Bigotry rears its ugly head in multi-racial Malaysia
Bigotry rears its ugly head in multi-racial Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: Veteran politician Lim Keng Yaik wears the look
of a troubled man.
As the Primary Industries Minister, he has been through the
wars before -- seen rubber prices plummet to a 30-year low and
battled a robust campaign by soya-bean producers in the United
States to discredit Malaysia's palm-oil products.
But it is the changing face of Malaysia that puts the plain-
speaking leader in a reflective mood these days.
"There is a certain amount of intolerance among sections of
the population. We cannot afford to let this situation continue."
"It will be dangerous for all of us who believe that this is a
country for all races and religions," said the president of Parti
Gerakan, a political party in the ruling coalition that operates
on a multi-racial platform.
In his trademark machine-gun fashion, he lumps the culprits as
"people who cannot tolerate places of worship being built, people
who do not want to see the mixing of races, people who do not
want to shake hands with others of different races".
His concerns are by no means the musings of a single
individual.
Behind closed doors last Monday, leaders of the ruling Barisan
Nasional coalition pondered over the real threat multi-racial,
moderate Malaysia is facing from Muslim extremists.
They wondered if the gush of foreign investments that the
country has attracted over the past two decades will turn to a
trickle if the harmony between races is unhinged.
They wondered how Chinese, Indians and others who call
Malaysia home would react to calls to ban unisex hair saloons and
Western-style entertainment and the constant badgering for
Islamic-style laws. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mahathir Mohamad
told his coalition colleagues that the situation was quite tense
and warned component party leaders to "be careful of what you say
in public".
Over the past month, there have been incidents that have made
people sit up, take notice and shudder. One was the arrest of 25
Muslims, including 15 women, for being in a restaurant where
alcohol was served. Another was a demonstration by 1,000
university students against the performance of Bollywood star
Shah Rukh Khan and the Vengaboys. A more insidious campaign of
intolerance is being driven behind the scenes.
Postings have been put on the Internet urging Muslims to
boycott performances by the Royal London Circus, arguing that the
circus operators are giving some of the proceeds to fund the
construction of a new Catholic church.
More worrying has been the reappearance of a Muslim morality
squad in Selangor. Staffed by village elders and mosque-committee
members, they are the eyes and ears of the religious authorities
in the state. Several years ago, the overzealous squad was
disbanded after a hail of criticisms. But they are back and
active, reporting on young Muslim couples who hold hands in
shopping complexes and lending their numbers to pre-dawn raids on
entertainment outlets.
A group of students complained to a government agency about an
advertisement on a bus panel showing a man hugging a woman. The
government agency ordered the ad removed.
Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat, an UMNO politician who has served
under four prime ministers, noted: "Some people are not only
trying to impose their religious ideals but are also trying to be
the guardians of lifestyle. We are being subjected to the tyranny
of the minority."
Politicians lay a large slice of the blame on Parti Islam
(PAS) for stoking the flame of intolerance and promoting
religious extremism.
But the government is not blameless. It is reaping what it
sowed years ago.
From the early 1980s, it realized that it had to show it was
just as Islamic as PAS.
Mahathir stole Islamic firebrand Anwar Ibrahim from under the
noses of the fundamentalist opposition party, introduced Islamic
banking, started the International Islamic university, made
religious lectures in government offices compulsory and spawned
200 religious schools around the country.
The aim was clear: The Mahathir administration wanted to
promote a brand of Islam that was modern and progressive in
outlook, where substance was more important than form.
But religious and political discourse has an embarrassing
tendency of slipping out of control.
The Islamization process permeated all levels of Malay society
and fed the expectations of the masses.
The government's own Islamic Affairs departments were
dominated by traditionalist religious scholars who preached a
narrow brand of religion while the head scarf for women became a
common sight in government departments.
Not wanting to be swept away by the tide, UMNO politicians
dressed and spoke the language of fundamentalism.
Several of them bowed to pressure from the ground and scuttled
a plan to build a church in Shah Alam, the capital of Selangor.
The reason: It was unsuitable to site a Christian place of
worship in a Malay-majority suburb.
Others wanted state-owned television and radio to broadcast
more religious programs and reduce other forms of entertainment.
Changes were also taking place at home. Many parents chose to
send their children to religious schools from a young age.
Latest statistics show that about 120,000 students enter this
stream every year. By the time they entered local universities 12
years later, many have no meaningful contact with Chinese or
Indian children -- the type of contact that broke down racial and
religious barriers in old Malaysia.
Little wonder that racial polarization has become a serious
problem in tertiary institutions.
Farish A. Noor, a political scientist who used to lecture at
University Malaya, remembers this incident. A student asked him
to delay the start of a lecture while he prayed.
"He then proceeded to pray aloud, but not without making a
crucial qualifying remark first: "This is just for the Muslims.
The rest of you must not take part."
On another occasion, another Muslim student remarked that he
preferred not to study in mixed classes because "even the voices
of women were tempting".
Said the political scientist: "Malaysia's universities have
always been the microcosm of wider Malaysian society. Before,
universities were the incubators for technocrats and planners who
wished to create a new generation of middle-class professionals.
"But now our universities have become the breeding ground for
a new generation of activists and ideologues who will undoubtedly
take up the Islamist cause if and when they are able to." His
observation is spot on.
A university student who took part in the demonstration to
protest against the Shah Rukh Khan concert said he and his
comrades, who wore Arafat-style headcloth to cover their faces,
are not promoting racial or religious intolerance.
He argues that Western-style concerts promote casual sex and
drug-taking, and encourage males and females to be in close
proximity.
"We are upholding values that any Malaysian would be proud to
have. These are not Islamic laws."
Many non-Muslims disagree, judging by letters published in
local newspapers.
Sri Murugan wrote: "No one should dictate what another
Malaysian should or should not hear, see or watch -- nor dictate
what is good and bad for us.
"As an adult, I too am concerned about the well-being of my
teenage brothers, but I believe we cannot force our moral or
religious beliefs on others."
Lawyer and newly-appointed UMNO Supreme Council member Azalina
Othman wishes that more Malaysians would speak up against any
attempt to change the multi-racial tenor of this country of 22
million, half of them Muslims.
He said: "Dr Mahathir alone cannot hold the line against
extremism. This is not a job for one man. And this is not even
about politics.
"If you keep silent, one day you may wake up to a Malaysia
that is fractured and wholly unrecognizable from the one you grew
up in."
The Straits Times / Asia News Network