Malaysia's new colonialists?
It is appropriate that Malaysia’s Independence Day celebration this year has been marred (August 31, 2010) by several high profile racial and religious incidents (against minority communities) in recent weeks. This follows a clear trend that has persisted since the Badawi era and has reached unprecedented heights on Najib’s watch (Watch here or read here).
In the most recent events, two school principals were accused of making racial statements against non – Muslim students (Read here and here or watch The Effing Show’s spoof). Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister -who has aligned himself with Malay-Muslim right wing movements – maintained an elegant silence over the issue before notifying an angry public that investigations would be carried out on the incident (Read here).
This was followed by another incident, where UMNO supporters riled up against a DAP Member of Parliament, Ms. Teo Nie Ching, for entering a surau (Muslim prayer house) in her constituency to present financial assistance which the surau management committee had requested (Read here). PERKASA, the ultra right wing Malay-Muslim group not only wants action taken against her but have now demanded that a fatwa (Islamic ruling/edict/decree) be enacted to ban non-Muslims from entering mosques and suraus (Read here and here ).
If that was not enough to create the atmosphere for a glorious Merdeka (Independence) celebration, Dr. Mahathir, dictator extraordinaire, made another profound statement, claiming that those who were promoting meritocracy were racists (Read here).
Najib’s role unclear
While racism and religious bigotry had been UMNO’s staple diet, it is unclear what Najib’s role is in the alarming spike in religious and racial discrimination against minorities in Malaysia.
One view is that these are clearly the workings of Najib: (i) to distract Malaysians from the real issues plaguing his administration (the usual UMNO strategy); (ii) to set the scene for a repeat of Operasi Lalang – to remove threats from an opposition that is on the ascendency and to strike fear in Malaysians (Mahathir did this) (read here) or (iii) to pre-empt altogether the need for an elected government by declaring a state of emergency (his father, Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, did this when outcomes of the 1969 elections were unclear).
In my opinion, it is more likely that Najib has lost all control of his party, his administration and the vested interests that prop-up the Barisan Nasional (read here).
It is important to note that all his signature policies (1Malaysia, Government Transformation Programme and Economic Transformation Programme) have been undermined by his very own party – UMNO, by his administration (the public sector who are predominantly made up of BN supporters) or interests groups linked to UMNO (Malay chambers of Commerce, hard line Islamic religious groups (Read here).
After remaining silent, Najib has announced that his administration has zero tolerance for racism (read here and here). However, his inability to defend any of his policies (or slogans) against his own party has rendered him impotent. Najib is now more a subject of ridicule rather than respect (Read here).
It appears that Malaysians will need to free themselves from UMNO to be truly Independent.
Selamat Hari Merdeka!
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A different Malaysia was possible – one based on solidarity.
Spot on Greg!
Najib needs a diversion for the awful economic situation the country is in and the abundant cases of corruption (PKFZ, submarines that can’t dive, jets without engines, Bakun Dam, now Taib’s exposed corruption, etc) he doesn’t want to confront, not to mention the Sodomy 2 trial, which is turning to be a horrible, unconvincing replay and the bungled Selangor takeover which caused the death of a political aide (Teoh Beng Hock). He needs all these horrible truth to go away, so he’s playing along with all the racists demand by the ultra-Malays group. Unless he can shore up the country’s FDI, it’s only going to get worse. If the economy don’t improve after the New Year, he’ll likely opt for (ii) & (iii), coz calling for a GE with a possible lost of more seats will only benefit his deputy, Muhyddin. When Badawi lost the 2/3 majority, they forced him into retirement, and Najib knows very well that he could suffer from the same fate. What goes around, comes around; so, apart from crushing the Opposition, he also has to deal with the popular (among the Malays) Muhyddin.
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My friend tells me that Teo Nie Cheng was constantly asking, “Is this okay?” to the religious figures at the Surau, and if true it means that despite all her carefulness, it was a bomb ready to explode.
What Malaysia needs are leaders who can navigate the cultural eddies and flows more deftly.
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First of all why the caretaker of that place advice her that it forbidden for non muslim to enter.Why is all this silly comment of taking court action on her.It look stupid to the whole world.
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What Teo did was silly. As a Malaysian, she should have known to wear a scarf in the surau. It doesn’t take much and it would reflect badly on UMNO, if they decide to make an issue of the visit.
As for the Perkasa rubbish, I believe UMNO (Najib included) is using them as a mad barking dog to maintain a sense of tension amongst the “always fearful” non malays fence sitters. It would have been a simple thing for Najib’s administration to simply say “that’s a silly thing and is not IMalaysia” to any or all of Perkasa rantings. There really is not a need to respond in any other way.
The actual support for Perkasa is minimal, just loud, even with Mahathir’s backing. Mahathir himself does not have the backing that he and his cronies want to make out to have. Of course he does have support from the “govt” own press, as Najib has not gotten rid of all Mahathir’s men in positions yet. That explains all the press that Mahathir and Perkasa get.
The level of support Mahathir actually has can be judged from the lost of UMNO youth chief position by his son to Khairy. Despite all of mahathir machinations, Khairy still beat his son convincingly.
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What is becoming increasingly clear is that UMNO is driving a wedge between Malaysians – differentiating Muslims and non – Muslims.
What UMNO is projecting is that (UMNO) Muslims are superior to non – UMNO Muslims and definitely non-Muslims.
Analysing the language that UMNO is using against non-UMNO Muslims and associating them with non-Muslims – it is very clear that UMNO is forcing Muslims to make a choice based on religion (following UMNO’s interpretation).
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“it is very clear that UMNO is forcing Muslims to make a choice based on religion (following UMNO’s interpretation).”
On this score, UMNO is losing the battle to PAS. Even though BN controls all the official religious bodies in Malaysia, on account that they pay the bills (with tax payer’s money), the average Malays, including UMNO supporters still view Nik Aziz as the epitome of Islam
On the ground, if one ask, even the kampong malay in an “UMNO” area, Nik Aziz is well respected as a spiritual leader – Not any of UMNO’s mullahs etc
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