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Looking beyond developmentalism The MCA must return to the struggle for democracy
by Francis Loh
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In the previous issue of Aliran Monthly (vol. 24 no. 9), Khoo Boo Teik highlighted how the issue of UMNO�s �rising sons�, perhaps the most significant aspect of the UMNO AGM and election, received scant attention. Instead, attention was given to many issues of insignificance. Similarly, the MCA�s AGM focused attention on issues like establishing joint-ventures with government-linked companies, cooperating with the Police to combat crime, strengthening the party and community, getting on board the recently launched �Lifelong Learning Campaign�, and �grappling with globalization� via �positive thinking�. For its part, the MCA Youths were more concerned with launching its 14-day expedition by 23 4WDs to Kunming codenamed �The Journey of Friendship between Malaysia and China�. Small wonder that many MCA central delegates were absent or left midway during the one-day meeting. Only 1,980 of 2,776 or 71 percent of central delegates showed up. Some of the MCA�s 107 elected delegates (31 Members of Parliament, 76 State Legislative Assembly members) went missing, resulting in a warning by MCA president Ong Ka Ting that he would be scrutinizing their �quality performance reports� and monitoring their performance on the ground. Not too much a worry Then again, perhaps it is not that significant even if major issues were not deliberated at the MCA�s AGM. After all, the MCA is not the dominant political party in the country. In fact most Chinese Malaysians are not members of the party. And apart from the MCA, Chinese Malaysians also identify with several purportedly multi-ethnic but Chinese-dominated parties like Parti Gerakan, the SUPP in Sarawak and the SAPP and LDP in Sabah as welll as of course, the opposition parties such as the DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat. Moreover, Chinese politicians unlike their Malay and Indian counterparts, do not play very important roles within the Chinese community. For leadership of the Chinese community also accrues to captains of industry and finance, especially those who double-up as philantrophists, leaders of the Dongjiaozong or the educational movement, the shetuan or Chinese associations, and even successful professionals. Why, there are also well-known geomancers, religious leaders and kungfu masters The problem within the Chinese community, therefore, is not fear about the MCA�s domination of the community. Nor is it a question of transiting towards a new group of rising sons within the MCA, as in the case of UMNO. The problem, instead, is the increasing withdrawal of the Chinese community from politics. In turn this withdrawal from politics is a result of the emergence of a culture of �developmentalism� for which the MCA and the other BN parties are largely responsible. Developmentalism is especially evident among middle-class Chinese. What is 'developmentalism'? With global trends moving towards privatization and economic deregulation in the 1980s, Malaysia, too, adopted neo-liberal economic policies in the late 1980s, especially after the country had experienced economic recession in the mid-1980s. With the end of the NEP (1971-90) approaching, the private sector replaced the public sector as the engine of growth under the auspices of �Malaysia, Inc.� and the National Development Plan, 1991-2000. The rapid economic growth rates registered in the early 1990s, and the resultant �trickle down� provided new jobs and opportunities as well as improved the living standards of most Malaysians. This lasted until the 1997 financial crisis set in. The discourse of developmentalism came into its own amidst this economic growth. It coincided with the consolidation of Malaysia�s middle classes involving all ethnic groups. Embraced by the middle classes, the new political culture places value on sustained economic growth that facilitates an improvement in material standards of living while also resulting in the spread of consumerist habits. Its corollary is an appreciation of the value of political stability, which many Malaysians believed could only be guaranteed by a strong BN-governed state even when it resorted toauthoritarian means. Developmentalism, therefore, is the cultural consequence of the strong developmental state when citizens begin to enjoy improved living conditions as a result of the economic growth the state has fostered. During the 1990s, this developmentalism increasingly displaced the ethnic political discourse and practice. Two other related occurrences, namely, cultural liberalization and the consolidation of a politics of public works and services, further facilitated this developmentalism. Cultural liberalisation and utilitarian goals in the 1990s Largely for utilitarian reasons, various measures of �cultural liberalization� were introduced to enhance economic growth in the early 1990s, especially when viewed from the perspective of non-Malays. Specifically, the UMNO leaders began to de-emphasize or redefine the most important emblems of Malay identity � the Malay rulers, Malay language and culture, and Islam � hitherto considered central attributes in defining the Malaysian nation-state. The symbolic and actual powers of the Malay rulers were curtailed as a result of UMNO�s challenges to the rulers in 1983-84 and again in 1994. While reaffirming the status of Malay as the national language, Dr Mahathir and other UMNO leaders also promoted the use of the English language on utilitarian grounds. This included the use of English as the medium of instruction for certain technical subjects in the local universities, a move that partially reversed the policy, introduced in 1971, of using Malay as the sole medium.
