Another Malaysia is Possible (2004)

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Another Malaysia Is Possible and Other Essays Writings On CulturE and POlitiCs fOr a sustainablE WOrld

© M. Nadarajah Published by national Office for Human development (nOHd) Printed by Percetakan Seasons Sdn Bhd 3 Jalan 8/155, Taman Industri Bukit OUG Jalan Klang Lama, 58200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: (603) 7785 6960 Design Consultancy by Cahayasuara Communications Centre 5 Jalan Robertson, 50150 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: (603) 2078 0912 Fax: (603) 2031 7603 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.archway.org.my/cahayasuara

Another Malaysia Is Possible and Other Essays Writings On CulturE and POlitiCs fOr a sustainablE WOrld

Dedicated to: Dananjay, Dayanita, Jeanelle, Jeremiah Joseph, Jessica Anne, Isabelle, Li Mei, Luke Ashwin, Maga Heyyan Lubis, Maha, Mark Luhan, Matthew Navin, Namora Hadi Lubis, Norma Hasya Lubis, Puvessha, Sivapratha, Shivathmihai, Subbu, Thevan and Vikram.

The essays in this volume were written over seven years, i.e. from 1996 - 2003. They consist of newspaper articles, opinion pieces and comments, papers presented at seminars and workshops, and chapters in edited books and reports. At a minimum, it is a record of the issues that affected me as an individual and my responses to them. At a maximum, I hope the essays offer some material for discussion of sustainable futures we can shape in Malaysia. It is my hope that the issues raised here and the arguments developed to address them extend the terms of discussion for a sustainable Malaysia and world among younger Malaysians. That is my humble hope. Let me take this opportunity to draw the reader’s attention to the comments in this book. In a number of areas, ideas and arguments are ‘repeated’. Though I am aware of this, I have not removed the repetitions. First, they form part of different articles and second, they indicate some consistency in my ideas and arguments. There are also areas where the reader may be able to find a contradiction or a tension of unresolved issues or analysis. Again, I have not attempted to undo these. They are part of the growing-up process and part of the social complexity we are all embedded in. Things are not always black or white. One more area of concern is that most of the articles here are critical responses to some situations that existed in Malaysia, the region or the world. In a very limited way, some changes have taken place but they are not reflected here. The essays are a record of responses to events and situations in Malaysia and the world. I want to thank Malaysiakini for always publishing my comments. That gave me the inspiration, encouragement and a platform to continue writing at a popular level, though I could not help being ‘abstract’ at times. The accomplishments of Malaysiakini are not small, given the controlled nature of our political and media environments. I like to specially thank Steven Gan and Premesh Chandran. In fact, this volume is part of a self-initiated research project on the writings on the Indian Malaysian community that appeared in Malaysiakini between June 2000 and July 2001. This volume consists solely of my writings on culture and politics. I like to thank my student, Li Mei, who was my able research assistant. She not only collected the articles that appeared in Malaysiakini during the said period but also did content analysis of the articles in terms of the frequency the issues on Indian Malaysians were mentioned, discussed or commented on. I must thank S. Nagarajan (a former journalist and currently a research student at the Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research, University of Malaya), K. Arumugam (a partner of Child Development Initiative and a trustee of Child Information Learning and Development Centre) and S.P. Pathi (an advocate who is also involved vii

