The Curse of Malaysia’s Race and Religion Politics

By Yin, Letters from Ward 5, T.R.

“The continuing use of religious and racial issues as political tools poses a significant threat to national unity” – Sultan Nazrin Shah in a speech on his 67th birthday.
What else is new? Politicians from all sides have used race as their calling card since day one. That religion is inextricably tied to race is not surprising since under our constitution to be a Malay one must also be Muslim. What this means is that if you stop being a Muslim you also stop being Malay. By the same token anyone can be a “Malay” if he becomes a Muslim and speaks Malay and practises Malay customs. That clause was probably put in the constitution to boost the number of “Malays” in the country at a time where the demographics showed Malays were the minority (refer government population statistics 1957). Ridiculous as it sounds this is the reality of Malaysian politics.
Malaysia is unique as nowhere in the world is race tied to religion – there are native Indonesian Christians and Buddhists and Arabs who are Christians. That somehow one’s DNA can be altered by religion can only happen in Malaysia but such is the political reality of the country that political expediency trumps science.
By the way, how does this sit with the ‘freedom of religion’ enshrined in our constitution. It appears that this is a ‘privilege’- the freedom of religion, the right to choose – that non-Malays have which Malays are denied.
I am not questioning the constitution, I am explaining it as I understand it.
As to R n R as “legal tender for political gains” (in the same speech), I beg to differ. Race and Religion are counterfeit, fake notes issued by unscrupulous politicians to subvert the unity of our country for their selfish gains. They are anything but legal tender.
However, that does not take away their usefulness in buying the loyalty and support of Malays. Claims that Malaysia is Tanah Melayu is music to the ears of many Malays especially when it comes with promises of “never ending privileges”. “Ketuanan Melayu” which implies that only Malays can lead the country and therefore dictate the national agenda, is comforting to Malays especially when it is reflected in every facet of government and the economy. Forget about a non-Malay prime minister, never mind that our constitution allows it, when even the appointment of the attorney general has stoked up so much controversy.
Never mind that the “Malay Government” of Muhyiddin and Sabri have been disastrous – that it is a “Malay Government” is enough for many Malays. It’s alright to cut off the nose to spite the face.

A Leopard Cannot Change Its Spots

The people’s great hope was dashed not once, but twice. The euphoria of Mahathir’s second term was short lived when he showed his true colours.
The appointment of Anwar Ibrahim as head of a coalition government brought a sense of guarded optimism. After all he is “Mr Reformasi” isn’t he? Although his term as prime minister is not yet up what is happening in our country does not point to reform – not in the way we hoped.
We have not learned from our mistake with Mahathir and looks like we have made another with Anwar. Many of us were seduced by his “reformasi” reputation and the election promises he made to govern for all Malaysians in a way that is fair to everyone. His ‘Madani Government’ is no more than another empty slogan like so many before it (“Islam Hadhari”, “1Malaysia”).
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
A good way to predict the future is to study the past; we ignore the past actions of politicians at our own cost.
Despite Anwar’s record we took a chance, partly because the options are even worse but also we hoped that he has had an epiphany in the years he spent in jail. We felt for his black eye and the trumped-up charges. Sympathy is a strong emotion and Malaysians have soft hearts; we felt we could make restitution for the injustices Anwar suffered by giving him a chance.
We let our emotions have the better of us; first with Mahathir {‘the old man wants to atone for his past sins – give him a chance’} and now with Anwar. We ignored his past.
There is on record Anwar’s position on religion, he rose to prominence on the wings of ABIM. His position on multi-culturalism is clear from his robust support of the National Culture Policy – he thinks Malaysian Culture must be anchored on Malay culture and Islam to the exclusion of other cultures. There is no need to air every skeleton in his cupboard e.g. on education etc, suffice to say Anwar is a race and religion chauvinist at heart. His appearance of being a Prime Minister for all Malaysians is a veneer dictated by his need for the support of the Non-Malays.
Leopards cannot change their spots and chameleons always revert to its original colour whatever colour they take on to camouflage themselves.

