Malaysians of Chinese ethnicity now facing political isolation

DAP, MCA and Gerakan have declared again and again that 90-95% of the Chinese do not support the government. So, whatever the government does for them would be pointless. They will still not support the government anyway. Hence the government might as well just ignore them since listening to them has zero political value.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It was bound to happen sooner or later. And now, 70 years later, after the idea of the Alliance Party or Parti Perikatan was first mooted in 1951, Malaysians of Chinese ethnicity finally face political isolation.

To be fair, the idea to form the Alliance Party did not come from the Malays (meaning Umno) or the Chinese (meaning MCA). And the Indians (meaning MIC) were opposed to the idea and rejected it. The Alliance Party, in fact, was a British idea.

At that time, after the formation of the Federation of Malaya or Persekutuan Tanah Melayu in 1948, the British were discussing with the Malays the possibility of Independence or Merdeka. But they were worried that once Malaya was granted Merdeka, the Chinese and Indians would be kicked out of the country.

The British wanted to ensure that the Chinese and Indians not only had a place under the Malayan sun, but also a sort of power-sharing arrangement could be formulated so that the Chinese and Indians could participate in the government.

That was the reason for the official launching of the Alliance Party in 1952. Whether the Alliance Party can work or not was tested in 1955 where they won 51 of the 52 seats they contested (PAS won the other one.)

The 1955 election showed that the Alliance Party works and the Chinese and Indians were able to share political power with the Malays. So, in 1957, Britain granted Malaya Merdeka.

In 1951, the Malays agreed to share political power with the Chinese and Indians

Would Malaya have been given Merdeka in 1957 had the Malays, Chinese and Indians not been able to agree on a power-sharing formula and the Alliance Party had not been born? That would be like asking: would Adolf Hitler have invaded Poland had Neville Chamberlain listened to Winston Churchill?

Merdeka would still have been granted but it might not have been in 1957. It would have been much later once the threat of Communism had been eliminated or reduced. Chin Peng and the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) would have delayed Merdeka, probably until the 1960s instead of in 1957 — and most likely “May 13” in 1969 would not have happened as well.

But, of course, we will never know that — since it did not happen. What we do know, however, is the British agreed to Merdeka in 1957 because the Malays, Chinese and Indians (meaning Umno, MCA and MIC) came out with a power-sharing formula (meaning the Alliance Party or Parti Perikatan).

This peace was shattered 18 years later (or 12 years after Merdeka) by “May 13”, the 1969 race riots. This basically split the Malays and non-Malays into ‘Malays for government and non-Malays for opposition’, with the Islamists as the “third force”.

Tun Razak Hussein and Tun Hussein Onn created Barisan Nasional so that the non-Malays can once again be given a voice in the government

Racial harmony was restored (sort of) with the creation of Barisan Nasional in 1973. DAP, however, refused to join Barisan Nasional because any power-sharing arrangement with the Malays was considered repugnant (jijik) to this Chinese chauvinist party (even wearing a songkok was considered jijik).

Today, what the founding fathers tried to create through the formation of the Alliance Party in 1952 and Barisan Nasional in 1973 is gone. What we have today is the Chinese in the opposition and the Malays in the government.

This was what the British tried so hard to avoid (especially then, when the Chinese were not yet granted Malayan citizenship). But 70 years after the British steered the country into a multi-racial or multi-ethnic power-sharing direction, the Chinese have now pushed themselves into the opposition with no strong voice or representation in the government.

What used to be what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad once called ‘The Malay Dilemma’ has now been turned into ‘The Chinese Dilemma’. The effort of the British to make sure that the Chinese and Indians shared political power with the Malays has been totally destroyed.

What is even more alarming is that the Chinese are very happy about this and proudly claim that more than 90% of the Chinese support and vote for DAP-Pakatan Harapan.

The non-Malays no longer have any voice in the government and have no right to make demands

This is not something to celebrate. This is extremely dangerous. This is okay if the Malays are spit into five (while more than 90% of the Chinese are united). But what happens if the Malays also unite or even just 60-70% of the Malays support and vote for a Malay alliance?

The Chinese have always assumed that the Malays will be split into five or more groups, and hence are no threat to the non-Malays. That would be true if the Chinese are also split into three groups like in the past. But once the Chinese unite, like now, then the Malays will also unite.

DAP’s success at uniting 90-95% of the Chinese under Pakatan Harapan is also its failure. If DAP-Pakatan Harapan is the government, then no problem. It would actually work in their favour. But if DAP-Pakatan Harapan is in the opposition, then that would be disastrous. The Chinese will no longer have any voice or representation in the government.

Today, the government must not layan the Chinese demands too much. If they do, then it would give the impression that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is weak (or scared) and hence needs to bow down to the Chinese demands. To the Chinese, kowtowing is a sign of weakness.

To retain Malay support, Perikatan Nasional must not be seen to be kowtowing to the non-Malays, especially DAP and PKR

Secondly, this will upset the Malays, who form the backbone for Umno, PAS and PPBM. They are already saying that Perikatan Nasional is a Malay government or Malay-dominated government. Hence they need to prove this by being tough with the Chinese and Indians and not kowtow to their demands.

This is not about race or racism. This is about politics. And this is the politics DAP and Pakatan Harapan are playing. Hence, to beat DAP and Pakatan Harapan, Muhyiddin Yassin and Perikatan Nasional need to also play this same game. You can only beat them at the same game, not if you are playing a different game.

The Chinese and Indians have to be taught that they need to be in the government or part of the government. If they are outside the government or in the opposition, they will have no voice or representation in the government. And this means they cannot demand anything.

DAP, MCA and Gerakan have declared again and again that 90-95% of the Chinese do not support the government. So, whatever the government does for them would be pointless. They will still not support the government anyway. Hence the government might as well just ignore them since listening to them has zero political value.