with Tamil education), who have directly and indirectly helped me with this project. There were very supportive of the project from its inception. S.P. Pathi offered initial funds to support the research work/project carried out by Li Mei. I thank him for this kind gesture. It was important as this project had no definite financial support while it was in progress. Exchanges with Nagarajan were especially instructive of what was happening to many in the Tamil Malaysian community as they faced the final stages of the crumbling plantation world they lived in from the time the British colonialists brought them to peninsular Malaya to enrich themselves. The Foreword to this volume is written by Br. Anthony Rogers, Director of the National Office for Human Development (NOHD), the publisher of this volume. I’m immensely thankful to him and to NOHD for this kind gesture. The Prolusion to this volume is written by a dear friend, Charles Santiago. An activist-academic, he is director of MSN, a KL-based organisation that monitors the sustainability of globalisation. The Afterword is written by Yeoh Seng Guan, who lectures on the media at the KL campus of Monash University. We are co-travellers, addressing certain common cultural issues (multiculturalism is among them) in the company of Salma Khoo, the former honorary secretary of Penang Heritage Trust, and Abdur- Razzaq Lubis. The relationships with all these culturally-sensitive people have had a positive impact on me. I like to thank both Charles Santiago and Yeoh Seng Guan for taking time to read the manuscript and write thoughtful comments about it. They have certainly added value to this collection. Sources of some photos used in this volume cannot be verified as they are from photo archives that were not properly documented. I wish to record here my acknowledgement of these unverified sources. It would have all been useless if this collection of essays did not receive the proper editorial, design and layout attention of Adeline and Canute of Cahayasuara Communications Centre. I thank Canute for his meticulous editorial effort and Adeline for her patience while I made all kinds of demands and changes. Above all, I am especially thankful to ‘Eljay’, director of Cahayasuara, for his unalloyed support. Needless to say, I take full responsibility for all the shortcomings of this small contribution to ‘rethinking’ Malaysia. And the world. M. Nadarajah Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia April 2004 Note on How to Read This Book As noted in the Preface, in several areas in the book, ideas and arguments have been repeated. Such repetitions become a problem if this book is read like a novel. However, if the chapters are selected at random and read – which is my recommended way of reading this book – then repetition is less obvious. Each chapter is in a sense independent and the repetitions contribute to this independence and make the chapters complete. viii

abbrEviatiOns & glOssary (in alPHabEtiCal OrdEr) AGENDA 21 Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations system, governments, and major groups in every area in which humans impact on the environment. This global contract binds governments around the world to the UN plan for changing the ways we live, eat, learn, and communicate - all under the noble banner of saving the earth. Its regulations would severely limit water, electricity, and transportation - even deny human access to our most treasured wilderness areas. If implemented, it would manage and monitor all lands and people. No one would be free from the watchful eye of the new global tracking and information system. This agenda for the 21st Century was signed by 179 nations at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. BA Barisan Alternatif. Alternative national opposition coalition front challenging the ruling National Front. BN Barisan Nasional (National Front). The ruling coalition in Malaysia consisting of 14 political parties. CAHAYASUARA Cahayasuara Communications Centre is the social communications department of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Cahayasuara's primary work is to promote the responsible use of social communications and communication technologies to enhance integral human development through Gospel values for the unity and advancement of people in line with the New Way of Being Church. CalPERS California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). Provides retirement and health benefit services to more than 1.4 million members and nearly 2,500 employers. CAP Consumers’ Association of Penang. A nationally and internationally known CORRUPTION consumers’ association based in Penang. PERCEPTIONS Transparency International (TI) has published its annual Corruption Perceptions INDEX Index (CPI) since 1995. The goal of the CPI is to provide data on extensive perceptions of corruption within countries. The CPI is a composite index, making use of surveys of business people and assessments by country analysts. It consists of credible sources using diverse sampling frames and different methodologies. These perceptions enhance our understanding of real levels of corruption from one country to another. A CPI score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people, academics and risk analysts, and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt). DAP Democratic Action Party. Chinese-dominated but multiethnic opposition political DBKL party. DEEPAVALI Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (KL City Council). One of the most important festivals celebrated by Hindus, it commemorates the victory of divine forces over evil. EPF Employees Provident Fund. GCC Group of Concerned Citizens. An informal group of Indian Malaysian professionals taking up issues that affect Indian Malaysians. ix

