MALAYSIA, once touted as the best example of a multi-religious and multi-ethnic country, is now increasingly showing signs of becoming a hard-line Islamic state.

Once a model of moderation, the country seems to be turning ultraconservative under the weak leadership of Prime Minister Najib Razak and a politically weakened Umno, the dominant party in Barisan Nasional.

A weakened Umno is unable to assert itself against the seditious, intolerance and racist rants spewed by narrow-minded religious preachers and remains silent when such abuses are made by petty peddlers of prejudice.

And by its continued silence, BN is giving covert support to these fringe groups and losing the moral and political authority to prevent hard-liners from polarising the multi-ethnic and multi-religious population. 

Umno’s shrewd strategy to split PAS from Pakatan Rakyat and turn it into an ally has muted and blinded the conservative Islamic party towards the 1MDB, FGV and GST fiascos.

PAS, in turn, pushed Umno to support Abdul Hadi Awang’s private bill on amendments to the shariah courts which exposes the latter’s opportunistic but desperate state of affairs that it has fallen into.

A strong electoral performance by Umno in GE14 will result in PAS exerting pressure to table and adopt the amendments to the shariah bill RUU355.

The previous slogans on multiculturalism, multi-religious and multi-ethnic have now been exposed as mere cheap propaganda meant to hoodwink the gullible.

All efforts and resources allotted to foster and build national unity in the past 60 years have gone to waste. To divert attention from 1MDB, Felda and FGV, the increase in cost of living because of the GST and weak ringgit, Umno leaders are using highly sensitive race and religious issues to fan the fires of
bigotry.

Najib’s threat that the Chinese community would be the first target should Malaysia plunge into chaos is nothing new. Umno leaders have always held this line of thinking whenever they become politically vulnerable.

But in good times, like the recent high medal achievement in the Sea Games and during festivities, Umno leaders will praise all races for their hard work and tolerance.

But the same Umno leaders will spew racial and religious venom easily when they are in danger of being rejected.

Umno has never been this unpopular in its history and is in real danger of being rejected not by the Chinese but the Malays themselves.

Their leaders micro-manage race and religious relations with a stick-and-carrot trick. Race relations is a tool of Umno leaders to manipulate others when they want to show national unity and use the same racist rants to create suspicion and distrust among different ethnic communities.

But its saddening that no MCA or MIC leader has protested against this strategy or condemned it. Instead, to divert attention from the excesses of Umno, they find fault with DAP.

Even when narrow-minded preachers were delivering divisive and exclusive racial and religious hatred speeches, the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues did nothing to stamp them out from the start. Their silence implies tacit support.

While they maintained a dangerous silence, the sultans of Johor and later Selangor, fortunately, came forward to reprimand and condemn these narrow-minded and hateful speeches.

To add injury to insult, one deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office had the nerve to announce that the BN government is working towards making Malaysia an Islamic state.

No reprimand or rebuttal had come forth from Umno leaders or other BN component leaders to this announcement.

Umno, the longest ruling party, is finally losing its moral authority and legitimacy to continue leading the country. Its increasing reliance on religious hard-liners and racism to cling on to power is casting doubt on its ability to lead the country forward.

It seems, that Malaysia is hell-bent on marching into the past, without a care for the present or future. People see hope of development through technology and good governance and not through ideology. – October 25, 2017.

* S. Ramakrishnan is a former senator.

* 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.