The Umno Supreme Council is the real ruler, not the Cabinet.

Kenny Gan, Malaysia Chronicle

When one race has gained dominance, its racial rights and privileges will continue to enlarge at the expense of the other races. Power sharing has become a farce with non-Malay Ministers relegated to social and less important Ministries. Decision making by consensus is hollow as Umno makes the decisions while the other component parties are totally out of the decision making loop. The Umno Supreme Council is the real ruler of Malaysia, not the Cabinet.

The system of race based parties in which each ethnic community is represented by a party to fight for its rights and privileges was established by the British in pre-independence Malaya. The British found that this system of divide and rule suited them. Besides, they were eager to de-colonize and did not bother what happened next.

This regrettable heritage from the British laid the foundation which led to the rise of ethnocracy in Malaysia with its unfortunate side effects of racial polarization and race bickering to the detriment of the nation. The founder of Umno, Datuk Onn Jaafar (Hishamuddin’s grandfather) realized the danger of race base parties and communal politics even in the early days. He tried to make Umno multi-racial, failed and left Umno in a huff to start his own multiracial party which did not become popular.

Race based parties worked in the early days as no race predominated before independence. For a time after Merdeka, there was true power sharing. One can still remember Tun Tan Siew Sin as the country’s first Finance Minister but the concept of a non-Malay holding this important post would be totally alien now.

However the system of race based parties has reached a stage where it is no longer workable. When one race has gained dominance, its racial rights and privileges will continue to enlarge at the expense of the other races. Power sharing has become a farce with non-Malay Ministers relegated to social and less important Ministries. Decision making by consensus is hollow as Umno makes the decisions while the other component parties are totally out of the decision making loop. The Umno Supreme Council is the real ruler of Malaysia, not the Cabinet.

To rationalize and justify the enlargement of racial policies various terms and concepts were introduced. The terms “bumiputra”, “Malay special rights”, “Ketuanan Melayu” and “social contract” were unknown at independence and not found in the Constitution but were coined by Umno politicians in the 1980s. Neither does the Constitution provide for the wide ranging discriminatory racial policies which are the direct consequence of racial politics.

The notion of a social contract whereby the Chinese and Indians accepted special privileges for the Malays in exchange for citizenship has no historical basis. In his book “The Origins and Evolution of Ethnocracy in Malaysia,” Geoff Wade wrote that the British only consulted with Malay leaders on the terms of citizenship for the various races. The preferential citizenship for Malays was bitterly opposed by the Chinese and Indians who held protests and demonstrations. The so-called social contract was a piece of fiction as the Chinese and Indians considered citizenship to be theirs by right of abode.

The unfortunate effect of five decades of communal politics is a nation which has its economic potential stunted by race based policies which distorts the efficiency of the economy. Malaysia has fallen way behind countries such as Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan which were once on the same footing. Racial policies are now woven into every fabric of Malaysian society until non-Malays feel second class. Increased migration of skilled human capital has resulted in a damaging brain drain.

But race based parties have no reason to make themselves irrelevant by trying to achieve an egalitarian society. Their raison d’etre depends on leveraging a polarized society where they can be seen as race champions. The basis of Umno’s political power is the special privileges of the Malays or the Malay masses have no reason to vote for Umno. Likewise, MCA and MIC sought to convince the Chinese and Indians that they are critically needed to protect their rights.

This fragile system was sustainable as long as the strong limits its strength so that its partners are not seen to be neutralized. But this has not happened with Umno which has allowed itself to dominate to such an extent that the other parties now appear to be castrated and existing in a master-servant relationship. The minority races have no reason to vote for MCA, MIC or Gerakan as a vote for them is now seen as a vote for Umno.

But the crux is that BN cannot maintain power by the Malay vote alone. The Malay vote has always been split so BN must also depend on minority votes to hold on to power. The question is, “Why have the Chinese and Indians supported the very coalition which has marginalized them for so long?” The answer is that minority votes were corralled by exploiting racial and religious fears – fear of another May 13 and fear of Islamization by PAS. As these fears have subsided coupled with the rise of Pakatan Rakyat, BN is staring at the frightening prospect of its political power threatened.

Hence we see that the system of race based politics is broken and cannot be fixed. Umno can hardly rein in its dominance and allow a more assertive MCA or MIC any more than it can push the genie back into its bottle. The racial policies are part and parcel of Umno’s rule and any attempt to change them will meet with stiff opposition from right wing groups. Sloganeering with 1Malaysia without any concrete action behind it is like putting a band aid on a broken leg.

However it is clear that neither can the system of communal politics continue. It can no longer serve the needs of a modern trading nation caught in a globalized competitive world which punishes economic inefficiency and distortions caused by the system of racial preferences. Its structural flaws and contradictions will cause it to topple in due course. As BN loses support Umno finds it has to resort to more and more racial politicking. But as the population becomes more educated and exposed racism becomes more and more unacceptable even among the favoured race.

Pakatan Rakyat now offers a better alternative with their inclusive multi-racial politics without the built-in contradictions. BN has three choices – to become multi-racial, to hang on to power by force or to get voted out. The first option requires a strong and visionary leader with considerable political skills of which there is none in Umno. The second option to oppress and suppress democracy will pull the economy down and hasten their exit. We all wait with bated breath for the third option to be executed.