribute the money to benefit the masses. Obviously, Umno has avoided mentioning this in the hope that the rural Malays won't be smart enough to reason this out. But are Malaysians really so ignorant as Najib seems to think. GE-13 will surely tell!

Political parties, especially Umno, are not GOD

Najib and team have not ceased spreading the message that with Pakatan in power, the Malays will never be united. Not only is this an oft-repeated lie, but having a united Malay front is not the real key to national unity. It is an impossibility in any case, given Umno's divisive politics.

At the core of it, national unity is not dependent on the unity of any majority group. National unity is dependent on ALL communities being united for a common goal. It has nothing to do with prepping up one community, in the hopes that they lead the way towards unity. It means reminding ALL communities that they are Malaysian. And in order for Malaysia to be united, ALL individuals residing in Malaysia have to identify themselves as Malaysians. And this is Umno's and Najib's failure.

Unity at the national level also has nothing to do with affiliation with a particular political. If we follow Najib's argument, does it mean that if I am a Pakatan member and you, a BN supporter, we cannot unite for the sake of Malaysia or to sit at a table and discuss life and politics over a teh tarik? At the end of the day, political parties are only vehicles we choose to formulate for us governmental and legislative policies. They are not our God! Citizens subscribe to the agenda promulgated by their political parties, but citizenship should never be tied to the political party a person belongs to.

So real unity in Malaysia means an end to race-based political parties, it means an end to speeches that prop up one's race above others and an end to extremist groups that champion one racial entity over the needs of the rest of the nation. Yes, it is easier said than done. And when Malaysians finally get down to such healthy practice, it would also mean that the BN, as we have always known it, would have perished.

Hopefully, it can be re-born, healthy and able to offer its help to Malaysians again - but this can only happen if it can rid itself of its thoroughly greedy, ruthless and self-serving leaders.

Malaysia Chronicle