They work hard for what they want
The Malay community in Singapore is aware it lags behind the majority in some ways. But a Malay who graduates from university here knows his achievement is due to his own effort and not some form of affirmative action. — ST FILE PHOTO
HE HAS done it again. Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has warned Malay Malaysians that they may end up like Malay Singaporeans.
In the latest entry on his blog chedet.co.cc/chedetblog, the former strongman calls for caution in developing Kampung Baru, a dilapidated Malay village in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
‘Today, the Malaysian government comprises mostly Malays who are concerned about the fate of Malays. In the future, we can’t be sure there won’t be a government where there is no Malay voice. The signs are already there. If Kampung Baru is redeveloped…it may suffer the same fate as the Malay kampungs in Singapore,’ he wrote in Malay.
Singapore kampungs were demolished and the Malays resettled into public housing, where they have non-Malays as neighbours, he said. ‘In fact, all evidence of Singapore’s origins as a Malay state has disappeared,’ he moaned.
This is not the first time he has used Malay Singaporeans to drive home a political point about Malay Malaysians. The plight of the Malay Singaporean was a favourite theme of his at almost every annual Umno general assembly when he was prime minister.
Last June, he said Malay Singaporeans had been marginalised and forced to ‘kowtow’ to other communities. Such remarks are met with revulsion by many Malay Singaporeans because they are condescending. He makes Malay Singaporeans out to be backward compared with their racial cousins up north.
But over the past 45 years, Malay Singaporeans have become very different from Malay Malaysians. As a minority, we are keenly aware that we are lagging behind the majority community partly because we did not get a head start. But we are plodding along fine, making incremental progress through better education.
Yes, we have our share of social problems, but there is nothing unusual in that. We are dealing with our problems in a gotong-royong (mutual cooperation) spirit through our community-based organisations, aided by the Government.
What 45 years of independence has taught the community is that we have to work hard for whatever we want in a meritocratic society. A Malay who graduates from university has the right to feel proud of his achievement because it is the result of his own effort, not some form of affirmative action favouring one race.
In land-scarce Singapore, it is inevitable that old kampungs give way to high-rise buildings. But even in the Malaysian capital, the dilapidated houses of Kampung Baru have become an eyesore, out of place among the skyscrapers.
As Tun Dr Mahathir himself has admitted, Kampung Baru was one of the failures of his premiership. He was not able to develop it partly out of concern that the move could force Malay villagers out. Kampung Baru serves as a symbolic Malay presence in Kuala Lumpur, which otherwise would be populated mainly by non-Malays.
Are the Malays in Malaysia today better off than Malay Singaporeans? Talking to some friends in Malaysia and reading the local newspapers have led me to the following conclusions:
Malay Malaysians lack aspiration. Malay girls outperform boys. Malay men abrogate their responsibilities towards their families, spending their money on successively younger wives. The divorce rate among Malays is very high.
In addition, most drug addicts and HIV/Aids sufferers are Malays. Abandoned babies are primarily Malay. Incest, rape and other sexual crimes are committed mainly by Malays.
Poverty has been reduced drastically over the past few decades, certainly, and a significant Malay middle class has emerged, chiefly as a result of affirmative action policies. But the same policies have also sharpened inequality. There is growing dissatisfaction in the community that politically connected Malays have benefited disproportionately from affirmative action policies. Many also resent the use of public funds to rescue wealthy Malay businessmen.
In the long run, history will judge whether Malay Malaysians are genuinely better off than Malay Singaporeans – and which system produces a better people.