GERAKAN Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia. A Chinese-majority but multiracial component GOPIO political party of the National Front. PGRM rules the state of Penang. ICFTU-APRO Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin. IPF International Confederation of Free Trade Unions—Asian and Pacific Regional ISA Organisation, based in Singapore. KL20 Indian Progressive Front. A political party defending the interests of the Indian community, and which is opposed to the Malaysian Indian Congress. LOCAL Internal Security Act. Law for ‘preventive’ detention. AGENDA 21 The Draft KL Structure Plan 2020 contains the vision, goals, policies and proposals to guide the development of KL over the next 20 years. Under this MALAYSIAKINI two-pronged approach, the Draft Plan only outlines the goals, strategies and MCA policies towards achieving the vision of Kuala Lumpur as a world-class city and MIC identifies ways to minimise or solve issues and problems faced by the citizens. MTUC The Draft Plan was based on twelve main parameters, namely: (1) Economic NEAC Base and Population, (2) Income and Quality of Life, (3) Commerce, (4) Tourism, (5) Industry, (6) Transportation, (7) Infrastructure and Utilities, NGO (8) Housing and Squatters, (9) Community Facilities, (10) Urban Design and NUTP Landscape, (11) Environment and (12) Special Areas. PAS Chapter 28 of Agenda 21 specifically calls for each community to formulate its PKN own Local Agenda 21: Each local authority should enter into a dialogue with its SUHAKAM citizens, local organizations, and private enterprises and adopt 'a local Agenda THAIPUSAM 21.' Through consultation and consensus-building, local authorities would learn from citizens and from local, civic, community, business and industrial organizations and acquire the information needed for formulating the best strategies. (Agenda 21, Chapter 28, section 1, 3.) Malaysia’s only online newspaper that offers an active space for fairer reporting of Malaysian realities. Malaysian Chinese Association. A component party of the National Front defending the interests of the Chinese community. Malaysian Indian Congress. A component party of the National Front defending the interests of the Indian community. Malaysian Trade Union Congress. National Economic Action Council. Established in 1998 – one year after the Asian economic crisis – as a consultative body to the Malaysian Cabinet to deal with the economic crisis. Non-governmental organisation (also called civil society organisation). National Union of the Teaching Profession (Peninsular Malaysia). Parti Islam SeMalaysia. Malaysia's opposition National Islamic Party. Parti Keadilan Nasional (National Justice Party), commonly called Keadilan. An opposition political party with affiliation to Anwar Ibrahim. Human Rights Commission of Malaysia. A Hindu festival celebrating Lord Subramaniam, and giving thanks for blessings received during the past year. A main feature of Thaipusam is the carrying of kavadi as a form of penance. The kavadi is a frame decorated with peacock feathers and offerings such as fresh milk, flowers and fruits. x

UMNO United Malays National Organisation, the political party of the Malay/ bumiputera community in Malaysia. UNDP United Nations Development Programme. UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. UN GUIDELINES The General Assembly adopted guidelines for consumer protection by consensus FOR CONSUMER on 9 April 1985 (General Assembly resolution 39/248). The guidelines provide PROTECTION a framework for governments, particularly those of developing countries, to use in elaborating and strengthening consumer protection policies and legislation. They are also intended to encourage international co-operation in this field. The origins of the guidelines can be traced to the late 1970s, when the Economic and Social Council recognised that consumer protection had an important bearing on economic and social development. VETTIPECHU One of the many online sites that addresses Indian Malaysian issues. Articles, news analyses, letters and other monographs that are of relevance to Indian Malaysians are posted here. Even though this site is intended for those of Indian ethnicity in/from Malaysia, it is not exclusive. Now inactive or defunct. VISION 2020 The Malaysian who is born today and in the years to come will be the last generation to live in a country that is called 'developing'. The ultimate objective is a fully-developed Malaysia by the year 2020. It is a long-term goal that envisions Malaysia as a highly industrialised and caring society by 2020. WESAK DAY Commemorates the birth of Prince Siddhartha (later, the Buddha), his enlightenment and his passing away into parinibbana. It falls in May. WSF World Social Forum. It is not an organisation, not a united front platform, but \"… an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and inter-linking for effective action, by groups and movements of civil society that are opposed to neo-liberalism and to domination of the world by capital and any form of imperialism, and are committed to building a society centred on the human person\". (WSF Charter of Principles). WSF was created to provide an open platform to discuss strategies of resistance to the model of globalisation formulated at the annual World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland by large multinational corporations, national governments, IMF, World Bank and WTO, which are the foot soldiers of these corporations. Firmly committed to the belief that Another World Is Possible, WSF is an open space for discussing alternatives to the dominant neo-liberal processes, for exchanging experiences and for strengthening alliances among mass organisations, peoples' movements and civil society organisations. The first WSF was held in 2001 in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre. In 2004, the WSF meeting was held in Mumbai, India. WTO World Trade Organisation, the only global international organisation dealing with the rules of trade between nations. YMCA Young Malaysian Christian Association. YSS Yayasan Strategik Social (Social Strategic Foundation), established by the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), has developed a holistic, systematic and an integrated approach in addressing the social problems faced by the Indian Malaysian community. xi

