M’sian democracy died in 1969
Malaysia’s flirtation with democracy died 45 years ago, in the racial riots of May 13, 1969, in which Malaysians attacked Malaysians in acts of savagery.
Today, we live in a state which, on the surface, seems to be a functioning, normal democratic society, but if one were to scratch beneath the surface, one would wonder if democracy was just a figment of the imagination.
We all despise and mistrust politicians, from both sides of the political divide. Detractors will insist that we are a democratic nation. That is one myth which must be immediately quashed.
It does not mean that we live in a democracy just because we visit the polling stations every five years. The electoral system is corrupt, indelible ink washes off, boundaries are skewed to benefit the ruling party, ballot boxes are switched during blackouts, thugs intimidate voters and money and citizenship is given to illegal immigrants, in exchange for voting rights. These are not the hallmarks of a democracy.
Politics in Malaysia is just a game for the ruling elite. They swop roles and tinker with administration and funding. The main thing is to keep the party in power. Personal interests outweigh the national interest. Our freedom is curbed, along with our freedom of thought.
It is a grave concern, when the rakyat increasingly accepts corruption, murder and thuggery, as part of the normal government machinery.
Today, apart from it being a religion, Islam is also used as an implement for political suppression, a divisive tool, a diversionary tactic and a ploy to destroy the opposition.
Few Malaysians will have heard of the book, Malaysia, Death of a Democracy by John Slimming, a journalist who lived and worked in Malaysia from 1951 to 1967.
Slimming’s book gives an unbiased and graphic account of the riots, the reasons they happened and the aftermath. The book was banned in Malaysia, but having obtained a copy of the book, I know that Slimming’s conclusions are just as applicable now, as they were, in 1969.
In June 1969 photocopies of Fred Emery’s articles from The Times were smuggled in from Singapore and sold for RM20. People who were caught with these photostats, about the riots, were imprisoned for up to two years.
In the section of the book about ‘One-party Rule and Ultra-nationalists’, Slimming said, “The present Umno leaders cannot risk offending the Malays for fear of widening the rift within their own party.” He observed that, “As long as the opposition is suppressed, there can be no long-term solution to the country’s difficulties.”
Razak told one correspondent (The Far Eastern Economic Review of July 10, 1969) that the policy of the National Operations Council (NOC), which Abdul Razak Hussein set up under Emergency Rule, was to “do nothing”, but “ensure the preservation of law and order, and wait, hoping that tensions would relax and memories fade”.
Slimming said that Razak did not want public debate on racial issues because it would heighten tension.
‘Like father, like son’
Today, nothing has changed and following the adage, “like father, like son”, Najib Abdul Razak has emulated his father’s “do nothing” and “say nothing” policy.
Slimming said that Tan Siew Sin, the then-MCA president, also supported the NOC policy of “do nothing” and that Tan had lost the respect of the Malaysian Chinese.
The Chinese have no respect for the MCA, in May 2014.
Slimming said that Tunku Abdul Rahman (right in photo) was “made to walk a very slender tightrope” and that a “little known Umno backbencher, Dr Mahathir Mohamad (left in photo), wrote a letter to the Tunku in “Rajah Malay”, to demand his resignation. The letter was banned and Mahathir ejected from the Umno central committee. Slimming added, “Had an opposition backbencher written that letter, he would have found himself in detention, without delay.”
In 1970, Razak became PM and Mahathir was embraced into the Umno fold. By 1973, Mahathir became a senator, then education minister in 1974 and in 1981, the PM. Mahathir abused the Internal Security Act (ISA) to tighten his grip on power. Hell hath no fury as a dictator who was once scorned.
Slimming details the thoughts of a university lecturer, Mukhtaruddin Dazin, who said, “The Malays must not want a return to parliamentary rule. The NOC must lead the country towards the aims of the national Malay philosophy... to be carried out by the armed forces loyal to the Malay race.
“When non-Malays fight for equal rights, Malays must... be offensive and fight to review the question of citizenship... by means of language tests, essays, religion and Malay customs...”
Today, we find extremists like Perkasa and Isma spouting the same offensive ideals.
Slimming’s book described Malay student leaders demanding an “all-Malay apartheid-style government, with the Chinese barred from taking part”. These same students previously condemned the racial discrimination in South Africa and Rhodesia.
In a section called ‘Boycott and Goodwill’, Slimming said that after the riots, the Chinese (and Singaporeans), boycotted Malay shops, foodstalls and markets. The Malays suffered greatly and in an ironic twist, the then-Selangor chief minister Harun Idris, whom Slimming said was “the sponsor of the original Umno demonstration”, pleaded with the public not to boycott the shops. Harun’s appeal fell on deaf ears.
Under the section marked ‘Singapore, Malaysia and external Defence’, Slimming said that Lee Kuan Yew had positioned multi-racial security forces on alert and swiftly clamped down on an outbreak of racial clashes. The forces acted with complete impartiality, unlike their Malaysian counterparts and because of this, Singapore quickly returned to normal, thus restoring confidence and preserving racial harmony.
Today, our leaders are afraid to act swiftly to contain the extremist elements, nor are our police able to act with complete impartiality.
Slimming observed that Malay leaders were concerned with the threat from external dangers, but chose to ignore the threat from within.
