Race-based politics is here to stay

YOURSAY | ’We’re structurally, institutionally, and historically embedded with race and religion.’

COMMENT | Don't blame racism for failure to understand voters' needs

Hoyohoyo: Hello Woon King Chai, director of MCA-linked Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (Insap).

Identity politics and racial divisions prevail over socio-economic issues in “bolehland”. We are structurally, institutionally, and historically embedded with race and religion.

They have permeated into our governance, education, and political system since Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first premiership.

Costs of living, corruption, and service delivery are secondary.

The British legacy of "divide and rule" was continued under BN with Umno, MCA and MIC.

Our educational systems are segregated to produce lowly educated voters.

The New Economic Policy, affirmative plans and quotas further sealed and institutionalised the division of race and religion in “bolehland”.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang refers to the non-Malays as “pendatang”.

Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh is polite with the Terengganu flag gaffe in contrast to the Chinese shopkeeper in Penang. Are these not about racism and discrimination?

Quigonbond: Let's do a thought experiment on whether racism is a factor in and of itself. Imagine this is a BN or Perikatan Nasional government.

Macroeconomic indicators are chugging along.

Maybe lived experience hasn't trickled down, but the public is not terribly worse off with runaway inflation of 10 percent, 20 percent or 50 percent like some failed states.

Would voters give the government a longer runway, or are there going to be overwhelming protest votes?

Answer this, and you'll realise racial and religious provocation is a serious issue.

Milshah: Race-based politics is here to stay. The writer says the “green wave” is a myth and plain fear mongering.

Let's put this to the test. It does not have to be real because everyone will know the answer.

Let PAS and DAP contest in a Chinese majority area. PAS candidate has all the credentials: a doctorate, a proven leader, friendly to people, and so on.

The DAP candidate is just so-so with a degree. Now who would win? DAP will win hands down.

Let's put another scenario again with DAP against PAS in a Malay-majority seat.

DAP candidate has all the credentials: a PhD, a proven leader and so on. Now who would win?

PAS candidate is just an ustaz. PAS would win hands down.

So, identity politics is still stronger than economic or social issues.

That's why PAS always fights against Umno, or DAP fights against MCA depending on the racial population of the seat.

Shepherd: Indeed, the voters are unhappy about the general economic conditions, primarily relating to the cost of living, and this is held against Pakatan Harapan, which is in the federal government.

They forget that the federal government is dominated by Umno, which is equally responsible for the general economic conditions.

The reality is that there’s only so much that the federal government, both Harapan and Umno can influence the unfavourable economic conditions affecting the general public.

Come election time, Umno, PAS, Wawasan Negara and their lackeys MCA and MIC go to the ground playing the race card, and this ultimately turns into votes.

Forget about your survey of 10,000 people; it’s delusional.

No difference: We have a country to save: 100 percent! Spot on!

The Malays are very reasonable people. The majority of them are not racist.

The politicians are the racist ones. If anyone is to be arrested for racism, it should be the politicians who spread racism daily. Not the ordinary rakyat.

I don’t think anybody who actually voted based on race or religion would openly say so in a public survey. That is just common sense.

Citizen22: Yes, race-based politics is synonymous with a lot of Malaysians, not just the Malays.

However, not all Malaysians think in the same way. Otherwise, how would present Human Resources Minister R Ramanan from PKR have beaten Umno’s Khairy Jamaluddin in Sungai Buloh, where 63 percent of the voters are Malays?

We need to appeal to Malaysians with a sound track record of economic management, excellent and balanced race relations that appeal to all communities, appealing and listening to sane voices of Malaysians through sane policies that help all communities.

Stop playing communal politics of the 1970s and 1980s which cannot withstand a sound track record of good policies and transformations for the better.

Malaysia is not an extreme country. A vast majority are sane, peace-loving people.

Boboi: Woon, I agree with you that Harapan lost because it lost its own plot.

But please do not skewer the truth by denying that race-based themes were BN-PN's formula for winning.

When Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi said "not on the same table as DAP", was that performance-based politics?

This narrative was primed for years while Harapan slept. Do you even read what's on social media?

Not just currently, but the years leading up to now. If you can't sense the vitriol - and are not bothered the least about where it's dragging us all - then I'm sorry.

You're one of the fiddlers while Malaysia burns.

If we really want Malaysia to reach its potential, then let's all be frank.

Call it for what it is. We have a race problem and a kowtow problem. Only then can we fix it. - Mkini