It’s Just Politics, My Dear Lim Teck Ghee

 

Allegations of racism and religious extremism are powerful weapons to use against your competitor because it suggests they are pariahs shunned by the entire world. And, to make it worse, Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional have not yet learned how to intelligently defend themselves against the attacks by Pakatan Harapan. Then you have Umno people like Lokman Adam and Isham Jalil who are more interested in attacking PAS and Bersatu than in fighting Pakatan Harapan, leaving them free to attack the Malays and Muslims.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

My good friend, Lim Teck Ghee, wrote a very interesting article today titled “Malaysia’s Long-Lived Ethnocracy” (READ HERE). It is quite an academic article so most Malays will not bother to read it or will only read it halfway.

An ethnocracy is a type of political structure in which the state apparatus is controlled by a dominant ethnic group to further its interests, power and resources. (Wikipedia)

I would like to take just one paragraph of that article and if you wish to read more click on that (READ HERE) link above.

“When will the Malay community be ready to join the great majority of ethnic communities in the world in ratifying the convention which rejects racial discrimination and the establishment of an ethnocratic state is anybody’s guess since it appears now to be consigned to the back burner in the agenda of all political parties?”

The problem here is, people such as Lim Teck Ghee dan orang-orang yang sewaktu dengannya equate what is happening in Malaysia (or has been happening since before Merdeka) as racism or racial discrimination. And herein lies the problem. So long as you misread or wrongly diagnose the problem or ailment, you will never find the solution or cure.

A long time ago my neighbour’s mother had for some time suffered from sakit urat, and never mind how many times she pergi urut, the sakit urat would not go away. She would always complain about it when she watered the lawn and I chatted with her from across the fence. It was not until it was stage four that her sakit urat was diagnosed as breast cancer. Invariably, she died, not from breast cancer as much as from wrong diagnosis of what ailed her.

Lim Teck Ghee, as much as I respect his intellectuality, is wrong about the Malay mindset or about what the real problem facing Malaysia is. Non-Malays who have lived in a predominantly Malay community can tell you that Malays are not really racists and do not look down on non-Malays. Malays do have their prejudices, of course, but this is mainly due to the archaic (ketinggalan zaman) religious education they have been subjected to since before they entered standard one.

Muslim scholars might argue that there is nothing wrong with the religious education system and whatever the Muslim children are being taught is the truth or the gospel. And this includes the doctrine that Islam is the true religion and all others are false, the Qur’an is the word of Allah and all other so-called ‘Holy Books’ are ‘fake news’, Muhammad is the last Prophet and all those who do not follow him will go to hell, all Muslims go to heaven even if they have sinned while all non-Muslims go to hell even if they are good, and much more.

How can you expect Malays (meaning Muslims) to regard non-Malays (meaning non-Muslims) as equals when since they were six years-old they have been taught that Muslims and non-Muslims are not equal, and that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims?

If Lim Teck Ghee wishes to see a change in the Malay mindset, he must first propagate the doctrine of pluralism (all religions are the same and all religions are good). Until and unless the Malays (meaning Malaysian Muslims) can accept pluralism, what Lim Teck Ghee wrote is not going to change in another 100 years (or more). That is the long and short of it all, my dear Lim Teck Ghee.

Now, let’s be sure about one thing. I am not justifying the Malay mindset or saying the Malay mindset is right, and neither am I saying the Malays are wrong or they need to embrace pluralism. I am just saying Lim Teck Ghee’s analysis lacks an understanding of the Malay mindset, and the reason for it being so. That’s all.

Now, that is point number one: the Malay mindset due to the upbringing and religious education of the Malays. Point number two applies to almost everyone — Malays and non-Malays alike. And this is regarding politics and politicians, another cause for the Malaysian divide.

Politics require marketing (even politicians require marketing). You need to ‘sell’ politicians and political parties. Hence you need a ‘product’ to be able to sell politicians and political parties. And your product must be different and unique and not just another ‘me too’ product.

So, what does Pakatan Harapan have to sell? Equality, transparency, accountability, justice, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of choice, civil liberties, electoral reforms, separation of powers, independence of the judiciary, LGBT rights, and many more. For Sabah and Sarawak it includes colonisation, anti-federation, autonomy, equal status with Malaysia, Malaysian Agreement, Sabah rights, Sarawak rights, oil and gas royalty, English language education, etc.Yes, that’s quite an impressive range of products that Pakatan Harapan is offering Malaysians. Now, how can Barisan Nasional (meaning Umno, MCA and MIC) and Perikatan Nasional (meaning PAS and Bersatu) better that? What more impressive products can they offer Malaysians?

Not easy to better what Pakatan Harapan has to offer, isn’t it? What is left other than defending Malay rights and privileges and propagating Islamic values (nilai-nilai Islam). And how will Pakatan Harapan shoot down the ‘products’ that its competitors from Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional are offering?

Simple! You label ‘defending Malay rights and privileges’ as ‘racism and racial discrimination’ and ‘propagating Islamic values’ as ‘religious extremism and Talibanism’. Then you will be putting Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional on the defensive. They will be so busy defending their position they will not have enough time to attack Pakatan Harapan.

Allegations of racism and religious extremism are powerful weapons to use against your competitor because it suggests they are pariahs shunned by the entire world. And, to make it worse, Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional have not yet learned how to intelligently defend themselves against the attacks by Pakatan Harapan. Then you have Umno people like Lokman Adam and Isham Jalil who are more interested in attacking PAS and Bersatu than in fighting Pakatan Harapan, leaving them free to attack the Malays and Muslims.