Where is the soul of Malaysian society?

In our country where race-based politics dominates the ground, society is inevitably polarised. It is an irony. Politicians are supposed to unite us but they are the ones who prevent us from coming together. They divide us into ethnic groups and shore support from chest-thumping rhetoric.

Ooi Kok Hin, The Malaysian Insider

 Anomaly: Something that deviates from what is standard, normal or expected.

“Can you believe it? GE13 is one week away!” a friend proclaimed. I’m already wondering what life after GE13 looks like. Everything that happened since the night of March 8, 2008 — one long stretch of campaigning — is preparing for this moment. I was sucked into the post-political tsunami euphoria and began to read and follow the developments. Eventually I became the guy who watched the Pakatan Rakyat Convention when my peers watched the Oscars. It’s weird. Once, when someone introduced himself from Gombak, I said: “Oh yeah, how’s Azmin Ali (Gombak MP) doing there?” He looked at me as if I am from Mars.

Lately, many people have become very opinionated about politics. Although I’m glad that people have increased their political awareness and participation, I’m worried that we have become too partisan. And there are always the two Rs which continue to haunt our society. Given the intensity of partisanship and the influx of opinions, I ponder the reason I became interested in politics in the first place.

Society is a reflection of politics

Aristotle ranks the study of politics as the master science because it is the ruling science which governs other sciences; meaning politics dictates what we are to do and refrain from (Nicomachean Ethics, Book I). In the “Republic”, Plato describes how politics builds the ideal society. It is well-established then that politics moulds society and hence the resultant society will be a reflection of the type of politics practised.

In our country where race-based politics dominates the ground, society is inevitably polarised. It is an irony. Politicians are supposed to unite us but they are the ones who prevent us from coming together. They divide us into ethnic groups and shore support from chest-thumping rhetoric.

It is also a half-truth. The Sino-Malay rivalry is nowhere near intra-ethnic conflicts. There’s a long history of wars and conquests among the Javanese, Minangkabaus, Bugis and various others. People who are today categorically defined as Malays were once arch-enemies. The Chinese too have fought a brutal civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, or to take a local example the clashes between secret societies Ghee Hin and Hai San. Meanwhile, the Malays and Chinese have never waged war against each other.

Maybe few people appreciate the past. But in modern politics, it is clear that while race-based politics sows prejudices and hatred, it creates intense rivalries within each community rather than between the communities. 

Umno’s fiercest opponent has never been the DAP (or even PAP). It is always the other Malay party — first PKMM/PUTERA, then Datuk Onn Jaafar’s Parti Negara, Ku Li’s Semangat 46 and, of course, PKR and PAS, which until recently was completely Malay-Muslim. And in every election, the DAP contests mainly against Chinese-dominated MCA/Gerakan.

Should we laugh or cry? On one hand, race-based politics exaggerates the rivalries between the communities; meaning that the differences we have are actually less than trumpeted. On the other hand, the people have been deceived to hate each other for so long when we could have embraced each other two or three generations ago. Racial politics also obscured the elusive thing I been trying to find in our politics — the soul of Malaysian society.

The Malaysian narrative

In a system whereby politicians shore up support by selling the appeal “I am more (insert race/religion) than him”, I found only the representatives of Malays, Chinese, Indians and lain-lain. There was no visible light that represents the soul of Malaysian society. Since politics is a reflection of the society, does this means that there has never been a Malaysian society?

Reading Victor Purcell’s excellent biography “Malaysia”, I kept asking where my place is in the nation’s narrative. If I were to travel to the past, the Malays would almost certainly view me the same way I see the Bangladeshi, Nepali or Myanmar workers — immigrants. My Mandarin is barely passable so I would be shunned by the majority of the Chinese. The saving grace might be the Hokkien community, but then I never considered myself Chinese so it will be hard (and awkward) to connect with them. I am not chap cheng (mixed) but I might as well be.

I’m so intricately intertwined with what I consider Malaysian society around me all my life. To imagine being part of something else is like being told I’m not my parents’ biological son. Thus the quest to understand our politics is also a journey to discover my identity in the Malaysian narrative.

That is why my heart sinks every time I hear words like “We Malays must unite” or “We Chinese should defend our vernacular schools from the Malays.” I let out a sigh. I know I am not included in the conversation. I am neither (intellectually) Chinese nor Malay but ironically it is for this reason that I believe that people like my friends and I are the best reflection of Malaysia.

We, the individuals and the country, are never pure this or pure that. The mosaic history and seamless immigration/emigration of the Malay archipelago make the country as complex as its citizens. Hence purity is never the proper representation of Malaysia/Malaysians.

Rather, we are bonded by our common experiences and love; be it hanging out at mamak stalls, beaming with pride when Americans speak our national language, or feeling the rage in your heart when someone suggests you don’t come back to the country. It is a conscious decision every day to carry ourselves and speak as Malaysians. Just as Tan Sri Khir Johari put it: “I’m Malay by accident, Malayan (Malaysian) by choice.”

This makes me wonder: why those who considered themselves Malaysians (period) are not thriving in politics as much as they should? Is this because the current politics favours those popular within their own ethnic group and does not give due credit to those who have moved beyond race? Is it the voters’ mindset? Are there not enough good Malaysian leaders in our politics?

We must change this set of politics if we want to create a state of Malaysians, by Malaysians, and for Malaysians.

This Sunday and beyond, I hope the voters and politicians will put an end to the race debacle and pave the way for that dream. Meanwhile, my friend and I look forward to be part of the action in GE14.