One of the mistakes which some political analysts make is to think that their enemies should be our enemies.
– Nelson Mandela, South African prisoner of conscience
The point made by Nelson Mandela refers to a system of conditioning where mistakes, myths and mischief are translated into animosity for an unknown entity.
One rare, powerfully inspiring and honest book is “The Colour of Inequality”, written by a Malaysian — Muhammad Abdul Khalid. He minced no words, offered no apologies while calling a spade a spade. He did better than a dozen historians and academics with this masterpiece.
The greatest misfortune that any nation faces is the mistakes and miscalculations of the past that inevitably dictate the present and decide the future. This is the price citizens face with the intoxication and suffocation of inequality.
Historians, journalists and academics claim that the “special position of the Malays and the Natives of Sabah and Sarawak” proviso in Article 153 was included in the Federal Constitution because the immigrant Chinese and Indian workers accepted the “compromise” of gaining Malayan citizenship.
Compromise does not translate to cooperation. Then came the May 13, 1969 political riots dubbed forever as race riots by past politicians that threatens the present and future relations between all the ethnic communities in heterogeneous Malaysia.
But in 1957, a good six years before the formation of Malaysia, the “special position” of the Natives of Sabah and Sarawak must have been in the minds of some movers and shakers who had a distant plan and a viable vision that wrought MA63.
The “special position” for the Aborigines of Malaya is not included in Article 153, but is peculiarly enumerated in the Ninth Schedule, Federal List, section 16 as “Welfare of the aborigines,” supposedly meaning the Orang Asli of Malaya.
Then comes the cry for national unity by inexperienced old-timers in the nuances of cooperation. How does one achieve national unity with the concurrence of every stakeholder in heterogenous Malaysia is impossible to obtain given the stakes.
Historians claim that the Malays in British Malaya preferred fishing and farming in the rural areas. Well, that is a cultural and socioeconomic choice. The same historians claim that Malays were not too enthused or excited about working in the tin mines and rubber plantations.
The conniving profit-driven “colonial masters” decided to import labour from China and India to work the mines and plantations where communist regimes and poverty prevailed, respectively.
The original sin, or in this context, the original mistake was already gaining a stronghold with the British foothold as Advisors to the Rulers and Administrators of colonial government. Anti-colonial uprisings in Perak, Selangor, Kelantan and Terengganu, reportedly in the 1930s, were designed to correct and create more mistakes.
But profits claimed prominence and priority. The British saw profits in the natural resources of Malaya. Nothing else mattered. Cooperation, compromises, conspiracies and controversies were destined as material for history.
Will the Madani government correct the past, present and future mistakes and planned mischief? Entertaining the Taliban education entourage, offering help to Palestinians, screaming about a rocky island, and other incendiary pursuits are shameful and futile.
Winston Churchill allegedly remarked that “capitalism is the unequal distribution of wealth, and socialism is the equal distribution of poverty.” Well, it certainly rings true in Malaysia since the NEP assumed power in the 1970s.
The mistakes and mischief wrought by the colonial manipulators have been compounded by race and religion. We have had fifteen elections, but nothing has changed. It has gotten worse. Nobody seems to care. The rule of law stays impotent.
Government is a system of societal control. Control is acceptable and necessary but not when it goes out of control and goes berserk in its policy making decisions. That problem is like an incurable festering wound.
Absence of government is anarchy. Fear-mongers make it sound evil. But think about it for a while. How did people survive a thousand years ago without organised chaos (government) manifesting corruption, nepotism and legalised discrimination?
“Anarchism seeks a very specific kind of anarchy: free societies based on the principles of mutual aid and free participation that reject all forms of political and economic exploitation,” remarked Jason Laningin a recent study.
Imagine if each Malayan state decides to be on its own without leaving the Federation? A sort of autonomy without federalism? Wouldn’t that be a form of controlled anarchy where comity and cooperation between the states would suffice?
This may be the ultimate solution if the federal government refuses to bring about change and reform. Past mistakes, myths and mischief — now being recycled — need to be strangled until its evil life is permanently snuffed out.
Reforms and institutional garbage riddance is akin to bringing down the bad fruits without uprooting the tree — unless its roots are rotting and threatening to bring the tree down.
We need a strong government — one that under-promises and over-delivers. We need a reliable government that underscores the importance of every citizen regardless of race, religion and region.
Our Rulers have been very proactive in warning and advising government to do the right thing. When Barisan Nasional’s grip weakened circa May 2018, we Malaysians were jubilant.
That jubilance lasted 22 months when old-school men and women could not deliver. Social, domestic and individual reform is the new norm. Don’t say “no”, say “now”!
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune
