I AM flabbergasted by the disingenuousness of Balasubramaniam’s “Chandra makes about-turn” (May 20) which gives the impression that my “Make Malaysian sovereignty the goal” is some new position that I have adopted since the 12th general election. Anyone familiar with my writings would know that this is a position that I have adhered to for more than 35 years. I have been a consistent proponent of the notion of a Malay polity evolving into a Malaysian nation.

It is wrong to suggest that “the nation had existed from day one…” The Malaysian nation is a work in progress. What came into being on Aug 31, 1957 was the independent state of Malaya. The Malaysian state is a formal legal structure; the Malaysian nation on the other hand also embodies an identity which, as in the case of so many post-colonial states, is still in the process of formation.

Balasubramaniam also alleges that I had promoted the Barisan Nasional in the run-up to the election. After criticising the BN’s failure to check ethnic polarisation and explaining why the Opposition’s attempt to sustain an alternative coalition had floundered in 2001, at a public forum on March 3, I had argued that the BN was the only viable inter-ethnic coalition we have at the moment. If anything, events in the last two months have proven me right. The Pakatan Rakyat cannot be described as a viable coalition since it does not subscribe to a shared ideology, adopts conflicting stances on certain vital issues, has no common leadership structure, and has no common symbol. The PR is, at this point in time, a coalition of three disparate parties.


Chandra Muzaffar
Kuala Lumpur

Source: The Sun – May 23, 2008