Khat Issue: The PH Leadership must act
A Call to Action
I call upon the Pakatan Harapan leadership to take responsibility for
the khat issue.
Unlike Trump who was directly elected president of the United States by
the voters, the prime minister of Malaysia was appointed pursuant to an
agreement of the PH leadership. The PH leadership ensured PH members of
parliament forming the majority of the Dewan Rakyat supported Tun Mahathir as
prime minister.
Thus, unlike the US president, the buck does not stop at the prime
minister’s office. The PH leadership and the majority of the MPs are ultimately
and collectively accountable for the decisions and policies of the prime
minister and his cabinet.
The PH leadership, therefore, cannot wash their hands of the growing and
escalating tension arising from the khat issue and abdicate responsibility. The
PH leadership must take urgent and immediate action to resolve it.
If the PH leadership is serious on salvaging what remains of its
tattered credibility, the PH leadership must resolve this issue in accordance
with the rule of law, the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms and
the promises made to the voters.
This means upholding Pillar 5 of the PH Manifesto and not use the excuse
that PH did not expect to win. The promise is at page 102:
“The Pakatan Harapan government will
implement policies and programmes that unite the nation, create an inclusive
society and maintain the harmony of multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia.”
The promise extended to Pakatan Harapan’s confidence that its policies
and programmes will become a global model of inter-racial and inter-religious
harmony.
Unfortunately, the promises have not materialized.
On the contrary, the banning of the Dong Jiao Zong meeting and handling
of the khat issue reveal this Pakatan Harapan government not only flouted basic
principles of the rule of law but also practices the same or an even more
severe form of oppression, ethno-nationalism and politics of exclusion than the
previous regime.
Rule of Law Turned Upside Down
The police’s decision in obtaining a court order to ban the Dong Jiao
Zong meeting on the ground that certain groups have threatened to commit riots
is perverse and a travesty of justice.
The duty of the police is to uphold laws by protecting law abiding citizens
and taking action against those who break the law. By banning the Dong Jiao
Zong meeting, the police and the PH government have turned the meaning of the rule
of law on its head.
Those who acted illegally in committing the offence of issuing threats of
rioting are appeased and allowed to roam free. Those who acted legally to peacefully
hold a meeting to exercise their constitutional rights of freedom of assembly
and freedom of speech are denied and liable to be imprisoned if they proceed.
The ban when compared with the manner the police dealt with the
incendiary and seditious speeches in the Malay Dignity Congress shows the
police have acted with an uneven hand and violated the principle of equality
before the law.
Fears of Forced Assimilation and Loss of
Minorities’ Identity
To the parents, the board of governors of the vernacular schools and the
organizations objecting to khat being taught, the issue involves a deeper significance
than just learning three pages of Jawi writing or the bypassing of the schools’
board of governors for the teaching of the subject. It involves the lack of
trust between the PH government and the ethnic minorities anxious to protect and
preserve their culture, traditions, religions and language.
At the heart of this issue is the fear of forced assimilation of the
minorities. Extreme emphasis on a homogeneous national identity – “one people
one nation” and ethno-nationalist politics of exclusion have led to the
“extermination” or “disappearance” of minorities’ culture, such as the German
and French forced assimilation in the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. Other
examples include the Ainu and Rkukyuan people in Japan and migrants of
Gorguryeo, Balhae and Tungusic peoples in Korea.
In Malaysia, mother tongue education is the soul of each ethnic group’s
culture. The vernacular schools have had a long and arduous struggle resisting
the BN government’s call to abolish the vernacular schools following the Barnes
Report which was adopted in the Razak Report in the 1950s and the Rahman Talib
Report in the 1960s. These reports advocated vernacular schools to be abolished
for the purpose of furthering national unity.
Paragraph 12 of the Razak Report on Education in 1956 says that:
“The ultimate objective of the
education policy must be to bring together children of all races under a
national education system in which national language is the main medium of
instruction though it is recognized the progress towards this goal cannot be
rushed and must be gradual.”
Section 21(2) of the Education Act 1961 provides as follows:
“Where at any time the Minister is
satisfied that a National-type primary school may suitably be converted into a National
primary school, he may by order direct that the school shall become a National
primary school.”
The Minister may therefore by a stroke of the pen abolish and convert
vernacular schools into National primary school. Although section 21(2) of the
Education Act 1961 has been removed, the Education Act 1996 does not provide
assurance vernacular schools will not be converted.
The Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 on the contrary states that
the government still aspires to achieve the “ultimate goal” proposed in the
1956 Razak Report to convert the vernacular schools into National schools in
the following passage:
“By 2015, the Ministry will develop
a comprehensive roadmap for the voluntary conversion of government-aided
schools into government schools…
The Ministry recognizes that many
government-aided schools such as National-type schools, mission schools,
conforming Chinese and religious schools are a critical part of the identity
and cultural heritage of the diverse groups that make up Malaysia. Therefore,
in encouraging the voluntary conversion of government-aided schools into
government schools, the Ministry will take special care to maintain the
existing governance structure, identity and heritage of these schools” (MOE Blueprint 2013-2025 page 7-17)
In the light of this declared ultimate goal, the vernacular schools have
exercised strict vigilance not to permit the BN government intervening into
their curriculum for fear that any inroad will lead to the opening of the
floodgates of conversion.
The lack of trust in the PH government arises from the events of the
past 18 months. Despite the promises in its election manifesto, the PH
government has repeatedly advocated the supremacy of narrow ethno-nationalist
interests over universal human right values and international commitments.
