"Who can dispute Malay leadership, the power of the Malays, Islam as the federal religion, the Malay language, the special rights of the Malay people, the sovereignty of the Malay rulers? No one.”
- Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
The great tragedy of the cops summoning the grand old man of Malaysian politics, Lim Kit Siang to give a statement for saying that it would not be possible for a non-Malay to be prime minister of this country in the next 100 years, is that it sends a signal to all young Malaysians (Malay and non-Malay) that non-Malays should never even dream of leading this country and her people.
Lim wrote a powerful lament where he questioned why he was targeted and the old maverick whose claims were far more concrete was not.
Lim wrote - "No non-Malay will become Malaysian PM without significant support of all the ethnic groups, in particular the Malays.
“Only the police know why they wanted to see me but not Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) although he said the same thing as me that a non-Malay can be PM of Malaysia.”
Just to be clear, this is what the old maverick said in an interview with The Straits Times under the headline “Malaysia could become like Singapore with non-Malay PM, says ex-premier Mahathir”
And I quote: “There is no guarantee that the prime minister will be a Malay as anyone can be the prime minister. Even now, the Malay parties in the government are not in power and they are divided into three parties.”
I would argue that what the old maverick said was even more detrimental to this unity government because he repeated (from reportage) - “ … an unfounded claim he made, that the current government could redefine electoral boundaries in a way that would reduce the number of Malay-majority constituencies in the country”.
In other words, the old maverick was claiming that this unity was purposely destroying Malay power for the benefit of non-Malay power structures.
Keep in mind that any form of electoral restructuring which would favour a balanced or equitable vote weightage would be construed as undermining Malay power, so this government is in a damned if you do, damned if you don’t position.
Lim’s aspiration that every Malaysian has a place under the Malaysian sun and Mahathir’s warning to the Malay community have the same effect when it comes to ketuanan politics.
Non-Malay dreams of equality under the law and ketuanan propaganda that such equality undermines Malay dominion are what fuels racial politics in this country.
Malay political operatives who want to project some kind of progressiveness have attempted to refine this toxic paradigm.
Remember when Khairy Jamaluddin attempted to define Malay political dominion as “Kepimpinan Melayu”?
This is what Khairy said in 2009 when he was attempting to shed his “ultra” image when he declared that Umno would always champion race and religion, however - “we must pursue these things based on two principles: justice and compassion, especially when dealing with other races.
“This compass will underline our national agenda that is grounded not in the narrow concept of Malay dominance, but on the concept of Malay leadership – magnanimous as well as both just and compassionate."
And who could forget the Malay Dignity Congress that the old maverick was a part of where a five-point declaration was handed to him, one of the demands made as reported in the press – “…. for main positions within the government to only be filled by Malay-Muslims, such as the prime minister, deputy prime minister, menteri besar and chief ministers as well as important ministries such as finance, education, defence and home affairs.
“They also want the government to only appoint Malay-Muslims to top positions within the government such as the chief justice, attorney-general, secretary-general to the government, inspector-general of police, chief of defence forces and others”.
Why not draw up legislation which would give legal validity to all those fears and grievances of the Malay community when it comes to non-Malay/liberal Malay leadership in this country?
After all, non-Malay political operatives and Malay liberals are always warned not to spook the Malays or not trespass into territories that are supposedly exclusive “Malay”.
For years, we were fed the narrative that the government was supposed to be a bastion of Malay leadership and privilege.
Or how about this - why not all non-Malay and liberal Malay candidates sign pledges that even if elected to the state or federal level, they would not seek positions of power and influence?
Maybe assistant roles would be all they would hope to achieve but the big positions would only be for the Malays of the "illiberal" persuasion.
This is in line with what PAS said during that wonderful Malay Dignity Congress that many Malay leaders attended.
"Obviously, we will take it up to the government for discussion as this reflects the feelings of the Malays, and they are worried about their future. We want to find ways so the Malays can play a role in restoring their honour".
While it is heartening to see a few Malay leaders speak up in defence of Kit Siang, the reality is that this form of harassment will continue because of what this unity government is proving, even though this may not be its intent that any form of non-Malay participation in government, is a form of provocation to the far right forces in this country.
Ten years or a hundred years, it does not matter. There will always be men like those who hunt Kit Siang, who will remind non-Malays that some aspirations are verboten to them. - Mkini
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.
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