Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Khat Issue: The PH Leadership must act


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

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Shared Prosperity Requires a Shared Malaysia


Shared Prosperity Requires a Shared Malaysia
By William Leong Jee Keen
16th October 2013

The Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 (SPV 2030) rings hollow in the wake of the Malay Dignity Congress. Shared Prosperity without a Shared Society is meaningless.

The speeches, particularly by Professor Datuk Zainal Kling, and the five demands presented to Prime Minister Tun Mahathir, brought home the challenges to unity in our multi-ethnic society.

Recent events show exclusionary ethnic-nationalism has returned with a vengeance. This time the rhetoric is more inflammatory and intolerant.

It is depressing that new Malaysia is on the same old road of racial divisiveness.

Unless action is taken to address exclusionary ethnic-nationalism, SPV 2030 will be another empty slogan like “Unity in Diversity.” After 56 years, unity has never been achieved. This is because “Ketuanan Melayu” actually holds sway.

While political/economic elites, the real beneficiaries of race preferential policies, became billionaires, ethnic minorities and indigenous groups were marginalized or left behind. As intra-Malay inequality widened, ethnic-nationalism consoled the members to take pride in their ethnicity: “I am still poor but at least I take pride that a member of my race has become a billionaire.”

These racial policies led to political patronage, rent-seeking activities and corruption. They were seen as top-down exclusionary and discriminating practices reinforcing a narrative that ethnic minorities are “less than equal” citizens. They fueled a derogative perception of colonial stereotypes of ethnic minorities.

The new government and opposition are both pandering and promulgating the same old vision of race and traditions of “blood and soil.” Both apply the same “threat-cohesion” strategy. Threats to group status are generally thought to unite threatened in-groups and strengthen cohesion among group members. The trade-off is the dehumanization and demonization of the “Other.”

Following UMNO-PAS led protests, the cabinet reversed its decision to ratify ICERD and withdrew Malaysia from the Rome Statute. There is now a call to boycott halal products manufactured by non-Muslims.

Tun Mahathir invited all Malay parties including UMNO and PAS to join Bersatu for the sake of Malay unity. UMNO deputy president, Mohd Hassan, has reciprocated by offering Tun Mahathir and Bersatu to team up with UMNO-PAS. A delegation of representatives from UMNO, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) pledged support for Tun Mahathir to continue as prime minister for a full term. This is not in keeping with the transition bargain.

Tun Mahathir has turned down the offer. It is cold comfort because even Caesar who thrice refused the crown finally accepted it.

The prospect of an all Malay parties’ coalition is chilling, not because of Malay unity but that a more virulent form of exclusionary ethnic-nationalism will emerge.

The repeated reminders that Malay dominance are under threat, the position of Article 153 affected and access to economic and social resources will be diminished have increased racism, hatred, bigotry and xenophobia. The inherently divisiveness of ethnic-nationalism will become more toxic, oppressive and chauvinistic. They will undermine social inclusion and social cohesion.

What can be done?

Leaders, civil society organizations and all peoples have to play their part towards building understanding and tolerance.

What can Leaders do?

The Pakatan leadership must have the courage to act.

Arguments of “stable-tension” are illusory. Consociationalism was replaced by UMNO’s dominance long ago. The oppressed are quiet only because of repressive laws and the application of legal violence. These do not generate legitimacy, only resentment, which will boil-over some day. Ethnic-based tensions lead to hatred, conflict and violence.

Ethnic-nationalism, it’s beginning in national-awakening struggles for independence or self-determination is always heroic. When it is unable to transform to civic-nationalism after attaining independence, it’s end for a multi-ethnic society is often cruelty. This is because the objective of ethnic-nationalism is for the nation-state to be home to only one homogeneous ethnic group. History is littered with minorities of multi-ethnic societies suffering forced deportations, expulsions, pogroms, ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Long before that, brain drain and capital flight would have taken its toll on the country. These costs of race preferential policies are reported in the April 2011 World Bank Economic Monitor.

