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Monday, December 8, 2014

Are we seeing the rise of Middle Malaysia?

The message of moderation makes its way into the public sphere with a bang, but will it make an impact?
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remaja_300Today, 25 distinguished figures from the Malay community stepped forward in an attempt to stop the rising tide of extremism by telling religious agencies as well as supremacist NGOs that enough is enough. Their open letter to Prime Minister Najib Razak is a breath of fresh air that is a much needed break from the stifling hothouse that our political, cultural, and religious climate has become.
That such a group, composed of former high-ranking ministry officials and ambassadors, among others, has come out to take such a stance is a reassurance to the rest of us that there is still some sanity prevailing in this country. The escalation of extremist rhetoric, the increase in worrying statements and actions by over-reaching religious agencies, the shutdown of rational discussion by complaints of anti-Malay, anti-Islamic, or anti-monarchy tendencies by various right-wing NGOs have left the majority of Malaysians, including Malays, in the lurch, profoundly uncomfortable with what is being uttered, but utterly powerless to stop it.
Most of the time, we’re just trying to live, and despite all the initiatives put in place to “uplift” the Malays, access to those initiatives and the tax dollars behind them is difficult without the right connections. The constant friction between the communities that make up our beautiful, multicoloured Malaysia benefits no one, least of all the Malays.
Even worse, the war between the extremists and the liberals is tearing the fabric of Malay society apart. There is no unity when either end refuses to compromise and the only endgame presented to us is “with me or against me”. In fact, the entire conversation about Malay rights has turned into a vicious, cannibalistic and incestuous cycle that has no endgame to speak of other than the alienation of the rights of the other communities in Malaysia.
And that’s why it means so much to have a group of moderates, and such a pre-eminent one at that, come out in defence of moderate Malaysia, to hold our Prime Minister responsible for his vision and ask that he act to fulfil it. This means keeping a leash on people like the minister in charge of religious affairs, Jamil Khir Baharom, who seems to have had an apoplexy after reading the group’s statement, claiming that there are no limits to Syariah law.
With due respect to the minister and to the faith that governs life for Muslims in Malaysia, our Constitution was written as the highest law in this land. It governs everybody, believer and non-believer, and should be the final say in any situation that demands the law stand as the judge. The allowance for Syariah law grew out of the provisions made for it in the Constitution, and should be governed by the limits and standards set by the Constitution as the highest law of the land.
Is this where Middle Malaysia finally makes it’s stand, it’s appeal for some sanity to regain traction in our country’s fractured consciousness? There’s been so much talk for so long about how we need to find a path between the extremes of the political, cultural, and religious spectrum, and not very much has been done about it as the extremists ran unchecked and stole our national dialogue to turn it into something no longer quite Malaysian.
Perhaps there is finally some hope. If this is the start, for real, of Middle Malaysia finally speaking up, then we’ve just seen the emergence of some kind of hope that the silent majority of Malaysians can finally believe in. These 25 people represent those that we look up to, those who should lead us, and we can only hope that more people will flock to their banner.
For if they do not get that support from Malaysia’s silent majority, if the cause of the moderates is not championed, then we are in for some very tough times indeed.

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