Gerakan’s aim to fight racism is a risky business

By admin-s On Oct 29, 2014

If Umno leaders continue to attack the Chinese community, Gerakan’s action to suspend its own member could backfire on the party.

Khoo Kay Peng, The Ant Daily

Gerakan’s leadership had taken a huge gamble to suspend one of its delegates, Tan Lai Soon, over his speech that implied that Malays are “pendatang” or immigrants.

Responding to Umno members for calling the Chinese and Indians “pendatang” or immigrants, Tan had reportedly said that Malays were no different as they came from Indonesia. Courting immediate reactions from several Umno leaders, they had called upon Gerakan to sack the Johor delegate.

Gerakan deputy president Datuk Dr Cheah Soon Hai said his party had meted out a suspension and a show cause letter to Tan because no Malaysian is an immigrant. During the party’s convention, Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong had pledged to take a stern action against any of his party members who are found to make racist remarks.

Gerakan’s action to suspend its party delegate is a double-edged sword. If the party is trying to send a message to its component partners, especially Umno, to do the same, the party may encounter an early disappointment. Gerakan’s secretary-general Liang Teck Meng’s call to Umno to follow his party’s footstep in suspending its members for making racially sensitive remarks was rebuked by an Umno Youth leader.

If this is not enough, the party is forced to face a reality that Umno may not be that easily persuaded to tone down its rhetoric against the Chinese community. Selangor Umno deputy chairman Datuk Abdul Shukor Idrus claimed the Chinese were behind a movement to spread hatred towards Barisan Nasional (BN), resulting in the community’s declining support towards the coalition in the state.

He was responding to the findings of the latest Universiti Malaya Centre for Democracy and Election (UMcedel) survey that revealed a surge in support for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition from 35 percent to 43 percent.

Abdul Shukor’s comment is not going to help Gerakan’s cause to move the BN coalition to the right direction. If the party is not able to persuade and influence Umno to follow suit, the suspension of Tan is only going to increase the disdain of the urban voters against the party. The party is already facing negative feedbacks and criticisms from the online community.

However, the party’s stand against racism is not wrong. If the decision to suspend Tan comes from the party’s principle to defend the birth rights of all Malaysians it may still be able to convince Malaysians that the party is serious to fight racism.

It means that Gerakan must be bold enough to demand that Umno members and leaders such as Abdul Shukor are taken to the task for targeting the Chinese community. The party’s seriousness to ensure that its stand to suspend its own members can be used a catalyst to push BN away from its fixation over race and religion.

However, from the responses of Umno leaders, it is going to be an uphill task for Gerakan. Without enough representation in both the parliament and state assemblies, Gerakan is a lightweight in BN.

If Umno leaders continue to attack the Chinese community, Gerakan’s action to suspend its own member could backfire on the party. The party may be seen as pandering to Umno’s demands to take action against its own members but the latter is condoning its members’ attacks against the Chinese community.