What do you mean by progressive Malays?

By MT Webmaster Last updated Jun 28, 2015

So show me a Malay who openly declares that the Qur’an is not the word of God and that the Garden of Eden, Paradise, the virgin birth, heaven, hell, angels and demons are Zoroastrian beliefs that seeped into Judaism and then were borrowed by Paul to invent Christianity and which later became Islam, then I would call that person a progressive Malay.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Yes, I have been following what the ‘progressive Malays’ are saying. I cannot help but follow because every time progressive Malays say something the mainstream and online media features what they have to say. It appears like there is a campaign to highlight the thoughts and words of progressive Malays and present them as towering Malays or Malaysian heroes.

But what do you mean by progressive Malays? How do you define the word progressive? What is the mark of progressive Malays? When do Malays become progressive and when do Malays become regressive?

This is just like the word ‘fundamentalist’. Fundamentalist is nowadays used to mean a Muslim who kills people. He is an extremist. He is a terrorist. A fundamentalist is actually someone who believes that original religious laws should be followed very strictly and should not be changed.

Christians in many parts of the United States actually consider themselves fundamentalists. In fact, the United States has more fundamentalist Christians per capita than any other country in the world. Does that surprise you?

Just to digress a bit, 75% of Americans are Christians and 10% are atheists. The prison population, however, is made up of 75% Christians and 0.02% atheists. That shows you do not need to believe in God or to have a religion to be good, does it?

So, just like the word fundamentalist, we need to define what the word progressive means since every single day we are hearing about progressive Malays saying this, that or the other.

From what I have noticed, progressive Malays are Malays who agree that the affirmative action policy known as the New Economic Policy should be abolished in favour of meritocracy. The more ‘progressive’ progressive Malays even feel that Article 153 in the Federal Constitution should be repealed so that the special position of the Malays can be removed from the Constitution.

That makes sense I suppose. The reason the NEP is legal is because it is provided for in the Constitution. If not it would be illegal for, say, the local councils to insist that houses sold to Bumiputeras must be sold at a discount. Without Article 153, developers can challenge the ruling that stipulates Bumiputera house buyers get a discount.

While many whack Umno and Barisan Nasional for what they say is racial discrimination, I have not heard a word from PAS, PKR or DAP (or Pakatan Rakyat) saying that if they ever come to power they will repeal Article 153 in the Constitution and abolish the affirmative action policy.

Can we hear from Pakatan Rakyat or at least from one of the members of Pakatan Rakyat what their plans are regarding Article 153 and the affirmative action policy once they come to power?

It is very important to know that now because we do not want to argue about all this just to discover later that Pakatan Rakyat, once they come to power, is doing exactly what Barisan Nasional is doing — meaning maintaining Article 153 and the affirmative action policy.

My worry is regarding the sincerity and honesty of Pakatan Rakyat. Before the elections they say one thing but after the elections they do something else. The current problems in the opposition are a case in point. We do not want them to quarrel later once they come to power like what they are doing now.

I mean, we might have a situation where DAP wants to repeal Article 153 and abolish the affirmative action policy and then one of the other partners say no and they start to fight and declare they are no longer friends but will still work together as a government and then threaten to form new parties and so on.

Anyway, let us get back to the word progressive and try to understand what it means when we say progressive Malays. Surely progressive Malays cannot just mean Malays who want to repeal Article 153 in the Constitution and abolish the affirmative action policy?

Would we consider Chinese who want to abolish Chinese schools as progressive Chinese or Indians who want to close down Tamil schools as progressive Indians? I mean, even if that Chinese wants to abolish Chinese schools but he or she still believes that number 8 is lucky while number 4 is unlucky and that you need to place mirrors in front of your house to scare away the devils I would not regard that person as progressive.

In that same spirit we need to define what progressive Malays mean. If that Malay drinks beer or brandy is he or she progressive? If that Malay does not believe in religion and is an atheist is he or she progressive? If that Malay marries outside his or her race instead of marrying a fellow Malay is he or she progressive?

Progressive can mean many things. In fact, it can mean anything. So it is time we define the meaning of progressive Malays since we talk about it every day.

For that matter there are many non-Malays who are not progressive so while we talk about what is a progressive Malay we should also discuss what makes a non-Malay progressive as well. Then we do not need to talk about progressive Malays or progressive non-Malays but progressive Malaysians.

I know many non-Malays who still believe that the Bible is the word of God and that Jesus is the Son of God. To me, these people are not progressive. In spite of all the evidence that these beliefs are nonsense they still believe in it. What about Hindus and Buddhists also with their non-progressive beliefs?

I will not label any Malay as progressive until he or she can reject all nonsense such as religion and declare that he or she is an atheist. If it is just about Article 153, the affirmative action policy, meritocracy, ending racial quotas, appointing a non-Malay prime minister, etc., to me that is not progressive yet.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK