What the Chinese do not understand regarding Malay politics
Dr Wong Chin Huat is supposed to be the head of political and social analysis at the Penang Institute. But he cannot seem to understand one very crucial and fundamental issue, which is that Malay politics is about race and religion. And as far as most Malays are concerned this is what will determine whom they support and whom they vote for.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
This was what Dr Wong Chin Huat said in his article ‘Deepening divisions as Malaysia stays mired in racial politics’:
Anwar’s plan to make his wife Wan Azizah chief minister of Selangor was derailed by PAS in mid 2014, perhaps showing his limited clout with the ally.
Except for deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin and vice-president Shafie Apdal, whom Najib removed from their Cabinet posts in July after they publicly criticised him over the 1MDB scandal, Umno’s national and divisional leadership seems to be solidly behind Najib.
It is not that the Umno warlords are deaf to former premier Mahathir Mohamad’s repeated warnings that Najib’s unpopularity may end Umno’s rule. And they are not just worried about suffering the same fate as Muhyiddin and Shafie.
There have been other signs of growing racial and religious divisions. More instances of communal segregation have taken place in the name of religion.
As these ethno-religious divisions run deeper, Malaysians face a collective problem in opposing authoritarianism. What is the way forward?
That Najib has grown stronger in power despite growing more unpopular suggests that the problem with Malaysian politics is deeply structural.
Dr Wong Chin Huat blames PAS for ‘derailing’ Pakatan Rakyat’s plan to make Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail the new Selangor Menteri Besar to replace Khalid Ibrahim one-a-half years ago.
What Chinese like Wong do not understand is that Malays do not go against their Rulers, like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim do. Those two are actually half-Malays or Mamaks and, therefore, do not fully understand Malay culture and traditions and do not share the sentiments of the Malays.
HRH the Sultan of Selangor could not agree to Dr Wan Azizah as the new Menteri Besar. Furthermore, the Sultan wanted more than one name and DAP and PKR defied the Sultan by offering just one name, that of Dr Wan Azizah.
PAS, however, refused to defy the Sultan. So it was not that PAS ‘derailed’ Pakatan Rakyat. It was that PAS did not want to do the un-Malay thing by defying the Sultan. DAP and PKR, however, had no problems telling the Sultan to go fook himself.
As a Chinese, Wong does not understand this and has no problems telling the Sultan to go fook himself.
Wong then says that Umno is scared of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and, therefore, would not join Dr Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin and Shafie Apdal in their attempt to oust Najib.
Wong further says that the racial-religious divide is getting worse. He also says that Najib has grown stronger despite his lack of support outside Umno and that Najib is able to hold on to power because of Umno.
This is another thing that Wong and most Chinese do not understand. The government is under an Umno-led coalition while the opposition is a DAP-led coalition. Umno calls the shots in Barisan Nasional while DAP calls the shots in Pakatan Harapan. Hence it is about the Chinese versus Malays/Muslims.
Furthermore, according to DAP, 95% of the Chinese are anti-government while the Malays are split into four — Umno, PAS, PKR and PAN. And if the internal squabbles in Umno, PAS and PKR are taken into consideration, the Malays could even be considered as split into seven.
The Malays see this serious divide as a threat to the future of the Malays. The Malays are in danger of losing their political dominance. Therefore, the Malays in Umno rally behind Najib not because they are deaf and blind like Wong and many Chinese suggest but because it is a matter of survival.
And if Umno needs to talk to PAS to ensure that the Malays do not lose their political advantage they would even do that — although many in PAS do not see it the same way and are stupid enough to think that on its own, as a ‘third force’, and without being part of Barisan or Pakatan, PAS can still win the next election and form the new federal government.
Malay politics is about race and religion. And if Wong and those other Chinese do not think so then they are really novices as we suspected all along. If they cannot understand this reality then they have no business being in politics and should not claim to be political analysts.
Dr Wong Chin Huat is supposed to be the head of political and social analysis at the Penang Institute. But he cannot seem to understand one very crucial and fundamental issue, which is that Malay politics is about race and religion. And as far as most Malays are concerned this is what will determine whom they support and whom they vote for.
