By Charles Chia
When Dr Mahathir Mohamad rolled out his “Proklamasi Orang Melayu” (Proclamation of the Malays) in March 2023, I checked if I had actually put on my reading glasses!
The proclamation transported me to the tumultuous 1940s or 1950s, or to the 1960s, when discontented Malays pressured the government of Malaysia’s first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman to improve their socioeconomic position.
Mahathir was already on the scene back then as one of Umno’s most vocal ‘young Turks’.
Umno achieved its goal: Tunku resigned following nationwide ‘racial’ riots and the New Economic Policy was ushered in.
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Not only did Mahathir scale to the peak of power, he remained ensconced there for 22 years.
If anyone had the opportunity to implement the NEP, it would have been Mahathir himself as Malaysia’s longest-serving Prime Minister.
Fifty years down the road, the glaring hard-to-accept reality is that poverty continues to plague not only the ethnic Malays, but the people of Malaysia from all ethnic groups.
‘Malays have lost power because they are divided’
The Malay proclamation states that the Malays have lost power because they are divided.
Consider these facts:
Who in 1987 fought with Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, his main party rival, and caused Umno to split into Umno Baru and Semangat 46?
Mahathir!
Who in 1998 sacked and jailed the then deputy PM, Anwar Ibrahim, resulting in the eventual formation of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, hence further weakening Umno?
Mahathir!
Who in 2009 staged a palace coup in Umno to dislodge Abdullah Badawi, his chosen successor as PM, because it was said that Abdullah had stopped several of his former boss’ lucrative projects launched prior to the boss’ retirement?
Mahathir!
Who in 2018 left Umno, formed Bersatu, and combined forces with the main opposition Pakatan Harapan to overthrow Umno and succeeded?
Mahathir!
Who in 2020, as second-time PM, colluded with Malay MPs of all shades, engineered the break-up of the governing coalition, resulting in the collapse of the government – all in order to prevent Anwar from becoming the PM as had been promised?
Mahathir!
If Umno is the icon of Malay unity, then who is the culprit instrumental for the falling apart of Umno? Tell me!
Mahathir would win hands down the title of the Malaysian politician who has formed the most political parties!
‘Malay leaders are more concerned with personal wealth’
Political connection opened the doors to treasure troves under Mahathir’s long reign.
Giddy after scaling new heights of wealth and power, Malay leaders had all but forgotten their original mission of uplifting the ethnic group as a whole out of the doldrums.
Mahathir is right on this count – the direction of the Malay polity has deviated.
The real purpose: undermine Anwar’s multi-racial ‘unity government’
The high falutin’ Malay proclamation is nothing but a remix of a stale tune.
It’s a classic case of the thief crying, “Stop the thief!”
He is the self-styled ‘black knight’ who has been resurrected to “save the Malays”.
The real intent is to undermine Anwar’s multi-racial unity government. And he seems to be addicted to ‘slaying’ sitting prime ministers!
To this end, Mahathir has found an ally in another self-serving politician, Hadi Awang.
Under Hadi, Pas has taken on strong racist overtones, drowning out the non-racial, peaceful and universal values of Islam advocated by Nik Aziz Nik Mat and his predecessors.
Hadi’s burning ambition in his twilight years is to wrest power, distorting if need be lofty Islamic teachings.
Both Mahathir and Hadi, long time arch-enemies, are now strange bed-fellows in their bid for power.
Desperate to achieve their personal ambitions, these two angry old men will not stop at playing with fire recklessly.
Heaping blame on others does nothing to improve the lot of the Malays
My heart goes out to my compatriots whose leaders drum into them that their backwardness has been caused by the presence of the ethnic Chinese and ethnic Indians obstructing their opportunities.
Heaping blame on other ethnic groups will do nothing to improve the lot of the Malays!
To thrive as an individual and as a society, we must accept diversity.
No person is an island; we thrive in our interconnectedness.
All Malaysians, indeed all human beings, want to live in peace and harmony.
The racist rhetorical statements of Mahathir and Hadi sow division and animosity and throw wrenches in the works.
Misconceptions need to be addressed
The Malay community does have nagging perceptions that the proclamation has picked up and played up.
These concerns were reflected in last November’s general election and will probably influence the coming state elections.
Even if misconceived, these doubts, anxieties and prejudices will persist, and so they need to be addressed by the unity government with concrete results.
The widely accepted but conceptual “Malaysia Madani” (Civil Malaysia) is not enough. To start with, Anwar’s government must conduct a study on the state of our people of all communities, particularly the state of the Malay community, since the implementation of the NEP.
An honest appraisal will lead to more lasting, stable solutions.
A big push on a national scale that will build a Madani Malaysia is necessary. – sinchew.com.my
Charles Chia is a committee member of Monsoons Malaysia
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