What March 8 represented, however, is that racial issues are no longer the defining concern of many Malaysians. A Chinese woman might vote for a Pas candidate, but that's not because she endorses the party's position on the role of religion in government. It's just that she has more important things to worry about, like not being a victim of crime.
Pakatan Rakyat must make sure all its elected representatives understand this. For instance, ISA detainee Manoharan wasn't voted in to further the Hindraf cause. Nor was Zulkifli Nordin elected so he can serve his narrow agenda. They were both voted in on a multiracial platform to serve the needs of their respective constituencies.
It is important for Pakatan Rakyat to remember this because its political rivals are desperate and out of ideas. So once again, they are pitting Malaysians against one another, hoping at the very least to make life difficult for the fledgling state governments.
Barely days after the elections, opportunistic politicians were already looking for racial issues to exploit, and this being Malaysia, there have been many. The danger is for Pakatan leaders to respond to these issues on the terms framed by their opponents, which very often centres around race and religion. Unfortunately, several have already fallen for the trap, leaving some voters wondering if politics in Malaysia will ever change.
With the Umno nominations going on, it's not surprising this week has already had its share of ugly racial politics. Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim's decision to appoint Low Siew Moi as PKNS interim general manager is being met by stiff opposition from the staff, members of his own government and, of course, Umno Proof, if ever it was needed, that there's a simple reason why non-Malays aren't keen on working for the government or corporations linked to it.
PKNS was formed in 1964 to develop Selangor. But this week, we discovered instead that it is "established for Malays and to fulfil the Malay agenda," as stated in a joint memorandum from staff against the appointment of Low. Disappointingly, the media failed to correct this blatant misrepresentation.
Khalid's rationale for picking Low, who has been in PKNS for more than three decades, is because he thinks she is the ideal person to help clean up the mess. "People are angry because we changed the people, but are they not angry about the billions lost? Which is better? Think about this," he was quoted as saying.
For this I think he deserves credit for taking his job as Menteri Besar seriously. If he was just fooling around like the past few MBs, then I think it would be much easier for him to make ethnicity a litmus test, as his detractors are calling him to do. Besides, as he points out, between 2004 and 2007, 75 per cent of all development projects were given to non-Malays. Where was the outrage then?
Up in Penang, Umno has chosen to take issue with the state government's addition of other languages on several road signs, even though the national language continues to be the main language used. Conveniently ignored is the fact that there are plenty of road signs in Kuala Lumpur that have English and Arabic. Evidently, these champions of the national language are merely trying to incite anger or fear from the Malay community for their own political gains.
Politicians like to behave as if issues of race and religion are a zero sum game. In other words, for one race or religion to succeed, another has to lose. For too long, Malaysians have bought into that lie, causing us to be suspicious of — or scheme against — one another. But the rejection of unfair or ill-conceived policies isn't always guided by self-interest. Sometimes it's about wanting this country we all love to progress, becoming more tolerant, confident and just.
Malaysians rejected the Barisan Nasional in record numbers in the past election. So why are some Pakatan representatives following a weakened Umno by going backwards, instead of being leaders themselves, and taking Malaysia forward?
This group of "malay" will always manipulate issues using (1)the religion, (2)the racial rights and even bringing in (3)the Sultan as excuses to stay on power.....to dominate other minority groups...Is this what your religion taught YOU?????
Recently, the Cheras UMNO branch argued that to challenge Utusan Malaysia is to challenge Malay, to challenge Malay is to challenge Sultan, to challenge Sultan is to challenge Islam......same issues over and over again..They refuse to see the real issue on the misreporting on the part of Utusan Malaysia, but using these old tactics to gain cheap publicity and become instant "malay" hero.......The problem is there are too many of these cheap and "bangsat" politicians in UMNO....