Does Anwar want a Bangsa Malaysia?

“So, let us not be blind to our differences - but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” - John F Kennedy

Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim wants Pakatan Harapan to concentrate its resources on cultivating a Bangsa Malaysia and not attempt to upstage the other Malay uber alles parties in the country.

The problem with all of this is that the concept of Bangsa Malaysia has become so toxic that anyone attempting to use the concept as a galvanising force is doomed to more failure.

The only people who propagated Bangsa Malaysia was DAP, and they were cowardly when it came to Malay voters, not to mention hypocritical with this agenda when it came to non-Malay voters.

More often than not, this concept was weaponised against them by the mainstream Malay establishment, which included their coalition partner PKR.

The absurdity of it all

In 2018, the Harapan political apparatus was so giddy it won the 14th general election that DAP’s Liew Chin Tong wrote a piece about the rise of Bangsa Malaysia.

Liew wrote: “For instance, I may be Chinese culturally but politically I participate in public life as a Malaysian, not as a Chinese.”

Really? Forget that the personal is political, but what does political life really mean?

Political life in the Malaysian context is defined by constitutional provisions that are manipulated by Malay power structures to maintain racial and religious hegemony at the expense of minorities.

To claim that one participates in political life as a Malaysian is absurd when the majority ethnic group in this country participates in politics as Malays.

Never mind the lunacy of such a claim when DAP made it very clear that the reason why they joined forces with Bersatu’s Dr Mahathir Mohamad was because they needed the “rural Malay” vote to save Malaysia.

What differentiates Bangsa Malaysia from the far-right ideologies of PAS and Umno?

Racial supremacy is the mainstream

What binds us as a society, the rules of engagement if you will, are the policies, rules, and ideas that we subscribe to as a collective, even though we may subscribe to individual or community ideas of culture that include religion.

Racial supremacy has been normalised in Malaysia’s political and social domains, and claiming to be anti-racist and democratic puts you in the crosshairs of the state security apparatus because you hurt the sensitivities of a certain community or are going against the Constitution of this country. 

Ketuanism (racial supremacy) is mainstream and has never really been challenged by any Malay leader, which makes any form of non-Malay dissent to this idea a transgression against societal norms and even seditious in nature.

So, as Malaysians, we either accept concepts like the social contract, ketuanism, and Malay rights, which trump all other democratic considerations, or as a voting block we choose to redefine the traditional political concepts for a more inclusive Malaysia.

Now, the question is, are there any Malay political leaders who would advocate for the latter?

No real alternative

The problem is that there is no alternative to the racial and religious narratives offered by PAS/Umno.

People who vote for PAS and Umno know exactly what they are voting for and what these political parties will deliver, unlike some feckless Harapan supporters always demanding solutions that their political operatives claim to have but never fulfil.

Let us revisit Anwar’s “don’t spook the Malays” statement when he first made it. He said: “It gives a very negative perception. The Malays are worried, the government has only been formed so if we demand that they surrender, it is too soon.

“What is important now, for me, is to instil a strong confidence that we will defend the rights of all people without sacrificing bumiputera interests as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.”

Buying time is an acceptable political strategy and yes, the Malay establishment’s “Langkah Sheraton” brought down the deck of cards, but what is really killing PKR when it comes to the Malay political game is that it is not offering anything new to the Malay polity. There is no alternative to the ideologies of PAS and Umno.

Right now, the Madani regime is enabling Umno by allowing the fallen party to control the religious and racial narrative of this unity government.

Anwar, meanwhile, is using the Palestinian tragedy to burnish his religious credentials and seems to have no problem alienating his non-Malay base.

Various religious amendments are also on the table, which would strengthen the country’s religious apparatus and redefine political and religious power in this country.

PAS has demonstrated that it is willing to slay Malay sacred cows. PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has thumbed his nose at a royal decree banning preaching politics in mosques and various Perikatan Nasional power brokers at various times have made it clear that the religious agenda trumps any form of royal constraint.

Democratic governance, backed by secular principles

The Madani regime, meanwhile, has used the 3R (race, religion, royalty) ban to curb controversial discourse because it does not want to make its stand known, which gives folks like Hadi another avenue to demonstrate how the Madani regime is persecuting religious and political leaders.

Hadi said in Parliament: “If we advise the government, they may take many actions - evict us from the Dewan Rakyat, ban our entry, and even involve the police in investigations.”

Harapan supporters were gleeful in mocking Hadi but what they should be considering is why the Madani state did not come out and outright repudiate Hadi’s hate speech by aligning with the progressive targets of Hadi.

But it goes further than this. Even PKR’s Hassan had lamented that the 3R ban is masking the systemic dysfunction when it comes to the kind of crony capitalists orbiting Anwar.

Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim

“These people seem to enjoy immunity and cannot be touched due to the 3R ban,” Hassan reportedly said.

The solution is not Bangsa Malaysia but rather the political will to create a system of governance based on democratic and secular principles which protect all our rights regardless of religion, ethnicity, and political allegiance, which is an alternative to what the Malay-based political parties are offering.

However, the Madani regime is content with the political alchemy of hooking up with dubious personalities and parties, using the instruments of the state to persecute convenient targets, and expanding entitlement programmes for the majority polity.

All this is done with compliant non-Malay power brokers. This may very well work for Madani.

So the question then becomes, does Anwar even need a Bangsa Malaysia? - Mkini

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

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