Anwar Ibrahim is pinned by the transition bargain. He can only engage in strategic patience. He cannot openly disagree with the Prime Minister less he is accused of being impatient and rocking the boat. He will have to find the means to prevail upon the Prime Minister that exclusionary ethnic-nationalism is a dead-end. It will wreck the country.

Leaders must instill in all Malaysians that there is no place for explicit discriminatory appeals nor inciting racial hatred. There must be no tolerance for the intolerant. Leaders must have the resolve to fight bigotry and defend basic universal principles of human decency taught by all religions.

The talk of Malays losing their rights are nothing more than fearmongering. This must be stopped. Our leaders must reassure Malays their rights are not eroded by fully including others. They must convince them that prosperity is not a zero-sum game. The differences each ethnic group brings to the table will be for the betterment of all.

The 2020 Budget has put substance to Pakatan’s promises and exposed the opposition’s misrepresentations: RM445 million grants to support Bumiputera entrepreneurial development; RM4.4 billion to the Ministry of Agriculture with a focus towards enhancing farmers’ income; RM152 million increase for fishermen’s allowances; RM810 million for welfare of the FELDA community; RM738 million to RISDA and FELCRA smallholders; RM10.9 billion for rural development; RM8 billion to assist Bumiputera institutions and entrepreneurs; RM1.3billion for Islamic affairs.

The government must now capture the narrative.

Cabinet ministers are constrained by the parliamentary convention of collective ministerial responsibility. They must publicly support all government decisions even if they privately do not agree with them. They have to speak up at cabinet meetings against the ongoing outbidding of “Malayness.” So long as nationalism is associated with one particular ethnic or religious group, it will serve to exclude and disadvantage others. This is bad nationalism.

The only way to keep the destructive potential of nationalism in check is to fight for a society in which collective identity transcends ethnic and religious boundaries - one in which citizens from all ethnic and religious backgrounds are treated with the same respect as citizens from the majority group.

Inclusive nationalism, shared values and a shared national identity must be encouraged. Francis Fukuyama calls it a creedal national identity. It is to define larger and more integrative national identities that take into account society’s diversity.

What can the people do?

We have to work together to build social cohesion. We must learn to share our society. There is no other option.

Do unto others what you want other to do unto you

Non-Malays must learn that respect and dignity is a two-way street. Those who insult the race and religion of another deserve to be dealt with severely.

They must understand, just as they demand respect and dignity for their own identities, so must they respect and honour the dignity of others. We are not racists but we rush to the defense of our respective in-groups when they are threatened. When no such threat is perceived we are usually not intolerant. On the same basis, we should not label others as racists by their defensive-reaction to political entrepreneurs’ reminders that Malays/Muslims are under threat.

Fear of losing dominance and defensive-reaction are pushing Malays/Muslims into the arms of UMNO-PAS. Talking and applauding differences serve to confirm the threats causing many to rally around UMNO-PAS. We can best limit intolerance by talking and applauding not of differences but of our common and unifying beliefs, practice, rituals, institutions and processes. Let’s all reach out our hands to touch the hearts and souls of our fellow Malaysians.

Vision of a Shared Society

Each of us have a responsibility towards building a shared society. One way is to pass on the vision of a Shared Malaysia.

A Shared Malaysia is where all people are equally capable of participating in and reaping the benefits of economic, political and social opportunities on an equitable basis in accordance with their performance and efforts. A Shared Malaysia is where citizens regardless of race, ethnicity, religion and language have a sense of belonging. They are empowered to participate without necessarily conforming to a dominant culture, consequently, relations are peaceful.

Central to the vision of a Shared Malaysia is a social equilibrium where all members while expressing their own identities and aspirations, also accept the dignity and rights of others with different identities.

A Shared Malaysia has a stable policy environment and legal system where the potential earning power and innovation of all groups are included to bolster a more equitable and sustainable economic growth for all citizens to lead meaningful and flourishing lives.

