A SECTION of Malaysian citizens are alleging that race-based and religious-based politics are breeding grounds for “racism and religious bigotry”. They also suggest these brands of politics “must be banned”.
Identity politics has existed since before independence. The existence of Umno, MCA, MIC and Pas is testament to this. Umno represented the Bumiputeras, MCA (Chinese) MIC (Indians) and Pas (Muslims). However, Umno, MCA and MIC were able to transform communal interests into a national agenda. This was facilitated by Perikatan, formed on the principle of democratic consociationalism, and strengthened by the social contract manifested in the balanced provisions of the Federal Constitution.
Perikatan was the earliest all-citizen national coalition, struggling for all Malaysians, until Barisan Nasional was formed in 1974. It was BN which governed Malaysia until its defeat to Pakatan Harapan (PH) on May 9 last year. BN lost not because its component members were championing racism or religious bigotry, but because they betrayed the spirit of comradeship; Malaysians also lost confidence in BN’s ability to address corruption, and alleged kleptocracy. PH is also an all-citizen national coalition. Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) stands for Bumiputeras; Amanah, a Pas splinter, is an Islamic-based party; PKR a multi-racial party dominated by Malay leaders; and DAP as the liberal democratic party, which is predominantly Chinese.
The only difference is that, while Perikatan and BN formed consociationalism based on the social contract, PH advocated the same power-sharing principle without the social contract. However, PH continues to uphold the Federal Constitution and all its provisions. This is symbolic of the fact that the social contract is implicitly recognised by this new ruling party.
These show that communal and religious-based parties will continue to strive in Malaysia. But they can be a ruling party only when they struggle on the platform of an all-citizen coalition. Hence, identity politics in Malaysia is inevitable. Race-based, religious-based and multi-racial parties dominated by one specific race, can rule Malaysia only through a macro national-based organisation.
Malaysia has a population of 32.4 million. According to an 2018 estimate, 29 million are citizens and 3.2 million are foreigners. Of the citizens, 20.7 million are Bumiputeras; 6.69 million, Chinese; 2.01 million, Indians; and 290,000, others. A 2010 estimate, on the other hand, stated that 61.3 per cent of the population were Muslim, Buddhist (19.8 per cent), Christian (9.2 per cent), Hindu (6.3 per cent), and Confucianism, Taoism, and other traditional Chinese faiths (1.3 per cent). These statistics show that Malaysia is multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural. Malaysia is also a state with inequitable socioeconomic standing based on ethnic composition.
One example: the absolute income gap between the Bumiputeras and the rest has grown steadily over the last 42 years. In 1970, the gap with the Chinese was RM2,600 per year. Now, it’s almost 10 times higher, at RM23,000 per month, according to the Malay Economic Summit 2015.
Another example: in 2006, only 19.4 per cent of equity in the corporate sector was owned by Bumiputeras, institutions and trust agencies; 42.4 per cent were controlled by the Chinese, Indians (1.1 per cent), others (four per cent), non-Bumiputera nominees (6.6 per cent), and foreigners (30.1 per cent).
These realities mean that the majority of its population are Bumiputeras with the widest household income gap and the lowest equity ownership in the corporate sector, compared with the others. Additionally, although Malaysia is a multi-religious state, the country’s major religion is Islam, which is stated in Article 3 of the Federal Constitution as the religion of the federation.
Therefore, it is necessary for Bumiputeras and Muslims to have their own political parties to safeguard their interests and religion provided in the Federal Constitution. It is equally important for other citizens to have their own political parties, also to protect their legitimate rights. Collectively, all the races have to incorporate their communal and religious interests under an all-citizen political umbrella.
This collective political power must be harnessed to provide the appropriate national political will for the well-being of all Malaysians. It must also recognise that Bumiputeras are the majority population and Islam is the religion of the federation.
Hence, identity politics is necessary and relevant. But it might rear “racism and religious bigotry” if dignity is ridiculed, constitutional rights are challenged, national identity is under siege, the country’s wealth is not equitably distributed, and equality is interpreted as total and absolute.
The writer was a member of parliament for Parit Sulong, Johor, from 1990 to 2004