Different highways to the Malaysian dream

 

(Today Online) - It is apparent that the demand for change galvanises young Malaysians to chase the Malaysian dream. Unfortunately, this is not good enough. The young are deeply divided on how to get there. 

There is little doubt among political observers that the outcome of Malaysia’s 13th general election could well rest on how young Malaysians cast their vote.

The last few years have seen young Malaysians aggressively using social media and news portals to pitch their views on politics. It is good to see the young taking ownership of Malaysia’s political future, but the big question is, what do the young want?

There are common themes that run through the seemingly chaotic online conversations. To start with, Malaysians, young and old, want better governance. They no longer want to be bogged down by issues of corruption and nepotism.

The online conversations see Malaysians desiring a more transparent and accountable government. They want institutions that help strengthen the democratic process; institutions that can accommodate an increasingly critical public. So far, the government has responded by abolishing the Internal Security Act and replacing it with the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act. More is needed.

Young Malaysians are highly impatient — and rightly so. They want quick results; this generation has little appetite for incremental or prosaic policies. This highly-networked generation, born and raised in a new Malaysia, wants instant information, instant results and instant gratification.

NEP BENEFICIARIES

These grievances may seem coherent but the truth is there is little coherence among the young on how to get there. Malaysians, particularly the young, are more divided now than ever before.

To start, there is an ever growing number of young bumiputras — whom we shall call group A — who are beneficiaries or whose parents are beneficiaries of Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP). Having been brought up in at least a middle-class environment, these young bumiputras do not see ethnicity as a major issue. Some are lending their voices to calls for change in this election — personalities like Rafizi Ramli, Nurul Izzah Anwar, Karim Raslan, Azmi Shahrom, Salahuddin Ayub and Azmin Ali.

Some, like Fuziah Salleh, a government scholar picked by the state to do her A Levels and university studies in the United Kingdom, remain staunch supporters of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat.

Members of group A may still be uneasy with the idea of a complete rollback of Malay dominance, but they largely agree that Malaysia needs to recalibrate its race-based policies.

ISLAMIC LEANINGS

There is yet another group of bumiputras — group B — who lean more towards Islam. They are usually graduates of Malaysia’s religious institutions or local higher institutions who are persuaded by the idea of a more Islamic Malaysia.

Some have secular education but remain bent on the Islamic solution to Malaysia’s state-building. They include the likes of Dr Zulkefly Ahmad, Dr Hasan Ali, Nasruddin Mat Isa and Dr Asri Zainul Abidin.

Members of this group are usually concentrated in rural Malaysia, but increasingly, urban Malaysians whose parents were born and raised in the Malay heartlands of Kelantan, Trengganu and Kedah, are attracted to the idea of a more Islamic Malaysia. They give a romantic portrayal of an Islamic Malaysia, one that views religion, not politics or ethnicity, as the best arbiter in distributing resources.

NON-BUMIPUTRAS

Then there is group C, young non-bumiputra Malaysians, who are fed up with the idea that they can never live up to their true potential in an NEP Malaysia.

Many of these young non-bumiputras are sent to places like Singapore, Australia and the United States. Many choose to stay outside Malaysia, but there are some who make the choice to return home in the hopes of changing the system, such as Tony Pua, Donald Tan, Ong Kian Ming and Tricia Yeoh.

Those who cannot make it abroad usually opt to study in vernacular schools before going on to local private institutions that predominantly cater to non-bumiputras, and where English is the medium of instruction.

This group of Malaysians wants a more inclusive Malaysia. They remain convinced that there will never be a fair Malaysia until affirmative action is dropped, even if a scan of corporate Malaysia shows non-bumiputras dominating in important sectors such as banking and finance, or the list of Malaysia’s wealthiest.

Together with some in Group A, they believe in a liberal, plural Malaysia, one where every Malaysian is treated on equal terms politically, socially and economically.

Some hint at a republican Malaysia, where the Prime Minister need not necessarily be Malay and where Islam is put on an even keel with other major religions.

DEEPLY DIVIDED

It is apparent that the demand for change galvanises young Malaysians to chase the Malaysian dream. Unfortunately, this is not good enough. The young are deeply divided on how to get there. They espouse different versions of how to achieve the Malaysian dream, all coloured by their own experiences with the Malaysian state.

The young voters could well be the general election’s game changer, but the challenge remains: Can Malaysia’s disparate groups — all products of more than half a century of consociational democracy — agree on a common implementation?

It is a tough task, one that the country has been grappling with. For now, it seems, there is no single highway that can carry young Malaysians to that common dream.

Dr Abdillah Noh is Senior Lecturer at the Tun Abdul Razak School of Government, University Tun Abdul Razak.