Conclusion

The foundation for Shared Prosperity is a Shared Malaysia. The glue that holds a society together is social cohesion. It is the product of inclusiveness. Social fragmentation and exclusion are too costly and never an option. Ultimately, ethnic-nationalism is about politics. Good politics is where leaders and governments produce real solutions to real problems. Not produce imagined problems with no solutions.

William Leong Jee Keen
Member of Parliament Selayang
16th October 2019 

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Rallying Round Divisive Politics Part 3: Resetting the Shared Society


Rallying Round Divisive Politics:
Part 3
Resetting the Shared Society
By William Leong Jee Keen MP Selayang
23 May 2019

The Three Parts of this Article 
In Part 1 of this Article, I draw attention to the convergence of five factors creating a condition primed for the “perfect storm” of ethnic conflict.

In Part 2, I caution that the PPBM-UMNO/PAS contention for Malay supremacy in the prevailing politically charged atmosphere may push ethnic-religious tensions beyond the tipping point, triggering ethnic strife, hostilities or worse conflict. 

In Part 3, I suggest that in order to pull the masses away from political entrepreneurs using the “race and religious cards” to mobilize support, the PH government must deliver tangible economic results and counter the UMNO/PAS narrative on racial politics. This is by exposing the myth of race and to rebuild Malaysia as a shared society. There is no other alternative. 

Rekindling the sense of shared identity
We must break the vicious cycle of resentment, intolerance, bigotry and hate. This only lead to our society’s disintegration. We must promote the virtuous circle of inclusive growth, build trust amongst the different races and rekindle the sense of shared identity. When Malaysia was born, she was held out before the world as an example of a multi-racial society living in peace, harmony and tolerance.

Tunku Abdul Rahman in the Proclamation of Independence of the Federation of Malaya called on all citizens: “to work to strive with hand and brain to create a new nation, inspired by the ideals of justice and liberty-a beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world.”

Six years later in his Malaysia Day speech, Tunku said 10 million people of many races in all the States of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah joined hands in freedom and unity to realise the ideal of a shared society. He said: 
The Federation of Malaya now passes into history. Let us always remember that the Malayan Nation was formed after many difficulties during a long period of national Emergency, yet its multi-racial society emerged, endured and survived as a successful and progressive nation, a true democracy and an example to the world of harmony and tolerance.

As it was with Malaya, so it can be with Malaysia. With trust in Almighty God, unity of purpose and faith in ourselves, we can make Malaysia a land of prosperity and peace.

In doing so let every Malaysian in all the States of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah ensure that our Malaysia is truly worthy of the aims and hopes we have shared, the trials and stress, we have endured, in working together to achieve our common destiny.”

A shared society is one which is socially cohesive, stable, safe and just. A shared society is one in which all peoples of different races are equally capable for participation in and reaping the benefits of economic, political and social opportunities. One in which citizens have a sense of belonging and are empowered to participate without necessarily conforming to a dominant culture.[1] 

A shared society is one which is at ease with itself and the diversity of its members’ cultural, religious and ethnic identities. A society that recognises and values these identities and their interdependence as strengths, working creatively with each other to promote respect for human dignity and release human potential.[2]

Fifty years after Tunku’s pronouncement of Malaysia as a shared society, 75 current and former heads of states and governments of 54 countries pledged their commitment to promote the concept of a shared society as a key priority for the world today. The leaders declared that there is no other option if we are to avoid a world continually wracked by identity-based tensions, inter-community divisions, inequality and injustice. If we are not able to accept differences and to learn to understand the unfamiliar in others, and are not helped to engage with others, barriers are created between people and communities which fester and lead to disintegration with devastating consequences.[3]

While the rest of the world learned to appreciate the concept of a shared society, we in Malaysia discarded it. Somewhere along the road the ideals upon which Malaysia was established were ejected and lost. They were replaced by harsh and intolerant racists ideas. The fabric of our society is now threatened by social fractionalization and social exclusion.

