On 16 September, the Federation of Malaysia celebrated its 60th anniversary. While neighbours such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines have suffered military coups and a heavy toll from civil strife, Malaysia has only experienced one episode: the 13 May 1969 ethnic riots.
More and more Malays, especially in the younger demographic, are backing arguments that Malaysia’s future lies in PAS’ vision for the establishment of a Malay-Islamic state.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org
The biggest takeaway from the November 2022 election was “the Green Wave”, or the rise of political Islam and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). PAS is now the largest party in the Malaysian parliament with 49 seats. The second-largest party in parliament is the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a Chinese-based party representing the non-Malays, with 40 seats.
The second vision for Malaysia is the one espoused by the DAP, who won all but one of the non-Malay seats it contested in the August state polls, thus confirming its status as the political voice of the non-Malays. DAP’s vision for Malaysia can best be described as the “middle path” – meaning that while Malaysia is largely a secular country, Islam remains the de facto official religion, with non-Muslims not subject to Islamic laws and still able to play a substantive role in the political process, including holding cabinet positions, although not the prime ministership. The state will respect the non-Islamic religions and allow the minorities a free hand in the economy.
Most analysts of Malaysia forget the “Borneo bloc” is now crucial for anyone who wants to form the federal government.
The third vision for Malaysia comes from the Borneo states, Sabah and Sarawak. Most analysts of Malaysia forget the “Borneo bloc” is now crucial for anyone who wants to form the federal government. Since the 2008 general elections, MPs from Borneo have offered the numbers needed to form the federal government. Their vision is that political Islam does not apply to the Borneo states and that there is freedom of religion. They accept the phrase used in the Constitution of Malaysia, that “Islam is the religion of the federation”, but argue this does not apply to them since it was stated clearly in the 1963 Malaysia Agreement that there will be no state religion in Borneo. They also want a high degree of autonomy and, if possible, no interference from the federal government on anything to do with Sabah or Sarawak affairs. In other words, they are almost a “state within a state” in the Malaysian federation. This sees two Malaysias with vastly different characters: Malaya and Sabah and Sarawak, divided by the South China Sea.
After 60 years of the federation, and with much success to celebrate, national unity and national identity are still in the formative stage.
The PM wants to be equal and fair to all the people while he also wants to show the Malay community he is their ‘champion’. But he cannot be everything to everybody. He has about four years, maybe less, before the next general election.
The PM should not vacillate in his leadership. He has to stand up and be counted if he wants Malaysia to be better than it has been. If he wants his tenure as prime minister to mean something, this is the time to prove he is, hopefully, better than the rest put together.
References:
Malaysia at 60: One country, three visions, James Chin, https://www.lowyinstitute.org
What are we celebrating? Jem, Aliran, 30 August 2023
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