note on the use of terms (i) [a] Indian Tamil Malaysian, as distinguished from Sri Lankan Tamil Malaysian. [b] In another context, it can be used in the following manner: Indian Tamil, Sri Lankan Tamil, Canadian Tamil, etc. Here, the use of these terms merely indicate geographical location of the Tamils and does not identify them as a political entity. (ii) Tamil-Indian Malaysian is used to distinguish this community from Malayalee-Indian Malaysian, Punjabi-Indian Malaysian, Bengali-Indian Malaysian, etc. These terms indicate more than just location; they refer to specific communities of Indians and their Malaysian citizenship. (iii) Tamil/Indian is used in context to simply mean Tamil and/or Indian. xii

abOut tHE autHOr Nadarajah is a sociologist by training and holds a Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India. Before pursuing his doctoral degree, he worked with a local consumer association – the Selangor and Federal Territory Consumers Association – in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as its consumer education officer. After his doctoral degree (1995), he worked in a number of areas and capacities. He was commissioning editor for India's first private ethnic channel, Asianet, in its New Delhi office. Later, he worked as consultant to a sustainable development project for three years with the Asia Pacific office of Consumer International (CI), then based in Penang, Malaysia. He also worked on a sustainable urbanisation project with a Japanese institute (IICRC) in Kanazawa, Japan, for three years. As a result of his involvement with this project, Nadarajah is now editing a book for IICRC and UNU-IAS, Japan, entitled Culture, Cities and Sustainable Development: The Kanazawa Initiative in the Study of Four Asian Cities. It will be published by UNU Press in 2004. Earlier, he published a book based on his Ph.D. thesis entitled Beyond Workerism: Culture, Gender and Ecology. A report on labour - Taxation and Social Development in Malaysia: A Country Report - was recently published (2003) by ICFTU-APRO (based in Singapore). In early 2003, he edited a book on media education/reform entitled Pathways to Critical Media Education and Beyond. The book was published by the Asian Communication Network (ACN), which is based in Bangkok, Thailand. He periodically writes social commentaries on the Indian Malaysian community and multiculturalism. Nadarajah is a freelance documentary filmmaker, starting his career in filmmaking in Madras, India. He has a number of documentaries to his credit: A Profile of Empowerment, Killing Fields, A Nation Mortgaged: IMF in India, Sustainable Penang, etc. Nadarajah is now closely involved with Cahayasuara Communications Centre, based in Kuala Lumpur, in developing a curriculum on social communication for vulnerable and interested constituencies (in particular, school students and those working with civil society organisations). This is an alternative media education course that focuses on media and values. He is also associated with Monitoring Sustainability of Globalisation, an organisation examining corporate globalisation, and the Philanthropy Initiative of Malaysia. Nadarajah (Nat) is presently the deputy coordinator of ACN. He lives and works from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. xiii



fOrEWOrd At crucial and critical times in the history of the life of nations and of the world itself, most people wait for the times to pass and to await patiently for the old days to be over. There are also other people who are passionately inspired from the depths of their being to stop and dare to dream of visions to be realised. These new possibilities often emerge from the inner energies and stirrings of the heart that move us to discover new insights and discern creative ventures for our common way forward as members of the human family. These are moments when new ideas are born and old ones are challenged. These are times to stop and reflect so as to allow the birth of new insights. We see the vital importance of not just exploring the workings of the external world but to strive and take the risk of returning to the very heart and core of the meaning of life itself. Living in a fragmented world ironically, amidst the homogenising effects of globalisation, calls for a true rootedness in our traditional cultures and in our nations. The greatest challenge today is thus to courageously re-think, to re-discover, to review and renew our lives and our world around us. It calls for a readiness to return to our backyards to look at both our history and our current priorities. Our backyards today are both our cultural heritage and our history as a nation. It is this enthusiasm to return to the roots of our limitations and failures, not with the purpose of destructive tearing down of the old but of allowing new emerging shoots of hope to emerge in both his analysis and propositions that makes Dr. Nadarajah’s contribution unique. We hope that his contributions will be the watershed for more Malaysians to take up together the challenge to pave our common way forward with the belief that Another Malaysia is truly possible! Anthony Rogers FSC Director National Office for Human Development Kuala Lumpur, May 2004 NOHD is the organisation of the Catholic Church in Malaysia for the promotion of human development and welfare, and the development and realisation of justice and peace. xv



