March 8 aftermath: Race and religion still pervasive
Umno's counter-offensive to the March 8 general election outcome has been to claim that the minorities - having tasted power unprecedented hitherto - are challenging Malay institutions and eroding Malay rights.
In Perak, pro-Umno Malays took up arms, metaphorically speaking, to defend the king. Malaysia's monarchical system is 'sistem Raja-raja Melayu' (the rulers are not Raja-raja Malaysia).
Malays regard fellow Malays as 'orang kita' (our people) or 'us', and thus by extension, the non-Malays are 'them'. The Malaysian constitution is a document that frames the 'us' group.Article 153 of the federal constitution makes it the responsibility of the Agong to safeguard the "special position" of the Malays while at the same time it is his prerogative to exercise the Malay quota.
Article 160 defines Malay as "a person who professes the religion of Islam". On an operational level, this stipulation effectively separates a Malay from the predominantly non-Muslim minorities an example being halal-haram dining.
To quote former New Straits Times Group editor A Kadir Jasin, "Our constitution is not colour blind". Since the constitution recognises colour, it stands to reason that in spirit, the constitution meant for Malaysians to be sorted according to skin tones.
On a tangential note, Umno showed its true colours with its takeover of Perak, signaling that the conceit of power-sharing between the races has been all but discarded.
The party had no qualms engineering the fall of Pakatan and installing a racially skewed state government comprising 27 Malay Umno state assemblymen, two Malay 'BN-friendly' state assemblymen, one Chinese MCA state assemblyman plus the remarkable Ms Hee Yit Foong.
Indians who make up roughly 14 percent of Perak's population do not have a single state assemblyman in the BN camp.
There are those who insist race does not matter (because 'we are all Malaysians' first and foremost) and also, that communal politics is near the grave. These people would have no cause then to be bothered by the racially imbalanced composition of Perak BN representatives.
Proud to be Indian?
Race still mattered after March 8 in Perak where the new Pakatan Rakyat menteri besar had to be Malay. In Selangor, there was a wrangle over too many Chinese in the Pakatan exco.
Najib Razak now presents the façade that his 1Malaysia administration is willing to dismantle the race barriers. Consider the Government Transformation Programme sloganeering: "The roadmap stresses that it is imperative to promote integration through inclusiveness in managing the polarity between assimilation and segregation in Malaysia's multi-ethnic society".
Would the makcik in Gong Badak be able to decipher the above public relations mouthful, or the Pakcik in Gua Cempedak grasp GTP, KPI and NKRA?
What resonates with common folks is something along the lines of this forthright declaration "Saya mahu terus jadi orang Melayu" by the veteran newsman Kadir (left).
His plainspeak dispelling Najib's proposal to eliminate mention of race on government forms (see Kadir's Jan 28 blog posting in Bahasa Melayu or its English translation) sparked a heated discussion online.
Kadir objects to the suggestion as someone proud of his Malay identity, adding, "I'm sure a Chinese is proud to be Chinese too and an Indian proud to be Indian". But in truth, are they?
He is perceptive in his insight on how the Bangsa Malaysia proponents don't want their ethnic origins recorded in their identity card and other documentation, and this prompting his chagrin: "Is this happening merely because the non-Bumiputeras "feel that they have lost their rights, feel discriminated against and frustrated (geram)" over the New Economic Policy, and as a result I, as a Malay, must no longer be entitled to declare my racial identity?"
Communal flocks
Is rejecting any ticking of the 'race' box a backlash against the ethnicity factor being used by the government to discriminate against minorities? Or does refusal to state 'bangsa Cina' or 'bangsa India', on the other hand, stem from an inordinate enthusiasm for the Malaysian nationality?
It appears however that the coy condemnation of such 'race' categorisation by Chinese and Indians does not accord by and large with their own behaviour. For instance, Chinese enroll their children in Chinese schools, speak Mandarin and Chinese dialects among themselves and look to 'greater China' for entertainment like Canto soaps and Mandopop.
Middle-class Indians send their children for Bharatanatyam classes. They don't pay tutors for their kids to learn the zapin or inang dances (usually taken as representative of Malaysian culture).
In any case, creating a hybrid Malaysianised culture - formulation of a National Culture has been attempted before with the 1971 policy - would see Ketuanan Melayu clamouring for Malay dominance in its input, and Malays have on their side historicity and placeness. And advantageously, promotion of a Malay-based culture would have the constitution and bureaucracy lending them leverage.
Kadir at least is refreshingly honest in admitting his allegiance. "Are you a Muslim first or Melayu first?" Responding to a reader's question, Kadir replied, "I feel Melayu to me is very important".
"Yes, I was born Malay. That is my primary identity. Bangsa saya - bangsa Melayu; Why is this so? Because we are all [already] born Islam."
The sentiments were well received by his readership who, similarly, does not think that embracing Malayness makes them any less loyal Malaysians.
Next election issues
Current developments indicate that the race-religion card is here to stay.