New Malaysia under PH must return to its founding vision. The PH government, our leaders, civil society and the people must work to reset our nation to the ideals of the shared society upon which Malaysia was established.

The Ebbing Economic Tide
Firstly, the PH government must deliver early tangible economic results. There is a saying that “a rising tide lifts all boats.” The opposite is equally true - “an ebbing tide sinks all boats.” The ebbing economic tide has already sunk the BN boat in GE14. Unless immediate action is taken, it can also sink the PH boat.

Prime Minister Tun Mahathir has unveiled a new economic model which advocates shared prosperity. Before we can have shared prosperity, we must first have a shared society. More importantly, it is only by putting money back in people’s pockets that will reduce the tension and return the voters’ confidence back in PH.

Despite the cash-strap legacy left by the previous regime, the PH government must resist implementing austerity measures. When the market is lacklustre, the government needs to introduce stimulus and incentives to make it vibrant again. Economists, Paul Krugman said, what fiscal policy should do: it should support demand when the economy is weak, and it should pull that support when the economy is strong. As John Maynard Keynes said: “the boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity.”

A stimulus package is required to act as a catalyst for economic activities. Higher public investments-in infrastructure projects, technology and education-will both revive demand and alleviate inequality. This will boost growth in the long-run and in the short-run.[4] With the ECRL back on track, the HSR should also be reviewed together with other infrastructure projects that were suspended or pending re-negotiations. This will act as a catalyst for the construction sector.

Bank Negara Malaysia should review the responsible lending guidelines. Since its introduction the property market has been affected by banks rejecting purchasers’ loan applications. This review is necessary to revive the property, building and construction industry which is an important sector of the economy.

Capturing the Narrative
Secondly, the PH government must counter the UMNO/PAS rhetoric. A proactive communication is required to build public understanding and support. The PH government must capture the narrative – by articulating a compelling vision of hope, develop a sense of shared identity, generate broad popular buy-in and mobilize citizens.

The PH government needs to redefine citizens’ expectation, to move them beyond negative frames of reference and to transform public policies and institutions to address immediate and long-term sources of discord.

Citizens who lack credible information about progress made and challenges ahead will likely attribute the lack of visible improvements to a lack of political will and they will lose confidence in those they believed and elected. They may even turn against PH which may have probably happened in the three recent by-elections.     
  
There is no race only racism
Thirdly, the narrative must deal with hard truths. PH must stop living a BN lie by playing up racial politics. The government must debunk the myth that intelligence, indolence, racial superiority or inferiority are inherited traits due to genetic or biological causes. There is no scientific basis for race. There is only racism which is a social-construct. “Social construct” means an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society. Since racism is learned it can also be unlearned.

The American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA) on 25 March 2019 released an update of their 1996 statement on race and racism. The AAPA Updated Statement confirms that humans are not divided biologically into distinct continental types or racial genetic clusters. Instead the Western concept of race must be understood as a classification system that emerged from and in support of European colonialism, empire and slavery. It does not have its roots in biological reality. Racial classification has long served Europeans to justify economic exploitation, oppression, discrimination, institutional racism, dispossession, displacement and genocide. The AAPA updated statement says that:
The concept of race has developed hand-in-hand with racist ideologies over the last five centuries, and biological and anthropology has played an important role in the creation and perpetuation of both race concept and racist ideologies. Racist political doctrines should not receive support from scientific endeavours, but in practice racism has been co-constructed with inaccurate depictions of human variation provided by scientists. Over our history, the AAPA, and many of its members, have been complicit in producing and reifying racist ideologies via misuse, falsification, or biased production of scientific information. We acknowledge this history and stress that we should not paper over it even as we seek to end these practices and prevent re-emergence of misconception about race in the future.”[5]

The AAPA updated statement referred to the results of DNA and human genome research. Humans share the vast majority (99.9%) of our DNA. Individuals nevertheless exhibit substantial genetic and phenotypic variability, including individuals in the same community. No group of people is, or ever has been, biologically homogeneous or “pure.” Both the genomic and phenotypic variation that exists reflects the fact that all humans living today belong to a single species, Homo sapiens and share common descent.

