Pakatan faces tough battle to make race a non-issue in GE14

Sheridan Mahavera Sheridan Mahavera Updated 6 years ago · Published on 16 Feb 2018 7:00AM · 8 Comments

Many Malays still fear the prospect of the Chinese taking over the reins of government. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, February 16, 2018.

MAZLAN Bujang and Abbas Azmi are two front-line soldiers in the fight against those who use racism and religious incitement among Malay-Muslim voters in the run-up 14th general election.

Both belong to Pakatan Harapan who are trying to make GE14 a referendum on corruption and cost of living, rather than a fight about Malay supremacy and Islam, which Umno and PAS want the electoral contest to be about.

Mazlan is the Tebrau Bersatu chief in Johor and Abbas is Selangor Amanah Youth chief. Both of these states are key battlegrounds in GE14.  

Despite some progress they have made among Malay Muslims, surveys reveal that it will still be an uphill battle for them and PH to overcome racial sentiments that have been entrenched among the community.  

Pollster Merdeka Centre programme director Ibrahim Suffian said a study last year found that Malay rights still topped the list of important concerns of a Malay voter.

He said 37.4% of Malays listed Malay rights as important to them. About 17% listed leadership and another 13.1% said economic performance were important criteria for them during elections.

Another 32.6% said government and service delivery were important to them.

“Our political culture still uses race and religion…to mobilise political support,” he said when presenting the results at a forum last year.

The rural Malay Muslim vote is considered a key voting bloc in GE14, which PH believes will determine whether the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional stays in power.

PH has been aggressively campaigning among rural Malays to trigger at least a 5% swing, which it believes will allow it to take over Putrajaya.

According to Merdeka Centre, average Malay Muslim support for BN in the 13th general election was 60.39%.

Much of the support for PH parties DAP and PKR came from urban areas, where they won the most seats on the back of more than 80% of votes from Chinese Malaysians and between 60% and 70% support from Indian voters.

To sway Malay Muslims, PH has named former Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad as its prime minister-designate should it win GE14.

Race as a weapon 

Abbas believes that ‎Muslims are able to see through how religious issues are used as political tools. The most well-known is the bill to enhance punishments for shariah offences, commonly known as RUU355.  

“Attempts to stoke religious sentiment are not as successful as when the bill was first tabled because Muslims have seen through them. But race is still a strong factor,” he said.  

Mazlan, on the other hand, still has to deal with racial sentiments when he meets working-class Malays in small group  sessions.

“I bring up issues such as the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) scandal and how it affects the average Malaysian through new taxes such as the GST (goods and services tax),” Mazlan told The Malaysian Insight.

“But a common response I get is that they fear that if Malays vote for the opposition, DAP and the Chinese will take over the country.”

This narrative was crystallised at the last Umno general assembly and has become the party’s main weapon against PH, which comprises Bersatu, Amanah, PKR and DAP.  

Another analyst Hisommudin Bakar said this narrative is being increasingly hyped up by Umno activists in their attempts to secure the Malay vote in GE14.

This is since cost of living concerns and the GST have hit ordinary Umno supporters in the pocket and party division leaders fear a backlash during the polls, Hisommudin of the think tank Ilham Centre said.

“So, they play up the claim that Dr Mahathir is in cahoots with DAP, which wants to take away Malay rights, so that their supporters won’t be swayed by Tun,” said Hisommudin.   

For now, whether Malay anger over bread and butter issues will make them see past this fear is hard to gauge, said Hisommudin.

But Mazlan the Johor Bersatu leader is optimistic.

“Some Malays will say that it is okay for Umno to be corrupt because, in the end, it’s still a Malay who gets rich,” said Mazlan recounting some of the feedback he gets from Malays.

“So, I ask them if a thief comes into your house, do you allow him to take your things if he is Malay? No one answers this question.” – February 16, 2018.

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Comments

  • The manufactured insecurity, to reinforce fallacious race supremacy mentality will be the bane that inhibit a nation from progressing on merit and humanism. It will be the undoing of Malaysia. Expect more degeneracy in this insular communal groupings that will drag the country down with mediocrity. Don't they see it as an insult to themselves as a majority to feel inferior and needy. Why would any human being put themselves in such an embarrassing position: To be compensated for an inward lack validated with false labels of supremacy is delusional and frankly invites more resentment for such people. It breeds communal narcissism, a dysfunctional mental disorder characterised by extreme communal selfishness; with a distorted grandiose view of one's value in society.

