Asia Times: Malaysian politics' Generation Next


	June 13, 2000	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Malaysian politics' Generation Next

By Anil Netto

PENANG, Malaysia - Their family names resonate in Malaysian modern history, and it could be said that they are only following in the footsteps of their elders.

Indeed, the offspring of some of Malaysia's most prominent political figures seem set to nudge old political rivalries into another generation even as they say that they are determined to carve their own paths.

Heading what looks like Malaysia's next generation of leaders, for instance, is Najib Razak, son of the country's second prime minister, Abdul Razak. Hot on his heels is the fast-rising Hishamuddin Hussein, son of the third premier, Hussein Onn, and grandson of Onn Jaafar, the founder of the dominant United Malays National Organization (Umno) now led by incumbent Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

On the ''other'' side is Lim Guan Eng, the son of veteran oppositionist Lim Kit Siang, whose career has spanned three decades. Also looming on the horizon is lawyer-politician Jagdeep Singh Deo, whose father is opposition politician and well-known lawyer Karpal Singh. Then there is the eldest daughter of detained ex-deputy premier and reformasi leader Anwar Ibrahim, Nurul Izzah, who has been charming audiences both here and abroad. Only 19, Nurul is the only non-politician in the batch, but at this early stage, some people are already predicting a political career for her.

There is, of course, hardly any similar uncertainty regarding the plans of the other political offspring, oppositionist or otherwise. Najib Razak, for instance, is already number three in the Umno hierarchy, coming after Mahathir himself and Anwar's successor, Abdullah Badawi. And while Lim Guan Eng is currently out in the cold after being disqualified from contesting in last November's general elections, he nevertheless remains an influential election campaigner for the Democratic Action Party (DAP) that used to be headed by his father and which now has Guan Eng as vice chair.

Some Malaysians say that tracking the careers of even just Najib and Guan Eng is enough to give them a serious case of deja vu.

Just like his father, Abdul, Najib is a staunch Malay nationalist. In fact, the elder Razak, who died of leukemia in 1976, was instrumental in launching the New Economic Policy, an economic blueprint based on ethnic quotas, for the next 20 years. Najib's political success is also reminiscent of his father's career triumphs. Najib's star seemed to be fading after he narrowly squeaked through in his constituency in the November polls and was eased out of the influential education ministry. But he bounced back in style in last month's Umno party elections where he romped home with the most votes. He is now defense minister. But once Mahathir leaves the scene and if Badawi survives as deputy to take over the premiership, many analysts tip the suave Najib to move up as deputy prime minister.

Guan Eng's father, Kit Siang, meanwhile, has spent the last three decades in a team-up with Karpal Singh to keep successive administrations on their toes. The opposition duo has pursued cases of corruption and abuse of power and filed landmark suits against the government. Both Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh were detained in 1987 under a police swoop and were among the last to be released.

Guan Eng was locked up with his father at the time. But it was not until the late 1990s that he came to his own. That was the time he took up the high-profile case of a young Malay girl who had alleged that she was a victim of statutory rape. Through the case, Guan Eng helped to bridge the ethnic divide in opposition politics between the Malays and the Chinese. This in turn paved the way for the multi-ethnic reformasi movement that Anwar unleashed when he was ousted from government in 1998, arrested and charged with corruption and sodomy.

The elder Lim lost the seat he was contesting in Penang in the last elections, as did Singh. Lim Kit Siang then surrendered his powerful secretary general's post in the DAP and took over the figurehead role of party chair. He still exerts considerable influence over the party, but some analysts have already turned their attention to Guan Eng, whom they bet will make quite a comeback once he becomes eligible to run again.

Analysts are also keenly watching Jagdeep Singh, who is just 29 but is already involved in the ongoing sodomy trial of Anwar Ibrahim, where the senior Singh is also among the main defense lawyers. Jagdeep, who is often seen by his father's side in court, is the lawyer for Anwar's adopted brother, Sukma Darmawan.

Jagdeep joined the DAP in 1992 after finishing his law studies in Gray's Inn and now heads the party's legal advisory bureau. He says one of the turning points in his life was when his father was detained in 1987, along with more than 100 other dissidents and critics. ''I do not agree with laws that provide for preventive detention without trial,'' Jagdeep told IPS. ''I saw the effect of the injustice of those laws - being without a father and for my mother, being without her husband, for 15 months. Those things I cannot accept as being part of our legal system. I'm not simply in the opposition because my father was there, just to make noise.''

Interestingly enough, ''noiseless'' politics, seems to be path chosen by Jagdeep's counterpart in Umno Hishamuddin Hussein. The 39-year-old son of the unassuming Hussein Onn is known for working quietly, but effectively. Now the leader of Umno's powerful youth wing, the British-trained lawyer had his own law firm before turning to politics in the early 1990s.

Hishamuddin, who is also the youth and sports minister is said to epitomize the Melayu Baru or New Malay spirit. ''I'm looking at the bigger picture,'' he once told the Asian Wall Street Journal, speaking of the challenges facing Umno. ''I'm here to serve the party of my father and my grandfather. We have to rally around the (party) president.''

To be sure, these second generation politicians have minds of their own and individual sets of political beliefs. But it would be fascinating to see if their emerging similarities with their respective fathers will mean that they will end up with the same fate as their elders.

(Inter Press Service)

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