Stand up and be counted, Malaysia

Brave New World (The Star)
26 August 2010


It is strange that in the 21st century, we are still having to face the problem of institutionalised racism.

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OVER the past week or so, there have been some developments in our country which are more disturbing than usual.
In particular, the two cases of alleged racist remarks by school heads; the accusations that Penang mosques have replaced the Yang di-Pertuan Agong with the Chief Minister’s name in their prayers; and the continued insistence that Article 153 of the Constitution is equal to an inalienable right that could not be questioned.
These events are interrelated and it seems to me that they indicate that there is a battle of ideology going on in the country now.
On one side is the idea that a person’s ethnicity and religion entitles him to be treated better than anyone else who is different. On the other side is the idea that equality is an aspiration that is both noble and necessary for nation building.
It is strange that in the 21st century we are still having to face the problem of institutionalised racism.
Looking at our history, one can see why this has occurred. The combination of race-based politics and poorly interpreted constitutional provisions have meant that the idea of racial and religious superiority has been allowed to grow and become the norm rather than something undesirable and out of the ordinary.
How else can one explain the possibility that teachers, the very people to whom we entrust the education of our children, can have such warped values and also have the gall to express those views publicly?
How else can we explain the near rabid attack on the Penang Chief Minister for something which he and the state religious department have vehemently denied and in fact would have been insane to attempt?
Let’s analyse this one step at a time. When the dominant political parties in this country do not have any political ideology to speak of and are instead, based on the principle that each race-based component has a duty to safeguard the interest of its community, what one has is a recipe for the kind of policy and rhetoric that divides rather than unites.
Historically, one can see the reasons why the politics of the nation was forged in this way. It was a necessary evil in the face of the divide-and-rule policy by the British to show that even when separate, the three major communities of the nation can still work together politically.
However, it is an unsustainable model and what started life as a fairly rosy example of racial cooperation too easily descended into crude racialist type politics.
Which is why the early aspirations that our founding fathers had for a society treated with equality has now been all but buried by the idea that one race is superior to others and in fact is the only race with any right to be here in Malaysia.
This is because in the battlefields of politics, it is easiest to appeal to base racialist emotions, especially when without those types of ideas, a party based on race will have no collateral to work with.
In this kind of political atmosphere, it is of no surprise that what has been forgotten is that the basis of this nation was one of justice and equality. And the document that is meant to protect that, the Federal Constitution, has been misinterpreted to the extent that there is no longer any trace of this aspiration in the mainstream discourse of the day.
Let us be absolutely clear on this matter, the Constitution does give powers to the government to take affirmative action and it does acknowledge the fact that Islam has a special place in the public life of the nation.
What it does not intend to do however is create a perpetual system of ethnic-based favourable treatment nor does it advocate the idea that all other religious beliefs must be subservient to Islam.
However, instead of this reasonable position, what we have today is the idea that affirmative action for Malays is unquestionable and to be continued in perpetuity becoming the norm.
This cannot be further from the truth as there are no legal justification for it at all.
Article 153 of the Federal Constitution is seen as the holy grail for those who hold this view. However, if we examine the provision closely we will notice two things.
Firstly, affirmative action is not a Malay right. Article 153 does not endow a right. What it does is to merely give government the power to take affirmative action despite the overarching ideal of equality which is enshrined in Article 8 of the Constitution.
To support this contention, we see that Article 8 clearly states that all citizens in this country are equal except for situations specifically provided for in the Constitution. Those “specific provisions” are found in Article 153 and there are not many of them.
They include the power to establish quotas for the civil service, permits and licences, scholarships and education.
Therefore anything other than these areas should not be subjected to affirmative action.
Furthermore, any affirmative action has to be reasonable. The idea of what is reasonable must surely be open to research and debate otherwise there will always be the risk of abuse and wastage of resources.
This being the case, although questioning the existence of such a power to have affirmative action is moot, discussion on the efficacy of affirmative action policies and programmes surely is not.
The way the discourse is today, and not merely by the racialist fringe but by mainstream politicians in power, is that even the implementation of Article 153 is not to be questioned at all.
This is surely wrong based both on the meaning of the Constitution as well as the principle held by the founding fathers that Article 153 was an unfortunate but necessary aberration from the ideals of equality and that it was to be used not in perpetuity.
With these kinds of distortion of law, is it any wonder then that we still get people actually classifying whole swathes of the citizenry as having no right to be here?
Is it any wonder then that a crazy accusation against a Chief Minister whose government has given twice as much money to the Islamic bodies in the state than the previous administration, can give rise to the belief that he is a threat to the faith?
If this country is to have any future as a true nation, the time has come for those who believe in the ideals of equality, ideals which were held by the political founding fathers of the country as well as the traditional Rulers of that time, to stand up and be counted.
To not be cowed by the bigots and to say that this is our country and it stands on noble humanitarian ideals, not opportunistic racialist thinking.

Living in the Puasa Zone

Brave New World (The Star)
12 August 2010

What once was ordinary has now become bizarre and mind bending, and just when you think you have a grasp of what they are, the air shimmers, changes, and they become something else.

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THE caffeine withdrawal has kicked in and things around me have taken a surreal turn. What once was ordinary has now become bizarre and mind bending.
The low blood sugar level in my body does not help as I cling to my sanity, waiting for a time when I can have that first sip of rose syrup which would take me safely through the Puasa Zone.
Cue music
It is a town unlike any other. Purpose built to act as a grandiose statement of one man’s ambition, it houses the machinery of government. But recently another machine has been seen stalking it’s corridors of power.
It is a strange creation, both charming and yet disturbing. Speaking in a high squeaky voice it walks around followed by an irritating boy in shorts and spectacles. The boy complains and whines when in fact he should be the happiest boy in the world.
How can one not be happy when one’s best friend is a blue robot cat from the future? A robot cat who has magical powers. And these powers are truly mind blowing; from a special pouch on his tummy, our magical blue robot cat can produce anything that you may want. Things that were not there moments before can suddenly appear, making life so much easier and happier for you.
Is this true and have things been appearing out of thin air? Or perhaps this is just my imagination as I watch the clock ticking, in the Puasa Zone.
Cue music
What once was considered to be a simple political alliance has now become something far more sinister and dangerous. It has taken on powers that the most mighty of magicians can only dream about.
Behold Pakatan Rakyat. They may appear to be a simple coalition between three political parties who for the longest time have been in the opposition. But when joined together they become a stronger more potent political force.
But is this truly all that they are? No, I am afraid not, for they have mastered an art which is so difficult that the most skilled of sorcerers would give their beards to possess. Pakatan has learnt the art of being two different things at the same time.
It bends the mind, confuses and confounds for you look at this creature called Pakatan and just when you think you have a grasp of what they are, the air shimmers, changes, and they become something else.
To some, if Pakatan sinks its claws into political power, then we will be ruled by a Chinese party. And yet to others if it comes to power, we will be ruled by a Muslim party. They warn us about the dangers of Pakatan but the dangers shift and change depending on who talks, in the Puasa Zone.
Cue Music
It is a special month. To many it has deep spiritual significance being a time for quiet contemplation amid strict discipline and physical deprivation that bring about greater understanding and appreciation of life’s blessings.
Yet, to others, it is a time to use what should be a time where one rises above the worldly, to campaign for cheap political mileage.
But perhaps one should just take a deep breath and turn away for a moment. Do not get drawn into anger and bitterness.
For just once a year, is it too much to ask of oneself to be more measured than usual, to keep that temper in check, no matter how idiotic the world may seem to be, for only once a year, one finds oneself living, in the Puasa Zone.