Malay unity: what Dr M must realise

Malay unity: what Dr M must realise


4 HOURS AGO
Letter to the Editor


The former prime minister should admit that the rot in Umno began under his own leadership

From P Ramasamy


Former two-time prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad should not regret failing to unite the Malays in the country.

He is sad that the failure of the Malays to unite will mean that the country slips away from their grasp.

Mahathir, however well-meaning in his quest for Malay unity, fails to realise that the political circumstances that once brought the Malays together might no longer exist.

The forces that propelled the Malays to unite under Umno were opposition to the Malayan Union plan, the need to prepare for independence, and the perception of a threat from the non-Malays.

With independence, Umno emerged as the sole representative of the Malays to govern the country based on a consociational arrangement with MCA and MIC, the lesser partners in the Alliance coalition.

Umno’s emergence and consolidation under the larger coalition of Barisan Nasional (BN) in the immediate aftermath of the May 13 incident resulted in the party’s pre-eminent political role.

Unfortunately, there was a downside to Umno’s political hegemony.

Unchecked political power resulted in Umno leaders indulging in corruption, money laundering, and other abuses.

It was only a matter of time before joining Umno was seen not as a safeguard for Malay interests, but as a road to fame and fortune.

It was the ignominy of Umno’s excesses that drove many Malays to support PAS, whose political representation was organised under the banner of Islam.

Mahathir can bemoan the lack of unity among the Malays, but he should also be willing to admit that the rot in Umno began under his own leadership.

Umno might have been a strong party under Mahathir in the 1980s, 1990s, and beyond, but internal dissensions over positions and access to economic gains could not prevent the party’s political deterioration.

These dissensions created fissures within Umno, resulting in the formation of other Malay-based parties such as Bersatu and Pejuang.

Ironically, it was Mahathir himself who was behind the formation of Bersatu and Pejuang.

The proliferation of Malay political parties might not necessarily reflect a lack of Malay unity, but rather the result of the Malays becoming better educated, alongside the emergence of professional and entrepreneurial classes, and not least the rise of a political elite critical of the existing Malay leadership in both the ruling and opposition coalitions.

It is only natural that Mahathir longs for the days when there was one dominant Malay party, namely Umno.

Umno still retains a degree of attraction among the Malays, but its heyday is over.

Whether Umno can return to its former glory remains uncertain.

I do not agree with Mahathir that the difficulty of the Malays uniting under one political umbrella spells disaster for the community.

In this age of modernity, democracy, and pluralism, the Malays have both the choice and the right to decide on their political representation.

Gone are the days when the Malays blindly followed the dictates of their leaders.

Even if the Malays are politically divided, they remain firmly in control of government agencies, the civil service, the labour force, the armed forces, and other important institutions.

To claim that the Malays are going to lose out is to deny the tremendous achievements they have made over the decades in the fields of economy, finance, investments, and beyond.



P Ramasamy is the chairman of Urimai and a former Penang deputy chief minister.