There will always be stupid Malays and Muslims who will be happy with the fear-mongering of Umno/PAS.
(FMT) – Former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim has described as nonsensical the suggestion by a university professor that Pakatan Harapan concentrate on Malay rights and the position of Islam in its general election campaign.
Zaid said false ideas about the meaning of the special position of Islam and Malay “privileges” had taken root to the detriment of Malays.
“It would be a tragedy if Pakatan were to continue with this Umno/PAS narrative,” he added.
Assoc Prof Dr Faisal Hazis of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia said last week that the opposition should focus on “the Malay narrative”, which includes the position of Islam and the special position of Malays.
Speaking at a forum entitled Multi-Cornered Contest: Bane or Boon, Faisal had said that in the last election, the opposition had emphasised “inclusivity” and neglected the more important Malay agenda because it wanted to be “trendy”.
Zaid said in a blog post today: “The good Dr Faisal must know by now that privileges for Malays have become privileges for Umno, and that this has destroyed the Malay economic base. Without this baggage, Malays would have become an economic powerhouse by now.
“Equally, if the position of Islam in this country means that the government has been able to espouse peaceful and progressive ideas of the religion, we would not have experienced the surge of ‘Taliban’ laws and morality that we face today.”
The DAP member claimed Umno’s racist sentiments, coupled with PAS’s medieval ideas about Islam, had pulled Malays down.
“To prolong these distorted views of Islam and the special position of Malays will mean political and religious dictatorship. No Malaysian, let alone any Malay, will be better off with such a form of government.
Asking people to be more like Umno, Perkasa or Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang will mean the spread of more outrageous lies that Malays are ‘under threat’. It will mean that more people will reject inclusiveness and progressive moderate politics.”
Zaid acknowledged that the opposition must address the Malay agenda. However, it must not repeat the Umno version.
He said the PH Malay agenda must explain how Malays would benefit from the privileges accorded them.
He claimed people wanted to hear about practical policies devised by a responsible and good government.
“They are tired of politicians stoking fear of the DAP and Chinese Malaysians – it’s as if there is no fear other than what the Umno propagandists say.
“The opposition can remove these false fears by putting real substance into the meaning of the special position of Malays. To do this, the opposition must say what it will do to help Malays in concrete terms and not merely
create more fear.
“For example, in education it can announce that underprivileged and rural Malays will get priority in elite, special boarding schools such as the Mara Junior Science Colleges. “
He said poorer Malays must not be allowed to be second-class citizens just because the children of well-connected Umno families or top civil servants had places reserved for them in the best schools and colleges.
“The Pakatan Harapan must make sure the students and the teachers are engaged in actual learning and not waving party flags and polluting their own minds with politics. Students must have proper jobs after school and university.”
He said Malays must be convinced that there would be no more huge leakages in spending.
The award of government contracts to Malays and Bumiputera, Zaid said, must be based on skill and ability.
“Government departments must be transparent in their decision-making so that they can help people and not their own friends and families.
“This is how we help Malays realise the full meaning of their special position, and this is what Malays want to hear about the Malay Agenda.
‘When it comes to Islam, the official place of this religion in the federation must not mean more backward policies, which will happen if the opposition follows in the footsteps of Umno/PAS.
“If we keep going down this path, Muslims will reject science, books will be banned, more Muslims will be charged for offences in the Shariah Court, and the ridiculous Taliban morality will spread even further into our mosques and madrasahs.”
He said protecting Islam did not mean protecting PAS, Umno, and Islamic bodies such as Jakim, Jais, and Jawi, and individuals who claimed that “Islam is being insulted” whenever anyone criticised them.
“To honour and protect Islam is to help the thousands of Malay youths who are now heavy drug users. We need to spend on religious teachers who will teach the young the positive values of religion and not merely put more fear into everyone’s lives.
“We need to help marginalised people participate in social activities and learn to live with other communities. It means helping Muslim students to read and to understand our social conditions so that they can deal with the problems better.
“To honour Islam is to make sure that religious schools help Muslims understand the world they live in, instead of hankering after a world that preachers have designed for them.”
This, he said, was what Muslims wanted to hear about the Islamic narrative and not that the DAP will somehow dismantle Islam and that Christians will take over the country.
Zaid added: “There will always be stupid Malays and Muslims who will be happy with the fear-mongering of Umno/PAS. They believe that without PAS, Islam will be gone. They believe that without Umno, Malays will be finished. They do not realise that they are already finished. Pakatan should not worry about this class of voters.”
Saying people could get all the fear they wanted from Umno and PAS if they liked, Zaid said it would be a tragic mistake if PH were to succumb to this “fascist narrative”.
“Pakatan must believe that Malays and Muslims thrive not on fear but on hope and the desire to change their lives for the better. Being inclusive and working towards positive change is the way forward, and this is the only real fruit that the special position can give Malays.”
