Dreams of 1Malaysia

By Kenny Gan

What is 1Malaysia? Does it mean racial harmony, national unity or equitable treatment of all races in sharing the nation’s resources? Is it just a huge public relations exercise or does the Prime Minister, Najib Razak intend to put any substance behind it?

1Malaysia has been described in Najib’s official website as “a roadmap to Bangsa Malaysia”.  But the definition of Bangsa Malaysia is as elusive as 1Malaysia. Isn’t Bangsa Malaysia by commonsense supposed to denote an end to the differentiation of the races into “bumiputra” and “non-bumiputra” and the rights and privileges that go with it?

The wily Mahathir managed to propagate his Bangsa Malaysia without having to define the empty shell, or answer for the contradictory racial policies that highlighted his regime.  How did he manage it?

Perhaps people were more cowed to speak out in his time. Perhaps it was the economic boom of the 1990’s which papered over the glaring inconsistency between slogan and practice. More likely it was the socio-political environment of his day and his grip on the media which allowed him great latitude.

Pakatan Rakyat’s great appeal to the masses of non-Malays has been the promise to dismantle the Malay-centric NEP and replace it with affirmative action based on need, not race. With the Malays split politically down the middle, the importance of the non-Malay vote is amplified.

But Najib has stolen Pakatan’s thunder with his 1Malaysia campaign. Will he proceed to demonstrate that he means more than lip service?

Opening Pandora’s box

1Malaysia has opened a Pandora’s box. If Najib had intended it to be a mere slogan to canvass for votes from the non-Malays, he has miscalculated the impact of his massive public relations exercise.

It does not really matter what Najib intends 1Malaysia to be. Like it or not, the public has equated 1Malaysia to a more equitable treatment of all races and the dismantling of the racially discriminating policies that define Malaysian society.

From education to employment to business opportunities, financing, government tenders, licenses, scholarships, investment funds, land schemes, GLC staffing, Proton and Perodua dealerships, approved permits, share applications and even house buying, all are tinged with racial policies.

Education is a glaring example. We must be the only country in the world where one race is accorded an easier path to university by segregating into different streams after secondary school and to have educational institutions devoted to a single race.

The relentless promotion of 1Malaysia through the mass media has raised expectations and brought many previously unasked questions to the fore. Non-Malays are rightly asking, “How can we have 1Malaysia when we have so many policies which still discriminate on race?”

It is not enough to give some grants to vernacular schools and for the Prime Minister to make some personal visits to Batu Caves and Chinese associations. Nor will the removal of bumiputra quotas in certain obscure financial services sub-sectors and share equity do the trick. Malaysians want the spirit and substance of 1Malaysia to permeate down to the ground.

A prisoner of history

Does Najib intend to leave the huge web of racial policies untouched while assiduously pushing his 1Malaysia slogan? But questioning voices awakened by his campaign will soon turn to voices of discontent and demand for action to back his slogan.

The crux of the matter is that it is not going to be easy for Najib to fulfil his promise of 1Malaysia. Umno is a raced based party firmly rooted in championing Malays and has always depended on the preferential treatment of Malays for its appeal to the Malay masses.

Giving equal economic opportunities to all races would mean an end to rent seeking opportunities so beloved of Umno warlords and the well connected Malay elite linked to Umno. It will also raise the hackles of Malay nationalists who have been fed on a diet of Malay supremacy and controlled with a siege mentality.

Stiff resistance is expected. It will take a strong leader with great political will and considerable political skills to change the status quo.

But the baggage of the past are not easily discarded. Like other Prime Ministers before him, Najib does not have a free hand to act even if he has the political will. He is a prisoner of history.

Can PR do better?

One may rightly ask, “If BN can’t easily dismantle racial policies will PR fare any better as the Federal government?”

This is a fair question and the answer is that PR is not BN and it is much easier for PR to do what BN can only promise. PR does not have the overbearing racial baggage of the past. They are a coalition of non-race based parties which campaign on a platform of racial inclusiveness.

To be sure there may be some resistance in the form of maverick politicians but none like the combined firepower of Umno warlords and leaders of minority parties who see the dismantling of racial affirmative action as a threat to their ability to benefit from the system and a negative impact on their lifestyles.

The structural flaw of race based parties is that they thrive based on the perception of trying to correct racial inequality or maintaining ethnic privileges. If all races are treated equally there is little reason for them to exist so their reward of doing a good job is their own irrelevance.

So what now?

Malaysians awakened by the March 2008 tsunami and their expectations raised by Pakatan Rakyat will not let Najib off as easily as Mahathir’s Bangsa Malaysia. Walk the talk, they demand.

Will Najib dismantle the NEP and the artificial concept of bumiputraism that underpins the preferential treatment based on race? Will he roll back the myriad of racial policies that have polarized Malaysian society and precipitated a damaging brain drain?

If Najib is selling dreams, he runs the risk of ending up like Badawi – promising much and delivering little – and the electorate will punished him like Badawi. If he undertakes real reforms (which does not look likely) he will upset enough Umno warlords to pull himself down.

In the final analysis the 1Malaysia campaign hatched in the boardrooms of a foreign public relations company may have been too clever for its own good. It promises much but ignores the deep undercurrents of race and preferential treatment which define Malaysian politics and the basis of BN’s power.

Najib may have painted himself into a corner. I hope he has an action plan beyond the slick public relations show.