Can PKR Make a Difference?

Since the 8th March '08 general election, Malaysian has put so much hope that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will bring the change they would like to see, especially the non-Malays. As a different Malaysian, I would definitely want PR to fight for the equality of all races in Malaysia, the abolition of New Economic Policy and outlaw "Ketuanan Melayu" , and praying hard that their struggle will prevail.

Although being hopeful is always the right thing to do, however I can't help being doubtful. In fact, I don't even think PR can make a stunning difference in Malaysia. The problem does not lie with DAP but with the other two Malay majority parties (PKR and PAS), . The DAP has been voicing out loud against discriminating policies consistently since 40 years ago. PKR and PAS however are still adapting to the new idea. After all, these two parties are still worrying about the backlash from the Malays if they are seen to be too staunch on the equality of races. Or maybe they themselves are not ready to make all Malaysians equal in order to continue with their own vested interest.

PKR has now appeared to be championing "Ketuanan Rakyat" which means people supremacy, however without forgetting the "Ketuanan Melayu" for the Malays. Melayu is part of the Rakyat, therefore to hail "Ketuanan Melayu" does not actually infringe the spirit of "Ketuanan Rakyat", if only it is spelled in the same and right context. Unfortunately, "Ketuanan Melayu" is never meant to be a subset of "Ketuanan Rakyat" from the beginning until now.

'The idea of Malay supremacy gained attention in the 1940s, when the Malays organized themselves to protest the Malayan Union's establishment, and later fought for independence. During the 1960s, there was a substantial effort challenging ketuanan Melayu led by the People Action Party(PAP) of Singapore — which was a state in Malaysia from 1963 to 1965 — and the DAP after Singapore's secession. However, the portions of the Constitution related to ketuanan Melayu were "entrenched" after the racial riots of 13 May 1969, which followed an election campaign focused on the issue of non-Malay rights and ketuanan Melayu. This period also saw the rise of "ultras" who advocated a one-party government led by UMNO, and an increased emphasis on the Malays being the "definitive people" of Malaysia — i.e. only a Malay could be a true Malaysian.' ¹

Lee Kuan Yew is definitely a very capable and far-sighted leader. He opposed to the idea of "Ketuanan Melayu" and propagated Malaysian Malaysia instead. His ideology has make Singapore as one of the most successful country in the world. The country (i.e. Malaysia) which still hover over "Ketuanan Melayu" and believes in the overboard affirmative action for the Malays is falling off the rank as a developing country.

Ironically, affirmative action is not a unique feature of Malaysia. Many successful countries such as the United States and Australia also have their own affirmative action. In the United States, if a Negro and a White with the same qualifications are looking for the same job, the company are bounded to give the job to the Negro. The same goes to Australia for their Aborigines. So what makes Malaysia sounds so despicable with their version of affirmative action? Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia will tell you the reason behind it. Because of Article 153, New Economic Policy (NEP) was born. Every rightful minded soul should scorn at the NEP.

While there are countries which use affirmative action, and still able to maintain the happiness level of their citizens and make progress economically, Malaysia has struggled to convince their minorities of their affirmative action. Simply because, and it's widely perceived, that the ruling party UMNO has abused the policy to enrich their own cronies, when ordinary poor Malays are still sidelined as if there is no NEP. Not only that, today there are a lot of Chinese and Indians who are struggling for a meal, and not within the loop of government's assistance. Why should we keep enriching those who are already rich but treat the poor as if they are not Malaysian? The point is, affirmative action should be used on those who need it, not those who want to be richer.

There are many educated Malays now, and many are holding the highest office, not to mention some have become renowned doctors, lawyers, bankers, businessman, etc. Although not all, I would say many of them are the products of NEP. I don't mean to show contempt to the Malays but I dare to say that if it's not for NEP, most of them will not be there at all. Now, this group of NEP products are doing well, and they would like to continue to do well for the generations to come. They are pretty sure that the next generation will do well if NEP is still there to help them. Therefore, this group would definitely not agree to abolish the affirmative action, and they will go against any parties which tries to change the status quo. I know some would argue that many from this group have voted for Pakatan instead of UMNO. If these groups are so obsessed with NEP, why wouldn't they vote for UMNO? It's because UMNO is extremely corrupted, not because they supported NEP to be abolished. PKR (well, in their eyes PKR is the daigo, DAP & PAS are just the subordinates) has never said NEP will be abolished if they come into power.

As for the poor and the uneducated Malays, it doesn't make a difference whether NEP exists or not. NEP maybe useful to them when it first started off, however after almost half a century, the benefits of NEP hardly arrive at their doorstep. This group of people are looking forward to a party that can help them, preferably with another type of affirmative action. But they know UMNO will not help them because they are still living in a poor condition after so many years. Furthermore, they have come to senses that UMNO is corrupted to its core, and are grieved that their money has gone into UMNO's pocket. Therefore they hope PKR would be able to help them.

One way or another, although Malays may not think they are more supreme than the others, they would love to be the first to get benefit from the government. After Najib Razak announced that 30% quota be lifted for 27 service sectors, and if it's implemented well, my guess is many Malays would abandon UMNO for their action. As a result, PKR would not dare to touch NEP in the bid to win Malays' vote and will continue to featherbed the Malays using NEP if they come into power.

For a conclusion, "Ketuanan Melayu" or NEP will stay as long as the Malays want it to stay, and the non-Malay will continue to be discriminated against. Changing of government will not change anything unless a miracle happened and out of sudden DAP takes over the government. PKR will not able to make a vast difference from its archrival UMNO, otherwise we would have seen the difference already in the state of Selangor. Same argument goes to PAS.