The PH Government ought like AAPA, acknowledge that race is a myth and that race and racism are social-constructs that must be addressed.

Expelling Internalized Colonial Stereotypes
Fourthly, the PH government must expel from the psyche of Malaysians the internalized colonial stereotypes. In many former colonies, the anti-colonial nationalists were engaged not only in a struggle for political and economic freedom but also a cultural resistance movement of colonised people against white racism and European imperialism. The anti-colonials were well aware the colonial powers had violently transgressed the colonizeds’ own cultures and identities.[6] The colonizers imposed through the force of arms and military might, “ethnocentrism”, the belief in the superiority of their own people and culture[7]. The colonizers sought to justify their imperialism by the use of pseudo-scientific arguments such as Social Darwinism, racists ideologies of “White Supremacy” and the “White Man’s Burden” of divine manifestation to rule the lesser mortals who are too stupid and lazy to govern themselves. Over time the colonizers’ stereotypes were accepted and internalized by the colonized.

Thus, the anti-colonial nationalists’ fight for independence was also a struggle of the peoples to reclaim their authentic self and their own individual dignity and self-worth. These independent movements were more or less successful in overcoming colonial construction of ethnic identity and religious differences among the colonised peoples. This was not done by the Alliance and BN.  

UMNO and its component parties due partly to historical causes and more particularly for political expediency chose to construct “nationalism” based on racial differences. The Alliance and its successor BN, perpetuated the colonial stereotypes of “the lazy Malay,”the venal Chinese” and the “the cringing and cheating Indian.”

Following independence, although the country was freed from external colonisers, the people were still shackled by the internal colonisers’ perception of their own people. UMNO and its Alliance partners, saw their own people in the same way their colonial masters did. They assumed as natural the colonial constructed ethnic differences and negative stereotypes. They propagated an ethno-nationalist political strategy designed to secure ethnic privilege based on the colonial stereotypes of themselves and of the other ethnic groups. This has continued to this day.   

Syed Hussein Alatas have called on these colonial stereotypes to be corrected in his book, “The Myth of the Lazy Native.” He said from the point of view of modern scientific standards the negative portrayals of the Malay character in the 1971 UMNO book entitled “Revolusi Mental” are unsound and naïve. These stereotypes are dangerous since they influenced practical politics in Malaysia.

Alatas described “Revolusi Mental” as a distorted ideology of a Malay ruling party sharing the false consciousness of colonial capitalism. The false consciousness distorts reality. The Malay ruling party inherited the rule from the British without a struggle for independence such as that which took place in Indonesia, India and the Philippines. As such there was no ideological struggle. There was no intellectual break with British ideological thinking at the deeper layer of thought. The type of distortion in the “Revolusi Mental” on the Malay character is the result of fallacious reasoning. The thirty or more negative traits of the Malay character are conclusions derived from false premises.

Syed Hussein Alatas also took issue with Tun Mahathir’s “The Malay Dilemma.” Alatas was of the opinion that although “The Malay Dilemma” is critical of the colonial rule’s fostering divisions among groups, Mahathir did not deal with the socially constructed nature of the racial or ethnic identities, attributing it instead to a biological given. Mahathir’s main argument rests on the assumption of fact or self-evident truth regarding the “natural” ethnic difference and conflict between Malay and non-Malay (Chinese). These understandings were not only Tun Mahathir’s but were also subscribed to by many of the nationalists of his generation.[8] 

It appears from Tun Mahathir’s speeches in the Future of the Bumiputera and Nation Congress 2018 and PPBM 2nd Annual General Meeting that he still holds the same views as he did when he wrote “The Malay Dilemma.” In his PPBM 2nd AGM speech, he said Malays cannot continue depending on the government for economic and financial aid in perpetuity:
For the weak, a crutch might help, but this sort of help should not be sustained. When our strength returns, the crutch must be let go”

He said that although the NEP had some success, it had yet to fulfil its aim to close the income disparity between the Bumiputera and the other races.