The changes further allowed students enrolled in �twinning colleges� (attached to foreign universities) to complete their entire university education locally, thereby allowing their parents to save money. Since these private colleges and universities were encouraged to recruit foreign lecturers and students, English became the medium of instruction. Other notable aspects of cultural liberalization were the promotion of non-Malay cultures by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism as a means of attracting the tourist dollar and the increasing use of English in the mass media especially by privatized radio and television stations. In response to the resurgence of Islam, the BN government introduced various Islamisation policies of its own beginning from the early 1980s. But it has distinguished itself by advocating a more liberal interpretation of Islam which emphasized the promotion of Islamic values in administration and society writ large, rather than the realisation of an Islamic state which Pas and other Muslim radicals advocated. Taken as a whole, the new policies appeared to stress a more inclusive rather than an exclusive notion of Malaysian nationhood for non-Malays. The non-Malays therefore welcomed this cultural liberalization. Politics of delivering public works and services Coincidentally during this period of economic growth, the MCA disengaged itself from �sensitive� ethnic and cultural issues. They also de-emphasized political education and mobilization. Hence when the issues of Chinese language, culture and education were addressed, it was their utilitarianism and their relationship to development, indeed, to �self-help� community efforts which were highlighted. A politics of developmentalism that emphasizes the delivery of services and goods - sustained by economic development, and guaranteed by political stability, which the Chinese parties argued only the BN could provide - was promoted instead. Put simply, the MCA transformed itself into an extension and instrument of the state so as to assist in maintaining the status quo and in supplementing the delivery of public works and services. The MCA provided tertiary-level education via the various campuses of its Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman. Now there is also the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. Its Langkawi Project caters for the educational needs of primary school children by organizing tuition classes and providing books and other resources, especially in Chinese new villages. Fundraising has also been conducted on behalf of the independent Chinese secondary schools since the 1990s while Kojadi, the MCA�s savings co-operative, provides low-interest loans for the children of co-operative members to attend universities and colleges. The party has also set up �service centres� and complaints bureaux throughout the country. These are partially financed by the constituency development funds allocated by the government to elected BN politicians only. Chinese Malaysians from the lower-income group in particular have turned to these centres instead of relevant government agencies in resolving their everyday problems and needs. The latter includes applying for official documents, enrolling their children into schools of choice, acquiring business licenses and seeking repairs to roads and drains. It should be clarified, however, that there are structural limits to the kinds of problems that the service centres and complaints bureaux can help to resolve. For instance, they could not help to prevent the repeal of the Rent Control Act in 2000, which has resulted in an escalation of house and shop rentals in various cities. This hike, in turn, has resulted in thousands of households being unable to pay the new rental rates, forcing them to move, under threat of eviction. Nor have these centres and bureaux been able to prevent the transfer of services like sewerage, electricity and telephone to privatized concerns, which inevitably leads to increased rates. Still, in contrast to the perceived discrimination and neglect during the NEP years, there emerged via the efforts of the MCA a way in which ordinary Chinese could receive benefits and identify positively - in many cases for the first time- with the BN government. Finally, the MCA as well as MCA politicians also ventured into business activities in a major way. Studies have shown how the BN parties have ventured into business activities and forged close ties with other captains of industry and commerce. Together with them and their associations like the Chambers of Commerce and Industry and other industry-specific bodies like the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, the BN parties have initiated various projects in support of the BN�s post-NEP economic policies. These policies have been friendlier to the private sector in general and beneficial to BN-linked businesses in particular. Often this led to conflict of interests - for through their connections, individuals and companies associated with the MCA successfully won privatization projects and benefited from the government�s largesse. The end