THE Bar Council’s Forum on ‘Ketuanan Melayu and the Social Contract’ held on Saturday attracted severe criticism from senior members of Umno who believed such discussions could potentially inflame racial animosity.

“They have forgotten that the Malays in this country are the majority,” said Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam in Mingguan Malaysia. “After independence, the Malays were willing to share power – but this does not mean Malay rights have been lost.” Another vice-president, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, feared that such open forums could violate the Sedition Act, and wanted a ban on any further public discussion on the matter. “We are not trying to curb the freedom of any group,” he told The Star, “but an open forum on ketuanan Melayu could hurt the Malays if politicised.” Ali Rustam and Muhyiddin may have taken a position unpopular with civil libertarians, but their views are nonetheless based on practical concerns: Even today, half a century after independence, non-Malay questions about special privileges are countered by the jus soli argument through which non-Malay and non-indigenous residents were granted citizenship in 1957. In all of Malaysia’s main ethnic communities, matters of heritage have consumed ideas of patriotism, and meaningful expressions of nationalist pride (as opposed to our semiritualistic practice of reciting the Rukunegara) are usually coloured by communal concerns. Even the relatively neutral idea of Vision Schools found opposition from both Malay and Chinese educationists who perceived in the formula too much of a dilution of cherished cultural independence. And yet the social contract of any independent sovereign state requires that its citizens put the interests of the country above any other. Leaders of the past understood this somewhat better than we do now: We remember that Datuk Onn Jaafar resigned from Umno when he failed to open the party to non- Malays. We also remember that Tun Tan Cheng Lock, the founder of MCA – he spoke only English and Baba Malay – worked tirelessly to convince the Chinese community (then deeply divided in its loyalty to Mainland China) that it was obliged to play an active role in the nascent Federation. Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman was esteemed by all Malaysians for scrupulous – even unbending – fairness in his dealings with the diverse races, but his legacy today is scandalously forgotten by many Malaysians. Some younger Malaysians have also forgotten Malay nationalists like the late Ahmad Boestaman (the founder of Parti Rakyat Malaya) who joined his leftist colleagues in demanding equal rights for all citizens in 1947, and went to jail for his beliefs. We are also loth to acknowledge the fact that the Communist Party of Malaya, however faulty its programme, consisted of prominent Malay and Indian members united not only by political philosophy but also by an unyielding desire for an independent nation. If the leaders of the past could remain so unshakeably loyal to a united Malaya (and subsequently Malaysia), why is it that we, their descendants, seem to have so much trouble? It has become fashionable in some circles to reject ketuanan Melayu as a deeply racist idea, but really we should be foolish to condemn it without further thought. Despite the New Economic Policy, poverty in the Malay community remains rampant, and many Malays fear becoming destitute or disenfranchised in the land to which they gave their name. Communal appeals are bound to resonate deeply in any society that perceives itself under threat, and until political leaders of other ethnic groups demonstrate that they are capable of rising above the narrow concerns of their own communities, ketuanan will remain a powerful anchor in an emotionally troubled sea. Tun Ismail foresaw the day when this issue would become a crutch that would prevent any further progress – and it is no less difficult now than it was in 1969 to correct the social and economic imbalances in our society. The welfare of our nation therefore lies with us, and this is a duty that far exceeds casting a vote at the elections. Our true social contract requires from each of us the willingness to defend the rights of all Malaysians – perhaps even at the expense of our own – for in that lies our true loyalty to the country of our birth and, in more ways than one, our only hope for the future. ● U-En Ng graduated in mediaeval languages and is a journalist. He is parliamentary sketchwriter for Malay Mail.

Source: Malay Mail – June 30, 2008