NAJIB'S 'CHINESE BLOODBATH' TACTICS BACKFIRE: Economics & politics reality check for Umno

Rallying in support of the beleaguered UMNO party President and chastising their fellow Malaysian citizens about fallen Malay honour and dignity may provide emotional satisfaction but Red Shirts and their supporters especially among UMNO's leaders really need to take their heads out of the sand. They need to face the fact that this is no longer “tanah Melayu” but “tanah Malaysia” as Rafidah Aziz, the former Minister of International Trade and Industry and UMNO Wanita President succinctly put it.

They also need to face the reality of a country which is intertwined with the rest of the world and where images and speeches with their intended and unintended meanings and messages – especially ugly ones – flash repeatedly across the world's time zones and geographical boundaries, and are permanently stored in the internet and social media memory.

Of immediate major concern to all of us are the ripple effects of Himpunan Maruah Melayu/Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu/ #Merah169 spilling into the regional or global market place.

In demonstrating against 'rapacious' Chinese businesses and shopkeepers in Low Yatt and Petaling Street, Red Shirts and UMNO ministers may have overlooked or ignored the fact that the greater part of our regional and international export trade is with countries such as China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia (see Table on Malaysia's Major Export Markets)

In these countries the Chinese business community plays a leading role. They will surely not be impressed or amused by the Red Shirt display of crass racism and the Malaysian Government's tacit encouragement and use of racial scape-goating to deflect attention away from its own mis-governance. One hopes that importers and exporters of Chinese origin in the region will not allow the scenes of racial hatred to adversely impact on their business dealings with Malaysia and the Malay business community especially.

Even in countries such as the United States, Australia, India and the European Union nations where the business community engaged with trading in Malaysian goods and services are not of Chinese origin, and where race may not play any role in business networking and deals, there will be concern with how the Malaysian government is so much out of step with the rest of the modern world in dealing with racism, corruption, money laundering, transparency in governance and the host of other transgressions associated with 1MBD.

Closing Down SRJK (C)?

Out of touch with reality too is UMNO's Utusan directorate and the propaganda collective of “Awang Selamat” and other right wing Melayu cheerleaders egging the Red Shirts with their racial rabble rousing, including that targeted at closure of Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan ( C ). The inescapable fact is that these schools are not the cause of the racial divide found in the country. Furthermore, data from the National Education Blueprint shows Chinese schools to have a more multiracial enrolment compared with national schools (Sekolah Kebangsaan).

The great majority of thinking Malaysians, including the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Muhyiddin Yassin under whose watch the Blueprint was formulated and adopted as national policy, are well aware that the diversity of school systems in Malaysia is a distinct advantage in our increasingly globalised world and competitive economy.

It is also clear that the students of SRJK ( C ) will have a comparative advantage in dealing with an increasingly Sinicized world. Already in the business world, Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel prize winning economist has noted of China's rise in the world economy in the following way:

When the history of 2014 is written, it will take note of a large fact that has received little attention: 2014 was the last year in which the United States could claim to be the world’s largest economic power. China enters 2015 in the top position, where it will likely remain for a very long time, if not forever. In doing so, it returns to the position it held through most of human history.

If UMNO, the Red Shirts, and Utusan want to uphold Malay honour and dignity; if they want to ensure that the Malay community earns the respect and esteem of others for the right reasons and not because of their 'special position' or political dominance, they should be repeating the message - loud and clear - that sending Malay kids to Chinese schools – good Chinese schools as there are also marginalized and disadvantaged ones - can be a key way forward for the Malay community. It will open the minds of the Malay young, teach them language and other skills not found in the national schools, help them leverage on the rise of China and Chinese economic power in the region, and help bridge the racial economic disparity and divide that UMNO and the Red Shirts want to overcome.

But my guess is that this will not happen until there is a change of government.

TABLE : MALAYSIA'S MAJOR EXPORT MARKETS, 2013 and 2014

Jan-Dec 2014 Jan-Dec 2013

RM Million

Total Exports 766,128.5 719,992.4

Singapore 108,838.9 100,256.6

PRC 92,347.6 97,043.0

Japan 82,708.9 79,196.7

USA 64,412.8 58,054.9

Thailand 40,271.9 39,923.3

Hong Kong 37,020.9 31,251.1

Australia 32,970.2 29,225.1

India 31,896.6 25,735.1

Indonesia 31,757.8 33,110.4

ROK 28,061.2 26,199.2

Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia