Keluarga Malaysia - just another slogan for another PM

On Oct 23, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob launched his government’s official theme – ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ (Malaysia Family) – in Kuching, Sarawak.

This theme was first introduced in his maiden speech as prime minister in August 2021, after he was appointed to head the executive arm of the government by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, following the political crisis that led to the resignation of former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

In his speech, Ismail Sabri said that Malaysians are "one family, regardless of religion, race or ethnicity".

“Every single one of you resembles my very own family – regardless of age differences. We complement each other and are in need of one another as part of a single body,” he said.

As is the case with every prime minister who has taken office before this, Ismail Sabri and his government would want this ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ theme to be the legacy of the administration.

We have seen other themes before this by preceding governments: Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first tenure as prime minister saw him introducing the concept of ‘Wawasan 2020’, for example.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob

But Ismail Sabri’s ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ could be said to be closest in theme with Najib Abdul Razak’s ‘1Malaysia’.

The former prime minister’s 1Malaysia brand permeated almost everything that the government did at that time.

A perusal of the official booklet of ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ shows that it had three characteristics: inclusivity, common ground and contentment.

The concept also has 20 values which include many positive-sounding statements such as ‘responsibility towards family’, ‘cultivating kindness in fostering the spirit of family togetherness’, ‘ensuring a harmonious atmosphere can be enjoyed by the family’ as well as ‘instilling a culture of service in the family to help members who need it’.

All well and good, and no one would have any objection to the theme, characteristics and values, even if, at the end of the day, a lot of it is meaningless fluff conjured up by propagandists.

Racial rhetoric

But it is one thing to trumpet inclusivity and togetherness, and another thing altogether to execute them.

Especially when the biggest parties in the current government are those not known to be inclusive and will readily revert to racial rhetoric when it comes to seizing power.

A day before the official launch of ‘Keluarga Malaysia’, Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa was reported to have talked about muafakat Melayu (Malay cooperation) in terms of the three Malay parties of Umno, Bersatu and PAS.

He was quoted as saying the destruction of Malay cooperation(through the Malay parties) would empower Pakatan Harapan.

Other politicians from the ruling parties, like former minister Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali, have also talked about how Malay parties should 'unite'. "Do not risk the fate of the Malays and Muslims in Malacca," he was reported to have said, urging the three parties to work together for the Malacca state election.

Takes a back seat

Clearly, when it comes to obtaining power, ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ takes a back seat to ‘Malay-Muslim unity’.

These same politicians manipulated and manufactured racial outrage when they were not in power. We have seen it with the Icerd protests, the death of fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, the allocation given to Chinese schools and many other issues.

The raison d'être for the Perikatan Nasional government was to ‘return’ the country to rule by Malay-Muslim political parties, as opposed to multiracial ones.

Will the prime minister admonish those in his party, or his allies, who jeopardise the legitimacy of his ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ concept? Unlikely.

It is, therefore, ironic that the biggest challenge to 'Keluarga Malaysia' comes not from the people but from those in the ruling parties in the government, which will revert to racial rhetoric when it suits them.

This is also why ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ will fail. Without any attempt to embody the spirit of those who were supposed to champion and promote it, it will remain an empty, hollow concept without any buy-in from the people.

Just another slogan for another prime minister. - Mkini

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SYAHREDZAN JOHAN is a civil liberties lawyer and political secretary to Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.