A MEDIA statement made by former former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, “Nothing to fear being governed by Malay parties” (March 26) attracted my attention. It saddens me that after more than 65 years of our independence, Dr Mahathir continues with his divisive race based politics, through his new party, Pejuang.

To think that only one race can provide a balanced leadership when the country is multi-racial is truly a superficial observation by Dr Mahathir. 

Dr Mahathir had the opportunity to command the country for over two decades. Command he did, with much aggression, with a fully controlled media and no regard for dissent. Many of his good deputies, like Musa Hitam, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Anwar Ibrahim, fell on the wayside for having different opinions and perspectives from his.

It must be by pure coincidence that all these leaders happened to be Malays. Did Dr Mahathir give them any chance? Which Malay leaders has he set his vision on, this time round?

Abandoned by Malays

Dr Mahathir seems to be truly altruistic in his thinking for the Malays as his new party’s main base reflects. Is that because he knows that not many non-Malays trust and will support him?

Surely, he must have realised by now, that even the Malays have abandoned him and his party in droves. The sad truth is that they went back to Umno/Barisan Nasional.

As much as I disagree with his racist strategy, I feel sorry for him. After all those years as PM and experience in politics, it shows how much he has failed in his reading of the Malay lower income group, that form the bulk of the B40 group today.

The obvious question to ask our ex-PM is this, why despite your long years as PM, with all the government resources at your disposal, did you still fail to lift the living standards of your Malay group?

Is it because your target group kept shifting as you went along, and all the wealth was siphoned away by the political leaders and warlords that you created?

Or, was it due to the patronage system that you allowed to grow unimpeded so much so that today’s economic pie is controlled by a select few?

Today, contrary to your statement, most of the Malays are no longer living in rural areas and in secluded agriculture environments.

No thanks to you for abandoning the important agro-based sector for which the Malays were known to be associated with.

Modern Malays

The Malays took up the challenge on Dr Mahathir’s industrial policy that failed to materialise fully. They trusted the policy and migrated to urban centres.

Here, they found themselves caught in urban slums in your metropolitan sprawl, which they had no hands in drafting and planning in the first place.

Their dwellings are in a sorry state, and they endure the high cost of living with no quality of life for their families and children.

If this new party truly cares, it may like to ask, what do they do for recreation? Education has been very poor, social issues are aplenty and drug abuse is rampant.

The majority of them are toiling for pittance as the well known Malay proverb says “Kais pagi, makan pagi” (toil in the morning, eat in the morning) in a country whose wealth and projects are now controlled by corrupt Malay elites that your system has created and is responsible for.

The lower income Malays (B40 group) as well as the middle 40% (M40) are clueless and leaderless. They have suffered a great deal after being hoodwinked by politicians under the guise of  a Malay-based party, Malay leadership and the Malay agenda. That narrative never materilised.

What Malay agenda is this new party bringing this time? What new approach can the party bring to the table for these modern urban Malays? Through politics, this group has been stripped of their arts, culture and original traditions. 

Apart from racist and divisive policies like the New Economic Policy, which I don’t think many Malaysians would give the time of day, what else could this party offer?

We all know that it is not about race but leadership, which this country lacks. So does this party.

Dr Mahathir has demonstrated that fact during his political sunset, he has never truly understood or reconnected with these groups of Malays. It’s not about race anymore, or between ruling class Malays and the non-Malays still called migrants.

It’s not about Malay leaders allowing others to do business. It’s not about Malays versus British administrators. Nobody knows or remembers that anymore. Mahathir’s narrative on this is rather outdated.

It’s about our urban living environment that is taxing, congested and with a high cost of living. It’s about the lack of job opportunities and how to pay for living expenses. This cuts across for Malaysians, not just Malays, though they may suffer more especially those with no skills.

Today’s Malaysia is about our plural society, the need to be secular, united and moving forward as Malaysians. It’s all about assisting the B40 in urban areas, it’s that simple. Not a complicated matter at all.

It goes to show how disconnected he is with the progressive, multiracial young Malaysians of today.

Not many people get a second bite at the cherry. But Dr Mahathir, despite all his shortcomings, did get a chance to do so in May of 2018.

It only lasted for 22 months, as he finally succumbed to political ruthlessness and was outmaneuvered within his own gameplan, by his own people, whom he trusted, the infamous Sheraton rats.

Any leader worth his salt today, would have learned from this bizarre episode. As some politicians have said, Malay unity is a myth. Malaysia must go for reforms, must dismantle race-based parties before it is too late. – March 28, 2022.

* Rosli Khan reads the Malaysian Insight.

* 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.