Tun Mahatir still sees the income and wealth inequality gap between the Malays and non-Malays as due to inherent weaknesses of the Malay character and not due to crony capitalism, state capture and corruption by the political elite.

Unfortunately, it appears ministers such as Dr Mazlee are also labouring under the same colonial stereotypes. This is revealed by his recent comment that the matriculation quota must be maintained because the non-Bumiputeras are rich and are able to send their children to private universities. The remark was most insensitive to the plight and sacrifices of the non-Bumiputera middle and lower classes. They are already stretched and stressed by the rising costs of living and reducing purchasing power of their income. They have to save, scrimp and borrow to send their children to the local private institutions because of the quota system for public university admissions. The remark also revealed Ministers like Dr Mazlee may in continuing BN policies and programmes have not fully considered the actual facts and figures to separate fact from fiction.    

A 2015 parliament reply from the EPU disclosed that:
·                 Bumiputeras is the largest group of the country’s top 20 percent income earners (T20) at 53.81%, Chinese 37.05%, Indians 8.80% and others 0.34%.
·                 The Bumiputeras also form the largest group in the middle 40% income earners (M40) at 64.17%, Chinese 26.43%, Indians 9.10% and others 0.30%.
·                 The Bumiputeras also form the largest group in the bottom 40% income earners (B40) at 73.61%, Chinese 17.50%, Indians 8.52% and others 0.36%.  

The British has left Malaya 62 years ago but the colonial stereotypes of different racial identities have persisted. In the era of new Malaysia, it is time to exorcise the ghosts of our colonial past and build a future based on a truly inclusive Malaysian identity.

Political Patronage and Elite Capture
Fifthly, the narrative must provide clear evidence-based reasoning with complete data that a change in the affirmative action policies are required to correct flaws and deficiencies. The NEP and Bumiputera Agenda have been abused by the political elites. They have in the course of securing personal gains through political patronage, rent-seeking activities, corruption and state capture deprived the intended deserving Malays of the benefits of the affirmative action policies. They caused policies of social fragmentation and social exclusion to be implemented to maintain their hold on power.

The PH government should let the truth be known by providing the evidence of these abuses. For example, the number of graduates who defaulted in repayment of his PTPTN loan, blacklisted and banned from travelling out of the country. This should be compared with the evidence of the political-economic elite who defaulted in the billions they borrowed and were bailed out.

The PH government should also reveal the data of the Bumiputera Implementing Agencies (BIAs) such as Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), Tekun National Foundation (TEKUN), Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), the SME Bank and others of the Bumiputera “entrepreneurs” with ties to the political elite who have received both financing and rents. They have acted as a restraint on genuine Bumiputera entrepreneurs’ development.[9]

The BIAs have been propping up weak Bumiputera entrepreneurs or business cronies who were the beneficiaries of contracts and rents provided by political leaders. “[Such crony Bumiputera entrepreneurs] believed that once given, the assistance need not be repaid, and they were not required to abide by the terms and conditions of the loan agreements.”[10]

The truth has to be told so that the masses are informed they are being used for the political entrepreneurs’ personal interests.

Social Cohesion: Within the four seas all men are brothers
Sixthly, the PH government must take concrete steps to build an inclusive society and should not follow BN in only giving lip service to slogans such as “unity in diversity” but on the ground used Biro Tata Negara to conduct courses to promote racism and encourage hate towards the opposition. The PH government should begin with the concept that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”[11]

There must be equity in the distribution of wealth and resources. How resources are allocated will affect the orientation of the society, either towards a more integrated, inclusive society or an exclusive, polarized and disintegrated one. Socio-economic policies should be geared towards managing equitable distribution and equal opportunities. Inclusive policies, instructions and programs that are sensitive to and cater to the less advantaged and vulnerable need to be put in place.

