“Let’s not talk about politics in the car. The driver is a Malay man,” said a non-Malay friend of mine right before we hopped into a Grab car a few days ago.
“Why?” asked a liberal Malay friend who was accompanying us.
“We never know. He could be a supporter of the new government. I don’t want to take the risk of offending him, not when the three of us are inside his car. These days we should always be careful of what we say in front of others – we never know who we can trust,” she replied.
Since the backdoor government was formed recently, many non-Malay friends of mine are quite worried about their future in this country of ours.
“Perhaps it is time I surrender my Malaysian citizenship and accept the Singaporean citizenship offered to me,” said a friend who has been holding on to his Malaysian passport despite travelling the world and building a successful career in our neighbouring country.
Another friend who left the United States to return home a couple of years ago had a similar thought.
“Remember when Pakatan Harapan won? Remember how we saw joy in the faces of strangers we met the next day? Remember how we ended up shaking hands and hugging those strangers as we celebrated Malaysia’s new government?” she said in a sad tone.
“It’s all gone now. The same regime we tried to get rid of is back. And look at them - they do not represent the minorities, we have no voice in the new government. Oh Fa, it makes me want to return to the US!”
Yes, my non-Malay friends may sound a bit too dramatic. But then again, they have all the reasons to react as such. To have the same politicians who use race and religion to segregate the people in order to remain in power back in the forefront of the country’s leadership, I can understand my friends’ worries.
But then again, the term “understanding” in Malaysia is almost always a one-way street. Most of the time, in the name of tolerance, only one party tries to understand the struggle of another. This is very Malaysian indeed.
“Are you not worried, Fa?” asked someone just the other day.
“What is there for her to worry? She is, after all, a bumiputera and a Muslim. Her future in Malaysia is secured whoever forms the government,” replied another.
I smiled. I have been down this road before. When my non-Malay non-Muslim friends feel threatened due to the past government’s Islamic policies, I’ve always been their punching bag. This time it’s no different.
But still, I understand their predicament.
I understand why my non-Malay hairdresser could not stop ranting when I asked him about his panda eyes yesterday.
“I have been so depressed for the entire week! Why must this happen to us? Why can’t we wait for a proper election to make a government change?” he blurted.
“But you know what? After a series of sleepless nights, I woke up this morning and decided that I am going back to live my life to how it was before May 9, 2018. I will just wait until the next election to vote for DAP. That is all we can do.”
A non-Malay woman sitting on the next chair at the salon observed us and raised her eyebrows as she quipped, “What else is there to do? There is none of us in the government.”
Like I said, there is tension among the non-Malays in Malaysia today. And nothing we say seems to work to calm those who are severely affected emotionally.
“My Chinese Grab driver gave me advice when I wished him well just before leaving his car,” my Indian friend told me. “He asked me to take good care of myself and my family, insisting that we minorities should be mindful of our every actions under this new government.”
I told a non-Malay friend today there is no need to worry unnecessarily. I said, “Malaysia doesn’t belong to the government. Malaysia belongs to us, the Malaysians. As long as we continue having the same Malaysian spirit we had under Pakatan Harapan, nothing will change. We are after all the same people, be it under Harapan or anyone else.”
In a split second, my friend replied, “Well, Malaysians can be accepting and all but when we are led by an apartheid government, there are consequences. When the Malay and non-Malay divide becomes wide, the Malaysian spirit makes no difference. Before we know it, we will end up hating our neighbours just because they enjoy better privileges than us.”
I had no response to that. It made total sense.
When I approached one of my Malay friends and asked for her opinion regarding the many feedback I’d received from my non-Malay friends, I was quite shocked by her reply.
“They are not loyal to Malaysia. Sikit-sikit (for something small) surrender citizenship. Sikit-sikit migrate to overseas. This is all because the non-Malays have money, they are wealthy. If they want to leave, they should just go.”
Wow. Her response resembles statements any pro-Malay politician would make. No wonder the non-Malays in Malaysia are breathing heavily these past few days.
As much as I hate to say it, I think they have a good reason to be worried.
FA ABDUL is a passionate storyteller, a media trainer, an aspiring playwright, a director, a struggling producer, a photographer, an expert Facebooker, a lazy blogger, a part-time queen and a full-time vainpot. - Mkini
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