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A new Malaysian storyline
By Ooi Kee Beng
The general assembly of Malaysia's ruling party, the United Malays National
Organization (UMNO), attracts the attention of everyone interested in the past,
present and future of the country's politics.
However, Malay culture as such is highly political, and this means that the
speeches of Malay politicians and the choices of discourse they make are also
rhetorical to a large extent. This makes it difficult for analysts to
distinguish the static from the message. What is the cake and what is the
icing?
For example, during the 2004 general assembly, the first over which Abdullah
Badawi resided as party president, his coinage of the phrase "Towering Malay"
(a skilled, successful and devout as well as secular and open-minded Muslim)
gained the attention of the mass media. At the 2005 meeting, it was the turn of
his deputy premier, Najib Tun Abdul Razak, to play the political word game. His
term "Glokal Malay" (Malay with a global mind) captured the imagination of the
official media, if not that of the people. Malays form slightly more than 50%
of Malaysia's 23 million people. Ethnic Chinese are the next largest racial
group with 22% while Indians form another 7% of the population
Last year, UMNO Youth, which has a self-adopted mission to amplify the basic
goals of the party, chose to focus on "The Malay Agenda". This term has the
advantage of suggesting continuity and unfinished status with regard to what
UMNO sees as the desires of the Malay community. At that meeting, rising star
Khairy Jamaluddin was booed, which must have been rather disturbing for a young
man with high ambitions.
This year, the youth wing decided to call for a "revival of the NEP", the New
Economic Policy implemented in 1970 to help the Malay community gain a higher
level of participation in the modern economy. Officially, the NEP ended in
1990, replaced in name, if not in essence, by the National Development Program.
One could argue that it somewhat changed in essence the following year when
then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed announced his view of Malaysia's future
- Vision 2020. The focus on quantitative goals was replaced by a concern for
qualitative status.
This year, the leaders of UMNO Youth - including Education Minister
Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, son of former premier Hussein Onn, one of his
deputies, Mukhriz, son of former premier Mahathir, and Jamaluddin, the
son-in-law of the current premier - all pushed for a return to the NEP. Since
the NEP was never dismantled, this left many confused. What they could have
meant, given the fact that the beginnings of meritocracy are being implemented
in the educational system, is a return to intake quotas at the tertiary level,
and of course to a concentration on quantitative goals, such as the 30% equity
ownership by Malays. This time, no one booed Khairy - he has obviously become
an accomplished UMNO politician and might even be ready to go for the UMNO
Youth leadership at the party elections in two years.
The 2005 meeting occurred in the shadow of the battle over Approved Permits
(APs) for the import of luxury foreign cars, which was ignited by the battle of
words between Mahathir, who is now an unpaid adviser to the national car
Proton, and his erstwhile supporter, the Minister of International Trade and
Industry Rafidah Aziz. This quarrel was partly egged on by Badawi's decision to
force the release of the list of AP receivers. Since this was a sudden reversal
of his earlier stand not to bow to public pressure, the timing of his change of
mind was naturally seen by many to be politically motivated.
This impression of Badawi's increasing pro-activeness was strengthened by the
strange absence of Mahathir from the assembly. In the midst of all this, China
decided to unpeg its currency. As countless experts had suggested over the past
year, the Malaysian ringgit was bound to follow suit. This indeed happened.
However, the speed with which this was done added to the impression that Badawi
was indeed a man who was now fast gaining real control over the party and the
government. That will remain one of the lasting impressions from the 2005
meeting. However, this may only be a supplementary saga to what is more
possibly the main story.
While Badawi promised more meritocracy, UMNO Youth appealed for more
affirmative action. This "good cop, bad cop" scenario led very quickly to
reactions from Chinese leaders from within the ruling coalition to call for a
more efficient NEP, and for failures to be identified and rectified.
No doubt, these reactions should be understood in light of the party elections
that the Chinese-supported parties within the coalition Barisan Nasional
(National Front) are having this month. Nevertheless, this entreaty for a
systematic and monitored implementation of the NEP is given further credence by
the fatigue Malaysians currently feel about dubious practices by people in
positions of power. Money politics, gambling debts, corporate corruption and
haughty behavior by politicians add up to a widespread longing for clean
government.
Badawi also drew attention to the harsh pressure exerted by the global economy,
which was limiting Malaysia's economic policies. This, together with the
initiatives that have been taken immediately after the general assembly by his
regime to energize the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and to
further Asian regionalism, may be the cue for how the future of Malaysian
politics is to unfold. This is captured in the new phrase New National Agenda
(NNA) - a tentative compromise between the ideals of the Malay Agenda and the
reality of the global pressure that Malaysia must deal with. Hopefully,
Malaysia is realizing that it must abandon its long-held fixation with
inter-ethnic relations, and instead adapt to the reality of external forces.
Ooi Kee Beng is a Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
This is a personal comment.
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us
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