Unsocial contract

Oops. Who’s a racist now?

Looks like a lawyer has lodged a police report against the new Penang CM for making seditious and racist statements when LGE said that Penang would not be sticking to the NEP. “I believe that the statement is seditious, racist, irresponsible, and may endanger public peace and national security,” he said.

I’m really confused. Can someone help me understand this?

In the book Sharing the Nation: Faith, Difference, Power and the State 50 Years After Merdeka Dr Mavis Putchucheary in her essay titled, Malaysia’s Social Contract: The Invention and Historical Evolution of an Idea questions the so-called ‘social contract’ and wonders if there was an open negotiation, or was it simply imposed. Looking at the title of the essay, there is no doubt what the well-known Malaysian political scientist’s position is.

I have just bought the book from Kinokuniya (after reading excerpts in the last issue of OFF THE EDGE) so I can’t really say more, but this little book (91 pgs) is tantalizing in its thesis. Some sneak peeks:

Inclusion of Article 153 in the Constitution in no way implied that Malay dominance was recognized by the UMNO’s non-Malay Alliance partners, as some who have more recently invoked the idea of a “Malaysian social contract” have at times claimed. Although recognizing that the nucleus of national political leadership would continue to be Malay for years to come, this did not mean that the Constitution guaranteed Malay political dominance in perpetuity…

The author noted the drift or rather ‘metamorphoses’ as Article 153 was reinterpreted by the dominant Malay elite first as a form of necessary affirmative action in favour of the historically disadvantaged Malays. By the 1980s, the term more commonly bandied about to bludgeon dissent was “Ketuanan Melayu” (or Malay dominance).

[… the connotation that Malaysia is the Malay homeland, the Malays are the “masters” of the “national house”] came to be used increasingly to describe the UMNO’s dominance in the multi-ethnic coalition government. By this time UMNO seemed to have taken ownership of the Malay agenda, and to be possessed by it. The dichotomy of Malay and non-Malay had shifted from denoting simply the distinction between Malaysians of “indigenous” and “non-indigenous” local origins. It was now taken to another level, to suggest difference, and an unequal relationship, between people of the homeland and immigrants.

And, finally, what will this persistent and adamant claim to Malay dominance do to nation-building? Dr Mavis warns:

A constitution built on ideas of a competitive bargain among ethnic blocs, our Malaysian experience indicates, is fraught with difficulties…. No nation can be securely grounded if the founding charter of its existence is confused or contested. A frail or fractured foundation is no basis for “sharing the nation.”

Do you see how much is invested in our votes AGAINST BN? So Barisan Rakyat, can we please move on and move forward now? And people, can we also live out intentionally the change we want to see in our nation?

Related reading:

Dr Mavis Puthucheary on her previous book Elections and Democracy in Malaysia (2003)

Enough of racial politics!

Tak akan Melayu hilang (Susan Loone)
I hear the last rattles of a dying rattlesnake are the fiercest. If this is true then the coming days will see a serious backlash from sore losers - as is evident from recent events in Penang. Malaysians will have to be on the lookout because the only argument these people have is the useful but dog-eared race card.

I not only think the exercise reprehensible, it is a shameless and vile attack on the democratic process. Worse, it elevates the basest of human instincts and makes racism a kind of twisted human right. Why should any one race be superior to another? Why should we continue to talk about Malays rights when it’s patently wrong for unity? What logic is there in perpetuating racial paranoia? Is there something remotely unacceptable about need-based affirmative action instead of a race-based one? Can these people not see that the longer they cling to their crutches, the greater the threat of their very extinction?

UMNO protest for NEP at KOMTAR (Anil Netto)

If anything, the reason voters fled BN for Barisan Rakyat is because they got tired of an ethnocentric government. No enlightened civilization promotes racial politics. The ones that do it are neither enlightened or civil. Any party that resorts to bullying other communities to protect their own will never gain their respect or earn their allegiance. How long more must this bullying tactic be tolerated? If PM Abdullah takes no action against such misguided attempts to win the affection of those who spurned BN, he proves yet again that he has eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Purging Malaysia's race-based DNA

If there is anything to learn from the momentous victory of Barisan Rakyat on March 8, it is that in the political arena, the sum is usually better than any one of its parts.

At least, that was one reason why I voted for PKR, and why I did all I could to persuade others to deny BN its toxic influence on Malaysia’s future. I use the term ‘toxic’ advisedly because we’ve all been breathing in this poison all our lives to appreciate that clean air is infinitely healthier.

Interestingly, disgraced Dr Chua Soi Lek blames MCA’s debacle on overemphasis of Chinese issues: "In multicultural Malaysia, not everyone is interested in how many scholarships or schools have been built for the Chinese. The problem is the party is still singing an old tune ..."

Will we be able to purge our ugly disposition before the next general election?

Anyway, here’s a post-election sampling of our DNA showing across the political divide:

Penang Chief Minister was warned by PM Abdullah not to stoke racial tensions: “Do not marginalise the Malays. I want to ask Lim Guan Eng what his plans are for the Malays in Penang What are his plans for the Indians in Penang? What are his plans for other minority groups in Penang?” [Incredibly this is by the same PM who said in the Wall Street Journal that he's going to heal wounds, and that he hears "the voice of our citizens."]

