Race, religion remain potent cards in Malaysia's political game
Updated
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak is trying to convince the Malay UMNO party to recognise there are other races in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, to retain government.The opposition Pakatan Rakyat Alliance last year won an unprecedented one-third of seats in parliament.
This year also marks 40 years since the 1969 race riots, a watershed event in Malaysian life. Today, the race and religion card is still being played by politicians on both sides.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: Malaysian author Dr Farish Noor, senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
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NOOR: I think if you look at the state of Malaysian politics today, clearly over the past one-and-a-half years since the election results of March 2008, the country seems to be at an impasse of its own making, with neither side being in a position to consolidate or maximise their gains. So there is a lot of talk now about Malaysia and what Malaysia is, what Malaysia constitutes and as you know, in Malaysia, the moment, there are attempts on both sides of the political divide, to somehow foreground a new national agenda that brings Malaysia together. This, set against a context of a Malaysia which has witnessed over the past five years, I think, increasing racial and religious polarisation. I do believe that there are individuals, individual leaders in the Pakatan (opposition alliance) who are sincere about this, but to what extent they can carry their parties with them, that's an open question, because if we look at the state of Malayan politics this year, cracks are beginning to show in the Pakatan Rakyat Coalition over issues such as religious freedom, the position of the Malay-Muslims, in particular in Malaysia, issues such as language, national language, language to be used at schools. So there are still those even in the Opposition, who will not hesitate to play the race, culture, religion or language card if and when it suits them, because in the end they are politicians after all.
LAM: And of course, the UMNO Party, within the Ruling Coalition, the Barisan Nasional, the prime minister himself recognises this need to reach out to the other races, and yet some people might argue that UMNO is the prime culprit, the UMNO elite itself is perpetuating this kind of race politics?
NOOR: I think the race politics is being perpetuated by not only UMNO, but the ruling Barisan Nasional Coalition, because as you know it is an instrumental coalition made up of more than a dozen parties that are ideologically exactly the same, they are all right of centre parties. What they are divided along lines of ethnicity and race. It's like having four republican parties in America - one for whites, one for blacks, one for Latinos, and one for Asians, but in Malaysia, this has become the norm. This is the problem that Malaysia faces. We have normalised communitarian (sic) , race and religion based politics for the past 50 years.
LAM: But UMNO is the engine that drives the BN ...
NOOR: Oh very much so, very much so.
LAM: So how serious is UMNO about fixing this?
NOOR: I think UMNO as a party is concerned about its own survival. You must never underestimate UMNO's capacity to renew itself for the sake of survival. But you are quite right to point out that UMNO is also one of the most obvious culprits, because it was precisely from the UMNO Party that we've had leaders who have brazenly and blatantly played the race card. This is the party that produced leaders who have been waving weapons in public and articulating a discourse of Malay supremacy. And yet today these leaders are going through a very hasty, cosmetic makeover in order to re-present themselves as Malaysian leaders. So this is a case of political survival.
LAM: And on that question of Malay supremacy, there are some, both within Malaysia, who argue that there will be no racial harmony or true racial cohesion - a true Malaysian identity - so long as there is no equality, so long as the NEP, the new economic policy is still in place and Bumis have pride or place in national policy. That would be a very politically risky move for UMNO to even consider dismantling the NEP. Do you see that happening?
NOOR: Well, it is a politically risky move, not only for UMNO, but even for the Opposition should they come to power, because like I said, for the past 30 years, these institutional structures have been put in place and a substantial section of the Malaysian public expects these institutional provisions will remain in place forever. And this is clearly a problem that UMNO has created for itself. It's given the impression that these special privileges are going to be there for eternity.
LAM: That is the Malay public you are talking about?
NOOR: Yes.
LAM: The non-Malays are waiting for it to be dismantled, surely?
NOOR: Yes, yes, and I think what you are seeing now are attempts to somehow adjust or fine tune the system, rather than dismantle it. So all this talk about liberalising the economy, opening up 27 new economic sectors, well these are selective moves that are being introduced, not to actually reverse the NEP or the spirit of the NEP, but rather to expand it. And I'm worried, because that further contributes to this culture where political parties become engines of patronage. In other words, the Barisan Nasional can re-invent itself as a new coalition of parties for Malaysians, but continue to perpetuate this politics of patronage through economic preferential treatment for communities et cetera, et cetera. So this is not really been that easy for UMNO to reinvent itself I think. Now, these reforms will have to be implemented by whoever is in power. Like I said, the Opposition will be faced with the same dilemma should they win. At the root of all that is do we have a Malaysian identity? We're talking about Malays, Chinese and Indians. It's been 50 years for heaven's sakes. We really need to transcend this logic of ethnic differences and cultural differences, because Malaysian multi-culturalism cannot be based on the notion of a compartmentalised society that lives in distinct groups. The reality on the ground is that that is not the case. Malaysians do mix. That is never given the emphasis that it requires.
