No hope for PSM in nation hooked on hopium

FMT:

No hope for PSM in nation hooked on hopium


Unlike some parties which check to see if the people affected are members of their race or religion before committing themselves, PSM enters the fray on the principle that these are Malaysians

Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) decision to stay out of the loose opposition coalition announced by Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin on Aug 18 shows its resolve to stay above the politics of race and religion.

PSM chairman Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj rightly noted that many of the parties that Muhyiddin had put together played on ethnic issues.


“Whether it’s the Malay parties or the Indian parties, they play on ethnic issues. We feel very uncomfortable in a coalition that does that,” FMT quoted him as saying on Aug 19.

Muhyiddin had said that 11 opposition parties had agreed to form a loose coalition to hold the government accountable and to pressure Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to carry out his reform pledges.


The 11 are: Bersatu, PAS, Gerakan, Pejuang, Muda, the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP), Putra, Berjasa, Urimai, the Malaysian Advancement Party (MAP) and the National Indian Muslim Alliance Party (Iman).

Except perhaps for Muda and Gerakan, the rest of the parties mentioned are heavily into race or religion. And Gerakan is multiracial largely on paper.

Over the years, PSM has proved to be a principled party: it has never been interested in power by all means or any means.

And by not joining the 11 others in this loose coalition, it has again shown that it does not want power if it means pandering to race or religion.


In May, a report quoted political analysts as suggesting that PSM rebrand itself to improve its political standing, especially among the Malays.

PSM deputy chairman S Arutchelvan, acknowledging that the party lacked Malay support, asked: “PSM can instantly become the champion of one ethnicity but fail to be champion of all. Is this the kind of rebranding which PSM needs, which other race-based parties are very capable of?

“Should PSM shelve its grassroots work, which other parties don’t do, and only focus on sensational issues that can instantly put us in the limelight?”

Arutchelvan – who is always jumping to the defence of the small man, the downtrodden Malaysian – is right about grassroots work. Party members have never been afraid to roll up their sleeves and wade into the mud – both figuratively and metaphorically – in order to help people on the ground, even getting arrested in the process.

At the risk of being thought of as a PSM backer or of exaggerating, I have to say that if there is a problem for the common man or underdog, PSM is almost always there.

For instance, commenting on the government’s proposed Urban Renewal Act (URA) in April, Jeyakumar noted that the proposed legislation provided compensation for property owners forced to sell their property but ignored the fact that a significant number of residents in rundown housing units did not own the units.

“They are poor families which have sought out residences with low rentals because they cannot afford rental elsewhere. The URA talks about compensating the owners of these properties but is silent about the housing needs of the impoverished families that are renting units. This omission must be rectified,” he said.

For instance, last October, the party collected 10,000 signatures calling on the government to introduce a pension scheme for senior citizens in the 2025 budget. “We are doing this because we understand how difficult it is for senior citizens who do not have savings and those who have to rely on their children for financial support,” Jeyakumar said.

For instance, PSM members joined a farmer’s protest in Perak last October after the farmers were given one week to clear out of their farms as these were situated on land owned by the Perak Development Corporation.

And unlike some other parties which check to see if the people affected are members of their race or religion before committing themselves, PSM enters the fray on the principle that these are Malaysians.

Also, unlike leaders of some parties who have been arrested for inciting hatred or making racist or extremist remarks or threats, PSM leaders have been arrested in relation to protests demanding better treatment for the poor and disenfranchised.

Again, unlike most other parties, PSM is a poor party and depends largely on volunteers. Corporations and rich businessmen are willing to pour in money to some of the major parties during elections but not PSM because it champions the workers and demands higher basic wages for them.

PSM refuses to cosy up to big business. So, it remains a poor party for the poor man.

It is obvious from election results that PSM does not have sufficient support to win any seat – whether parliamentary or state – on its own.

This is largely because the entire Malaysian political edifice has been largely built on racial considerations, and, in recent years, increasingly on religious considerations.

It is unfortunate that many Malaysian voters have not attained the maturity to vote for principled parties or principled politicians.

The majority are easily persuaded by racial and religious rhetoric to vote for candidates of their own race or religion; or to vote for those who make lofty promises and offer them hopium – a slang term combining “hope” and “opium” which means having an unrealistically optimistic outlook.

And like the drug addict who is constantly searching for drugs, most Malaysian voters are hooked on hopium.

In their constant search for some major party or other to fulfil their hopes and dreams of a truly united and progressive Malaysia, voters – – again and again dismissing past disappointments – become unrealistically hopeful.