result has been a deepening of patronage politics, nepotism and corruption. A means not an end in itself In summary, the MCA assumed new roles related to developmentalism. In the process it redefined the meaning of politics and contributed to a withdrawal from politics in the classical sense of searching for and contributing towards the �good society� (which is imbued with justice, solidarity and peace and wherein all citizens play active roles in making decisions). Consequently, despite the BN�s resort to undemocratic measures to remain in power, widening corruption within the government and money politics in the ruling parties, it appears that a substantial proportion of the Chinese business and middle-classes - even the lower-income group, who have benefited from the MCA�s business, educational and co-operative activities, as well as its bureaus and service centres - have rallied behind the BN these past decades. Development should not become an end in itself, not for any society or political party. Development, instead, should be the means to a higher goal, namely the search for the good society. This good society, we believe should be a democracy which by definition means rule by the people. This implies that power should not be concentrated in the hands of certain elites, but distributed as widely as possible among all citizens. To ensure that rule by the people and distribution of power is practised, we need to institutionalize the �rule of law�. With rule of law, there will be less opportunity for those in power to resort to arbitrary rule and misuse that power to repress one�s enemies and critics and to privilege one�s friends and relatives. In this regard it is telling that corruption and money politics is becoming widespread. There are also more than 80 people detained under the ISA without being brought to trial and numerous complaints about deaths of suspects while being arrested and in custody. Clearly, there are serious issues that need to be addressed if the MCA cares to go beyond developmentalism. Towards democracy and human development In an article entitled Democracy as a Universal Value (published in1999), Nobel Laureate and distinguished development economist Prof Amartya Sen highlighted three ways in which democracy enriches the life of citizens. �First, political freedom is part of human freedom in general, and exercising civil and political rights is a crucial part of good lives of individuals as social beings�. �Political and social participation�, he says, �has intrinsic value for human life and well-being�. To be denied participation in politics is a major deprivation. Second, �democracy has an important instrumental value in enhancing the hearing that people get in expressing and supporting their claims to political attention (including claims of economic needs). What Sen means is that democracy makes governments accountable and responsible. And third, the practice of democracy gives citizens an opportunity to learn from one another, and helps society to form its values and understand its needs, rights and duties. Sen states, �even the idea of �needs�, including the understanding of �economic needs�, requires public discussion and exchange of information, views and analyses. In this sense, democracy has constructive importance, in addition to its intrinsic value for the lives of citizens and its instrumental importance in political decisions�. What counts as �needs� including �economic needs� requires the exercise of political and civil rights. A proper understanding of the content of these �needs� require discussion and exchange. �The guaranteeingof open discussion, debate, criticism and dissent are central to the process of generating informed and considered choices�we cannot take preferences as given independently of public discussion�.� Based on the ideas of Amartya Sen and other scholars of development, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has come out with the notion of �human development�. The five dimensions of human development are: Sustainability, Empowerment, Equity, Productivity and Accountability, popularly referred to as SEEPA. Based on these five dimensions, the UNDP developed its Human Development Index (HDI). In 1991, Malaysia registered number 52 on the HDI. Its position worsened to number 60 during the 1997/1998 period, which coincided with the regional financial crisis and events related to the treatment of Anwar Ibrahim and the Reformasi movement. For the period 1999 to 2004, Malaysia�s ranking hovered between number 56 to number 61. In other words, the level of human development in Malaysia has worsened since the early 1990s. Clearly, there is much to do for the MCA or any political party. All parties should contribute towards ushering in democracy and human development, not egging the Malaysian people to withdraw from politics. Now e-mail us and tell us what you think. Your comments might be published in the Letters section of our print magazine, Aliran Monthly. | |||||||||||||||
All parties should contribute towards ushering in democracy and human development, not egging the Malaysian people to withdraw from politics.