Effective Leadership
Seventhly, the PH government must show effective leadership to drive social inclusion and building a shared society. The Prime Minister and cabinet must take ownership and be committed to reset Malaysia as a shared society. In the past one year, only a few leaders have spoken out against the misconceptions of race and racial differences. Tun Daim in his speech said that Malays should not labour under a siege mentality. Anwar Ibrahim has repeatedly assured the Malays that they have nothing to fear while maintaining that social justice demands the poor and needy of the other races to also be provided for.

The NEP and Bumiputera Agenda is based on social justice and equity. Effective leaders know it is better to appeal to the peoples’ better angels than to secure compliance by the use of the state’s coercive powers. As human beings, we are endowed with a moral sense, an intuitive feeling for what is right and wrong. Morality has, in a sense, a voice within.

We know it is injustice when an Indian or Chinese student with 9 As from a B40 family is not given a matriculation seat. It is injustice when those in need are denied while the government’s resources are poured to make a billionaire richer by several billion Ringgit more.

Just as equity demands Bumiputera economic deprivation ought to be relieved so does equity demands the Malaysian Indians’ plight be resolved. The conversion of plantations into industrial estates and new townships have led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Malaysian Indian estate workers- “they not only lost their jobs but also housing, basic amenities, socio-cultural facilities and community support structures.” These have led to a host of social problems such as broken families, poor housing, unemployment, violence, gangsterism, destitution, vagrancy and drug abuse.[12]

 Just as equity demands assistance and aid ought to be given to the Bumiputera rural and urban poor so does equity demands the plight of the Orang Asli and Bumiputera Minorities in Sabah and Sarawak be addressed. While the national poverty rate in 2012 is 1.7% it is 76.9% for the Orang Asli, Muruts at 56.1% in Sabah and Penans at 65% in Sarawak.[13]      

Conclusion
Urgent action is required to address the five factors creating the conditions for ethnic conflict and to pre-empt the political entrepreneurs’ design in order to avert racial-religious strife and conflict. We must all pull back and move away from the brink of disaster.    

To maintain peace and prosperity our leaders from both the PH government and the opposition, civil society and our citizens must recognise the value of diversity. Malaysians need to find a way to build a society based on shared goals and common values. The only effective, sustainable and morally acceptable way to manage the social tensions is to create a shared society in which all members of our society feel at home and are valued for who they are.

Economic growth and the well-being of every one and our nation can only flourish when we learn to manage our diversity for the betterment of all Malaysians, not just a selected few. The wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi would be an appropriate reminder to all of us: 

“The world has enough for everyone’s need,
But not enough for everyone’s greed.”
-        Mahatma Gandhi



[1] Michael A. Valenti and Olivier G. Giovannoni, “The Economics of Inclusion: Building an Argument for a Shared Society”
[2] Club De Madrid, “A Call to Action for Leadership to Build Shared Societies”
[3] Club De Madrid, The Shared Societies Project
[4] Joseph Stiglitz, “Inequality and Economic Growth”
[5] American Association of Physical Anthropologists Statement on Race and Racism 27 March 2019
[6] Sheila Nair, “Colonialism, Nationalism, Ethnicity: Constructing Identity and Difference”
[7] Charles Hirschman, “The Making of Race in Colonial Malaya: Political Economy and Racial Ideology”
[8] Sheila Nair, “Colonial ‘Others’ and National Politics in Malaysia”
[9] Azeem Fazwan Ahmad Farouk, “State and Entrepreneurship: The Failure to Create a Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial Community (BCIC) in Penang Malaysia
[10] J. Saravanamuttu, 2008 “Party capitalism in Southeast Asia: Democracy’s bane” Ishak Shari Memorial  Lecture Series, Bangi IKMAS Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
[11] Fact Sheet No. 2(Rev 1) The International Bill of Human Rights
[12] The Malaysian Indian Blueprint.
[13] The 2013 Malaysian Human Development Report