Photo credit: enshahdi II / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
We have had many expats ask us whether the Malaysian government has given up on the 1Malaysia theme, a campaign which they understood to be about bringing the races together. We certainly don’t think they have set it aside, but can understand why so many expats tell us they feel that racial tensions are growing in the country. Clearly this is a very disturbing development for expats who have long praised Malaysia for its racial tolerance and the ability of races with different cultures and religions to peacefully coexist. Apart from the obvious domestic issues which can be ignited, increased racial tensions contribute to a negative international perception and can end up affecting foreign investment and the economy.
Several incidents, even before the recent Red Shirt rally, had expats concerned, as they seemed to be all about violent confrontation. The fact the government seemed to ignore them and even gave the Red Shirt rally the green light – not least on a holiday when the country should have been celebrating togetherness and unity – was also quite disturbing to some people, particularly as it was also fairly clear that some demonstrators were looking for trouble.
The police are to be commended for the way they handled both the Red Shirt rally and the previous, more peaceful – yet deemed illegal – Bersih 4 rally. It is not easy handling crowd control and staying calm when confronted with thousands of people, even more so when the weather is hot and humid. They did an excellent job.
That said, it is a bit concerning to observe that so many Malays apparently feel so insecure that they needed to hold a rally to assert themselves. For the last 50 years here, the government has done a lot to help the Malays with various affirmative action programmes. One would have thought they would therefore not feel threatened and would appreciate the efforts that have been made to eradicate poverty among their race and help them participate in the country’s economic growth.
It also seemed clear that many of them do not appreciate the contribution that other races have made to Malaysia’s growth and economic success, or the fact that it is this success which has enabled the funding of many programmes to help Malays. Clearly more needs to be done to help correct this wrong perception, and renewed focus needs to be made to ensure the country moves back towards ethnic harmony. Any further slide would make the international community very nervous.
On a different topic, we were both saddened and disturbed to hear about the murder of Kevin Morais, a senior officer from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). It appears his murder was linked to an investigation he was leading. It is a high price to pay for carrying out your assigned duties and a grim reminder that this is still a country where professional hits are not uncommon. We hope all the perpetrators will swiftly be brought to justice.
The MACC has been in the news a lot lately, and in the October issue of The Expat magazine you will see that they write about some of their successes. We know they have often come under criticism, particularly in recent weeks, but we have been impressed by their strong commitment to eradicating corruption, even in spite of apparent resistance from some quarters. It should be noted that they only investigate corruption and have no powers to prosecute. That decision lies with the Attorney General.
Together with the haze, it hasn’t been the best of months. Let’s hope things get better soon.
Read More:
- Malaysia: A Brief Look at the Nation’s Past and Present
- People are Too Obsessed with Social Media
- Current Issues in Malaysia and How it Affects the Economy
Source: The Expat magazine October 2015
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I have been mulling this over and the continuing use of sehati sejiwa (seen on a poster again in KL yesterday) and the mysterious absence of 1 Malaysia symbols, other than those which are becoming faded, leads me to believe that perhaps a public relations advisor has advised the powers that be that any reference to 1M will remind people of 1MDB so let’s just let it quietly fade away and perhaps everybody will forget about it.
There never was a commitment to 1 Malaysia; it was all shop front. There seems to have been no policy changes to promote the rights and improve the livelihood of any races other than Malay. You speak of affirmative action but this does not exist in Malaysia, there is however positive discrimination which favours Malays that would be deemed unlawful in most developed nations. Interesting that the 1MDB, if you believe one side of the recent controversy, seems to have been involved in channelling a ‘political donation’ to UMNO, where are the other races represented there? Also relevant is the fact that the 1 Malaysia mantle was replaced at this years Hari Merdeka celebrations with “sehati sejiwa” which Google Translate informs me, means “in one accord”, which I would suggest is conveniently ambiguous from a political point of view in the current climate – even Traxx FM the voice of the government in populer radio broadcasting has replaced its “Selamat Satu Malaysia” with “Selamat Sehati Sejiwa” at the beginning of its news broadcasts. All this suggests that yes, it has been set aside. The sad fact is that 1 Malaysia has not so much died on the vine, it was never nurtured so it expired as a seedling. A shame really because if used properly as a force for change, it could have achieved so much, but it was always going to take more than a slogan to change half a century or more of institutional discrimination. The measures introduced by the Labour government in the UK with Jack Straw as the architect in 2001 after the MacPherson report are the sort of assertive steps that needed to be taken but with the current political set up in Malaysia this was never going to happen. The emergence of Bersih as a catalyst for change is refreshing, especially as it seems, beneath the political rhetoric, to have grassroots support from all races. Lets hope for more peaceful events like Bersih 4 to promote a meaningful ONE Malaysia that leads to more respect and fairness rather than division based on race, religion and politics.
Was there one.
Did they even mean it.