MGGP: The racial divide in Malaysia is now a fact

The racial divide in Malaysia is now a fact
23 Jan 2006

THE NON-MALAY CABINET MINISTERS who complained to their prime
minister, Pak Lah, about non-Muslim voices being unheard, is ordered
by Pak Lah himself to withdraw it and not to be discussed by
outsiders, i.e. Malaysians. Why they took this extreme stand,
especially when they agreed with Pak Lah in the cabinet what they
protest now is easy to explain. The non-Malay ministers are beholden
to UMNO, and they nod their heads when the prime minister tells them
to. This time, their ground is in revolt. But most of them have
withdrawn their memo as the prime minister requested. One minister
even said he was surprised the press took great interest in the
memorandum. He of course chose to forget which were the media. But
among the two ministers who signed the memorandum is the MCA and MIC
presidents. The president of the two parties signed the agreement
which gave this country independence. Now they have to express their
dissatisfaction in a memo the the prime minister. It also revealed,
though not for the first time, that Pak Lah is prime minister not of
Malaysia but of the Malays. UMNO has decided, though that becomes
less and less decisive, that they will lead the Malays. But he looks
after the Malays only, and helps divide the country into racial units.

Thirty years after the New Economic Policy and that of Malay
Dominance, by which non-Malays will hold no position in the
government service that they cannot be promoted to any supervisory
position in the lower services, and the promotions in the upper
services are limited. After the nude squat scandal, the lack of non-
Malays were highlighted. The official explanation is that they will
not join the government services or the uniformed branch because they
are paid better outside. It is the non-Malay view now. They took this
view when they found they touched a glass ceiling early. There is an
attempt to get non-Malays now, but the non-Malays do not trust the
government now. A non-Malay promoted in the civil service means the
Malay who recommended him would be penalised. No one wants that for
himself, Malay or non-Malay. In the armed services, they retire as
lieutenant-colonels or colonels, that latter rank given them in the
last year of their service, while most of their Malay juniors had
jumped over them. One examples will suffice: a non-Malay police
officer retired as assistant superintendent of police, but his
batchmate died as deputy inspector-general of police. They had
retired in the 1970s, which means they jointed the force in the
1950s, after Merdeka. This would not happen now because the non-Malay
would not be selected.

It became more of a Malay government with the passing years. The
prime minister was concerned with what the Malays, usually from UMNO,
felt. As the years went by, and the opposition within the Malays
became sharper, he gave up all pretence of being fair. He would lose
his job otherwise. UMNO has got the other parties in the National
Front to obey its dictates. A Chinese or Indian minister would argue
for a Malay concession. Tthis is supposed to show the government's
concern for all races; but the reverse will not happen. As the non-
Malay ministers sent their memorandum to Pak Lah, the Malay ministers
queued up to attack them for not saying their peace in the cabinet,
out of publicity. The 1969 riots was to remove the first Prime
Minister, Tengku Abdul Rahman, from office. He was friendly, so it
was reported at the time, to the Chinese. The NEP and Malay Dominance
became UMNO policies then. It was made easy by the then MCA
president, Tun Tan Siew Sin, pulled out of the coalition. He was
brought back after UMNO had framed its new policies. The non-Malay
ministers were not given any policy making portfolios, a policy that
is in force 30 years later.

Malaysia would rather get westerners for which non-Malays are
capable. All government-linked companies employ only Malays in
senior positions. All university vice-chancellors are Malays, the
non-Malays leave after a time into the private sector. As opposition
to UMNO spreads down to the undergraduates, no UMNO ministers dare
visit the universities. Before Pak Lah could visit the University,
intense negotiations took place so that the students would not rebel
or protest. The police are afraid of its own shadow since they took
the position as guardians of the regime, especially against Malays
who rebel. When the then deputy prime minister. Dato' Seri Anwar
Ibrahim, was arrested, Malays came out in their thousands to protest.
This surprised the authorities, which acted against them
irrationally. Over the years, this has worsened. Today, about half
the Malays are against UMNO. The federal government uses the police
as its goon squad in states like Kelantan, governed by the opposition
PAS.

What makes this dangerous is that Pak Lah and his government cannot
right the state of affairs, without watching their back. He has
delayed his long-promised cabinet reshuffle, for he is not sure those
he drops will go the UMNO opposition. His son-in-law forced Dato' Isa
Samad to resign from the cabinet. He went out of his way to make his
departure painless. But he does not know to this day whether the man
is with him. He controls about 50 votes in the presidential election;
that can be disastrous if it went to his opponents. Many long
standing cabinet ministers will remain by on different portfolios. He
has to work out if they would then remain with him or against him.
His inaction now, whatever the mainstream media says, would not help
him. Since he uses the mainstream media to douse his opponents in
UMNO, he is on a dangerous game. He announces policy, often on the
run, but which is regarded in the press as 'earth-shattering'. But it
is not. There is no discussion, his civil servants and personal staff
do not care, and what he says or does is by rote. He tells Malaysians
to not discuss the memorandum of the non-Malay ministers: the cabinet
will discuss it. Most of the non-Malay ministers fell into line. But
that shows division that never existed before 1970.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@streamyx.com