Break away from race agenda born ‘out of Sheraton wedlock’

 

Some events in the last week have indeed been depressing for me, and to a certain extent for the Malaysian Indian community. It made some of us wonder what could actually drive a few into doing obviously wrong things at a time when the nation is under “full lockdown”.

The sight of people dancing and drumming and taking to the streets in a boisterous manner in a funeral procession was not only shocking but disgusting too. This is definitely not the culture that many of us here were taught or which we would practise even during normal times.

The group could not have done it out of ignorance, it must have been a show of defiance or a protest of sorts as they displayed symbols of an outlawed secret society. To most of us, it was an act of stupidity and one that was totally unnecessary. The 13 have since been charged for SOP violations and involvement in triads.

Then came the case of a teenager, again from the same community, who was filmed feeding alcohol to a five-month-old child, followed by the case of a group allegedly from another outlawed secret society, the Gang 35, celebrating Father’s Day with the cake in the shape of the number, also in violation of Covid-19 rules.

Just who are these people who do not seem to care about the law or the reputation of a community already being associated with rampant alcoholism and criminal activities?

This group represents an estimated 10% of the Indian population but unfortunately, the whole community is judged by the actions of a few. But this is not peculiar to the Indian community alone, others too bear the brunt of bad behaviour of a few that makes people judge the whole community.

In a similar vein, I am sure that some of the politicians who spew venom do not represent the whole community they come from or represent.

Our Islamist czar Abdul Hadi Awang is a fine example. In an apparent move to defend a failing government of which his PAS is a member, he uses the religion card to suddenly warn young Muslims not to be fooled a second time by Pakatan Harapan in the next general election (GE15).

To me and many others, it was a blatant spin from a man who claims to be adhering to the teachings of his beautiful religion. Again, one wonders what prompts a man with such a stature to blurt out these kinds of statements, knowing how dangerous it can be for the nation. He has been guilty of this a number of times. Does he even care?

For him to accuse PH of lacking Islamic credentials was, to me, a cruel use of a religion that professes love, equality and compassion. For as far as one can remember, Malays and Muslims continued to hold most of the top posts in the government, Cabinet and security forces during PH’s reign.

And the position of Islam and the Malay Rulers as enshrined in the Federal Constitution never changed, it was all status quo.

By resorting to pulling this card out of his sleeve at a time when his PN government is shaky, showed utter desperation. Hadi shamelessly resorted to bigotry at the expense of national unity.

The scary part is that the declaration of support for him on his social media posts far outweigh those condemning him. So, he blithely continues this trend, exploiting the primordial sentiments of the Muslims to the hilt.

Surprisingly, two parties in the past that were constantly accused of racial chauvinism now seem to be showing signs of pushing for a Malaysian agenda. I am referring to Umno and DAP here.

Umno leaders have openly acknowledged that the party has to lead a multiracial coalition if it wants to win power and lead the nation to success.

Its vice-president Khaled Nordin said (the Umno-led) Barisan Nasional was relevant to Malaysia’s plural society with its moderate ideology, consensus-based decision-making, and its administrative style that has modernised the country.

He said Umno needed BN to manage the needs of non-Malays and the people of Sabah and Sarawak, stressing that no party can form a government without the support of all ethnic groups.

This to many appears to be a voice of moderation after Malaysians were pummelled by race and religious bigotry brought about by the Sheraton Move where the conspiring parties openly said the move to topple PH was to have a near-absolute Malay government in power.

The DAP has been under severe attack from all corners accusing it of chauvinism, fighting Chinese battles most of the time. Obviously, its position was made worse by one of its prominent leaders from Selangor, Ronnie Liu, who said DAP was losing its “Chineseness” in trying to win Malay and Indian support.

But Liu was chastised for his race-baiting by many leaders including veteran Lim Kit Siang and secretary-general Lim Guan Eng. They condemned Liu’s view as “utter rubbish”.

With the party having been accused of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam at every turn, DAP had to bend over backwards to show the Malays that it was fighting a Malaysian battle, not Chinese issues. This was especially so after the fall of PH that was attributed to a large extent to DAP, rightly or wrongly.

One of the “corrections” that took place within the party was in its state elections, which may or may not have been orchestrated. The results in most states saw a multiracial leadership being elected.

In addition, it has always boasted of having 15 elected reps who are Indians and Malays, including in the Chinese-majority Bandar Utama state seat in Selangor which was won by Jamaliah Jamaluddin with a thumping majority of 38,561 in GE14.

One must not forget that Amanah, a party formed by moderates who broke away from PAS, is also being accepted by many non-Malay voters for its middle path in race and religion.

At a pivotal moment for the country, Malaysia’s hopes of moderation lies in these three parties and the multiracial PKR, which, when combined, would hold the greatest number of seats in the Dewan Rakyat.

If these parties can prove critics wrong by working together, there is hope for the concept of a Malaysian supremacy to steer the nation out of the narrow race and religion agenda that was born out of the “Sheraton wedlock”. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.