JOHOR BARU, May 17 ─ Desperate times call for desperate measures. So Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today played the race card ─ something the former prime minister has not done since he was a young, upstart Umno politician in the 1960s.
He warned the Malays that they stood to lose much in the new political environment where the non-Malays were unafraid to make demands.
“If we don’t speak up, if we choose to keep quiet, we will lose our rights and the other races will take over,” he told some 1,000 people at a gathering in Johor Baru.
The words carried extra sting, escaping from the lips of the man who coined the phrase Bangsa Malaysia and promoted the idea of a Malaysian race, where race and religion would play second fiddle to love of country.
During his time as prime minister, Dr Mahathir went to great lengths to blunt his early image as a Malay ultra, often talking about how everyone who called Malaysia home had a stake in it and encouraging the development of vernacular schools.
But today was different. Keen to mine some anxiety in the community and Umno over the rise of Pakatan Rakyat and aware that his last option of forcing Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi out of office now rests largely with mobilising the Malay ground, he played on the fears of the Malays.
Dr Mahathir asked the audience whether anyone of them had read the memorandum forwarded by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) to the government. “What does it say? Malaysia for Malaysians! This is the reality of the present situation. If we do not speak up, if we choose to keep quiet, we will lose our rights and the other races will take over. When that happens, it will be like Singapore. Do you think we will still have control?” he pondered.
He also offered his take on how the Malays ended up being marginalised in Singapore, noting that when the island was sold to the British it was only inhabited by a few Malay fishermen. But the British brought in foreigners and now only 15 per cent of the population is Malay.
“The country is dominated by other races,” he said.
There is no love lost between Singaporeans and Malaysians, especially those from Johor. Johor folk say that Singaporeans are condescending and blame their purchasing power for the rising cost of living in the state. Dr Mahathir understands this sentiment better.
His main point at the gathering today was that Umno can only regain its rightful position when Abdullah is removed. Otherwise, the Malays will stay away from the party because they are tired of the PM, his family members and advisers.
In his blog, Dr Mahathir also talked about the diminishing political power of the Malays and its consequences.
“Today, the Malays have lost their political power and the non-Malays no longer respect the Malays and the Malay institutions. All the special rights of the Malays are being challenged and questioned. And the Malays cannot do anything to strengthen their position,” he wrote.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) leaders challenge the notion that Malays have lost their political power, arguing that there are more Malays MPs in Parliament today than there were in 2004. They say that this campaign to raise the political consciousness among the Malays is orchestrated by some Umno politicians.
That may be so but Anwar’s promise of a new dawn for Malaysia seems some way off. Race still appears to be the defining factor in this country, going by the discourse in Johor today.
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