“(Kit Siang) is guided and driven by a deep sense of conviction that Malaysia could be a normal democracy with her citizens united as one and not divided by race and religion, and for DAP to exist in such normal democracy as a normal political party that has the support of all Malaysian citizens who desire a better Malaysia.” (“Lim Kit Siang: Patriot. Leader. Fighter” page 263)
When overseas, we are proud Malaysians. But at home, many of us see ourselves as Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban, Kadazan, etc.
The implicit logic is that we must first become a member of a racial group, through which Malaysia is indirectly formed. In other words, ‘race’ precludes ‘direct membership’ to be a Malaysian citizen.
This notion that Malaysia is constituted by racial groups is actually a hangover from our colonial past.
At the height of European imperialism in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, Darwinian racial hierarchies – survival of the fittest – became the ideological basis to legitimise colonial rule of Europeans over people with darker skins.
With only a tiny European officialdom, colonial masters largely ruled through domestic elites. Malay chieftains, bureaucrats and religious leaders were deemed representing uneducated peasants whereas Chinese and Indian business leaders and professionals were assumed to be leaders for the largely illiterate labouring class.
Therefore, during colonial times, there was a deeply ingrained racial hierarchy with the Europeans on top and the locals below the former.The local communities as dividedly ruled as mutually exclusive racial groups. There was no equal worth of human value nor individual agency.
Independence conferred citizenship to all Malayans - and later Malaysians - that met the necessary requirements. Citizenship is akin to a ‘direct and equal membership’ to nationhood.
Today, all Malaysian citizens have rights guaranteed by the Federal Constitution as well as stated and implicit obligations towards our beloved Malaysia. The nation is not supposed to be constituted by racial groups but by individual citizens of equal worth.
Yet, the colonial idea of race refuses to fade away. Most political parties still organise themselves along racial lines, and siege mentality pits one group against the other.
In our daily lives, behaviours or deeds of a particular individual are seen to represent one’s race. It keeps reproducing stereotypes, and racial profiling proliferates even at the highest level of government.
Whither citizenship?
For me, citizenship is a contract with the post-colonial independent Malaysian state by individuals, not via the group membership of any particular race.
Politically, citizens are masters of their own fate through elections and other political processes such as the rights to free expression, to assemble and to gain decent work.
They join political parties that express their political views, form unions to protect workers’ rights, form or join NGOs to protest a bad development project or campaign for a just cause.
Democracy is the best form of organisation to empower an active citizenry.
As far as electoral democracy is concerned, if we are clear that individuals have agencies and not blind followers of herds, we would be less inclined to view “Malay voters”, “Chinese voters” or “Indian voters” as blocks with largely coherent predilections and predispositions under each of the respective labels.
When I started my political work two decades ago, Lim Kit Siang and the late Karpal Singh had just lost Bukit Bendera and Jelutong parliamentary seats, respectively. Both seats had around 75% Chinese voters and an overall of 85% non-Malay voters.
Lest we forget, much as DAP and her allies received a significant share of non-Malay support since 2008, Chinese or Indian voters can never be considered a block with fixed political loyalty for any political party.
I spent most of my four years at the Australian National University trying to understand Malay nationalism and political Islam. My thesis supervisor Dr. John Funston often reminded me that since the first general election in 1959, there have always been around 30% of Malay voters who refuse to vote for UMNO and her allies in the Alliance/Barisan Nasional.
The first-past-the-post winner-takes-all electoral system would usually dilute the voice of this group until all forces against UMNO converged, as evident in the 2008, 2013, and 2018 general elections which saw the Opposition win 47%, 51% and 48% popular votes, respectively.
In many ways, some of us spent the last two decades or so dismantling the colonial idea of racial political representation. It was a painful yet fruitful effort.
Today, for many Malays, UMNO and PAS are no longer their natural political homes. For the Chinese, MCA does not represent them anymore, and the Indians are very critical of MIC.
Once we realise that all citizens are human beings who need jobs, decent housing, clean air and water, efficient transport, and of course, healthy life, the political discourse can move away from race politics, to a certain extent.
We are still in early days to build a strong foundation for a post-colonial democracy, but we are certainly not far from it.
We need to get as many people to see ourselves as empowered Malaysian citizens with agencies that can change our fate by any of our collective endeavours through democratic means and processes.
I wrote in my biography of Kit Siang which was published recently, that we are trying to build a normal democracy with empowered citizens at its core (as defined in the quote at the start of this piece). It is difficult but doable.
In essence, getting everyone to think of themselves as citizens with rights and obligations is a struggle to reach the desired new normal in building a Malaysian nation.
Citizens unite! Happy Malaysia Day 2021.
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In case you missed out…
Read my opinion piece on South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Malaysia’s political ceasefire and how it’s a positive step towards sensible policy reforms.
It is interesting that the Opposition came to power in 2018 despite securing a lower share of the votes than the previous GE.
Thanks. This is a good read. In case I missed your past articles, any further thoughts on repositioning DAP from a perceived Chinese dominant political party to a Malaysian political party?