COntEnts Preface & Acknowledgements v Abbreviations & Glossary vii Note on the Use of Terms About the Author x Foreword by Br. Anthony Rogers, FSC xi Prolusion by Charles Santiago xiii Thematic Orientation xvii section 3 Semangat Insan 15 Minus 25 the Political status Quo 29 Keadilan 33 Diversity 39 45 49 57 63 69 75 87 91 95 97 101 105 xvii

section ii: On bEing an indian 125 133 section 145 149 Case of the social Cost of Economic Crises 153 of the Cinema 165 southeast asia 175 Afterword by Yeoh Seng Guan 179 Articles on the Web 181 xviii 191 195 199 205 219 227 239 247 249 261 273 279

PrOlusiOn Seven years ago, a letter written to a local daily by Nadarajah generated a flurry of phone calls. There were two types of calls: one, congratulating him on his boldness and, more importantly, on providing an alternative through critical reflection of the present Malaysian reality. The other calls were critical of his article, since it supposedly offended some senior politicians and a political party in particular. What rattled the second set of callers most was Nadarajah’s call for historically- centred justice and empowerment of people in order that they may change their destiny. The callers realised that Nadarajah was calling for a re-ordering of the country’s priorities in all its facets. The first step in this involved ‘rethinking’ Malaysia in order to arrive at a ‘different’ nation from what exists today: a ‘Malaysia for All’, a Malaysia rooted in history, justice and compassion. Another Malaysia Is Possible, which brings together papers and articles written over seven years, attempts to ‘deconstruct’ the contemporary Malaysian reality. It captures Malaysians as real people – the pain of the average woman and man, the misery of marginalisation, the agony of being poor, the hopelessness of being a minority, and the unsustainability of the present form of growth – trying to make sense of the transformation that is unfolding around them. It is about real people caught in a web of structural arrangements, patriarchy, cultural hegemony, race politics, poverty, gender discrimination and primacy of the market with privatisation as one of its key features. It is about the quality of democratic politics, especially the future of opposition politics and political insecurities of the ruling party. It is about a marginalised community – about the Indian Malaysian community’s economic and political powerlessness, the call for the end of Tamil schools and vernacular education, and the profiling of Indians (Tamils) as ‘hot-headed’ and ‘problematic’. Many of these issues are not dealt within mainstream or alternative publications. Nadarajah’s concern, however, goes beyond the Tamil-Indian Malaysian community and Malaysia. He also draws our attention to issues that concern the region and global society. This book, for instance, also tells us that a patriarchal society is equally guilty of rape as individual rapists; that the problem of gangsterism is not an ‘Indian’ problem, the problem with pigs and ecstasy pills is not a ‘Chinese’ problem, and that drug abuse is not a ‘Malay’ problem – but a ‘Malaysian’ problem; that poverty is not a Malay, Indian or Kadazan problem but a Malaysian predicament; that addressing xix

an economic crisis is as much a problem of theory as it is a practical challenge. Nadarajah is calling for a rethinking of the present national and global order. He urges us to reflect on an alternative vision for our nation and for global society. In his rendering of issues and concerns of our national society, Nadarajah attempts to unravel root causes that inhibit the country from moving forward justly, compassionately and multiculturally. He writes passionately about the possibility of ‘another Malaysia’. He envisions a Malaysia that is people-centred, that is culturally conscious of its diversity, and one that embraces democratic economic development and governance. It is a Malaysia where people will have political control of their economic lives and where the fruits of development are equally distributed among them. He aspires for a society where people really matter. This book should rattle the conscience of Malaysians to act, and act decisively, in order to build ‘another Malaysia’ that is rooted in history, justice and compassion. Nadarajah’s Another Malaysia Is Possible leaves us with this historical challenge. Charles Santiago Director Monitoring Sustainability of Globalisation Kuala Lumpur, March 2004 xx

