Malaysian Chinese: Recent Developments and Prospects

1. Malaysia: Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Nation Building

1 1 MALAYSIA: ETHNICITY, NATIONALISM, AND NATION BUILDING Tan Chee-Beng On฀31฀August฀2007,฀Malaysia฀celebrated฀her฀fifty฀years฀of฀Independence฀from฀ British฀rule.1 ฀While฀Malaysians฀and฀non-Malaysians฀may฀hold฀differing฀views฀ of฀Malaysia,฀both฀would,฀however,฀agree฀that฀there฀has฀been฀considerable฀ economic฀achievement฀and฀visible฀modernity฀as฀symbolized฀by฀the฀famous฀ Petronas฀Twin฀Towers฀and฀modern฀highways.฀But฀in฀recent฀years,฀there฀is฀ a฀mounting฀general฀dissatisfaction฀among฀Malaysians฀over฀a฀number฀of฀ developments,฀such฀as฀the฀increase฀in฀crime฀mainly฀in฀urban฀areas฀and฀ scandals฀involving฀the฀police฀whose฀professionalism฀is฀questioned,฀as฀well฀as฀ the฀perception฀of฀more฀corruption,฀and฀doubts฀about฀judicial฀independence.฀ Above฀all,฀there฀is฀also฀agreement฀among฀researchers฀and฀observers,฀and฀even฀ the฀general฀public,฀that฀Malaysia฀has฀become฀more฀racially฀divided.฀What฀ has฀gone฀wrong?฀ This฀chapter2 ฀will฀discuss฀ethnicity,฀nationalism,฀and฀nation฀building฀in฀ Malaysia฀and฀see฀what฀we฀can฀learn฀from฀the฀Malaysian฀case.฀It฀will฀show฀ that฀nation฀building฀in฀Malaysia฀has฀been฀shaped฀by฀the฀politics฀of฀ethnicity,฀ which฀has฀fostered฀a฀communal฀world฀view฀and฀created฀a฀nation฀that฀is฀ communally฀divided.฀In฀other฀words,฀not฀only฀Malaysians฀of฀different฀ethnic฀ groups฀would฀imagine3 ฀the฀Malaysian฀nation฀differently;฀but฀the฀nation฀itself฀ has฀also฀become฀highly฀polarized.฀Because฀politicians฀of฀different฀ethnic฀ groups฀have฀articulated฀along฀ethnic฀lines,฀the฀revival฀of฀Malay฀nationalism฀ 01฀MalaysianChin.indd฀฀฀1 9/29/11฀฀฀1:26:32฀PM 2 Tan Chee-Beng after฀1969฀and฀non-Malay฀reaction฀pushed฀the฀country฀to฀become฀a฀highly฀ polarized฀nation.฀Malay฀nationalism฀here฀refers฀to฀the฀nationalistic฀ideology฀ of฀the฀Malay฀elite฀who฀pursue฀a฀Malaysian฀nation฀that฀is฀Malay฀in฀cultural฀ characteristics฀and฀Islamic฀in฀identity.฀It฀is฀communal฀nationalism฀or฀ethnic฀ nationalism,฀that฀is,฀nationalism฀that฀is฀articulated฀by฀an฀ethnic฀group฀ within฀a฀multi-ethnic฀state฀for฀the฀group’s฀interest฀and฀to฀project฀the฀cultural฀ nationalism฀aspired฀to฀by฀the฀group,฀or฀the฀cultural฀view฀of฀the฀nation฀as฀ imagined฀by฀the฀group.฀This฀kind฀of฀nationalism฀is฀common฀in฀new฀states฀ such฀as฀Malaysia฀and฀Indonesia,฀where฀the฀indigenous฀elite,฀faced฀with฀the฀ presence฀of฀an฀influential฀minority฀such฀as฀the฀Chinese,฀seeks฀to฀have฀a฀greater฀ share฀of฀the฀economy฀and฀to฀dominate฀the฀cultural฀conception฀of฀nationhood.฀ But฀in฀practice,฀this฀nationalistic฀articulation฀serves฀to฀promote฀the฀economic฀ and฀political฀interests฀of฀the฀indigenous฀elite.฀The฀communal฀nationalism฀we฀ are฀concerned฀with฀here฀is,฀of฀course,฀not฀separatist฀nationalism,฀which฀seeks฀ to฀form฀a฀separate฀state. A฀significant฀change฀in฀Malaysian฀politics฀occurred฀with฀the฀March฀2008฀ national฀election,฀which฀saw฀the฀opposition฀parties฀winning฀control฀over฀a฀ few฀state฀governments.฀Did฀it฀signal฀the฀decline฀of฀communal฀politics,฀and฀ will฀the฀government฀pay฀attention฀to฀the฀complaints฀of฀non-Malays฀and฀the฀ socio-economic฀needs฀of฀the฀people,฀irrespective฀of฀their฀ethnic฀background?฀ The฀rejection฀of฀the฀ruling฀coalition,฀despite฀its฀clinging฀to฀power,฀provided฀ much฀food฀for฀thought.฀It฀was฀a฀rejection฀of฀the฀politics฀of฀fear,฀which฀the฀ UMNO-led฀coalition฀had฀used฀effectively฀to฀rally฀the฀support฀of฀Malays฀by฀ exploiting฀their฀fear฀of฀Chinese฀economic฀dominance฀and฀of฀losing฀Malay฀ cultural฀characteristics฀in฀nation฀building.฀The฀UMNO-led฀government฀has฀ also฀used฀the฀politics฀of฀fear฀to฀rally฀the฀support฀of฀non-Malays฀—฀however฀ reluctantly฀—฀by฀exploiting฀their฀fear฀of฀an฀Islamic฀state฀led฀by฀the฀PAS,฀ as฀well฀as฀their฀fear฀of฀racial฀riots.฀This฀politics฀of฀fear฀perpetuates฀the฀ communal฀political฀process฀in฀Malaysia. Does฀the฀2008฀general฀election฀mark฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀end฀of฀the฀ politics฀of฀fear฀in฀Malaysia?฀The฀result฀of฀this฀election฀no฀doubt฀provides฀ much฀room฀for฀reflection฀about฀ethnicity,฀nationalism,฀and฀nation฀building,฀ and฀indeed฀democracy,฀too.฀David฀Brown฀(1994)฀has฀written฀about฀ethnicity,฀ nationalism,฀and฀democracy฀in฀Southeast฀Asia,฀and฀I฀shall฀use฀the฀Malaysian฀ case฀to฀reflect฀on฀this฀issue฀and฀on฀nation฀building.฀I฀argue฀that฀the฀politics฀ of฀ethnicity฀is฀perpetuated฀through฀the฀politics฀of฀fear฀using฀ethnicity฀and฀ religion,฀and฀that฀both฀a฀reduction฀in฀communal฀politics฀and฀an฀improvement฀ in฀democracy฀are฀favourable฀for฀the฀promotion฀of฀ethnic฀harmony฀or฀national฀ unity.฀The฀deterioration฀of฀democracy฀will฀only฀lead฀to฀more฀oppression฀of฀ 01฀MalaysianChin.indd฀฀฀2 9/29/11฀฀฀1:26:32฀PM Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Nation Building 3 the฀minorities฀and฀more฀polarized฀communal฀politics...