Malaysia has degenerated from its predicament in 1969. Will Najib face the facts, and allow discussion of “sensitive issues”, or will Umno Baru prolong the policy of doing nothing?
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).
Today, we live in a state which, on the surface, seems to be a functioning, normal democratic society, but if one were to scratch beneath the surface, one would wonder if democracy was just a figment of the imagination.
We all despise and mistrust politicians, from both sides of the political divide. Detractors will insist that we are a democratic nation. That is one myth which must be immediately quashed.
It does not mean that we live in a democracy just because we visit the polling stations every five years. The electoral system is corrupt, indelible ink washes off, boundaries are skewed to benefit the ruling party, ballot boxes are switched during blackouts, thugs intimidate voters and money and citizenship is given to illegal immigrants, in exchange for voting rights. These are not the hallmarks of a democracy.
Politics in Malaysia is just a game for the ruling elite. They swop roles and tinker with administration and funding. The main thing is to keep the party in power. Personal interests outweigh the national interest. Our freedom is curbed, along with our freedom of thought.
It is a grave concern, when the rakyat increasingly accepts corruption, murder and thuggery, as part of the normal government machinery.
Today, apart from it being a religion, Islam is also used as an implement for political suppression, a divisive tool, a diversionary tactic and a ploy to destroy the opposition.Few Malaysians will have heard of the book, Malaysia, Death of a Democracy by John Slimming, a journalist who lived and worked in Malaysia from 1951 to 1967.
Slimming’s book gives an unbiased and graphic account of the riots, the reasons they happened and the aftermath. The book was banned in Malaysia, but having obtained a copy of the book, I know that Slimming’s conclusions are just as applicable now, as they were, in 1969.
In June 1969 photocopies of Fred Emery’s articles from The Times were smuggled in from Singapore and sold for RM20. People who were caught with these photostats, about the riots, were imprisoned for up to two years.
In the section of the book about ‘One-party Rule and Ultra-nationalists’, Slimming said, “The present Umno leaders cannot risk offending the Malays for fear of widening the rift within their own party.” He observed that, “As long as the opposition is suppressed, there can be no long-term solution to the country’s difficulties.”
Razak told one correspondent (The Far Eastern Economic Review of July 10, 1969) that the policy of the National Operations Council (NOC), which Abdul Razak Hussein set up under Emergency Rule, was to “do nothing”, but “ensure the preservation of law and order, and wait, hoping that tensions would relax and memories fade”.
Slimming said that Razak did not want public debate on racial issues because it would heighten tension.
‘Like father, like son’
Today, nothing has changed and following the adage, “like father, like son”, Najib Abdul Razak has emulated his father’s “do nothing” and “say nothing” policy.
Slimming said that Tan Siew Sin, the then-MCA president, also supported the NOC policy of “do nothing” and that Tan had lost the respect of the Malaysian Chinese.
The Chinese have no respect for the MCA, in May 2014.
Slimming said that Tunku Abdul Rahman (right in photo) was “made to walk a very slender tightrope” and that a “little known Umno backbencher, Dr Mahathir Mohamad (left in photo), wrote a letter to the Tunku in “Rajah Malay”, to demand his resignation. The letter was banned and Mahathir ejected from the Umno central committee. Slimming added, “Had an opposition backbencher written that letter, he would have found himself in detention, without delay.”In 1970, Razak became PM and Mahathir was embraced into the Umno fold. By 1973, Mahathir became a senator, then education minister in 1974 and in 1981, the PM. Mahathir abused the Internal Security Act (ISA) to tighten his grip on power. Hell hath no fury as a dictator who was once scorned.
Slimming details the thoughts of a university lecturer, Mukhtaruddin Dazin, who said, “The Malays must not want a return to parliamentary rule. The NOC must lead the country towards the aims of the national Malay philosophy... to be carried out by the armed forces loyal to the Malay race.
“When non-Malays fight for equal rights, Malays must... be offensive and fight to review the question of citizenship... by means of language tests, essays, religion and Malay customs...”
Today, we find extremists like Perkasa and Isma spouting the same offensive ideals.
Slimming’s book described Malay student leaders demanding an “all-Malay apartheid-style government, with the Chinese barred from taking part”. These same students previously condemned the racial discrimination in South Africa and Rhodesia.
In a section called ‘Boycott and Goodwill’, Slimming said that after the riots, the Chinese (and Singaporeans), boycotted Malay shops, foodstalls and markets. The Malays suffered greatly and in an ironic twist, the then-Selangor chief minister Harun Idris, whom Slimming said was “the sponsor of the original Umno demonstration”, pleaded with the public not to boycott the shops. Harun’s appeal fell on deaf ears.
Under the section marked ‘Singapore, Malaysia and external Defence’, Slimming said that Lee Kuan Yew had positioned multi-racial security forces on alert and swiftly clamped down on an outbreak of racial clashes. The forces acted with complete impartiality, unlike their Malaysian counterparts and because of this, Singapore quickly returned to normal, thus restoring confidence and preserving racial harmony.
Today, our leaders are afraid to act swiftly to contain the extremist elements, nor are our police able to act with complete impartiality.
Slimming observed that Malay leaders were concerned with the threat from external dangers, but chose to ignore the threat from within.
Malaysia has degenerated from its predicament in 1969. Will Najib face the facts, and allow discussion of “sensitive issues”, or will Umno Baru prolong the policy of doing nothing?
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).
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