“The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant, systematic duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune.”
- Boris Pasternak
Last November, in arguing that PKR should expel its then deputy president Azmin Ali, I wrote: “Azmin’s continued reliance on outsiders to ferment trouble and consolidate support is the existential threat facing PKR...”
As events have played out, it is apparent that the existential threat facing Perikatan Nasional (PN) is the multiracial coalition that PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim ostensibly leads.
Recent remarks by ousted Bersatu/Pakatan Harapan big cheese Dr Mahathir Mohamad who said that DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is not “anti-Malay” and that Anwar would never be accepted by the Malays because he is “too liberal”, are cringeworthy in its naked appeal to Malay emotion.
Reading the reportage of what made Lim “not anti-Malay” is a litany of lapdog behaviour that the DAP demonised the MCA for. The fact that Mahathir claims that Lim was essentially under his supervision and backed off on policy initiatives does more damage to Lim and the DAP than it reassures those Malays who supposedly support the Malay uber alles (above all else) PN.
Think about this. The DAP in their lapdog role did everything their Malay counterparts wanted but it was not enough. The fact that Mahathir's Bersatu was not widely received by the Malay polity should have been a wakeup call to Harapan that it would be better to commit to a multiracial agenda instead of carrying on with the BN concept.
Bersatu factotum Rais Yatim said after the Semenyih by-election that Malays could not accept the careless action of DAP and would not accept them in their villages. What does this tell you about "ketuanism” (supremacy)?
In Mahathir's own words, the millions Lim as finance minister poured into “Malay areas”, the alleged backtracking on the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), the fact that elder DAP statesperson Lim Kit Siang (photo) received the moniker “Khat” Siang, all this, and the Malays still cannot accept DAP?
How any non-Malay could vote for MCA and MIC knowing that Harapan non-Malays were bending over backwards in a supposedly “progressive” Harapan regime is beyond me. We now have token membership in a Malay uber alles government which means that there will be absolutely no pushback from the non-Malays in PN.
What the Malay establishment wants are rich Chinese plutocrats who fund them and political operatives that kowtow to them. This is essentially the “social contract”.
Lim attacks another Chinese party – the MCA – over TARUC's (Tunku Abdul Rahman University College) funding while Malay-only institutions are funded by Harapan, and this is not enough for the Malay uber alles crowd? I used to be able to mount a credible defence for the MCA but how could anyone believe their tokenism benefits the non-Malay community?
The reality is that the only person who has made “anti-Malay” remarks is the old maverick. He has called them lazy, always looking for handouts, obsessed with religion, but more importantly, finding a way to blame the Chinese community for the failings of successive Malay uber alles policies.
The perception is that the DAP is monolithic, which makes it easier to stereotype the party and demonise its political apparatus. The fact that some DAP political operatives have no problem putting their foot in their mouths and, aided by online mobs, nurture a perception of arrogance and hubris. This aids the far-right in its efforts to demonise the DAP.
Former minister Zaid Ibrahim (photo), who always manages to provoke - and is a good thing as far as I am concerned - wrote something interesting three years ago. He said: “So I urge young Malays to plan their lives properly. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Malaysia is a sick Muslim country that teaches you the wrong things.”
In his commentary "The benefits of migration", Zaid wrote about the fallout of the piece and elaborated on certain concepts which are beneficial to consider here. He wrote: “There are many things the Malays can learn by migrating. They need to realise that being in the majority and being able to impose their will, as they like, do not always bring tangible benefits. As migrants, they then realise what it is like to be a minority. They have to, by necessity, become part of a larger community.”
Here’s the thing. Online, some Malays write about how “good” the minorities have it here. They talk of all the “Chinese” billionaires but what they don’t talk about are the plutocrat/political class like Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor who declared their assets to their own cabal and who think that two million is pocket change.
They think that the DAP is a stand-in for the Chinese community not even considering the fact that when DAP was in federal power, they were bending over backwards for Malay power structures, the far-right and agents of the fascist state. The very people who claim to be working for the average Malay but in reality, were working for their own benefit and of course, for the aims of the deep Islamic state.
The fact that Malay political operatives in Harapan were not correcting this narrative or offering a counter-narrative should tell you something about how politics in this country is and how non-Malays are going to have it rough for the foreseeable future.
Do you really think that the establishment hates Anwar because of his alleged sexual misconduct? You really think the Malay establishment hates Anwar because he betrayed Umno? The only reason they hate him and fear his rise is that he had the audacity to attempt to subvert the system with a multiracial coalition.
And you know what the big joke is? Anwar (photo) himself has to pander to these people. This is why he and young leaders talk about the super liberals taking over the discourse. This is the raison d'etre of his "don’t spook the Malays” agenda. This is why Anwar always had god-level patience because he wants to assume power through the old paradigms instead of building on what many people know could save this country.
Think about what Zaid wrote: “What has gone wrong with our country is that the majority suffer a severe sense of inadequacy, some of which is real, and some, imagined. In attempting to rectify this imbalance, the majority have taken the route that promised them instant power, and are content with a superficial sense of superiority.”
Anwar suffers from that too - the easy way to power. Compromise when compromising is more destructive to the majority than consensus building which is difficult but is the panacea to the majority of problems in this country.
The perseverance, accommodation and belief in secular values of non-Malays are used against us. The fact that we thrive and become successful are used against us. The fact that we do this in a system which demands complicity is used against us.
Instead, we are told not to make noise because the Malays want to have a dignity congress where they spew hatred toward other Malaysians. We are told to keep quiet when khat and Jawi are forced upon us. We are told to keep quiet when Malay power structures make noise because to do so, would invite Umno/PAS back.
Well, you know what? Non-Malay political operatives were bending over backwards and it was not enough. And you know what? You don’t have the DAP to kick around anymore, so you go on with your Malay uber alles policies.
You can have another LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam( dragnet. You can find scapegoats for the murder of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim. You can rattle the communist cage. You can have all the syariah-compliant policies you want.
In the end, the majority will suffer because your policies have failed. The only reason why this country works is because of the "super liberals" and the fact that there are productive economic enclaves which enables the 'ketuanan' system. Wreck that and reap the whirlwind.
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. A retired barrister-at-law, he is one of the founding members of Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan. - Mkini
The future of Non malays has been bleak since the day I was born in the 70's nothing new. We adapted and we excelled and we prospered.
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