HATE speech and race-baiting could be the new, dangerous normal with the recent marriage of Umno and PAS and the recent Malay Dignity Congress setting the tone for Malay fascism, historian and political commentator James Chin said.

In an article on Asia Dialogue, Chin cautioned that the link-up of two Malay parties in the name of racial unity could normalise racism and religious bigotry while the attendance of influential Malay figures from across the political spectrum at an event with racial overtones was vindication of racists.

“The overriding fear among non-Muslims in Malaysia now is that the Umno/PAS charter normalises hate speech towards minorities. This charter sends a powerful message to religious right-wing groups in Malaysia that it is open season on non-Malays. The charter’s message seems to be: Malaysia is for Malays and Muslims only,” he said.

“I did not expect my prediction to come true so quickly.”

On October 6 at the Malay Dignity Congress, the main organiser Zainal Kling said in his opening speech that Malaysia was for Malays and those who sought to break the “social contract” and Islam’s position as the official religion had to be brought down.

“He even threatened non-Malays that if they opposed the ‘social contract’ then the Malays should suspend it; i.e. suspend citizenship for non-Malays.”

The entire speech would be regarded as hate speech in some countries, he said.

“The message is loud and clear: non-Malays who wish to call themselves Malaysians must subscribe to the ideology of ‘ketuanan Melayu’ and thus accept their lot as second-class citizens.”

Chin explained that the “social contract” Zainal referred was the quid pro quo agreement reached during negotiations leading to Malaya’s independence in 1957.

James said a version of the events had it that the non-Malay leaders in the Malayan Alliance had agreed to the concept of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) in return for citizenship for the non-Malays.

“Reputable historians of Malaya do not have a consensus on this issue. There are no historical records or official papers to show that the non-Malay Alliance leaders explicitly agreed to Malay supremacy forever in return for citizenship. Private papers of the leaders who were at the negotiating table are crystal clear, however, that there was no explicit notion of Malay supremacy in perpetuity.”

“Moreover, the term ‘social contract’ was not even used during the negotiations in the 1950s. Its first usage was in 1986, when Abdullah Ahmad, former political secretary to Abdul Razak, Malaysia’s second prime minister.”

“Despite doubt surrounding its origins, the term ‘social contract’ is now widely used in Malaysia, and the common understanding of the social contract is Ketuanan Melayu = citizenship for non-Malays. In other words, equal citizenship will never be available to the non-Malay population, not now and not ever. The idea of the social contract is used every time Malay politicians want to defend discriminatory policies against non-Malays. In other words, the present non-Malay generation must pay for the sins of their forefathers.”

Other than playing up racial sentiments, Chin said the Malay congress also sent a clear message to prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim – that they do not want the Port Dickson MP to replace Dr Mahathir as the head of the country.

“The only (important) party leader missing was Anwar Ibrahim, leader of PKR. He was missing from the event because he was not invited; the invitation went to his deputy Azmin Ali instead. This was an open snub by the right-wing Malay establishment, indicating that they do not want Anwar to be the next prime minister,” the Asian Studies director at Tasmania University wrote.

Umno and PAS were gaining traction by employing scare tactics using race and religion and if Bersatu, PKR and Amanah do not use the same “racial rhetoric”, they will lose the Malay ground overnight.

“The school of realpolitik says that Harapan must win a second term in 2023 to carry out real reforms. Real reforms will not be possible if Harapan loses in the next general election. It is the Malay polity who will decide who will be the winner in 2023, and the scare tactic employed by PAS/Umno is gaining traction in the heavily Malay-populated rural areas,” he wrote, referring to ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan.

“Once you let the genie of hate speech and race-baiting out of the bottle, it is not possible to put it back in. There are a lot of impressionable young Malays in the community who have become indoctrinated in the racist ideology.”

That is the ultimate Malaysian tragedy.” – October 19, 2019.