The four faces of 1Malaysia

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Sep 30, 2009

By Wong Chin Huat (The Nut Graph

Amid Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s plan to build “1Malaysia hostels” to promote national unity, I feel compelled to point out we cannot have “unity” because Malaysia consists of not two, or three, but four classes. And these four classes will not go away unless the current political order — which is a combination of ethnocracy and a one-party state — goes away.

DEPENDING on how you look at it, this article on national independence is either two weeks too late or 50 weeks too early.

The two weeks after Malaysia Day on 16 Sept 2009, coupled with the Hari Raya mood, seemed peaceful and even boring by Malaysian standards. That is, except for Selangor religious exco and PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Hasan Ali‘s unusual attack on the state’s Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency, and PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan’s standard attack on concerts.

While most Malaysians are either calendar-, crisis- or event-driven, I ask your permission to indulge in some reflections on our nationhood. Amid Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s plan to build “1Malaysia hostels” to promote national unity, I feel compelled to point out we cannot have “unity” because Malaysia consists of not two, or three, but four classes. And these four classes will not go away unless the current political order — which is a combination of ethnocracy and a one-party state — goes away.

So, unless the Barisan Nasional (BN) is willing to reform its political base, there will be 4Malaysias out there no matter how many 1Malaysia hostels, F1 teams, songs, dances, lanterns or mooncakes we construct.

Unlike the rigid ancient Hindu four-caste system, our four-class system is a flexible one. It fluctuates between two tracks with two different hierarchies.

The ethnoreligious hierarchy

The first track is on Malay- or Islam-related issues, where the hierarchy is

1. BN-aligned Malay-Muslim Malaysians;

2. Pakatan Rakyat (PR)-aligned Malay-Muslim Malaysians;

3. BN-aligned non-Malay, non-Muslim Malaysians;

4. PR-aligned non-Malay, non-Muslim Malaysians.

That is the “ethnocracy” side of Umno-BN’s dominance which dictates identity politics. In practice, it is often conveniently collapsed into the dichotomy of bumiputera/Malay/Muslim Malaysians and the “nons”, by both proponents and opponents.

The simplified dichotomy explains why many Umno and PAS leaders like to talk about Malay/Muslim unity, why the keris needs to be raised from time to time, and a cow head needed to be stomped on. It is why public forums on the constitution needed to be threatened with violence, and why churches needed to be surrounded or trespassed to stop or investigate alleged mass apostasy plots.

To this end, a Malay Malaysian leader needs to be labelled a traitor of the race or religion for advocating race-blind public policy, or for giving land to the non-Malay Malaysian poor, or for safeguarding the right of religious minorities to have their own places of worship.

The non-ethnoreligious hierarchy

The obsession with the ethnoreligious divide results in many Malaysians forgetting that Malay-Muslim Malaysians are often discriminated against, too. That is the “one-party” side of Umno/BN’s dominance. In situations where ethnoreligious issues are not evoked, the second 4Malaysia hierarchy kicks in:

1. BN-aligned Malay-Muslim Malaysians;

2. BN-aligned non-Malay, non-Muslim Malaysians;

3. PR-aligned Malay-Muslim Malaysians;

4. PR-aligned non-Malay, non-Muslim Malaysians.

To be more specific, the BN-aligned Malay-Muslim Malaysians are not equal among themselves. After all, siding with the right faction is what will give an individual a larger share of economic perks. Such inequality is, of course, also found in other BN component parties. This explains why Umno, MCA, MIC and other BN component parties need to have periodic civil wars to determine who shall get the lion’s share within the one-party regime.

The greater evil

Neither of these hierarchies is right, but where do we go from here to attain an egalitarian nationhood? How do we prioritise which hierarchy to abolish first?