Asia Times: ANALYSIS: 30 years on, ethnic ties on firmer footing



	June 03, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

ANALYSIS: 30 years on, ethnic ties on firmer footing
By Anil Netto

PENANG, Malaysia - Three decades after communal riotsrocked the country, Malaysians can take comfort in the fact thatethnic relations in this multi-racial nation are on much firmerfooting.

Although the country's New Economic Policy seeking to helpboost the economic clout of ethnic Malays remains in place, recent trendsindicate a greater ability to by people to cross racial barriers.

Malaysia's politics have often been divided along ethnic lines,but even this appears to be changing.

The September 1998 ouster and assault of deputy prime ministerAnwar Ibrahim, now serving a jail term for corruption, changed thecomplexion of inter-ethnic relations. The episode left manyMalaysians of all ethnic groups deeply disturbed.

Such sentiments made possible political alliances among groupsthat used to work separately, making opposition to the governmentof Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad weak.

The common platform that the ethnic Chinese-led DemocraticAction Party (DAP) and the Islamic Parti Islam Semalaysia (PAS) party have formed onjustice and human rights - with keADILan, the party led byAnwar's wife Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail bridging the yawning gap inideology - have broken down many ethnic barriers.

Indeed, some say it has fueled a new sense of what beingMalaysian is all about.

Half of Malaysia's 22 million people are Malay, 10 percent aremembers of non-Malay indigenous groups, 30 percent ethnic Chinese and the remainder are Indians and members of other groups.

Still, the opposition DAP's recent revival of its ''MalaysianMalaysia'' vision and the government's strong reaction against ithighlight the opposing ideologies on a common ''Malaysianidentity."

The controversy flared at about the same time a minister wassharply criticized for suggesting that Wan Azizah's Chineseheritage made her unfit to lead the Malays, who dominate her newmulti-ethnic keADILan or National Justice Party.

While this shows the touchiness of ethnic issues, it also demonstrates thepotential for change.

It is, after all, a long way from the 1969 communal riots thatshook Kuala Lumpur and other urban areas in the aftermath of aclosely contested general election fought on the emotional issuesof education and language. Scores died in the May 13, 1969 riots.

In the 1960s, the Malays, who had weaker economic clout thanother groups, viewed Chinese Malaysian gains in the 1969 generalelection as a threat.

Non-Malay politicians, for their part, appeared insensitive toMalay fears of being pushed to the margins of the mainstreameconomy and losing their political dominance.

The May 1969 riots left a deep scar in the collective psyche ofMalaysians. Today, few want to talk about that fateful day, thememories being perhaps too painful for the older generation even asthose below 35 remain blissfully ignorant.

The only exception occurs during general election campaigns,when ruling coalition politicians routinely raise the specter ofMay 13 to draw votes for ''stability."

Looking back, however, three decades of impressive economicgrowth and the ruling coalition's realization of the importanceof non-Malay votes have largely doused the flames of racism and healed most of the wounds of May 13.

Today, ethnic Malays, Chinese, Indians and other indigenousgroups live as neighbors and work side-by-side. ''Our politicalenvironment has changed,'' observed DAP deputy secretary-generalChong Eng. ''It is not as racial."

She says Malaysians of various races look at one anotherdifferently than they did in the 1970s, and society is more ease discussing issues openly. Still, this change has not been easy.

After May 13, 1969, the constitution was amended to forbid anyparty from raising ''sensitive'' issues, such as the ''specialposition'' of the ethnic Malays, the position of the Malay sultans,the status of Malay as the official language and Islam as theofficial religion and the citizenship rights of non-Malays.

These amendments dimmed the DAP's hopes of a ''MalaysianMalaysia'' society in which Malaysians of all ethnic groups wouldhave equal opportunities on a merit-based, level playing field.

In 1970, the government introduced the New Economic Policy(NEP) with affirmative action policies for the Malays. Specialquotas, licenses, and share allocations not only propelled manypoor Malays into the middle class, but turned an elite group ofalready well-off Malays into millionaires.

For the first time, the terms ''bumiputra'' (literally ''princeof the earth,'' meaning indigenous) and ''non-bumiputra'' werecoined.

That dichotomy and the NEP quotas in education and businesstriggered much silent resentment among non-Malays. Still, withnationalization of industry, the Chinese Malaysian capitalistclass increased its share of market capitalization.

By the end of the NEP period, the government had moved toliberalize education and culture, placating non-Malay fears andeven drawing their votes.

''Generally, society has become more open,'' said Chong Eng.''And differences in culture and belief will enrich our nationalculture."

The maintenance of a multi-cultural fabric is often called anachievement of the Mahathir government, under whose rule Malaysiaunderwent an economic boom that changed lives in less than ageneration.

Analysts also contrast the Malaysian picture with that of itsneighbor Indonesia, racked by violence among different ethnic,religious and social groups.

Others attribute racial harmony to Malaysians' ''live andlet live'' attitude.

''While there might be some grievances over the specialprivileges of the Malays, there is no way anybody today will everthink of harming other Malaysians because of this,'' stated socialreformer Jubal Lourdes. ''Malaysians have grown to accept it."

Attempts to forge a Malaysian identity have sometimes beenthwarted by politicians who use communal issues to projectthemselves as champions of their politcal parties and to divertattention away from real issues.

But changes over the years are making the country's ethnicgroups more integrated than ever.

For instance, support for the government traditionally used tocome mainly from the Malays while the opposition drew its supportlargely from the ranks of the non-Malays and Muslims who wanted anIslamic state.

But today, both sides of the political divide are more multi-ethnic than ever. This makes it harder for politicians to harp on communal issues.

(Inter Press Service)

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