Partnering the Chinese in Politics

Written by: Dr. John Brian Anthony

It is quite common to see comment from contributors saying that partnering Chinese in politics is a bigger danger then having Malay as partners. In this scenario the Dayak Malay partnership is in PBB and the other scenario is Dayak Chinese in SUPP. The other scenario of Dayak Chinese is SPDP and except PRS is all Dayak. On the table for discussion today is Dayak and Chinese in DAP. Actually it is wrong to say that DAP is totally Chinese as its members are multi-racial but in Sarawak DAP has greater Chinese support in the urban areas as is the case. This is more historical in nature as in Malaya the political parties are divided along racial lines. UMNO for Malay, MCA for Chinese and MIC for Indian. DAP being multi-racial has more Chinese supporter in urban areas while Malay and Indian previously  prefer UMNO / MIC respectively. But the political world is now changing.

Multi-racial politics

The PRU 12 has brought out a new dimension into Malaysian politics as parties like PKR and DAP won a substantial amount of seats and both parties are multi-racial in its membership. We found that Indian are voted in by Chinese and Malay majority areas and  vice-versa the Malay and Chinese are voted in Indian majority areas. This augurs well for Malaysia’s politics as a multi-racial country. BN in general and UMNO in particular continue to engage in racial politics. Racial politics drive bias policies based on racial line. Racial politics are extreme in nature and mostly confrontation as we saw UMNO supporters could not accept the PRU 12 verdicts in Penang and in Perak. Actually Najib could not accept the defeat of selangor and federal territory.

It is interesting to note that Selangor and Federal Territory are made up of mostly educated people. In politics their choice of party is changing towards party struggles and objectives rather then based on race and religion. Even the young people do not follow racial and religious line in their voting pattern despite BN / UMNO continued effort to follow up on that strategy. Dr. Mahathir is one of those UMNO leader that thrive on politics based on race. Ibrahim Ali is a tool for such politics. The young voters are more objective in their choice and this has set the trend for the coming PRU13.

Sarawak politics and the Chinese

In Sarawak, SUPP was battered by DAP winning only 2 Chinese State seats while the Dayak in SUPP won all their seats. Today essentially the Dayak support in SUPP are stronger then the Chinese. What is the impact of such change in strength of support in the appointment of leaders into top Government position?

Dayak is the majority race in Sarawak even though it is not reflected in the State political leadership because of the politics of “divide and rule’ by Taib. This politics of divide and rules allow the implementation of “politics of development” which in essence the BIG business in Sarawak are put under only a few political influential people and back-up by very rich people. Most of these rich people are created by politics by being given timber concession, plantation land and big government contract. It is quite common to see Chinese involved in these big business because of their capability and good business networking. Taib is propagating extreme capitalism to create very few rich people.

The implication of Taib’s extreme capitalism

The Dayak took it as a fact that Chinese are the people who rob them off their land. What is true is that the Dayak land were given to Chinese by PBB leadership. This a part of divide and rule by PBB and to weaken the Dayak’s future. Then PBB would spread such propaganda that if the Chinese in Sarawak take over the State Government through DAP all the Dayak land in Sarawak would be swallowed by the Chinese. The fact is, Sarawak Dayak land is already given away by PBB/ Taib to rich investors leaving almost nothing for Dayak to build their livelihood from their land. So Chinese cronies and both Dayak and Malay alike owned hundreds of thousands hectares of land with title while the indigenous people of Sarawak (the Dayak)  are given crumbs.

In this context, the Dayak are partner with Malay (PBB) and this is happening. The Dayak that partner with Chinese in SUPP has nothing much to gain. But the Chinese in SUPP, given their interest in business and are BN cronies manage to get land for themselves from the State political leadership. It is therefor not quite right to say that Dayak will be worst off if the Chinese take over the State leadership then the  Malay. Taib has taken over most of Dayak NCR land and refused to give them the land title and that is proven over the last 31 years. But then why are the Dayak still supporting BN?

Dayak has always been a substantial political partner in BN  but why did the Dayak not got the  fair share as the Malay or Chinese?

The possibilities are many and here are but 2 reasons that I would share with you. Firstly, the Dayak leaders took the Dayak politically generated business for themselves and do not even share with their cronies and secondly the Dayak leaders do not see helping the other dayak to gain economically as good for the community. The Dayak leaders always equate able, skill, knowledgeable Dayak as a threat to their position. Meaning, in Iban words the Dayak leadership is”kepapas” or “not wanting to see success by being selfish” to other Dayak least that they take over their position. This may sound like a blaming game but unfortunately that is the truth.

Many Dayak leaders when they still hold the Minister position they are not at all helpful to Dayak. After leaving their cabinet position then they tried to help Dayak but by then they have no power to do so. It seems that the Dayak leaders were hopeless and helpless  when they were in Minister position or that the “pressure” upon them by Taib is all too frightening for them to be able to do anything. Or simply they guarded their political too closely that they are not able to try anything.

New partnership in politics

There should never be any fear for Dayak to partner the Chinese in politics. There are many truth in our bitter experience when dealing in business with Chinese. But we cannot lament on the same story over and over again. However we must take note that we need not be followers all the time. We can make ourselves as equal partner by focusing on building the future of Malaysia and Sarawak and to manage its issues . As long as we have “racial” tendency in politics it is always constricting. We must release ourselves from such restriction that is self imposed.Chinese are part of our life and an important part of creating development in our country through their investment and industrious traits.

The rich Chinese now are BN cronies. But no matter form the government the business men will always find ways to grab opportunity or create one. It is not “racial” based but an individual traits. The Chinese love to do business and they do not mix business with politics. Dayak tend to shy away from each other if they do not belong to the same party. The Chinese does not make such differences seen at all. “cari-makan” and politic is a world apart. We Dayak need to acquire such wisdom and thought in our daily life.

Conclusion

We Dayak can actually partner any other races provided we have a clear goal, discipline, competency and most of all with clear vision of the future of what the Dayak should be. Our political partner should be as a compliment and good friend to help us achieve our goals. If we perceived every other race is a threat then the Dayak might not be able to move forward as we are shackle by our own value system. We will continue to get stuck at the bottom of the country’s economics pit. So be brave and ready to face and adapt to changes.

Aram meh kitai BERUBAH and do not fear the changes. We live it and you know that we can rise up to that challenge.

Change WE Must.