The Manifest Destiny of the Malays

Every prime minister has drummed into the collective mind of the country that it is the manifest destiny of Malays to rule this country.
Fact: Every prime minister has been a Malay.
Fact: Malays head every state government except Penang.
Fact: Malays are mayors of all our cities (except Penang).
Fact: Malays head Petronas and every GLC. and other government enterprises, the vice chancellor of every public university is Malay.
Fact: Malays head the army and the police and government departments in every ministry.

Manifest Destiny fulfilled Q.E.D.

“Manifest Destiny” is usually founded on the assumption of “Exceptionalism”.
“Exceptionalism” must be based on sound evidence of being “exceptional”. Unacceptable as the concept is, America’s exceptionalism is based on 150 years of her position as the richest country, the one with the most advanced science and technology, the strongest economy and the strongest military. America’s exceptionalism has remained unchallenged until lately. Americans think it is their manifest destiny to rule the world and who can blame them. They have been exceptional for 150 years.
What is “Malay Exceptionalism” based on? In almost every yardstick Malays lag behind the others – academic achievements, business, even in sports and the arts.
However, Malays are the majority race; this together with the gerrymandered electoral system, their political power is unchallenged by the other races. “Malay “manifest destiny” to rule rests on this alone.

The Malay Paradox

Malay supremacy is unchallengeable and unchallenged by the others.
Yet it seems that the more powerful the Malays are the more insecure they seem to be.
Other than during the government of Tunku Abdul Rahman, every government since, has progressively marginalised the non-Malays who are reduced to bit part players, tokens to give the government of the day a semblance of multi-racialism. In reality, every lever of government is in Malay hands.
Banks, insurance, ports, APs, are given only to Malays.
Yet Malays are insecure – this is the Malay paradox. But when your power is based on hubris and little else there is reason to feel insecure.

The Malay Psyche*

During Mahathir’s time it was alleged that he was furious when the international press did not include Malaysia as one of the original Tigers along with Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. That goaded him to build the tallest building in the world to show them “Malaysia Boleh”. The Petronas Twin Towers is Mahathir’s two fingers to the world. It was around that time that the “Malaysian Book of Records” appeared. Malaysians rose to Mahathir’s call to show the world that Malaysia also boleh. We had the tallest, shortest, biggest, smallest of everything. We had the biggest flag, the biggest pizza, the tallest concrete tree – “syiok sendiri” achievements which had others sniggering. But the important things is, we showed them didn’t we? Malaysia Boleh!
But why do we have to stoop so low when we have a lot of genuine achievements we can justifiably be proud of. We have gained recognition on the world stage in science, technology, the arts and sport. Apparently, this is not enough because the ‘wrong colour people’ achieved.

