Tan Chee Khoon’s legacy shows politics need not be race-based, says Jomo
Tan Chee Khoon’s legacy shows politics need not be race-based, says Jomo
The economist says Malaysia’s political history has overlooked a pan-ethnic tradition that once brought people together across racial and party lines.
Speaking at a public forum marking 30 years since the death of the former opposition leader, Jomo said Malaysia’s political landscape had once been very different, with debates centred on competing ideas and visions for the country.
Jomo said Tan, who was involved with the (now defunct) Labour Party from its early days, was part of a broader progressive movement that was not defined by race.
“It was a different time which had different politics. The politics and the debates (then) were about different ideas and views of the world going forward,” he said.
“The opposition at that time was of a different character. The debates were about a different conception of the nation, and Tan was very much part of it,” he said.
According to Jomo, the strength of the left-wing movement before and after independence was often overlooked in Malaysia’s historical narrative.
He said one-third of workers in the country had once belonged to left-wing parties before such parties were banned in 1947 and 1948.
He also cited the 1958 local elections, when the Socialist Front won in Penang, and the 1962 election in Brunei, in which Parti Rakyat Brunei won 54 of 55 seats.
Jomo said Tan was one of only two Socialist Front MPs elected in the 1964 general election, at a time when many of his political comrades had been arrested and detained.
He said the repression of the Labour Party, Parti Rakyat Brunei and other progressive forces in the 1960s eventually changed the character of Malaysian politics.
Jomo said the period of repression in the mid-to-late 1960s was a decisive turning point.
“The point is that we basically see this era of politics intimately associated not only with Tan’s political career and political life, but basically that whole era was gone.
“By 1969, such politics was gone, and the politics of race was born.”
He said the shift towards ethnic politics should not be viewed as something that had always defined Malaysian politics, pointing out that most Malays in Peninsular Malaysia voted for the opposition in the 1969 elections.
Jomo also argued that this part of the country’s history had not been adequately reflected in official narratives, saying the way Malaysian history was subsequently presented had reinforced ethnic politics among successive generations.
“I’m sorry to tell you all this… (but) this history is not in the textbooks. This is not the history we know,” he said.
“This is extremely important for us to recognise and to remind ourselves that a full appreciation of Tan and what he stood for reminds us very profoundly that Malaysian politics used to involve a whole range of other issues.
“And most importantly, it was pan-ethnic. It was not as ethnicised in the way it has become.”
Jomo said a fuller appreciation of Tan’s political legacy would remind Malaysians that the country’s politics had once encompassed a much wider range of issues, urging the younger generation to build on that legacy.
Tan, who died in 1996 aged 80, was a medical doctor and an opposition politician known for his outspoken views, simple lifestyle and commitment to his political ideals.
He won the Batu parliamentary seat in the 1964 general election by just two votes after six recounts, becoming one of only two Socialist Front MPs elected that year.
He later helped form Gerakan, which he envisioned as a truly multiracial party.
Tan later became a prominent columnist with his “Without Fear or Favour” column, which provided a platform for dissenting views.
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