The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2013 04:30 PM PST FEB 8 — "It was never like this back in my day." "We mixed with everyone when I was a child." "Race was never an issue. We were all Malaysians decades ago." Shut up! I'm sick and tired of listening to the older generation going on about how race relations in Malaysia was so much better 30 years ago. I'm not denying it. I'm sure it is true. Everyone from that generation says so and they all seem to agree with one another. Things have deteriorated, no doubt. But, when I think about it... has it really? People go on and on about how things are so polarised, that there is no interaction between the different races and how each race is so insecure that they look at each other in fear. But I would like to be a little micro and anecdotal here and see if it is possible to extrapolate it to tell the macro story of race relations in the country. The interactions that I have with people around me are quite multiracial. I have friends whom I spend equal amounts of time with who are Malays, Chinese and Indians (not to mention "others" too!). My relationship with them is like many close friendships and there is the normal everyday interaction with people I meet at the bank or at work, and there seems to be no distinguishing between them based on race. I would have lunch, chat and joke with Liew Seng Tat the same way I would with Devandran Apparasamy, or even with Arif Rafhan Othman. It wouldn't matter what word they use to call God (or even if they don't have a God... who cares!). But then, I live in an urban, metropolitan setting that is Kuala Lumpur, and mixing with so many different people on a daily basis is bound to happen. This would probably be different in other parts of the country such as the small villages of Terengganu or the longhouses of Sarawak. These locations might be a little bit more homogenous. But I have travelled to almost every inch of Malaysia both due to my work and also for leisure. I have met all kinds of people in all kinds of societies in the country, from the Jinjang Joes of Jinjang to the pakciks and makciks of Gua Musang. And I have to admit, some of these places are pretty isolated as far as the interaction of different races are concerned. Sometimes, locals can go their entire lives without every talking to a person of a different race. But I can safely say that these people really do not hold any animosity or hate towards people of other races. The Mandarin-speaking uncle in Kluang may not have daily interaction with a Malay Mat Rempit in Muar, but he definitely does not hate him. They still understand the natural law of respecting people, and treating other people the way they would like to be treated themselves. No one ever wishes or harbours ill feelings towards anyone. I don't know. Maybe all the people I've met are the minority or I'm just a little too naïve. But then again, I've met a lot of people throughout the years to just disregard them as the minority. So I'm actually leaning very much to the fact that, in general, Malaysians are not polarised or racists. In fact, I truly believe that the relationship between races in the country is actually not sour at all. I, for one, am going to keep the faith. Sure, we make fun of different people. Devandran Apparasamy is the butt of so many of my Indian jokes that I wonder why we still have drinks every other night! But it always really just because we understand each other very well. So really, what is the basis of people saying that Malaysia is going to the dogs when it comes to our racial harmony? Could it be, and I'm just thinking aloud here, that it is all made up? Maybe made up by only a certain group of people? Come to think of it, who would gain if the people of Malaysia were selfish, divided and paranoid of each other? Would it be the Malaysian people themselves? I highly doubt it. Come to think of it again, there is this one small but powerful group whose power actually comes from the fact that they have components that, self-proclaimed I think, represent the needs of the different races in Malaysia. Hmm… I wonder. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Instant citizenship and a maturing democracy Posted: 07 Feb 2013 04:16 PM PST FEB 8 — Does it mean anything to be a Malaysian? Is anybody entitled to call herself such if she so desires and can arrive here? The recent Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the problem of illegal immigration into Sabah and the response by the then prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has raised some fundamental issues regarding the notion of a national identity. Migration in search of opportunity is a fact of life around the world. People are willing to leave family, culture, ethnicity and familiarity in order to better their lives and those of their children. Equally, destination countries impose controls over their arrival to avoid being overwhelmed by the less fortunate and to protect the interests of their own citizenry. Immigration policy is a tool employed by governments to help further national goals by allowing migrants that can add value to their countries, whether economic or cultural. Citizenship is generally far harder to obtain, the applicant in addition to demonstrating their contributions to the host nation having to prove their commitment to the shared values, culture, languages, history and aspirations of the country over an extended period of time. To be accepted as a naturalised citizen, it is imperative to demonstrate that old loyalties have been discarded and those of the host country adequately assimilated. Is it enough to be a Muslim and speak Malay to qualify? Then why have 6P amnesty programmes to catalogue and return illegals to Indonesia? How many is too many? What are their contributions? Is the process transparent and fair? To equate the granting of citizenship at the time of independence to those who helped build the country and gain freedom for Malaysia with the surreptitious mass granting of citizenship for electoral gain in contravention of all laws governing the same is specious at best. Are these instant citizens genuinely committed to Malaysia? If there is a conflict with the country they come from, on whose side will they stand? When times get tough, will they stay or leave? Who are the real "pendatang", the ones who have given their all to the country through generations, or those with no loyalty except for their personal economic upliftment? The deeper issue is not just why it was allowed to happen, but why it was so easy to execute and hide for such a long time. The answer may lie in the nature of political power and the freedom of information. When an individual or political party has absolute control over the executive, the legislature and the judiciary in addition to the media, it begins to look like more of a dictatorship than a democracy. When a culture of fear is pervasive and imprisonment without trial a fact of life, people outdo each other in their haste to be yes men. The Sabah issue may just turn out to be that, the act of a few overzealous civil servants doing what they thought was expected of them with no explicit instructions, or it may be something else. But it could not have been kept a secret in an open democracy with a free press for any length of time. Ironically it was Mahathir's stewardship of Malaysia to a middle-income economy that sowed the seeds of the growth of alternative media. Unlike China, Malaysia's democratic façade and developmental ambitions ensured the encouragement of the Internet in its infancy. Once the genie was out of the bottle, it was impossible to control it without inviting comparisons to North Korea or Myanmar. One might argue that it was the weak mandate given to Barisan Nasional in 2008 that forced the government to make concessions such as the amendments made to various repressive pieces of legislation, setting up RCIs and allowing street assemblies, but the fact remains that it was the access to information not propaganda that allowed Malaysians to see the whole truth of the administration's performance and not just its achievements. That led to demands from the rakyat for change to a more accountable, transparent and just system of governance that are impacting the actions of both political coalitions today. In many ways, Malaysia today is on the path to becoming a true democracy, messy, confrontational and imperfect, but providing a voice to all competing ideas of what it means to be Malaysian. Whatever the outcome, the next elections will only build on that. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
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