Some Malaysian achievers: Michelle Yeoh who won the Oscar is a Hollywood icon.
Jimmy Choo a humble shoe maker working from a shophouse on Penang Road rose to be one of the most sought-after fashion shoe brands.
Pua Khein Seng invented the USB flash drive. He did not qualify for our public universities so he went to Taiwan.
In sports, Nicol David was world squash champion more times than any woman. Soh Wai Ching is a world champion Tower Runner who never got government assistance nor did he get the recognition he deserves.
Who can forget Dr. Wu Lien Teh for his work in helping to eradicate the deadly Manchurian pneumonic plague and his invention of the medical face mask which is the precursor of the N95 respirator.
Ming Thein won the 2024 Grand Prix d’Hologerie de Geneve (Sports Watch category) – the Oscar of watchmaking. This is in a field of the best and brightest watchmakers in the world.
In the business the name Robert Kuok readily comes to mind. Two generations later, young entrepreneurs like Tan Hooi Ling and Anthony Tan started GRAB, a company we rejected only for Singapore to benefit. We also have young Malaysians who have won scholarships to Ivy League Universities in open competition with students all over the world.
Despite the discrimination, despite the handicap and despite little or no support from the government, these Malaysians have achieved. They have made Malaysia proud. Everyone of them have declared themselves proudly MALAYSIAN. The honours they won was for the country not just their community. Yet because they are not Malays that is not good enough. Instead of taking pride in their achievements many see a red rag waved in their face to show them up
Meanwhile, not to be left out, Mahathir decided to create our vwn astronaut – Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie bin Sheikh Mustapha – never mind if we paid the Russians handsomely for his space trip.
Other “firsts” claimed by the government were: the invention of batik. Indonesia protested that it came from Solo (Surakarta). We just shrugged it off.
Recently an academic from one of our public university allegedly claimed a Malay designed and build the ocean-going ships which many have mistaken for the Fu ships (junks) which brought the Chinese to this part of the world and which admiral Cheng He sailed to the far corners of the earth. Funny that no academic from any reputable university has supported this claim. That does not matter, suffice that in our books it is a Malay who designed the Fu ships.
One claim that is indisputable is that our universities have produced hundreds PhDs in one year. No university anywhere in the world has bettered or equalled this. The top 20 universities in the world can produce only 10 PhDs a year at most. Malaysia Boleh!
Joe Samad a columnist and writer recounted in The GOODCASTS SHOW (a podcast) that when our lads conquered Mt Everest, it was alleged that the Indian boys who were ahead were persuaded to allow a Malay to reach the top first.
In the film Bola Bola it was a Malay who scored the winning goal but in real life (which the film was based on) it was James Wong, a Chinese. Why the need to change the facts when the film was based on a real event ask Samad.
Mahathir asked Malaysians to ‘Look East’ and adopt the work ethics of the Japanese and Koreans. Why look so far? Look across the causeway. Better still, we have good examples at home, but that would not do as it would expose the Malays’ own work ethics.
Mahathir was alleged to have said ‘stand on a chair’ if need be to be as tall as the others. This encapsulates the Malay Pysche.
If you cannot run as fast as the other person, hobble him. If your scores are not enough to enter university, lower the bar.
Successive governments recklessly threw money at the problem of “Malay backwardness” in the form of monopolies and licences; giving profitable government enterprises to handpicked cronies.
At another level government jobs were almost exclusively reserved for Malays, university places were allocated on a racial basis whether candidates were actually suited for tertiary education or not and colleges were made exclusive to Malays. All this to help Malays “achieve”.
Profitable enterprises handed to them on a silver platter lost money and had to be bailed out with public money. The quality of graduates from public universities and colleges was disappointing 10relative to the vast sums spent on them. They were not up to industry standard, consequently they had to be absorbed into an already bloated government service.
The non-Malays have moved on and up despite (or as some would say because of) the discrimination. ‘When the going gets tough the tough gets going’ may be cliché but nevertheless true.
Meanwhile Malays still “stand on a chair” to look tall.

Tough Love

“Spare the rod and spoil the child” so the saying goes.
I am all for Article 153! Malays needed all the help to catch up with the others.
But giving ‘a hand up’ is different from giving ‘handouts’. One helps the recipient to get the best out of himself, the other encourages dependence.
There is no reason why Malays cannot achieve given the right encouragement. Malays are as smart as the rest. What is needed is ‘Tough Love’ not Manja.
But tough love is hard to implement, it’s easier to manja their people and that’s what Malay leaders have been doing for 60 years.
It’s an insult to Malays to think they cannot compete with the rest after 60 years of ‘special privileges’ but that’s what Malay leaders have done – insult their own. They don’t mind leading their own people lemming-like over the cliff as long as it keeps them in power.

Heads I win, Tails You Lose

There are problems in the Malay community it is true. The Malay B40 is growing. The wealth gap between Malays and the others although narrowing still exists. What is not talked about openly is that the wealth gap intra the Malay community has increased.
Today we have Malay Mahakayas with grand residences at home and abroad, yet we have Malays who cannot afford two decent meals a day.
It’s not that Malay leaders do not know the problem but instead of solving the problem they use it to entrench their position.
Malay demands for special privileges used to be based on their need to catch up. Now they have caught up, their demands are based on ‘power’ – that ‘might is right’ – daring the others to challenge their ‘right’.
Heads I win, tails you lose”

The Country Cries Out for a Prime Minister for ALL MALAYSIANS

Muhyiddin proudly boasts he is ‘Malay first’
Sabri called for a ‘Malay Government’ and carried it out.
At least Muhyiddin and Sabri were honest even if one disagrees with them.
Anwar declares himself a prime minister for All Malaysians but his actions show otherwise. Nothing Anwar has done supports his claim of ‘prime minister for all Malaysians’.
His much vaunted support of our SMEs (small and medium enterprises) across the board irrespective of race was exposed when he gave APs only to Bumiputra SMEs. Government policies continue to be based on race.
His budget certainly did not reflect his claim to govern for ALL Malaysians. Allocations to vernacular education and to Chinese and Indian welfare are even less than what a single department like Jakim gets.
Institutional racism is alive and well!
His government continues the same policies as his predecessors in promoting Islam not only by way of budget allocations but by proposed legislation. His proposed ‘Mufti Bill’ has wide repercussions which affect other communities. How can this be governing for ALL Malaysians?
Schools allocate so much time and resources to Islamic classes which do nothing for the non-Malays children. Meanwhile our education standard drops – even Malay parents are enrolling their children in Chinese Schools.
Racial discrimination continues to divide our country but he has no interest in ending the excesses of our race based policies. The Ministry of National Unity is only for show. What has it done to unite the country?
Anwar is not a prime minister for ALL Malaysians, he is a ‘wolf in sheep clothing’ and all the more dangerous.
Supporters of Anwar defend him, claiming ‘his hands are tied’ ‘ he needs to pander to UMNO to stay in government’. He cannot carry out the reforms he promised because of the tenuous position of his government.
I disagree.

Political Opportunists dressed as Leaders

Putting your finger in the air to see where the wind blows and then following the crowd is not leadership; it is opportunism.
Leadership is doing what is morally right and fair to all citizens even if it attracts the wrath of the rabble, racists and religious extremists. It is about instituting policies which do not discriminate between one citizen from another. It is doing what is best for all the country – not one race.
True leaders stand by their convictions even at the risk of losing votes. True leaders sell their vision to the people, convincing them it is the better way; not pander to vested interests however damaging their demands to the country.
History is not without examples of leaders who stood by their principles against the odds.
Mandela easily springs to mind. He resisted pressure to apply reverse apartheid on the Whites – standing on his principle against racial discrimination.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk declared Turkey a secular and democratic state, breaking the country free from the web of religion. This in a country where over 90% are Muslims. That is conviction, it is chutzpah. Contrast this to our leaders who use religion to divide and rule.
We have our own hero. Onn Jaafar the only Malay leader who had the vision and the conviction of a united Malaya – ONE COUNTRY ONE PEOPLE. He lost but at least he was true to his principles.

Paradigm Shift

Malaya was born under unfortunate circumstances, not as one nation one people, but a country of Malays, Indians and Chinese, each competing for the same resources. The Alliance Party was not one political party representing the interests of all Malayans but comprises three communal political parties each looking after its own interests. That they successfully governed the country for so many years after Merdeka was due to the ‘give-and-take’, the ‘live-and-let-live’ philosophy of the different party leaders. That could only work if you have leaders of goodwill with a sincere interest in building a united country.
Things fell apart with the rise of leaders like Mahathir and other racial chauvinists who put race before country. The rest is history. Reference to the ‘Tunku days’ by Boomers is often dismissed as nostalgia – ‘ a walk down memory lane’ by the younger generation.
Not so, it remains a relevant reminder of what we were and can be again. A current bench mark would be Sarawak and Sabah.
We need a reset of our nation. We need our own version of a ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ to bring Malaysians together. We cannot continue as a nation of Malays dan lain lain; a country with two levels of citizenship – Bumiputras and non-Bumiputras, one with special privileges while the other has none.
Is a paradigm shift away from race and religion possible? Are we anywhere nearer to ‘Bangsa Malaysia’?
Sadly, NO!
Not in the present political environment.
Not if we continue to be led by opportunist politicians who ride on a wave of ‘Ketuananism’ and religious chauvinism.
Yet there is a glimmer of hope from across the pond.
Sarawak and Sabah are examples of how we can coexist and prosper as a multi-racial country. In both states the communities mix freely and no race is above the other. The government treat all races equally as ‘Anak Sarawak’. Policies are made to benefit everyone – not just one race.
If the next prime minister comes from there we have a chance.
Imagine what we can achieve as a nation if we make use of all the talents we obviously have; if we encourage and support the best of our young irrespective of race instead of driving our best talents to other countries.
When we banish the curse of race and religion from our narrative, only then will Malaysia Boleh.

(The views expressed are those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the views of Rebuilding Malaysia.)

By Yin, 
Letters from Ward 5, Tanjong Rambutan