UMNO and Race Relations in Malaysia

Racial issue continues to be a long-standing issue in Malaysian politics.

Najib’s concepts of 1Malaysia and a more merits-based New Economic Model were pretty much rejected by the man himself in an about-turn as shown in the article, where he reacted against the party and opposition accusations that he was undermining Malay rights and privileges, quelling them by reaffirming the constitutional position of Malays (and thus the irrelevancy of those accusations) and pledging that he would continue affirmative action for Malays. His own words – “Who started the NEP? As the son, the spirit and principle of the struggle continues.”

It’s extremely unlikely Najib will make any real changes because the UMNO’s percentage of the Malay vote is already fragmented. Thus it seems likely that its stance of pro-Malay policies will only get stronger as the party tries to strengthen its position amidst competition from strong communal-based rivals such as the PAS.

This may be rather pessimistic, but I think even generational change is not going to be for Malaysia to move away from the issue of race in society and politics. In terms of society, thanks to NEP’s disciminatory policies in education, schools themselves have become increasingly separated by ethnicity, in the sense that non-Malays attend private institutions or non-Malay owned schools, and Malays the government ones. In such an environment it’s quite difficult for even the younger generations to develop communities and ties that transcend race in a significant way.This is just one example, but besides all the economic and corruption factors my group mentioned in our presentation, social attitudes on the ground are also important. If social attitudes don’t change, it’s going to be hard for a political party to broadcast an agenda that focuses on national unity and equal help for all races/roll back on Malay privileges that will be popular with a significant proportion of the population.

1Malaysia is just yet another rhetoric rather than substance given the fact that the coming general elections is around the corner. Very likely there will be Chinese and Malays from the Opposition camp attacking UMNO / BN for not doing enough for their community. Of course, we know that the issue of race can be a emotionally charged issue.

Its always about having a delicate balance between safeguarding Malay rights and promoting civic nationalism. Thus, I agree that the move towards latter is going to be a generational thing given that political parties in Malaysia continues to draw their support from their respective communal base.

The issue is that Najib has to juggle between demands for the gradual eradication of special Malay rights and the stronger outcry of conservative demands to maintain it. As the Bumiputra policy becomes entrenched in the politics of Malaysia, I find it hard to fathom that Malaysian politics would take an immediate turn towards equal multi-racial politics. While one can remain hopeful, I think the roots are far too deep to and Najib’s speech, for now, remains a speech.

Much remains to be seen in what are the actions and policies he will put into place. Of course, much more remains on what results. Will there be further strains to relations from the various groups such as the Conservatives who might be more radical than we think? Just think back to 1964 riots where the Ultras compounded the issues through newspapers such as Utusan Melayu. Or will “progress”, as we can define it as a more liberal stance towards other races in malaysia, triumph in the social and political fabric of Malaysia?

I personally believe that Najib’s goal will not be achieved in his premiership and might even take multiple premierships before it can progress and bear fruit, that is if it is even going to be successful at all. What’s more, I would also think that success would also be dependent on the subsequent successors of Najib, if this stretches over future premierships for they might not have the same goal of national unity and accomodation of non-Malays.