AFTER Cameron Highlands, both Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional were quick to claim victory of some form or other. BN won the seat and claimed first spot in putting an Orang Asli in parliament, three years after its Orang Asli appointment in the Dewan Negara, YB Senator Isa Abdul Hamid, failed to impress. BN also quickly claimed that this was evidence that the party was now back on track, and that PH has failed in this referendum of sorts, as it had failed to represent Malay-Muslim interests effectively.

PH, despite conceding defeat, was quick to blame BN for playing up racial issues, and equally eager to point out it had increased its Orang Asli support base.

Policies and national issues aside, it would appear BN chose a better candidate, strategically speaking. While M. Manogaran was a known local with a strong service record, Ramli Mohd Nor was marketed as a three-in-one candidate appealing to the three voter blocs of Muslims, civil servants and Orang Asli.  

If anything, the Cameron Highlands by-election demonstrated that, eight months into Malaysia Baru, the battle lines of politics are still very much drawn along racial and religious issues. We have not yet been able to move the national narrative into an issue-based one.

As if to make things worse, PAS and Umno’s here-but-not-really-there-yet alignment finally appears to have borne fruit, and looks set to only take an even more concrete form in the coming Semenyih by elections, and a victory there, looks like a dealmaker in permanently solidifying their pact.

PAS and Umno have both denied playing the race card, and even if, by a long, unbelievable shot, they didn’t, a pact between two of Malaysia’s largest political parties, one driven by race and the other by religion, presents in itself an unhealthy political imbalance between government and opposition. In the Malaysian context, the historical multiracial, multi-religious political pacts that we have had thus far ensure every community’s needs are represented at all levels of government.

It also acts as checks and balances against any extreme agenda, and forces all parties to adopt a middle ground. When you abandon one voter bloc in favour of political expedience, and can afford to forego their concerns and no longer need to assuage their fears, you create fertile soil for racial politics.

Race-based politics is a no-brainer. It’s fast, cheap, lazy, hard to challenge, has a wide reach, and once a racial or religious idea is planted in the minds of the people, the imprint is difficult to wash off. At this point, it doesn’t even matter if the party leadership officially takes a stand or not, as you have already opened the path for grassroots leaders to fire up their followers with incendiary speeches and other low common denominators to gain ground rapidly.

Never mind the devastating trail it leaves behind.

One can argue that some in the present government did the same with smear campaigns against Rosmah and Najib, or Khir Toyo or Khairy Jamaluddin, but the war has never been against an entire race or religion the way that Christians or Chinese are now bundled together with DAP, Communists, and an anti-Islamic agenda.  Even Hindraf was careful to make clear that its  problem was with Umno, repeatedly emphasising that it did not have an issue with Malays or Muslims.

PH should not expect this political narrative to cease anytime soon, and for the sake of both national unity and its own political well-being, it needs to shift the focus of mainstream politics from a race-and-religious based one to one that emphasises national issues.

Issues such as illegal temples, can be broadened into building codes, and issues like Israeli swimmers can be tackled as one of war and human rights. There is no need to turn every issue into a sensitive one, rather quite the opposite. That way, actually addressing the issues also becomes a priority, instead of quickly sweeping them under the carpet. – January 30, 2019.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.