Change in Malay political psyche

Change in Malay political psyche
30 April, 2008

By : Zainul Arifin, NST

MUCH has been said about the recent transformation in Malaysian politics, namely the rejection of race-based politics, and the adoption, presumably, of one that is based on ideology and ideals.

This came about following the strong showing of the Opposition, which is made up, at least constitutionally, of multiracial political parties, namely PKR, DAP and Pas.

It may just be a case of exuberance, but many who heralded this new age in Malaysian politics may have forgotten that BN is a multiracial party, too, made up of a coalition of mainly race-based parties.

Perhaps when people talk about non-race based politics, or racist politics, they were just referring to BN components. That would be rather naïve, of course, since non-BN parties can be as racist, too.

I believe a summary of the past election is that it was a contest of two groups claiming to represent multi-racial Malaysia, and both won. The BN won the majority, with the PKR-DAP-Pas coalition winning an unprecedented number of seats.But I would hasten to add that having two winners in a head-to-head battle, which is an impossibility outside the realms of politics, is not even the most interesting outcome of the elections. To me, at least, it is the evolution of the Malay political psyche. That some Malays could vote for DAP candidates suggest that some of them have managed to heave their prejudices aside to support the cause of non-race-based politics.

Pas is an almost entirely Malay party driven by its religious agenda, while DAP is a multi-racial party that is essentially non-Malay. PKR, on the other hand, has fashioned itself as a multi-racial party, made up mainly of former Umno members and others not too keen on race-based or religious-based parties.

While support for Pas in the last elections transcended racial groups, the Malays’ support for DAP is unique since the party has made it clear that it is seeking to dismantle some of the privileges, enshrined or otherwise, accorded to the Malays. (This may be slightly different from non-Malays voting for Pas since it is almost impossible constitutionally for an Islamic state to be set up in Malaysia.)

The election results also indicated that Malays are comfortable with Parti Keadilan Rakyat, which is rather iffy as far as their special privileges and rights are concerned.

Another interesting feature of the election is that the shift in some Malay support, from Umno-led BN to the belatedly-formed Pakatan Rakyat (PR), came from the very Malays who benefited from the special privileges accorded to them.

Can we assume that these Malays have indeed lived up to the basic principle of affirmative action, which is that once he has been given a leg up and is able to ride on his own, he should then refuse any more aid? Have the Malays disavowed their narrow political agenda and agreed to look into diminishing their special privileges? Have the Malays surrendered the will of their majority to that of the minority?

If this is so, then the Malay majority is taking its second leap of faith. The first, of course, was when they sacrificed their majority by agreeing to accord citizenship for other races ahead of Merdeka.

I believe that there must be a substantial number of Malays who are now fairly comfortable with their position in society to lend support to DAP and its Malaysian Malaysia ideal. There are, after all, some Malays who continue to be apologetic about the fact that they are beneficiaries of policies that favour them.

To them, I suppose, DAP or Pas or PKR or BN are political parties to be judged purely on their promises, and not much else, and certainly not by their Malay agenda.

But I also tend to believe that there were many Malays who might have acted out of anger at the incumbent — marahkan nyamuk kelambu dibakar or throwing the baby with the bath water — and punished those whose raison d’etre is to champion their cause.

Many Malays it seems are also now comfortable with the idea of diminishing of the Ketuanan Melayu or Malay dominance concept. The PR is promoting Ketuanan Rakyat or the people’s dominance. In fact, one PR leader even lodged a police report against the Crown Prince of Kelantan, alleging that the latter’s remark on Malay dominance was seditious.

Such an act, which would have had the Malays up in arms, drew only muted response. Enter the new age republican Malays?

Thus the evolution of the Malay political psyche, or is it just a passing fancy, a convenience embraced in the rough and tumble of Malaysian politics? Is the heralding of non-race-based politics 50 years too late, or too early for comfort?