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The racial divide in Malaysia is now a fact

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 let it 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 But most of them have withdrawn their memo as the prime minister requested.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 divisions that never existed before 1970.

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