Malaysian Chinese: Recent Developments and Prospects

3. Quo Vadis: The Chinese in Malaysia

45 3 QUO VADIS1 : THE CHINESE IN MALAYSIA Lee Kam Hing A฀larger฀than฀expected฀swing฀against฀the฀ruling฀coalition฀Barisan฀Nasional฀ (BN)฀in฀the฀March฀2008฀election฀altered฀the฀political฀landscape฀of฀Malaysia฀ to฀an฀extent฀that฀few฀had฀thought฀possible.฀The฀opposition฀Pakatan฀Rakyat฀ gained฀more฀than฀a฀third฀of฀the฀parliamentary฀seats,฀thus฀denying฀the฀ruling฀ BN฀a฀two-third฀majority฀for฀the฀first฀time.฀Five฀large฀and฀important฀states฀ fell฀to฀the฀opposition,฀and฀these฀include฀Penang,฀Selangor,฀Perak,฀and฀Kedah.฀ In฀this฀election฀there฀had฀been฀a฀significant฀shift฀of฀Chinese฀votes฀against฀ the฀ruling฀BN.2 ฀Most฀observers,฀including฀opposition฀leader฀Lim฀Kit฀Siang,฀ acknowledged฀that฀the฀people฀mostly฀voted฀not฀for฀the฀opposition,฀but฀ against฀the฀BN.฀Non-Malay฀voters฀were฀critical฀of฀non-Malay฀parties฀within฀ the฀BN฀for฀not฀defending฀their฀interests฀and฀there฀was฀a฀strong฀underlying฀ protest฀against฀what฀non-Malays฀saw฀as฀UMNO’s฀display฀of฀overwhelming฀ political฀power฀and฀arrogance.฀There฀was฀also฀the฀waving฀of฀an฀unsheathed฀ keris฀by฀UMNO฀Youth฀in฀the฀last฀two฀UMNO฀General฀Assembly฀and฀this฀ particularly฀dismayed฀the฀non-Malays.3 ฀Given฀the฀fact฀that฀March฀2008฀was฀ a฀significant฀watershed฀in฀Malaysian฀politics,฀this฀chapter฀looks฀at฀how฀the฀ political฀changes฀could฀affect฀the฀politics฀of฀the฀Chinese฀and฀the฀future฀of฀ this฀community. Since฀the฀country’s฀Independence฀in฀1957,฀Malaysian฀politics฀have฀ incrementally฀been฀dominated฀by฀the฀BN.฀But฀it฀is฀UMNO฀that฀is฀dominant฀ and฀this฀is฀reflected฀in฀the฀power฀relations฀of฀the฀various฀institutions฀in฀ the฀country.฀Within฀the฀Executive,฀UMNO฀prevails฀over฀the฀other฀BN฀ 03฀MalaysianChin.indd฀฀฀45 9/28/11฀฀฀3:07:40฀PM 46 Lee Kam Hing component฀parties฀and฀the฀Executive฀is฀seen฀as฀overriding฀the฀judiciary฀and฀ the฀legislature,฀and฀a฀federal฀government฀exercising฀power฀over฀the฀states,฀ including฀Sabah฀and฀Sarawak.฀It฀is฀UMNO฀that฀decides฀major฀national฀ policies฀and฀key฀government฀positions฀in฀the฀country.฀The฀prime฀minister,฀ deputy฀ prime฀ minister,฀ and฀ senior฀ ministers฀ come฀ from฀ UMNO฀ and฀ proceedings฀of฀the฀party’s฀general฀assemblies฀are฀followed฀more฀closely฀by฀ the฀public฀than฀parliamentary฀sittings.4 As฀the฀March฀2008฀election฀approached฀there฀were฀openly฀voiced฀ criticisms฀about฀the฀government’s฀ability฀to฀deal฀with฀the฀increasing฀social,฀ economic,฀and฀political฀problems฀in฀the฀country.฀Allegations฀abounded฀ of฀corruption฀on฀a฀scale฀unimaginable฀and฀complaints฀of฀New฀Economic฀ Policy฀(NEP)฀abuse฀that฀benefited฀only฀a฀few฀while฀neglecting฀the฀majority,฀ a฀judiciary฀lacking฀independence฀as฀highlighted฀by฀the฀Lingam฀tape,฀scandals฀ of฀serious฀moral฀lapses฀of฀senior฀government฀figures,฀and฀reports฀of฀growing฀ crime฀and฀social฀problems.฀There฀was฀also฀rising฀cost฀of฀living฀and฀high฀ inflation,฀and฀these฀were฀felt฀by฀voters฀of฀all฀ethnic฀groups฀and฀social฀classes.฀ The฀government฀might฀post฀impressive฀growth฀figures,฀but฀voters฀only฀felt฀the฀ high฀cost฀of฀living.฀These฀were฀concerns฀that฀cut฀across฀ethnic฀lines.฀Through฀ the฀alternative฀media฀and฀even฀mainstream฀press,฀these฀negative฀reports฀ reached฀a฀wider฀number฀of฀Malaysians฀in฀towns฀and฀villages.฀This฀display฀of฀ unchecked฀power฀and฀political฀arrogance฀was฀cited฀as฀an฀important฀factor฀in฀ the฀swing฀against฀the฀ruling฀coalition.฀It฀was฀an฀election฀where฀the฀Internet฀ and฀text฀messages฀have฀had฀major฀impact฀than฀previously.฀Today฀with฀more฀ than฀half฀the฀population฀having฀Internet฀access฀and฀an฀estimated฀eighty-five฀ out฀of฀a฀hundred฀Malaysians฀using฀a฀mobile฀phone,฀there฀is฀greater฀access฀to฀ information฀than฀what฀could฀be฀obtained฀from฀the฀government-controlled฀ media.฀And฀the฀influence฀of฀the฀alternative฀media฀and฀the฀Internet฀can฀be฀ expected฀to฀open฀up฀Malaysian฀politics฀further฀in฀the฀future,฀with฀greater฀ numbers฀of฀users฀who฀are฀also฀younger฀voters.5 ฀ This฀dominance฀in฀power฀relations฀in฀Malaysia฀has฀since฀the฀March฀ 2008฀election฀been฀tempered฀to฀an฀extent,฀at฀least฀for฀now.฀There฀is฀presently฀ a฀slightly฀stronger฀opposition฀and,฀with฀that,฀a฀livelier฀parliament฀able฀to฀ engage฀robustly฀with฀the฀Executive;฀state฀assertiveness,฀especially฀in฀the฀five฀ Pakatan฀Rakyat-held฀states;฀and฀a฀restive฀Sabah฀and฀Sarawak฀over฀the฀federal฀ government/East฀Malaysia฀relations.฀There฀is฀also฀the฀promise฀of฀a฀more฀ independent฀judiciary.฀That฀the฀opposition฀has฀won฀the฀majority฀of฀the฀byelections ฀since฀the฀March฀2008฀election฀suggests฀that฀the฀sentiment฀against฀ the฀BN฀is฀still฀strong.฀Arising฀from฀the฀present฀political฀fluidity฀is฀an฀evolving฀ two-coalition฀system฀made฀up฀of฀alternative฀alignments฀of฀multi-ethnic฀or฀ ethnic-based฀parties.฀This฀two...