Malaysian Chinese: Recent Developments and Prospects

6. Forced to the Periphery: Recent Chinese Politics in East Malaysia

109 6 FORCED TO THE PERIPHERY: RECENT CHINESE POLITICS IN EAST MALAYSIA James Chin This฀chapter฀will฀chart฀the฀development฀of฀Chinese฀politics฀in฀the฀East฀ Malaysian฀states฀of฀Sarawak฀and฀Sabah฀in฀the฀past฀decade.฀In฀general,฀Chinese฀ politics฀in฀both฀states฀has฀taken฀the฀same฀trajectory฀as฀Chinese฀politics฀in฀the฀ peninsula,฀that฀is,฀the฀political฀marginalization฀of฀the฀community,฀especially฀ in฀electoral฀politics.฀The฀only฀key฀difference฀between฀Chinese฀politics฀in฀the฀ peninsula฀and฀East฀Malaysia฀is฀the฀continued฀pre-eminence฀of฀local-based฀ Chinese฀parties฀in฀both฀states.฀ CONTEMPORARY SARAWAK CHINESE POLITICS The฀most฀significant฀change฀in฀Chinese฀politics฀in฀Sarawak฀in฀recent฀years฀ was฀the฀defeat฀of฀the฀Sarawak฀United฀People’s฀Party฀(SUPP)฀in฀the฀2006฀ ฀ state฀election.฀Hitherto,฀the฀Chinese฀community฀had฀largely฀supported฀the฀ SUPP฀against฀the฀Sarawak฀Democratic฀Action฀Party฀(DAP).฀SUPP฀was฀ Sarawak’s฀first฀political฀party,฀established฀by฀the฀Chinese฀community฀in฀1959฀ with฀significant฀Dayak฀support.฀Although฀it฀started฀out฀as฀a฀left-wing฀party,฀ from฀1970฀onward฀it฀emerged฀as฀a฀right฀wing,฀conservative,฀Chinese-based฀ party.฀Since฀then฀it฀has฀lost฀much฀of฀its฀Dayak฀support฀although฀it฀still฀ retains฀some฀Dayak฀majority฀seats฀due฀to฀the฀Sarawak฀BN฀seat฀allocation฀ formula.1 06฀MalaysianChin.indd฀฀฀109 9/29/11฀฀฀1:28:10฀PM 110 James Chin While฀the฀SUPP฀is฀the฀only฀Chinese-based฀party฀in฀the฀Sarawak฀BN,฀ the฀main฀Chinese฀opposition฀is฀the฀DAP.฀The฀DAP฀was฀formed฀in฀the฀late฀ 1970s฀by฀a฀renegade฀group฀of฀SUPP฀members฀who฀teamed฀up฀with฀antiestablishment ฀Chinese฀who฀wanted฀a฀credible฀Chinese-based฀opposition฀party฀ in฀Sarawak.฀The฀then฀Sarawak฀chief฀minister,฀Rahman฀Yakub,฀also฀encouraged฀ the฀setting฀up฀of฀the฀DAP฀in฀order฀to฀weaken฀the฀SUPP.฀2 Sarawak฀politics฀revolves฀around฀three฀major฀political฀groupings;฀the฀ Chinese,฀the฀Malay/Melanau฀Muslims฀(MMM),฀and฀the฀Dayak3 ฀(NonMuslim ฀Bumiputra฀[NMB])฀community.฀Parti฀Pesaka฀Bumiputera฀Bersatu฀ (PBB)฀serves฀as฀the฀main฀political฀party฀for฀the฀MMM,฀while฀the฀NMB฀ spread฀their฀support฀among฀several฀Dayak-based฀parties฀such฀as฀the฀Pesaka฀ wing฀of฀the฀PBB,฀SUPP,฀Parti฀Keadilan฀Rakyat฀(PKR),฀the฀Sarawak฀Progressive฀ Democratic฀Party฀(SPDP),฀and฀the฀Parti฀Rakyat฀Sarawak฀(PRS).฀Although฀ numerically฀the฀Dayaks฀constitute฀the฀largest฀segment฀of฀the฀community฀ (about฀40฀per฀cent),฀they฀have฀never฀been฀united฀politically฀and฀are฀prone฀ to฀political฀manipulation฀by฀the฀MMM฀and฀the฀Chinese฀elite. THE 2006 SARAWAK STATE ELECTIONS For฀years฀the฀SUPP฀has฀been฀taking฀the฀line฀that฀the฀Sarawak฀Chinese฀ community฀was฀“different”฀compared฀with฀the฀Peninsular฀Chinese,฀as฀the฀ SUPP฀had฀“real฀power”.฀The฀SUPP฀points฀to฀the฀fact฀that฀SUPP฀ministers฀ were฀ traditionally฀ in฀ charge฀ of฀ two฀ key฀ state฀ ministries:฀ Finance฀ and฀ Infrastructure฀Development.฀These฀two฀ministries฀allowed฀the฀SUPP฀to฀ channel฀enough฀government฀projects฀to฀Sarawak฀Chinese฀businessmen฀and฀ mitigate฀some฀of฀the฀more฀blatant฀discriminatory฀Bumiputra฀policies฀pursued฀ by฀the฀UMNO-led฀federal฀government.฀ The฀different฀timing฀of฀the฀federal฀and฀state฀elections4 ฀also฀allowed฀ the฀SUPP฀to฀differentiate฀the฀issues.฀Although฀the฀SUPP฀did฀not฀say฀it฀ openly,฀their฀operatives฀gave฀the฀impression฀that฀federal฀elections฀were฀ ฀ “less฀important”฀than฀state฀elections,฀given฀that฀most฀of฀the฀decisions฀ affecting฀the฀lives฀of฀Sarawak฀Chinese฀were฀made฀in฀Kuching฀rather฀than฀ Kuala฀Lumpur.฀ This฀has฀meant฀that฀voters฀were฀told฀that฀if฀they฀were฀unhappy฀with฀ the฀Bumiputra฀policy,฀they฀should฀“protest”฀by฀voting฀for฀the฀opposition฀at฀ the฀federal฀level฀since฀these฀policies฀were฀“federal฀policies”,฀but฀they฀should฀ support฀the฀SUPP฀during฀state฀elections฀given฀that฀the฀SUPP฀“has฀real฀power”฀ at฀the฀state฀level.฀Many฀Chinese฀voters฀bought฀this฀argument฀that฀they฀could฀ have฀it฀“both฀ways”,฀that฀is,฀they฀could฀vote฀for฀the฀opposition฀at฀federal฀ elections฀to฀voice฀their฀unhappiness฀over฀the฀New฀Economic฀Policy฀(NEP),฀ 06฀MalaysianChin.indd฀฀฀110 9/29/11฀฀฀1:28:10฀PM Recent Chinese Politics in East Malaysia 111 while฀voting฀for฀the฀SUPP฀at฀the฀state฀level฀in฀order฀to฀ensure฀that฀Chinese฀ interests฀were฀taken฀care฀of฀at฀this฀level.5 In฀the฀2006฀state฀elections,฀there฀was฀a฀sea฀change฀among฀the฀Chinese฀ voters.฀They฀voted฀in฀six฀DAP฀candidates฀in฀Chinese-majority฀constituencies฀ at฀the฀expense฀of฀the฀SUPP,฀which฀lost฀a฀total฀of฀eight฀seats.฀The฀SUPP,฀in฀ essence,฀lost฀its฀claim฀to฀be฀the฀voice฀of฀the฀Sarawak฀Chinese.฀What฀caused฀ the฀sea฀change? In฀a฀nutshell,฀the...