Independence at 55: Form over substance

"The proverb warns that, ‘You should not bite the hand that feeds you.' But maybe you should, if it prevents you from feeding yourself." - Thomas Stephen Szasz

For some, Merdeka day was the day we matured as a nation. For others, it was marred by political one-upmanship and the disgraceful behaviour of certain celebrants. Unfortunately, the truth rarely rests somewhere in the middle. Never forget when it comes to politics, the middle is all about compromise.

For the past 55 years, we lived with moderation and tolerance. If you are non-Malay, you were told to be grateful to the hosts of this land for being allowed to live here in peace and harmony. The so-called social contract (sic), a nebulous figment of political imagination, was conflated with certain elements of the Malaysian constitution which then become the barometer of how racial relations were governed in this country.

This Merdeka day celebrations was the harbinger of the shape of things to come. What it demonstrates is that ‘Janji Ditepati' has fallen apart and the Umno centre cannot hold.

For a certain section of the Malaysian voting public, it was a jubilant moment of redefining the Malaysian centre from one of appeasement and tolerance to that of unity in racial and economic diversity, and the hope of a more egalitarian way of Malaysian life.

Understand now, that I think the ‘opposition' is not there yet in fulfilling those expectations, seeing as how they are playing the same race game but for a certain section of the ordinary rakyat who believes in that ‘hope', it was a night of brotherhood and affirmation that the tsunami of 2008 was a watershed moment that heralded a new Malaysian dawn.

Predictably Umno stayed true to form. The events leading up to Merdeka eve was the usual partisanship of Umno/BN malfeasances and Pakatan Rakyat showboating. From hijacking the national day theme to alternate slogans, the whole thing was a shadow play of self-serving politics masquerading as patriotism.

Of course, since our history is that of the manufactured kind, most people seemed more interested in form than substance. I have always been deeply skeptical of shows of patriotism because mostly it's jingoism in a cheap dress, but this year there was an undercurrent of genuine sincerity of love of country.

For a certain section of the Malaysian polity, it was more than just a day of remembering independence from colonialism but it was also day of declaring independence from Umno hegemony.

For others who view the current political discord as something of an aberration in Malaysian politics - in every country in the world political differences are the norm but here in Malaysia, after years of Umno/BN haranguing its considered anathema - it was a night that the ‘opposition' hijacked an event which was supposed to be an opportunity for national unity for political mileage.

Change of leadership

The fact that Umno for one night could not bring these two opposing forces together in a symbolic show of national unity is just further evidence that the first step for a new Malaysia is for the people to get used to the idea that a two-party alliance competing for stewardship of this country is the panacea for years of BN rule.

Bear in mind that this is not an endorsement of Pakatan (although admittedly I am a reluctant partisan) merely my belief that the first step for all of us (pro-BN and pro-Pakatan) to progress after years of apathy is to practise the most basic of democratic principles - a change of leadership.

Merdeka eve provided much amusement. Take this whole mooning pictures of our glorious leader and his wife tempest in a tea cup. The term "biadap" (how I loathe that term seeing as how it is loaded which the usual Malaysian hypocrisy that passes as "values") has been thrown about to describe the action of the dumb kid who found it necessary to make an arse of himself by exposing his ass.

Commenters in Malaysiakini and elsewhere either praise the action as the frustrated howl of a young person appalled at the excess of the Umno regime or heap scorn on him as someone who is rude and out of Malaysian character.

For the former, spare me the uber liberal chest thumping of freedom of speech/expression and thumbing the nose at authority. It was an example of both, but it is a dumb example at best which tarred the better example of those attending the event despite the fact that the rally was declared "illegal" and the always present threat of violence when it comes to defying this regime.

And thank you Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat for pointing out that engaging in such acts "... is not the work of Malays and Muslims.

"This is very shameful and saddening, the photograph that I saw was not of Malay (the perpetrators of the act). We Muslims are taught not to disturb others. If others do it to us, we will get angry."

Perhaps Tok Guru was not furnished with pictures of those Malay/Muslim university students who engaged in an orgy of hate against the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) community, certain opposition personalities and social activists, burning and shredding pictures and engaging in the most hateful of rhetoric.

And then of course, there are the never ending disruptions by Perkasa and their ilk of opposition ceramahs. Remember folks, thered paint on the bus is probably the work of "biadap" non-Malay/Muslims because it's not in the culture of the Malays to engage in such activity.

And this exemplifies the hypocrisy of the latter when it comes to the action of that dumb kid. Pro-regime blogs have drawn attention to the "jambu-ness" of the dumb kid, which fits in nicely with the homophobic narrative and the disdain of the ‘other' which Umno peddles, which is more often than not ignored by the so-called inclusive majority of Pakatan.

Arresting the mooning kid when there are a slew of politically motivated acts of disruption against Pakatan which goes unnoticed should be embarrassing to the PDRM but as is, it is just business as usual for a police force compromised by Umno.

There really is nothing more to say except to see how it plays out for a kid who got caught up in the heat of the moment while the outsourced thugs of Umno are free to spread their hate, secure in the knowledge that the Umno state will never lift a finger against them, all part of ‘janji ditepati', I suppose.

This is why when an example of a true spirit of Merdeka is presented to Malaysian partisans in the form of those four transsexualschallenging Islamic doctrine in the courts, it is met with silence or hate.

Honestly, what they are doing (dare I say it?) takes cojones and to me is an act of defiance against the established social order, and regardless of one's views on sexuality and gender, a hardcore example of fighting for one's rights. If this does not exemplify the spirit of Merdeka, I don't know what does.

Manufactured controversy
But what really made the night memorable for me are those kids who hoisted the Sang Saka Malaya flag.

Not only were they drawing attention to the history of this country which has been deliberately buried, they were also challenging the ideological status quo by reminding anyone who bothered to look that the ‘Malay' polity was never a monolithic entity made up entirely of Umno or PAS.

Now that, my friends, are symbolic gestures worthy of praise depending on your political bent. The fact that the PDRM and the home minister are painting this episode in the bright Umno colours of political subversion - hey it is - and accusations of flag changing (so what if it is) just proves that BN will manufacture any controversy on the filmiest of foundations to fire up the indignation of its supporters in the hopes that this would translate to legitimacy.

I have written about the destruction of the Left by Umno/BN but what is really was, was the destruction of the idea of a polychromatic Malay community and the creation of the myth of the monolithic Malay community under siege by the avarice of the non-Malay "pendatangs".

What those kids managed to do was for a brief moment remind Malaysians that there has always been a diversity of opinion in the Malay community and the Malaysian political and social landscape, and that is where our possible salvation lies.

Merdeka for a long time was a rote exercise with everyone going through the motions either in apathy or secure self-entitlement. For the first time in decades, people were forced to question their own beliefs and put in the hard work of actually committing to principles they took for granted or only paid lip service to.

With all the controversies and the bickering, with all the partisanship and acrimony, Malaysians for the first time no matter which side of the political divide they were on, were confronted with the reality that people have different ideas of how best to chart the future of this country.

The greatest thing about Merdeka this year was for the first time since Independence, it truly was about something.

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (rtd) in the Royal Malaysian Navy.