Thematic Orientation



Thematic Orientation Introduction The collection of comments, academic papers and observations that make up this volume were written over the last seven years (1996-2003), and cover a wide range of issues and events. On the face of it, there seems to be no focal point or theme for the discussions. However, underlying the responses to status quo or contemporary developments is, I like to believe, a worldview based on humanistic, inclusive, ecologically-responsible and sustainable values. I like to believe that when one has an approach (and a methodology) towards our social experience, it is possible to make sense of, or explain, various paradoxes that confront us today. That is what I have done. So, while the areas and issues discussed certainly cover a wide terrain, I like to think that there is some underlying coherence in the analysis and arguments forwarded. In the main, the essays are writings on critical issues in cultural politics and political sociology. They cover the following key themes. Issue of Citizenship I have approached the issues both as a citizen of Malaysia and the World, as citizenship today is really an overlap of national and global affiliations. Each of us is part of a nation and national citizenship for most is automatic. However, the growing reality of our global society compels us to confront new global experiences. In an unsustainable global society controlled by neo- liberalism and the well-organised predatory (capitalist) market, all kinds of established and nascent global institutions (like WTO) and partisan leaders are deciding on our behalf and in a large number of situations, putting all of us, the future generations and Mother Earth, in jeopardy. National citizenship is becoming incapable of dealing with these realities and their consequences. There is a need to respond to these cross-border, unsustainable developments from a global citizen’s perspective. Of course, legally, this is a tricky situation but we cannot wait for the legal framework of global citizenship to be instituted before we make comments and/or take policy or street actions. As a legal reality, genuine or authentic global citizenship is an evolutionary prototype for the moment. Inauthentic global citizenship seems to be the privilege of the rich and powerful today. 3

Thematic Orientation groupings. This is, of course, a difficult perspective to sustain, since ethnocultural change is constantly in progress. And, in a rich ethnocultural environment such as Malaysia, cultural dialogue and hybridisation are ongoing processes. Against such a background, one can argue for the extreme position that there is no such thing as a Chinese or an Indian. They are just persons with vague, changing boundaries. Holding the above view, one can ask the question \"Who is a Chinese, really?\" or \"Who is an Indian, really?\" These are difficult and complex questions to address. In a sense, the boundaries are blurred and hard to define. So what do we do? Suggest that there is no such thing as race or ethnicity? And consequently, hold the position that racism or racial discrimination or racist tendencies are non-existent in our society? Or, alternatively, believe that we as a society are above racist culture and politics? The realities we face tell us otherwise. Look around our media-ted environment of advertisements and promotional displays. The black/dark colour or its shades are visibly absent or very limited in its presence. We have a process similar to the Latin American phenomenon of ‘whitening.’ The black or dark colours are discounted ones. Malaysians are generally represented as fair with all kinds of comments made on black/dark colours. In one case, a Tamil-Indian Malaysian girl child was told by her teacher in front of her class that “you need a lot of soap to clean yourself”. Certainly, racism is part of the Malaysian way today. This is not something inherent; but a historical development. It will come to pass, but not if we continue to cling to the national attitude we have towards it today. To suggest that it is not there today is clearly misrepresentation. To understand this reality better, we need to make a distinction between ethnocultural decisions of a community, based on the concept of inclusivity and that which promotes equality (realised as consequence), and those decisions that are exclusive and that which produce ethnic inequality and marginalisation at the individual and/or institutional levels (as consequence). An additional distinguishing feature is that the former is mostly a ‘retail phenomenon’ based on individual actions, while the latter is a ‘wholesale phenomenon’, based on policy, written or otherwise. As suggested earlier, this is a rather difficult area but we cannot submit that ethnically-based actions in the national context are invariably inclusive and governed by the principles of equity, equality and merit. Racially discriminatory actions, particularly in the public sphere, are a reality and they need to be addressed urgently. That urgency informs many of the essays in this volume. 4

