How did Malaysia end up with race-based politics?
It was not so bad when Malaysia had Malays, Chinese and Indians in the government and Malays, Chinese and Indians in the opposition as well. But when the situation changed to “Malays in the government and Chinese and Indians in the opposition”, that invited race-based politics.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
I have noticed many comments from Malaysians regarding how great America is for electing the daughter of an Indian-immigrant mother and Jamaican-American father as America’s first female “black” Vice President.
These same people also condemn Malaysia for still regarding non-Malays as immigrants or pendatang — the so-called opposite of “progressive” America, a country which does not see colour or immigrant status as an issue and are prepared to appoint a non-white as a Vice President.
Maybe these people forget that America requires a “Black Lives Matter” movement because blacks face discrimination. Does Malaysia need such a movement to “protect” the Chinese and Indians?
Yes, finally, after almost 250 years, “reforms” have come to America. But it was only 100 years ago in 1920 that women were allowed to vote and in the 1960s they still practiced racial segregation in restaurants, buses, schools, etc., in many parts of America.
Segregation still existed in America in the 1960s whereas non-Malays in Malaysia already enjoyed power-sharing in the 1950s
Maybe those who are grumbling about being treated as second-class citizens forgot that in the 1950s the Malays invited the Chinese and Indians to participate in a power-sharing coalition. Umno approached MCA and MIC to form the Alliance Party so that all races can participate in a new post-Merdeka government.
Only the Straits Chinese from the Malayan Chinese Association or MCA (many who spoke only Malay) appeared interested in a partnership with the Malays, while the Chinese-educated Chinese supported the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).
Merdeka started out as a multi-racial affair until the opposition turned the opposition into an exclusive non-Malay club
And the Indians, those basically from the Malayan Indian Congress or MIC — a socialist party that was aligned to the Congress Party of India — were not interested in any alliance either with the Malays or the Chinese.
In 1955, when America still barred blacks from public places reserved for whites, the first Malay-Chinese-Indian government was formed based on the concept of power-sharing. And that became the foundation for a smooth and peaceful transition from a British colony to an independent nation.
This worked well for many years — in fact, for two generations at least — until the politicians decided to divide Malaysia into race. Whether by accident or by design, Malaysia became split into “Malays support the government and non-Malays support the opposition”.
The problem started when 90% of the Chinese and Indians decided to support the opposition and the opposition became exclusive non-Malay instead of mixed-race
It was not so bad when Malaysia had Malays, Chinese and Indians in the government and Malays, Chinese and Indians in the opposition as well. But when the situation changed to “Malays in the government and Chinese and Indians in the opposition”, that invited race-based politics.
So, who is to be blamed?
When 80% of the Malays vote for the ruling party and 90% of the Chinese and Indians vote for the opposition, what do you expect? Parties are race-based. Voting is race-based. So, the government and opposition become race-based as well.
We Malaysians, we politicians, we voters, created this race-based political system. And then we grumble about how racial Malaysia’s political system is? What’s wrong with Malaysians? You reap what you sow. So live with it. The Chinese and Indians need to look at the elephant in the room and ask themselves in what way did they contribute to racial harmony?