Although Umno's fingerprints are glimpsed all over the efforts, nonetheless, it would be a mistake to presume that the party is the sole force to successfully manufacture the current race-religion driven movements.
To quote former New Straits Times Group editor A Kadir Jasin, "Our constitution is not colour blind". Since the constitution recognises colour, it stands to reason that in spirit, the constitution meant for Malaysians to be sorted according to skin tones.
On a tangential note, Umno showed its true colours with its takeover of Perak, signaling that the conceit of power-sharing between the races has been all but discarded.
The party had no qualms engineering the fall of Pakatan and installing a racially skewed state government comprising 27 Malay Umno state assemblymen, two Malay 'BN-friendly' state assemblymen, one Chinese MCA state assemblyman plus the remarkable Ms Hee Yit Foong.
Indians who make up roughly 14 percent of Perak's population do not have a single state assemblyman in the BN camp.
There are those who insist race does not matter (because 'we are all Malaysians' first and foremost) and also, that communal politics is near the grave. These people would have no cause then to be bothered by the racially imbalanced composition of Perak BN representatives.
Proud to be Indian?
Race still mattered after March 8 in Perak where the new Pakatan Rakyat menteri besar had to be Malay. In Selangor, there was a wrangle over too many Chinese in the Pakatan exco.
Najib Razak now presents the façade that his 1Malaysia administration is willing to dismantle the race barriers. Consider the Government Transformation Programme sloganeering: "The roadmap stresses that it is imperative to promote integration through inclusiveness in managing the polarity between assimilation and segregation in Malaysia's multi-ethnic society".
Would the makcik in Gong Badak be able to decipher the above public relations mouthful, or the Pakcik in Gua Cempedak grasp GTP, KPI and NKRA?
What resonates with common folks is something along the lines of this forthright declaration "Saya mahu terus jadi orang Melayu" by the veteran newsman Kadir (left).His plainspeak dispelling Najib's proposal to eliminate mention of race on government forms (see Kadir's Jan 28 blog posting in Bahasa Melayu or its English translation) sparked a heated discussion online.
Kadir objects to the suggestion as someone proud of his Malay identity, adding, "I'm sure a Chinese is proud to be Chinese too and an Indian proud to be Indian". But in truth, are they?
He is perceptive in his insight on how the Bangsa Malaysia proponents don't want their ethnic origins recorded in their identity card and other documentation, and this prompting his chagrin: "Is this happening merely because the non-Bumiputeras "feel that they have lost their rights, feel discriminated against and frustrated (geram)" over the New Economic Policy, and as a result I, as a Malay, must no longer be entitled to declare my racial identity?"
Communal flocks
Is rejecting any ticking of the 'race' box a backlash against the ethnicity factor being used by the government to discriminate against minorities? Or does refusal to state 'bangsa Cina' or 'bangsa India', on the other hand, stem from an inordinate enthusiasm for the Malaysian nationality?
It appears however that the coy condemnation of such 'race' categorisation by Chinese and Indians does not accord by and large with their own behaviour. For instance, Chinese enroll their children in Chinese schools, speak Mandarin and Chinese dialects among themselves and look to 'greater China' for entertainment like Canto soaps and Mandopop.
Middle-class Indians send their children for Bharatanatyam classes. They don't pay tutors for their kids to learn the zapin or inang dances (usually taken as representative of Malaysian culture).
In any case, creating a hybrid Malaysianised culture - formulation of a National Culture has been attempted before with the 1971 policy - would see Ketuanan Melayu clamouring for Malay dominance in its input, and Malays have on their side historicity and placeness. And advantageously, promotion of a Malay-based culture would have the constitution and bureaucracy lending them leverage.
Kadir at least is refreshingly honest in admitting his allegiance. "Are you a Muslim first or Melayu first?" Responding to a reader's question, Kadir replied, "I feel Melayu to me is very important".
"Yes, I was born Malay. That is my primary identity. Bangsa saya - bangsa Melayu; Why is this so? Because we are all [already] born Islam."
The sentiments were well received by his readership who, similarly, does not think that embracing Malayness makes them any less loyal Malaysians.
Next election issues
Current developments indicate that the race-religion card is here to stay.
Although Umno's fingerprints are glimpsed all over the efforts, nonetheless, it would be a mistake to presume that the party is the sole force to successfully manufacture the current race-religion driven movements.
For example, the 286,500-strong membership of the Facebook group 'Against the use of 'Allah' by non-Muslims' comprises Middle Malaysia in the main, not the extremist fringe although an Umno Youth-linked faction are the site administrators.
The fallout from the 'Allah' dispute and other ethno-religious conflicts will have a lingering effect and may impact on how Malaysians chose to vote the next round. It's again likely that the Umno strategists believe these belligerent developments and bad faith would benefit their party in vote-catching.
