The Ketuanan issue

Dr Wan Azizah struck at Umno’s soft spot — Kim Quek
December 02, 2010

DEC 2 — PKR President Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail seemed to have struck at the Achilles’ heel of Umno when she officially condemned “Ketuanan Melayu” (Malay the master race) as the fraudulent ideology that has propped up Umno all these years.

Delivering her policy speech during the party’s annual congress on November 27, she said that the Malay supremacy concept was used by Umno’s elites to deceive the Malay masses for self enrichment and for maintaining their political power. As a result, the majority of Malays and Bumiputera have remained poor and neglected despite 53 years of Umno rule.

Calling the Malays to discard this ideology, she said: “The concept of Malay supremacy must be left behind so that our children will grow up with the vision of a dignified race.”

By any democratic standard, Dr Wan Azizah’s clarion call to abandon racism must be applauded as the voice of reason that is in consonance with fundamental values embraced by every member of the world community.

After all, isn’t it true that the last country practising institutionalised racism — South Africa — had given up its racist policy twenty years ago? Though Malaysia has largely escaped the kind of world condemnation accorded former apartheid South Africa, thanks to the Barisan Nasional government’s skilful image polishing, nevertheless, endemic racism remains a plague that has sabotaged national integration and thwarted economic growth.

Ketuanan Melayu indefensible

Perhaps aware that “Ketuanan Melayu” is indefensible in the eyes of the world, Umno was at a loss as to how to respond to Dr Wan Azizah’s unexpected frontal assault.

To keep silent would be to acquiesce to Dr Wan Azizah’s assertion and that would spell trouble — big trouble. For it is through inciting the primordial instinct of race that Umno hopes to scrape through the coming national election. So, how could Umno give up “Ketuanan Melayu”?

On the other hand, to defend the ideology would be to invite worldwide ridicule and condemnation. And that would not be pretty, keeping in mind that with the myriad of modern communication gadgets instantly transmitting news and messages, international backlash could be swift and unpalatable.

So, after a short interval to recover from Dr Wan Azizah’s surprise initiative, responses began to drip in from Umno’s top leaders, but these are either evasive or irrelevant, and none has dared to take Wan Azizal head on.

Deputy Umno President and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin described Dr Wan Azizah’s assertion as an attempt “to salvage a sinking ship”, and to regain public support after a divisive party election. What about the Ketuanan issue? Not a word of rebuttal.

Umno Vice President and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi said Dr Wan Azizah was “only trying to divert public attention from the party’s serious problems.” He said PKR wanted to please the Chinese and Indians to gain their support for the next general election. Again, he avoided touching the Ketuanan issue.

Not unexpectedly, the dirty job of savage counter-offensive was left to Umno’s ultra racist wing Perkasa. Its youth leader Arman Azha Abu Hanifah attacked Azizah as “political prostitute”. He said that she and other PKR Malay leaders owed their professional achievement to “Ketuanan Melayu” policy and that they had now betrayed the race for the sake of gaining Chinese and Indian support.

Interestingly, Arman’s bad manner and insensitive blast at other Malay leaders seem to justify Dr Wan Azizah’s advocacy to abandon the “Ketuanan” mentality so as to regain dignity for the race. It is not only abhorrent conduct to call a respected national leader “prostitute”, but his inference that Malays are not capable of achieving success unless they are propped up by racial favouritism is outright humiliating to the race. In fact, Arman’s crass outburst has unwittingly made him the best poster boy of the ill fruits that “Ketuanan Melayu” has borne.

However, the icing of the cake in this episode is undoubtedly the novel theory put up by the vociferous Umno Cabinet member Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz to deflect Dr Wan Azizah’s criticism. He said “Ketuanan Melayu” is not about the Malay race, but about the Malay Sultans. He said the word was coined to protect the sovereignty of the Malay Rulers, not to emphasise racial supremacy.

Glaring evidence of racism

While Nazri may consider himself ingenious in coming out with this new interpretation to escape the “Ketuanan” trap, it sure holds no water. The bedrock of Umno’s hegemony is its racial ideology which has captivated its core supporters, and “Ketuanan Melayu” has been coined to symbolise Malay supremacy. It is through the indoctrination and implementation of this ideology that Umno has been able to win election after election; and Umno is not about to give it up for whatever reason.

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