Category: General Posted by: Raja Petra
The Economist
THE government of Malaysia has laid on all sorts of grand pageantry
this weekend, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Malay
peninsula's independence from Britain. There is much to celebrate.
Living standards and access to education, health services, sanitation
and electricity have soared during those five decades of sovereignty.
The country's remarkable modernisation drive was symbolised, nine
years ago, by the completion of the Petronas twin towers, in Kuala
Lumpur, then the world's tallest buildings.
Yet there will be a hollow ring to the festivities. Malaysia's 50th
birthday comes at a time of rising resentment by ethnic Chinese and
Indians, together over one-third of the population, at the
continuing, systematic discrimination they suffer in favour of the
majority bumiputra, or sons of the soil, as Malays and other
indigenous groups are called. There are also worries about creeping
"Islamisation" among the Malay Muslim majority of what has been a
largely secular country, and about the increasingly separate lives
that Malay, Chinese and Indian Malaysians are leading. More so than
at independence, it is lamented, the different races learn in
separate schools, eat separately, work separately and socialise
separately. Some are asking: is there really such a thing as a
Malaysian?
The pro-bumiputra discrimination was laid down in the country's first
constitution, in 1957, to ease Malays' fears of being marginalised by
the Chinese and Indian migrants. These had come, supposedly
temporarily, to work in the tin mines and plantations but were
settling permanently and increasingly dominating business and the
professions. The perks were extended greatly after race riots in
1969. Malays get privileged access to public-sector jobs, university
places, stockmarket flotations and, above all, government contracts.
The most notable result, as with South Africa's similar policy of
"black economic empowerment", has been "encronyment"--the enrichment
of those well connected to the United Malays National Organisation
(UMNO), the party that has led all governments since independence.
Malays as a whole, like other races, have got richer but the gap
between the Malay haves and have-nots has widened. The corruption and
waste these policies engender seem to have got worse in recent years.
As criticism has grown, UMNO's leaders have resorted ever more
frequently to growling that nobody should question the "social
contract". This is a reference to the metaphorical deal struck
between the races at independence, in which the Malays got
recognition that the country was basically theirs, while the Chinese
and Indians were granted citizenship. The veiled threat of violence
lurking behind calls to uphold the social contract was made explicit
during last year's UMNO conference, at which one delegate talked of
being ready to "bathe in blood" to defend Malay privileges and the
education minister, no less, brandished a traditional Malay dagger.
The hypocritical Malay dilemma
The social contract may once have seemed necessary to keep the peace
but now it and the official racism that it is used to justify look
indefensible: it is absurd and unjust to tell the children of
families that have lived in Malaysia for generations that, in effect,
they are lucky not to be deported and will have to put up with second-
class treatment for the rest of their lives, in the name of "racial
harmony". When the mild-mannered Abdullah Badawi took over as prime
minister from the fire-breathing Mahathir Mohamad in 2003, there were
hopes of change for the better. Mr Badawi preached a moderate,
"civilisational" Islam and pledged to crack down on corruption.
Four years on, corruption, facilitated by the pro-Malay policies, is
unchecked. The state continues to use draconian internal-security
laws, dating back to the colonial era, to silence and threaten
critics. UMNO continues to portray itself to Malays as the defender
of their privileges yet tries to convince everyone else that it is
the guarantor of racial harmony. One commentator this week gently
described this as a "paradox". Hypocrisy would be a better word.
The damage caused by this state racism is ever more evident.
Malaysia's once sparkling growth rate has slipped. Racial quotas and
protectionism are scaring away some foreign investors. While
Malaysians celebrate having done rather better than former British
colonies in Africa, they must also notice that South Korea, Taiwan
and their estranged ex-spouse Singapore have done much better still.
The economic consequences alone justify ending Malaysia's official
racism. Even without them, it would still be just plain wrong.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Sangkancil" group.
To post to this group, send email to sangkancil@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
sangkancil-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/sangkancil?hl=en
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
----- End forwarded message -----
----------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail has been sent via JARING webmail at http://www.jaring.my
No comments:
Post a Comment