Democratising Malaysians
One month off the Internet, there’s an almost surreal feeling surrounding me in this virtual re-entry into “democratic Malaysia”.
“Democratizing Malaysia” is a textbook reminder of Malaysia’s bleak realities. Its title is self-explanatory, starting easily on the premise that Malaysia is less than democratic. Why Malaysia remains so is reasoned, generally, as a manifestation of:
A. A government that has little appetite for democracy.
B. A leadership that has little vested interest for needing democracy.
C. An opposition that is not strong/united/able enough to overthrow an undemocratic government through democratic means.
D. All of the above, plus the absence of democratic means in a structurally unfair electoral system.
Rajan is unconvinced by the opposition’s fighting for democracy along undemocratic rules. Is there a way out then? After spending the last month watching Angkasa1 and preparing a quantitative research proposal (that was labeled ‘insignificant’), I realise democratic Malaysia is not so much about Pak “how do you feel” Lah, Pak “tell me the truth” Lah, or Pak “Jeanne? Rumours only” Lah. I believe it should be more about her people, the rakyat.
And the nation’s deepest malaise, unfortunately, lies within the very undemocratic hearts and minds of a divided people. Race defines and constructs so many issues, and so many of these issues appear to legitimise (at least to the majority of voters) the Barisan Nasional government. The economy is defined by race, education is defined by race, religion is defined by race, free speech is defined by race, crime is defined by race, promotion at work is defined by race, official protocol is defined by race, our history is defined by race.
A people who do not share many similar frames of reference, albeit often being quite united when it comes to food at open house buffets, thrive on social stereotypes that seem too real to be challenged anymore. To be “a little bit” racial, it seems, is part and parcel of being a Malay Malaysian, Chinese Malaysian, Indian Malaysian, East Malaysian, etc.
The mock research proposal I presented just a few days ago was about using quantitative methods to explain social phenomena. I personally feel such objective empiricism often is too objective and fails to aptly put issues within the contexts they exist in. Therefore I decided to be a little cheeky and played around with an issue, half expecting to get a bashing from this professor (who has a preference for unintelligent “duplicated” research).
The title of my proposal: (De)Racialising News: A Content Analysis of the Coverage of the UMNO General Assembly 2006 and the MCA Annual General Meeting 2007 in two Malaysian Newspapers. I started with these few issues: (a) The Barisan Nasional government’s prime agenda (according to their 2004 elections manifesto) is to preserve national unity. (b) Mainstream Malaysian newspapers are closely aligned to Barisan Nasional components. (c) The Barisan Nasional government enforces tight legislative restrictions to regulate the media. (d) PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi warned the press not to “racialise delegates’ speeches” before the UMNO General Assembly in 2005 and 2006.
Hence the need for a thorough content analysis of the Barisan Nasional-linked newspapers’ coverage of the general meetings of Barisan Nasional component parties. The question I posed was simple, does a controlled press “de-racialise” events, assuming the events are racial in nature anyway?
The response I got from this politically and racially conservative professor was: “I’m disappointed, what’s the significance? What do you expect? Of course they will be racial! A Malay politician who does not fight for the Malay cause will be a dead politician, you can’t expect him to be talking about the Chinese issues. Also, when Hishammudin played with the Keris, it was a symbol of fighting for the Malay cause, why do we need to argue on such things?”
I propose we teach people who have a narrow concept of being Malaysian what living together as one rakyat means. I say it’s time we forget about Pak Lah for a moment, he doesn’t need the truth, he is in a much better position to find out for himself. Let’s help our fellow Malaysians find the truth. The truth is, after half a century of living together “freely,” we still don’t know much than to be petty when it comes to viewing things from the racial lens. I witnessed a traffic accident recently and the first thing fellow bystanders were asking was “Siapa kena langgar? Melayu kena langgar? Cina langgar dia?”
It’s time the rakyat learn about democracy. Go civil society! Will it be too late for us to not learn it the painful way? Yes, Rajan, Pak Lah doesn’t need democracy, all he needs is to make things appear to be democratic. Invite 5000 students to have dinner and “witness” the lift-off of Soyuz-TMA11 is “a-little-bit” democratic, no?
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