THERE is obviously something amiss in a country that happily pays RM20 for a cup of imported coffee, and yet baulks at the idea of a RM900 minimum monthly wage because it might cause inflation.

With respect to the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC), however, its minimum wage plan was defeated less by the government’s hesitation to legislate, than by public apathy towards issues of social justice. We demonstrated that same indifference to the Hindraf movement when it took to the streets on Nov 25 last year, dismissing it as no more than a trivial protest by some rabble-rousing upstarts. That some of us are unsure even now what Hindraf really wanted (was it US$4 trillion from the British government? Was it a protest against temple demolitions? Was it the steady erosion of their human rights?) testifi es to the abysmal depths to which our general knowledge of our own country has sunk. And just as we were unaware of the powder-keg that was Hindraf, we remain willingly ignorant of the appalling labour conditions that continue to prevail today. The reason for this lies in the RM20 cup of coffee. Since we began pursuing our rapid-industrialisation schemes in the 1980s, economic policies and management practices have favoured the exploitation of cheap labour as the principle source of our competitiveness. These same policies created the middle class to which most of us now belong, but the constant downward pressure on wages in turn created and sustained a social underclass that is effectively invisible, mute, and (until very recently) completely without political representation in a society preoccupied with middleclass concerns. Much of this has to do with the absence of a stable and coherent political Left from the mainstream of Malaysian life. The demise of the Socialist Front (which once ruled Peninsular local councils) spelt the end also for two of Malaysia’s fi nest Leftist political platforms: Ahmad Boestaman’s Parti Rakyat Malaysia and the Labour Party. That was in 1969. Today, the Left’s alleged proximity to various acts of historical hooliganism (including the Communist insurgency and the Konfrontasi) continues to put it beyond the pale of political respectability. For example, Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj (who defeated MIC chief Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu in March’s general elections) belongs to a party the authorities have repeatedly declined to register: Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s case has gone to the Federal Court and will be heard next month, despite formation in 1998. If the political mainstream continues to misjudge the relevance of a new Left grounded thoroughly in labour rights and representation, the prevailing practice of approaching social inequality from narrowly communal bases may no longer hold sway. MTUC President Syed Shahrir Syed Mohamud’s campaign for the minimum wage was a shot over politicians’ bows. The matter took him on a personal ambush mission to Parliament – a strong statement, short of industrial action, from an old-fashioned unionist who refers to people as “brother” and “sister”. It is perhaps in people like him and Dr Jeyakumar that we should place our trust, for if our political representatives remain deaf to the underclass, their discontent will undoubtedly manifest itself elsewhere. ● U-En Ng who has a degree in mediaeval languages is currently parliamentary sketchwriter for The Malay Mail. An observer at the Hindraf rally, he was teargassed on the steps of a KL hotel.

Source: Malay Mail – May 26, 2008