MCA, Mahathirism and the rise of the Ali Baba scrooge
“That explains why Kit Siang worked very hard with Mohamad Sabu to split PAS from within and conspired with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin – who, in turn, worked with Tengku Adnan bin Tengku Mansor – to sabotage Barisan Nasional’s media edifice in 2014. Some MCA leaders knew what was going on from day one but were told by Kong choy and his men to mind their own business”
THE THIRD FORCE
Patriotism in Malaysia has meant different things to different people at different times. In the mid-fifties and throughout the sixties, it was often invoked by UMNO leaders to make the case for military sacrifice and anti-Communism. In the seventies, it was parred by Tun Abdul Razak with the concept of the Chinese and Malays assimilating into a “cross-cultural megastructure” (or Razak megastructure) free from stereotype constraints and prejudice.
But whichever the era, patriotism had always something to do with the people’s innate capacity to strive for unity and harmony. And it was kept that way right until Dr. Mahathir Mohamad took over the reins of government in 1981. Thereon, the country’s fourth Prime Minister dismantled the yet-to-be-completed “Razak megastructure” and replaced it with his own. He decided that unity could not be allowed to flow from inward convictions, as a united Malaysian race would only present a problem to his dictatorship.
Part of the plan was to infuse fundamentalist attitudes among UMNO leaders and pamper them with Government sponsored projects. As these leaders grew richer, they developed supremacist attitudes and regarded themselves authoritarian elites. Money was never enough for them, though it became the currency through which they solicited bribes from one another to get their hands on government projects.
Once done corrupting UMNO, Mahathir realised that he needed to prevent the many rival camps that mushroomed from tearing the party apart at the seams. To keep them guarded, he infused camp leaders with ‘nationalist’ attitudes by cautioning them against a ‘Chinese threat’. The Mahathirists chipped in by impressing upon these leaders that the nation’s purse strings were in the hands of the Chinese through banks that were largely clan-controlled.
And that is how Mahathir ‘united’ UMNO. He created a problem by turning party leaders against themselves before presenting ‘the Chinese threat’ as a ‘solution’ to keep them united. Once he was done doing that, he undertook to ‘resolve’ the ‘Chinese threat’ by presenting a new ‘problem’ to the Chinese. He told MCA leaders that Malaysia needed defending from foreign elements that were determined to impose jurisdiction over the Malaysian government.
Then, as a ‘solution’, he convinced these leaders that the Mahathirists possessed the means to invigorate the economy without jeopardising the Chinese community’s standing as the “nation’s socioeconomic masters.” The MCA was told that whatever Mahathir did, he did it in the best interest of the Chinese. The former premier reasoned that Malay nationalism could only be pacified if the Malays were contented and believed they were in control.
And that is how Mahathir projected value onto his policies and devoted the MCA to his terms. He would impress upon rich tycoons – the likes of Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong – that the shadow of Mahathirism would protect their interests and prevent the flow of Chinese wealth into the hands of the Malays. Because of him, the MCA led the Chinese to believe that Mahathirism would guarantee them economic prosperity and political stability.
Thus, not only did Mahathir succeed in corrupting UMNO, he kept warring factions within the party superficially united against the Chinese before teaching both races to coexist. The former premier advanced a pre-existing business concept known as the “Ali Baba formula” and got the Mahathirists to front for business empires belonging to the Chinese. The formula kept each race contented and created the delusion of unity.
