"It is widely believed that in the recently concluded general election, electorates no longer view communal politics as viable in 21st century Malaysia and many voted for candidates who are not from among their communities. At least, this is what many believed when votes swung from BN to BR candidates. Such trends could mean 2 possibilities; either such perception is true or it could be just protest votes against the BN. It is still too early to tell unless this trend continues to the next general election.
While we are happy that Malaysians have finally come to their senses about not voting based on ethnicity but capabilities of political parties and their candidates, some groups are still harping on the ethnic representation issue. A group of Malay-based NGOs in Perak staged a protest last Sunday, voicing out their dissatisfaction over the majority of non-Malay exco members in the Perak state government. They argued that since Perak has a majority of ethnic Malay population, it should reflect such composition in the exco. They demanded that the racial composition of the exco should reflect the same as in the previous BN-led state government. They feared that the Malay interests in the state are not sufficiently represented in a minority Malay exco.
I feel such concern is unfounded and smells of racism. In the dawn of an era of non-communal politics, it should not matter whether the exco members are Malays or non-Malays as long as they are all Malaysians and able to serve all communities. The era of an ethnic politician representing the interests of his/her ethnic community is over. Those are archaic practices of the 60s and 70s. We are now talking about representing the interests of all Malaysians. Apparently, there are still many bigots out there who still cannot feel the winds of change that has blown over in Malaysian politics. They are either still living in the past or are simply reluctant to change to an era unknown to them or fear their personal vested interests is in jeopardy.
However, by observing the NGOs that were protesting that day, I can guess the reason why they are protesting. These NGOs are UMNO supporters and many of their leaders, including their national chapters are or were UMNO leaders. Their protest, thus is not hardly surprising. They are so used to the BN style of governing that any changes to the previous style is unacceptable.
I, personally would not say much about Perak's new exco line-up, though I commented on why Perak should have its new MB from DAP and not PAS in one of my previous blogs. However, we should all accept the decision from the Perak palace and BR when they all agreed to the new exco line-up. We should all give the new exco a chance to perform.
I am confused as to what constitute to their concern over the fate of the Malays in the state. What is it exactly that they are concerned with? I wish to know more about their concerns as I find that most of the Malays concerns are also the concerns of other non-Malays. We all know the reasons why BN fared so poorly in the recent general election and the dissatisfactions were not communal-based but rather they are national-based. Problems that are affecting everyone in Malaysia, not any particular race. If the new state government is able to address these problems effectively, they should deserve all our support as eliminating these problems would benefit all Malaysians in general and Perak in particular.
It is because of such ethnic-centric people existing in our midst that failed all attempts to unite Malaysians of different races into one single Malaysian race. A race that all Malaysians would call their race. The era of communal politics is waning. These bigots should come to their senses and realized that despite our certain differences, we are still Malaysians. Hence, we should all fight for the Malaysian Agenda. Narrow racial agendas will soon see their demise, rendering these groups irrelevant in the future.
Let us all tell these racial bigots to go home and do some serious soul-searching."