Discounting the overwhelmingly Malay states of Kelantan (94.27 percent Malay voters) and Terengganu (95.42 percent) as well as the more evenly mixed states of Penang, Perak and Selangor/Federal Territories, Malay voters form the majority in the rest of the country except Sarawak.
If the Chinese and Indian electorate is predicted to remain with Pakatan, then the vote bank battle will be fought crucially over the Malay segment.
What happened on March 8, 2008 had elements of a freak accident, e.g. Mahathir Mohamad actively undermining Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and this unique happenstance will not recur.
In fact, ramifications still reverberating from the election results somewhat recall the saying 'Be careful what you wish for'.
Unintended consequences
"Selangor won because people like me just wanted change. And change we got," New Straits Times managing editor Nuraina Abdul Samad blogged. She voted Keadilan and DAP for the Parliament and state seats respectively in a constituency previously held by BN.
She wrote also that Malay Mail head honcho Ahirudin Atan, better known as Rocky, voted in Perak for the opposition too. "The opposition parties won in many seats in Perak because of the many Rockys."
The 13.14 percent vote shift in Perak with 46.98 percent of Malay-Muslim votes going to the opposition suggests there is merit in Nuraina's surmise.
Some Malays who had been long-time BN loyalists did indeed switch their votes or preferring to spoil their ballot papers for the first time in 2008. Although it is hard to measure this phenomenon, the small swing nevertheless created a big impact. Don't bet on them doing a repeat though.
The next election will see a pool of presently unregistered voters and huge numbers of young Malaysians attaining the age of majority. Given our demographic trend, these newly eligible voters will be in majority Malays.
Umno, needless to say, will be going full throttle to convince the Malay ground that the change they sought in 2008 has not turned out desirably.
However for the minorities, concerns reach beyond the next general election.
Among these is the Islamic state issue. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in his Jan 13 speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies reminded: "In Malaysia, Islam not only occupies a symbolic position as the religion of the federation, but also forms part and parcel of the country's political, judicial, economic and education system".
The essential nature of the country will be assuming ever more concrete terms in the near future. Developing in tandem will be the inevitable race friction and tug-of-war over religious jurisdiction and strictures.
BN is Umno-monopolised; Pakatan has PAS as first among equals. The former is racialist and Malay race constitutionally equates Muslim; the latter is outrightly Islamist. Both leave minorities stranded between a rock and a hard place as to how Islamisation is shaping up.
The fallout from the 'Allah' dispute and other ethno-religious conflicts will have a lingering effect and may impact on how Malaysians chose to vote the next round. It's again likely that the Umno strategists believe these belligerent developments and bad faith would benefit their party in vote-catching.
Discounting the overwhelmingly Malay states of Kelantan (94.27 percent Malay voters) and Terengganu (95.42 percent) as well as the more evenly mixed states of Penang, Perak and Selangor/Federal Territories, Malay voters form the majority in the rest of the country except Sarawak.
If the Chinese and Indian electorate is predicted to remain with Pakatan, then the vote bank battle will be fought crucially over the Malay segment.What happened on March 8, 2008 had elements of a freak accident, e.g. Mahathir Mohamad actively undermining Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and this unique happenstance will not recur.
In fact, ramifications still reverberating from the election results somewhat recall the saying 'Be careful what you wish for'.
Unintended consequences
"Selangor won because people like me just wanted change. And change we got," New Straits Times managing editor Nuraina Abdul Samad blogged. She voted Keadilan and DAP for the Parliament and state seats respectively in a constituency previously held by BN.
She wrote also that Malay Mail head honcho Ahirudin Atan, better known as Rocky, voted in Perak for the opposition too. "The opposition parties won in many seats in Perak because of the many Rockys."
The 13.14 percent vote shift in Perak with 46.98 percent of Malay-Muslim votes going to the opposition suggests there is merit in Nuraina's surmise.
Some Malays who had been long-time BN loyalists did indeed switch their votes or preferring to spoil their ballot papers for the first time in 2008. Although it is hard to measure this phenomenon, the small swing nevertheless created a big impact. Don't bet on them doing a repeat though.
The next election will see a pool of presently unregistered voters and huge numbers of young Malaysians attaining the age of majority. Given our demographic trend, these newly eligible voters will be in majority Malays.
Umno, needless to say, will be going full throttle to convince the Malay ground that the change they sought in 2008 has not turned out desirably.
However for the minorities, concerns reach beyond the next general election.
Among these is the Islamic state issue. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in his Jan 13 speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies reminded: "In Malaysia, Islam not only occupies a symbolic position as the religion of the federation, but also forms part and parcel of the country's political, judicial, economic and education system".
The essential nature of the country will be assuming ever more concrete terms in the near future. Developing in tandem will be the inevitable race friction and tug-of-war over religious jurisdiction and strictures.
BN is Umno-monopolised; Pakatan has PAS as first among equals. The former is racialist and Malay race constitutionally equates Muslim; the latter is outrightly Islamist. Both leave minorities stranded between a rock and a hard place as to how Islamisation is shaping up.
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