Malaysian Chinese: Recent Developments and Prospects

Introduction

xv INTRODUCTION The฀ results฀ of฀ the฀ 8฀ March฀ 2008฀ election฀ stunned฀ both฀ the฀ ruling฀ ฀ coalition฀and฀opposition฀parties฀(Ooi฀et฀al.฀2008).฀The฀Barisan฀Nasional฀ were฀denied฀a฀two-third฀majority฀in฀parliament,฀and฀five฀states฀—฀Penang,฀ Kedah,฀Perak,฀Selangor฀and฀Kelantan฀—฀were฀won฀by฀the฀opposition฀parties.฀ Overwhelmed฀by฀the฀unexpected฀outcome,฀some฀observers฀characterized฀the฀ election฀results฀as฀a฀“political฀tsunami”฀and฀extrapolated฀that฀the฀political฀ landscape฀of฀Malaysia฀has฀completely฀changed.฀Of฀course,฀with฀the฀benefit฀ of฀hindsight฀observers฀have฀become฀more฀cautious฀in฀their฀assessments฀ of฀the฀impact฀of฀the฀March฀2008฀election.฀Nevertheless,฀the฀momentous฀ March฀2008฀event฀is฀worth฀further฀examining,฀especially฀its฀impact฀on฀the฀ Malaysian฀Chinese. This฀collection฀of฀ten฀papers,฀including฀this฀introduction,฀attempts฀to฀ assess฀the฀state฀of฀the฀art฀in฀the฀study฀of฀the฀Chinese฀community฀in฀Malaysia.฀ It฀examines฀the฀nature฀of฀Malaysian฀multi-ethnic฀society฀and฀the฀position฀ of฀the฀ethnic฀Chinese,฀the฀conflation฀between฀ethnicity฀and฀religion,฀the฀ ฀ 8฀March฀2008฀election฀and฀its฀impact฀on฀the฀community,฀the฀similarities฀ and฀dissimilarities฀of฀the฀Chinese฀positions฀in฀East฀and฀West฀Malaysia,฀the฀ new฀developments฀in฀the฀economy,฀and฀the฀media฀and฀education฀in฀the฀past฀ few฀decades฀under฀the฀New฀Economic฀Policy฀that฀have฀had฀major฀bearings฀ on฀the฀8฀March฀2008฀election,฀and฀the฀post-election฀Malaysian฀Chinese฀ community.฀ NATION BUILDING AND THE POLITICS OF ETHNICITY AND IDENTITY Since฀Independence฀in฀1957,฀nation฀building฀in฀Malaysia฀has฀been฀bedevilled฀ by฀the฀question฀of฀how฀to฀construct฀a฀common฀nationality฀that฀will฀have฀ 00b฀MalaysianChin฀Intro.indd฀฀฀15 9/28/11฀฀฀3:02:39฀PM xvi Introduction Malay฀culture฀as฀its฀core฀and฀is฀also฀inclusive฀of,฀and฀fair฀to,฀the฀non-Malay฀ cultures.฀Most฀Chinese฀naturally฀prefer฀an฀inclusive฀national฀identity฀that฀ embodies฀the฀multicultural฀foundation฀of฀Malaysian฀society.฀In฀contrast,฀most฀ Malays฀insisted฀that฀their฀language,฀religion,฀and฀culture฀should฀be฀granted฀a฀ privileged฀position฀in฀the฀common฀national฀identity.฀Indeed฀there฀are฀Malay฀ leaders฀who฀would฀conflate฀Malaysian฀nationalism฀with฀Malay฀nationalism฀ and฀favour฀using฀the฀term฀Melayu฀nationality.฀In฀the฀1960s,฀because฀ethnicbounded ฀identity฀was฀omnipotent,฀the฀prevailing฀sentiment฀was฀that฀“the฀ Malay฀is฀first฀of฀all฀a฀Malay,฀then฀Muslim฀and฀then฀a฀Malayan;฀and฀the฀ Chinese฀first฀of฀all฀a฀Chinese฀then฀a฀Buddhist฀or฀Christian฀if฀he฀is฀religious฀ and฀then฀possibly฀a฀Malayan฀…฀”฀(Wang฀1992,฀p.฀192).฀Consequently,฀after฀ the฀May฀1969฀ethnic฀riots,฀the฀UMNO-Malay฀dominated฀nation฀essentially฀ abandoned฀multiracial฀Malayan฀nationalism฀for฀a฀largely฀Malay-defined฀ common฀nationality. In฀his฀chapter฀Tan฀Chee-Beng฀argues฀that฀nation฀building฀in฀Malaysia฀has฀ come฀to฀be฀shaped฀mainly฀by฀the฀politics฀of฀ethnicity,฀which฀has฀resulted฀in฀ entrenching฀a฀communal฀world฀view฀and฀created฀a฀nation฀that฀is฀communally฀ divided.1 ฀UMNO฀Malay฀elites฀aggressively฀set฀about฀creating฀a฀Malaysian฀ nation฀that฀is฀Malay฀in฀cultural฀characteristics฀and฀Islamic฀in฀identity.฀Indeed,฀ two฀mechanisms฀that฀have฀further฀communalized฀the฀polity฀and฀polarized฀ the฀communities฀are฀the฀Ketuanan฀Melayu฀ideology฀and฀the฀New฀Economic฀ Policy฀(NEP). Initially,฀it฀was฀argued฀that฀the฀NEP฀was฀needed฀in฀order฀to฀alleviate฀ the฀Malay฀economic฀handicap,฀and฀create฀a฀level฀playing฀field,฀and฀that฀it฀ would฀only฀be฀for฀twenty฀years฀—฀from฀1971฀to฀1990.฀But,฀over฀the฀years,฀ the฀justification฀for฀the฀continuation฀of฀the฀NEP฀has฀increasingly฀been฀linked฀ to฀Article฀153,฀which฀stipulates฀the฀safeguarding฀of฀the฀special฀position฀of฀ the฀Bumiputra฀through฀a฀system฀of฀quotas.฀Article฀153฀was฀initially฀meant฀ to฀be฀a฀temporary฀measure฀implicitly฀agreed฀to฀by฀the฀Alliance฀elites,฀but฀ since฀the฀1980s,฀UMNO฀leaders฀have฀insisted฀on฀Article฀153฀being฀a฀ timeless฀“social฀contract”฀which฀endows฀the฀Malays฀with฀“special฀rights”.฀ The฀special฀rights฀position,฀Tan฀argues,฀has,฀in฀fact฀become฀a฀“political฀and฀ administrative฀weapon฀to฀promote฀the฀interest฀of฀the฀Malays฀under฀the฀ Bumiputera฀ideology”.฀With฀the฀implementation฀of฀the฀NEP,฀Malaysian฀ society฀gradually฀became฀more฀ethnically฀divided,฀with฀the฀Chinese฀seeing฀ themselves฀as฀being฀discriminated฀against,฀while฀the฀Malays฀as฀a฀whole฀are฀ protected฀and฀the฀recipients฀of฀state฀favours.฀ The฀NEP฀and฀Bumiputra฀ideology฀have฀communalized฀society฀to฀the฀ extent฀that฀many฀issues฀in฀the฀country฀have฀invariably฀become฀interpreted,฀ problematized,฀and฀debated฀in฀ethnic฀terms.฀In฀the฀1970s฀and฀1980s,฀the฀ 00b฀MalaysianChin฀Intro.indd฀฀฀16 9/28/11฀฀฀3:02:39฀PM Introduction xvii centre฀of฀controversy฀was฀in...