The minority groups’ reaction to the khat issue reflects the concerns
arising from growing racism, xenophobia and ethnic dominance. This stems from
the avowed intention of a PH government seeking to win support of the ethnic
dominant group by playing on the deepest fears of the people and reification of
unfounded colonial stereotype of the different races.
It is time to review this policy on the conversion of vernacular schools
based on the reality that we are a multi-cultural country. Social cohesion can
only be achieved by inclusiveness. The idea of “the melting pot” in which
members of minority groups are expected to assimilate into a dominant culture
does not work. Multiculturalism is the only way to respond to the challenges of
cultural and religious diversity. The members of minority groups can co-exist
and enrich the society by maintaining their distinct identities and culture.
The recommendation to abolish vernacular schools in the Barnes Report in
the interest of nation-building and fostering national unity must be viewed
from the perspective of the colonial imperialist ideology of that time. The
colonial masters believed in the divine right for the subjugation by a superior
race of inferior Asian and African races. The White Man’s burden. This has been
scientifically proven to be completely false. The idea of national identity
current at that time was ethno-nationalism.
The core of the ethno-nationalism idea is that nations are defined by a
shared heritage which includes a common language, a common faith and a common
ethnic ancestry. Ethno-nationalism draws its emotive power from the notion that
members of a nation are ultimately united by ties of blood and soil. The
central tenets of ethno-nationalist belief are that nations exist, that each
nation ought to have its own state and that each state should be made up of the
members of a single ethnic group. Such beliefs have led to two World Wars, the
holocaust, ethnic cleansing and forced deportation of minority groups.
The more appropriate model of national identity for then Malaya is civic
nationalism. That is all people who live within a country’s borders are part of
the nation, regardless of their ethnic, racial or religious origins.
Malaya and now Malaysia is not and cannot be a homogeneous ethnic
nation. We are a multi-racial and multi-cultural country. This is a fact. This
is the reality. It cannot be denied. It cannot be ignored. It cannot be
circumvented. Whether we like it or not we must learn to live with each other.
We must learn to live in a shared society. There is no other alternative.
Many multi-ethnic countries have done it. Post-apartheid South Africa
adopted the unifying image of a “Rainbow Nation” coined by Arch-Bishop Desmond
Tutu to influence social inclusion policies. Canada and Australia have accepted
multiculturalism as the national doctrine:
“The Australian Government’s vision
of a socially inclusive society is one in which all Australians feel valued and
have the opportunity to participate fully in the life of our society.”
Similarly, Indonesia’s tradition of recognizing its multicultural
heritage has made the Muslim majority tolerant of minority religions and
ethnicity. The preamble to Indonesia’s 1999 law #39 on human rights recognizes
that: “besides basic rights, humans also have basic obligations to one
another and to society as a whole, with regard to society, nation and state.” This
is an eloquent rendering of social solidarity under the Five Principles of
Indonesia’s Pancasila.
We, in Malaysia also have our Rukun Negara and slogans like “Unity
in Diversity.” However only lip service is paid to them. PH is aware of
what needs to be done to right the wrongs but have discarded them in favour of
continuing failed policies. If the BN regime was guilty was stealing the
people’s money, then the PH regime is guilty of stealing the people’s trust.
Courage to Defend Human Decency
To address the khat issue, it is imperative for the PH leadership to reinstate
the basic principle of social behavior – stop the explicit discriminatory
appeals and policies. Stop the calls for racial discrimination, instigation of
ethnic hatreds and race baiting conduct. There is no place for the tolerance of
intolerance. What is required is courage to fight bigotry and defend basic
norms of human decency.
The PH leadership must uphold and apply the basic principle to respect
the dignity of every individual, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
No ethnic group either the majority or minority has the license to ignore the
rights of the other. While each individual is entitled to express his own
identity and aspirations, this must be done in a way that accepts the dignity
and rights of the others. There cannot be allowed any form of discrimination,
marginalization, deprivation or lack of equitable opportunity for all.
The PH leadership needs to assure the Malays that the preeminence Malays
enjoy as the demographic majority in terms of Malay language being the National
language, the special rights under Article 153, the national culture, symbols
and institutions are constitutionally guaranteed and immutable. Such
preeminence will not be affected nor diminished by accommodating and preserving
the minorities’ culture, language and traditions. It is not a zero-sum game.
Being inclusive means the majority and minority may seek to have core
aspects of their cultural identity preserved and allowed to evolve. Neither has
a unilateral right to impose upon the other in a way that the other identity is
not allowed to co-exist.
If individuals and peoples are not able to express themselves in their
language, enjoy their culture and traditions and pursue their aspirations, they
will not live freely nor fulfill their dreams. As such they are a loss to the
potential of our society.
The PH leadership must reject attempts to build Malaysia into a
homogeneous society in which difference is discouraged or even forbidden. If we
are not able to accept difference and learn to understand our fellow citizens
and do not engage with the other, we are building barriers which will fester and
lead to social disintegration with devastating consequences.
The PH leadership must act immediately. The PH Leadership must take
concrete steps to achieve social cohesion and inclusiveness by creating
Malaysia to be a country where it is safe for differences. There is no other
option if we are to avoid a country continually wracked by identity-based
tensions, inter-ethnic divisions, inequality and injustice. Ultimately, the PH
leadership must argue explicitly for ethnic tolerance and that this is a matter
of basic human decency.
William
Leong Jee Keen
Member
of Parliament for Selayang
31st
December 2019
