Race and religion are 'sensitive' because Umno feels threatened

The need to label any attempt to have a discourse on race or religion has always been considered sensitive in Malaysia and we are conditioned to believe that this is the way the world operates.

From young, Malaysians are taught by the BN government that nature has provided a system where we are separated based on our race and the religion that we profess. And when we take a step forward to discuss and query those from different faiths, lines must be drawn and any time someone crosses this line; we must throw up a hand and tell them to back off.

We then surmise that the issue is sensitive and no-one is allowed to discuss it. In Malaysia, it is sensitive when the authorities call it sensitive. And no one else has any say.

And because of this propaganda and brain-washing, many everyday Malaysians have some hang-up or other about race and religion. Racial and religious polarization is on the rise thanks to the BN’s continuous efforts to keep the Malays separated from the non-Malays.

The only saving grace is that violence has not broken out despite provocation and threats by groups linked to Umno such as Perkasa and Pekida.

Tools of the politicians

Really, it is only those in politics who find religion and race a sensitive issue, since both serve as tools for Prime Minister Najib Razak to gain political mileage and to character-assassinate political rivals.

One good example of an Umno stirred-up spat is between JAIS and the Christian community. It has allowed Umno and its supporters to claim that Muslims are being turned away from their faith by Christians groups.

The Muslims are always portrayed as innocent lambs led to the slaughter by the evil Christians who would not hesitate to stoop to using money and false assistance in order to lure Muslims away from Islam.

Yet, to date, the actual number of Muslims turning away from their faith remains under wraps. We only have the word of feverish politicians to go by, with no real facts and figures to read or research.

Christians upset

The Christians can also call the matter sensitive since their faith is also being questioned and even subjugated to another. A good Christian is called upon to make disciples of men and thus the higher calling takes precedence over rules and regulations put in place by mere mortals.

Existing laws are adequate to address an alleged rise in the proselytisation of Muslims, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom recently, adding that failure to enforce such laws was what needed redress, not the lack of laws. Jamil, the minister in charge of Islamic affairs, was responding to newspaper reports alleging that attempts to convert Muslims were increasing in the country.

And this is the state of affairs in Malaysia. Accusations are hurled by top level government officers. Najib himself has led the charge in insinuating a real threat from the Christians – and this directly after an official visit to the Vatican to create diplomatic ties.

It is no wonder that Christian leaders here have felt the need to speak out against the government to the foreign media. At the very least, it is a form of self-defense and a real disgrace to the Umno-led BN government. That citizens in Malaysia feel the need to seek protection of the global community shows the type of ‘people’ leading the government of the day.

Until real numbers are shown, all the feverish claims are hearsay and mere whispers that insult Malaysian Christians and infringe on the basic right of a citizen to practice his or her belief.

To draw the Sultan of Selangor into the fray was a sad attempt at hiding the ulterior motives of Umno to wrest back Selangor from Pakatan Rakyat's rule. Umno knows, in a straight fight, it is doomed to lose at the ballot boxes. So it plays up the fears of the Malays by telling them that Islam was being trampled on and that they were losing ground because the Christians were proselytizing Muslims in the country.

The use of race, as a tool to scare the electorate into voting BN, will surely be used with full effect in all the Pakatan states. Prime Minister Najib Razak gave a hint of this strategy during the Umno General Assembly, which was subsequently echoed by all branches of the Umno political machinery.

Ironically, when real issues that threaten Malay rights present themselves; Umno and Perkasa who both insist they are the champions of the Malays and the Malay Rulers remain silent. Take for example the RM100 million suit filed by a Kelantan prince against the police and effectively against the government. Why has Perkasa or Umno not come forward to defend a royal who is seeking justice via the courts of law? Why has Perkasa not come out to take up the Kelantan prince’s cause?

Inferiority complex

Indeed, Perkasa and Umno who have been the protectors of all things Malay and Islam are in fact very selective in what they choose to defend or to highlight.

The assertion that DAP is an enemy to all Malays in Malaysia is both wrong and ridiculous. In fact, it is Umno and Perkasa who insult and humiliate Malays by painting them as overly sensitive and prone to inferiority complex.

Then the premise that Malays are forever being abused and under-served by the Malaysian society at large. This too is a lie. How can the Malay community be under-served when Barisan Nasional has been ruling Malaysia for the past 54 years? And all branches of the executive is fine-tuned to give exceptional treatment to the Malay majority.

The only people who are sensitive and feeling inferior are those in Umno. These people are feeling the wind of change blowing across the land. It is a wind that is steadily building into a monsoon and is bound to blow and wash them away. The rush to approve various legislation in Parliament only enforces the view that Umno is now desperate to win at all cost. They are willing to use laws and regulations to bend the will of the people in order to secure their stay in power.

The Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 has effectively sealed off any form of public show of dissent against the government. The rush to increase the civil service income levels for government servants shows an establishment desperate to draw on the votes of 1.2 million civil servants who are predominantly Malay. Raising wages is an incentive yet it shows a government desperate to rake in more tax. More tax means more money in the government coffers and it also means more funds can be abused in order to secure victory in the coming 13th general election.

Umno is desperate. It is at the end of its tehther. Unable to provide an true initiative to strengthen the country, it has chosen to further divide the people of Malaysia; to cause a state of fear and resentment among the nation’s citizens in the hope that Malaysians will not band together against the obvious thieves of the country.

Malaysia Chronicle