    Posted 6 years ago by Arun Paul · Reply

  • How do you teach the Malays to think clearly for themselves in this modern day and age is the question. Rather than to believe everything UMNO forces down their throats as important, such as Malay rights. I think education is the only way, but right now, UMNO is doing its level best to dumb down the village Malays to the level of communal tribalism just to stay in power.

    Posted 6 years ago by Insightful Malaysian · Reply

  • Truth is it's not simple racism that is understood in the West. The Malays, historically for centuries have weak concept of race. The racism is 2nd half century manufactured reinforced with religion. It's the religion that makes the knot difficult to untie. Political Islam is defensive, hegemonic, ambitious and close minded to change.

    Posted 6 years ago by Bigjoe Lam · Reply

  • Here we r broke and starving and these idiots still worry about me, a Chinese taking over this country when all our pockets are empty.....these idiots deserve the government they voted in and I have no sympathy for them. Let it be.....Chinese will survive through everything. Huat arr....

    Posted 6 years ago by Marcus Loh · Reply

  • Is race something non-existent ? To All these people who say don’t think in terms of race, don’t act in terms of race, don’t speak in terms of race ... All I have to ask is this : Do you take the advice that you give ? If one were to scroll down your phone book, will one find the racial breakdown of the people listed in your phonebook, to correspond with the break down of races in the national demographic or will the majority of the names listed in your phone book be of members of your own race ?

    If we who advise others can’t do what we advise ourselves , why should we expect anyone , let alone the entire nation to be able to do it ?

    And is race really something make belief, existing only in delusional people’s head, or something of actual presence in reality which will have an impact on ones self esteem and material well being ? When people keep saying that to think in terms of race is wrong and delusional, I wonder who is delusional .

    I think an appeal to make race a non-issue in the next election , noble perhaps in theory, has no value in reality, because I can scarcely believe that an appeal by a side who has not shown that racial concern does not govern their lives , will have any impact , when they ask others to not govern their thinking in terms of racial concerns .

    The opposition might label itself a a race-imaterial side, but a label is only of value, if described the content of something . By content, I doubt that many people will believe that the opposition is what it says it is on label

    Posted 6 years ago by Nehru Sathiamoorthy · Reply

    • Hmmmm , let's see now , the rakyat gets completely robbed , the robber flirts with the idea of bringing in amputation for theft , gets his support from people who want to bring in amputation for theft but never offers his own limb for amputation ? Yes , yes , we are all actually thinking about racial issues . , lol .

      Posted 6 years ago by Horas returns · Reply

  • I would say Harapan is gaining ground. That’s why UMNO was caught completely wrong footed and has changed tact completely recently by becoming really moderate over racial and religious issues and now fighting Harapan on policy front where Harapan will drown them out. UMNO may not even wait for gerrymandering if Malay ground is not going to give them a distinct advantage. We’ll know when the PM calls for election earlier.

    Posted 6 years ago by Quigon Bond · Reply

  • Najib claims that Mahathir lost RM 31 billion in Foreign exchange dealings. Mahathir claims that Najib has got 1MDB to be indebted for to RM 42 billions.These happen when the head the race based political party UMNO. That is why SGD is now RM 3. Had Lee Kuan Yew been PM a instead of Razak, Malays would have as many professional personnel if not more now without NEP. These professionals will be proud of where they are instead of carrying the stigma that they are NEP professionals. It is the thought that theft by Malays add to Malays wealth that allowed Mahathir and Najib to lose hundreds of billion RM and still get re-elected. Malays perhaps do not mind to have weak ringgit rather than RM 1=SGD 1 so long as UMNO is still in power. If Malays want Chinese to be weak, the can only make 6 millions of them weak. They have no power over 1.4 billion other Chinese weak. So why bother to hate 6 millions Chinese who pay taxes to Malaysian government. Malay based politics make hundreds of Malays extremely wealthy and all others poor as compared to Singaporeans. Is it worth the hatred against others?

    Posted 6 years ago by Meng Kow Loh · Reply