Malay unity a myth, says Gerak Independent co-founder

Malay unity has been proclaimed as the Holy Grail of Malaysian politics, but this is a myth, says Gerak Independent co-founder Tawfik Ismail.

(FMT) – In a statement yesterday, he said “there is no such thing (as Malay unity) in the psyche of the Malay population”.

“The Kelantan Malay has little in common with the Johor Malay, except for religion and, sadly, even that serves to divide because of the political use of religion by the Malay parties that are mass-based,” he said.

Tawfik said various coalitions in the country had tried in some way to push for Malay unity, citing the “Umno-Malay, Mahathir-Bersatu, Anwar Ibrahim, Najib Razak and Tengku Razaleigh type leaderships”.

“And this leads me to think that future coalitions should define and select the type of Malay that suits the coalition’s philosophy,” he said.

He suggested that a future coalition should consider the type of Malay portrayed by himself and co-founder of Gerak, Siti Kasim, as an alternative.

“We both bring a new approach to the otherwise stale politics promised by other Malay leaders, based on integrity and honesty, straight talk on Islam and other issues that worry the Malays,” he said.

He said Gerak also wanted to propose a Commission for Future Generations to vet all legislations tabled for parliamentary approval.

“This is to ensure that future generations are not encumbered by the short-sightedness of the present in matters of law and environment,” he said.