Malays in Penang: Kami ORANG MELAYU PULALU PINANG adalah orang yang paling malang di TANAH MELAYU, Malaysia.

On suspension of NEP in Penang: Kamilah orang Melayu yang pertama tidak lagi merasa kek ekonomi DEB bilamana HULUBALANG DAP dah umumkan pemansuhan polisi DEB oleh KETUA MENTERI PULAU PINANG. Akan ramai kontraktor2 dan peniaga MELAYU PULAU PINANG akan gulung tikar.

Khir Toyo on new Selangor Exco: “There are only a few Malay exco members (being mentioned). We don’t want to see the new opposition-led state government to practice discrimination and hope that they heed the racial sensitivity of the Selangor people.”

HINDRAF demands: The opposition parties should appreciate the "Makkal Sakthi" wave created by HINDRAF as it is the root cause for change in mindset and political
maturity of all races. HINDRAF demands that DAP and Keadilan appoint a deputy Menteri Besar/Chief Minister in the state of Selangor, Penang and Perak to show their sincerity towards the Indian community.

On Perak in DAP hands:Cuba fikirkanlah apa yang mungkin terjadi kepada orang Melayu Islam di Perak. Mungkin orang Melayu Islam yang menjadi MB hanya mampu berkuasa dari segi bidang hal ehwal agama Islam, tidak ubah seperti yang berlaku ketika zaman penjajah British.

Letter to Malaysiakini defending appointment of non-Malay from DAP as MB: It is absurd to still hold on to a system of governance that will only allow leaders from one race to have the chance to be the MB, to the exclusion of the other races. Even Manmohan Singh can be the Prime Minister of India, why can't a Chinese or Indian Malaysian be the Menteri Besar of Perak? The new generation of Perakians who are born in Malaysia after Merdeka no longer accept this unjust, unfair and unacceptable system.

MCA chief Datuk Ong Ka Chuan on appointment of PAS Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as MB of Perak: He said Mohammad's appointment went against the wishes of voters, especially non-Muslims. “Having a mentri besar from PAS creates fear among non-Muslims. This also creates political instability.”

The Malaysian Insider: 2 Indian parties in Barisan National and the rival Indian political party outside the ruling coalition are all to merge today as one (to speak for the Indian community). The MIC, PPP and the IPF political parties are expected to make this announcement soon.

MCA President Ong Ka Ting on loss: He assured party members and supporters that the party would continue to fight to protect and uphold the rights of the Chinese community.

Victorious Independent candidate for Bukit Selambau state seat in Perlis, V.Arumugam said he would join PKR if the newly formed Kedah state government agrees to appoint him a state executive councillor. "I will do that in the interest of the Indian community and the people who voted for me," he said.

Zainuddin Maidin (Zam) after losing Sungei Petani: "The people may have to pay the price..."

We’re up to our noses in this race rubbish, and the old as well as new guards have to navigate and rise above our collective prejudices. So I’ll give our newly elected MPs and assemblymen time - although they must know that in politics, if there is a learning curve, it is short and unforgiving.

So. Should we be optimistic?

There is no other choice. We have to rid its stink, forge a new era together, and reclaim Malaysia for Malaysians, for ourselves, for our children and their children.

BN GETS A DRUBBING!

WOW! Wow!The Rakyat have spoken!

Unbelievable! As at 4.36 a.m, the Opposition has won 80 to BN's 135 seats, with 7 more to go.

We’ve crossed the threshold. We have denied BN its two-third majority with a stunning and convincing show of people’s power. I must admit my little faith, for never did I think it was possible that BN could receive its comeuppance in such a dramatic fashion.

It was impossible to go to bed when the tally came in and the numbers added up – Penang! Selangor! Perak! Kedah! Kelantan! What a blow for the dacing. What a drubbing for the PM. Although he presided over BN’s worse electoral performance in decades, the truth hasn’t quite sunk in apparently. When asked by a reporter if BN’s losses was a vote of no confidence in his government, he glibly replied , "I don't see it that way." So how else do you see it, dear Prime Minister?

But of course this is just the beginning of a new chapter; the road ahead to a Malaysian Malaysia starts here, and then it may not. We have ways to go yet. BN still rules the roost, though this time we will hear less of its crowing I’m sure. Its chest beating will sound a little hollow this time round.

I like what Anwar said: “The people have voted decisively for a new era where the government must be truly inclusive and recognises that all Malaysians, regardless of race, culture or religion are a nation of one.”

Yes, we want no more of ketuanan melayu, the contempt of other non-Malay Malaysians, and the denial of their rightful place in the land of their birth. Is this too much to hope of the newly elected from DAP, PKR, and PAS? Can we look forward to a more democratic process, more equitable representation, respectful of all Malaysians?

We are tired of all this racial one-upmanship. Please stuff the kris. We are fed-up with religion shoved down our throats. We’ve had enough of cronies robbing tax-payers blind. And get on with the IPCMC already. My prayer is that we will not come this far to squander our gains for a united Malaysia, a stronger nation, and a hopeful future.

Don’t let us down, Barisan Rakyat. This one chance may not come again if you drop the ball.