Racism fault not in the stars, but in ...

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves"

- William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

COMMENT MCA members should not be deluded into thinking that racial and religious provisions in the country’s federal constitution are the root cause of the increasing racial and religious polarisation in the country.

I quite agree with constitutional law expert Abdul Aziz Bari that MCA and particularly its religious harmony bureau chief Ti Lian Ker should not blame the country's constitution for the present state of the deterioration of race relations.

Who drafted the constitution and its amendments over the years?

It was mainly the work of Umno with the blind support provided by MCA and other component parties? How come the MCA did not have the hindsight to foresee the dire implications if the provisions in the constitution had the potential to create racial and religious problems.

MCA or Gerakan or the MIC cannot have their cake and eat it too at the same time. These political parties were the ones that blindly and unashamedly supported the racist policies of Umno over the years. By being beholden to Umno ‘lock, stock and barrel’ they had to pay enormous political costs.

The constitution by definition only incorporates some broad provisions such as the special position of the bumiputera community and the recognition of the special position of the Malays. At the same time, it does not negate the rights of non-Malays or non-Muslims, and the freedom of religion is enshrined in the constitution.

But it not the fault of the constitution if Umno unilaterally with the support of the MCA and other BN component parties rode a roughshod over the sensitivity of non-Malays or non-Muslims over the years.

For Umno, it was not the spirit of the constitution, but how it could be manipulated for its political ends.

MCA closed one eye

Why did MCA, once the second largest and strongest component party in the BN, allowed Umno to wreak havoc on race relations by simply giving in to its grand political designs?

In short, MCA allow itself to be manipulated and bullied by Umno?

It was impossible for the MCA to claim itself as the sole representative of the Chinese community when it reality, it had given up representing the Chinese by its close accommodation with Umno.

Was it the fault of the Chinese in the country to abandon the MCA or Gerakan (which is no different) in the general elections in 2008 and 2013? Was it the fault of the Indian community to abandon MIC and move in the direction of supporting DAP and PKR in the last two general elections?

Insofar as the Chinese community is concerned, the MCA is a "dead" party; it simply lacks the legitimacy to make a strong come back.

Ti should not blame the constitution or its provisions.

In fact, Ti should not skirt the issue anymore. He should blame Umno, and the BN including MCA, for the present state of affairs. Ti should know that by removing some of the provisions in the constitution, racism couldn’t be wished away overnight.

Continued support for Umno

The problem is not the constitution but with Umno and its continued support from MCA, Gerakan, MIC and others. Is MCA prepared to abandon the BN ship and close ranks with the multiracial and multi-religious opposition front?

I doubt the MCA or any of the other component parties in the BN have the guts to abandon their alliance with Umno.

If these political parties cannot even raise questions about the controversy surrounding 1MDB or the money that had gone into the private accounts of Prime Minister Najib Razak, how are they going to uncover the forces that are contributing to racism and religious polarisation in the country?

It is better for the MCA to keep quiet, as the Chinese have long abandoned them.

If at all MCA survives politically, then it all because of the special favours shown by Umno for years of its servility.

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P RAMASAMY is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang and the DAP state assemblyperson for Perai. -Mkini