Malaysia's Races Live Peacefully -- But Separately
Yahoo! News
By the Agence France Presse
Sun, Aug 28, 2005, 5:52 PM ET
Malaysia bills itself as a model of peaceful multiculturalism, but despite nearly half a century of nationhood, the races that make up its population have never been further apart.
Separate schools, separate friends, separate social lives -- Malaysia marks 48 years of independence Wednesday but many citizens lament the lack of ties between majority Malays and the Chinese and Indians living alongside them.
One of them is 24-year-old ethnic Chinese Kathleen Chong, a recent graduate of the University Putra Malaysia who says it pains her to see the widespread racial polarisation on campus -- a microcosm of the national picture.
"The various races only mix among themselves. There is very little interaction," she says. "Please, let us enjoy true racial unity in Malaysia. We need to stop the growing tide of division."
Chong admits that she too stuck with her Chinese friends for classes, activities and meals. "This is what every other race does in the campus."
Malaysia's population of 25 million people is dominated by some 60 percent Muslim Malays. Chinese and Indians, who began migrating here in the early 19th century, make up 26 percent and 8.0 percent respectively.
Without doubt, Malaysia has enjoyed relative racial harmony compared to neighbouring Indonesia, where deadly anti-Chinese race riots struck as recently as 1998, during the Asian financial crisis.
The government does not impose any restrictions on minority races, who are free to practice their own culture, religion and education.
But despite the veneer, years of positive discrimination towards the Malays, designed to address the yawning economic gap with the Chinese community which dominates business, have taken their toll.
Tang Ah Chai, chief executive officer with the Chinese Assembly Hall, a non-profit social organisation, says racial interaction is declining because the minority races feel they are being pushed aside.
"Overall, the people live in harmony but there is some degree of tension due to the feeling of being discriminated against," he told AFP, adding that "some politicians wipe up this tension to advance their political ambitions."
And the minority groups are not the only ones concerned. Hilmi Abdul Rashid, a state assemblyman with the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in northern Penang state says the lack of interaction is a serious problem.
"The young generation are not mixing as much as the older generation. I am worried now. We need to address the issue immediately," he told AFP.
UMNO is the dominant party in the National Front coalition which has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957. The coalition is a grouping of more than a dozen mainly race-based parties including Chinese and Indian groups.
Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was sacked and jailed in 1998, has caused a stir by proposing to reform the political landscape which he says is straining national harmony.
"We need to appeal to the Malays, Chinese and the Indians and the rest that we need to go beyond race-based politics. If you continue to harp and support this racial equation, you will never be able to overcome racial divisions," he says.
Scholars and politicians warn that the existing peace and harmony in the country must not be taken for granted and have pressed for a national convention to identify a strategy towards a united Malaysian race.
Education and language is one of the most visible signs of the problem. Most Chinese and Indians send their children to Mandarin- and Tamil-language schools while the Malays attend national institutions.
The government has in recent years established "visionary schools" where students share sports fields, assembly halls and canteens, but conduct classes in their own languages. But the initiative has failed to get off the ground, partly because of a fear of a loss of identity among Chinese.
A military-style national service program for 18-year-old youths was introduced last year with the aim of boosting racial integration. Students are chosen at random and taken to camps for up to three months in the hope they will learn team work and absorb each other's culture.
But the scheme has been plagued with problems, including reports of race-based fighting, riots and extortion which have prompted opposition politicians to call for it to be suspended.
P. Ramasamy, political science lecturer at the National University of Malaysia and an ethnic Indian, describes race relations in Malaysia as "pretty bad".
As evidence he cites the UMNO general assembly last month, where powerful youth wing leader Hishammuddin Hussein held aloft a keris, a traditional Malay weapon, while his supporters chanted "Long Live Malays".
"What message did they intend to communicate to the Chinese and Indians in the country. Are they saying, if you challenge us, we will impose violence?" he asks.
Ramasamy said Hishammuddin's call for the revival of the affirmative action plan known as the New Economic Policy, which for two decades from 1970 gave ethnic Malays a range of advantages, is a step backwards for race relations.
"They are using the issue of race for their own political and economic purposes," he says.
The New Economic Policy was introduced following deadly racial clashes in 1969, mainly between the Malays and the Chinese.
Its aim was to eradicate poverty and restructure society irrespective of race but after 35 years, the Chinese continue to dominate the economy, Malays have moved up the social ladder and control politics, while the Indians have emerged as the new poor.
By 2004, Malays held just 19 percent of national equity, up from 2.4 percent in 1970, but well short of an official goal of 30 percent.
Anwar has also attacked the New Economic Policy, saying it has only served to feed corruption and cronyism in the government.
"Who are the guys who benefit from the NEP. They are the richest of the Malays. They are not protecting the interest of the poor Malay. They are only protecting their own interests," he told AFP.
Copyright © 2005 Agence France Presse
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