Thematic Orientation Culture and Ethnicity Related to citizenship are issues surrounding culture and ethnicity. Just as is seen elsewhere, the experience of ethnicity in Malaysia is rather complex. The official construct of Malaysia as consisting of the \"ethnic trinity\" (to use a phrase I picked up from my Mandailing friend, Abdur-Razzaq Lubis), i.e. Malay, Chinese and Indian, is a gross misrepresentation of the ethnic reality in Malaysia. There are over 80 ethnic communities in Malaysia, including hybrid ones. While some may argue that writing about one community creates an impression that importance is given only to that community, it is my aim to ensure that whatever principle is used to evaluate the situation of the poor of any one community also applies to the poor of all communities. Theoretically, this is possible only if both class and ethnicity are considered together. Ethnicity (specific and exclusive) and class (universal and inclusive) are really internal to each other, mutually influencing and implicating to varying degrees. Though I have not addressed class issues directly in this volume, they are implicit in many of the essays. One key issue this entails is the question of governance in a multicultural society. If protective discrimination policies must be installed in a multicultural society, it is more equitable, and sustainable, for the nation as a whole to do so, based on inclusive economic class-based criteria than on exclusive race-based ones, as is practised and institutionalised in Malaysia. Unfortunately, as in many countries where elections depend on numbers (i.e. majority-minority dynamics in terms of numbers), racially-based protective discrimination policies do not heed what is prudent but are governed by political expediency. The need for political survival overrides the concern for building a genuine multicultural nation. As such, these policies have short-term benefits. Such a situation also complicates the issue of citizenship for minority communities in a society where Islam has a major role in governance. Related to citizenship is another issue: ethno-communal identity and ‘racial discrimination’. Who is Iban? Who is Malay? Who is Sikh? Who is Chinese? Who is Mandailing? Who is Hokkien? Who is Tamil? Who is Hakka? Is there such a thing as an essentialist cultural core that distinguishes us? Are the boundaries of ethnic identity defined and crystal-clear, or diffused and indeterminable? The former assumption suggests an unchanging ethnocultural core which acts as some sort of scale against which to classify the ethnic 5

Thematic Orientation The above view pertains to a clash of perspectives of two groups of Indian Malaysians: the ‘cosmopolitan Indians’ and the ‘embedded Indians’. The former would like to claim, among other things, the position that there is really no racism in Malaysia. They hold the view that the ideas of racism are borrowed from the analysis of situations in other countries and are not suitable for the analysis of Malaysian realities. They also work with post-modern arguments that reflect an unreasonable fear of the spectre of essentialism. The latter group - the embedded Indians - hold the opposite view, arguing that racism is a widespread contemporary global phenomenon. There are various shades within this group, ranging from those who hold that ‘only the colour of the skin matters’ to those who see the dynamics of class, race and beyond. This clash of views is inevitable and it is not going to go away, given the fact that both these groups will go on experiencing Malaysia differently. To pursue this issue further, among the Tamil Malaysians, there are three groups: (i) the fundamentalist, (ii) the triumphalist, and (iii) the democratic multiculturalist. The fundamentalist Tamils are racist, the triumphalists attempt to portray a future when Tamils will be like those in a bygone golden era, and the democratic multiculturalists - a position taken in this book - are those who propose a lively, sustainable approach to diversity, dialogue and peaceful co-existence. One other issue pertaining to the Indian Malaysian problem is whether this is a poor community that has become poorer and powerless over the years, or has fared well and has not become powerless, or at least has not lost control of its future as a community. Is this a fact? There are a number of studies that have come out recently that hold the position that the Indian Malaysians have prospered, along with the rest of the country. The Indian Malaysians are not doing badly and they are in fact better off. National statistics are even used to prove this. The Mid-Term Review of the Seventh Malaysia Plan presents a picture that Indian Malaysians are earning over RM3,000 per month, above the national average. (However, statistics drawn from other independant studies indicate that an average Indian earns in the range of RM600 to RM1,000.) Again, I fear this is a mistaken understanding that comes from a purely quantitative analysis and methodology (which a large number of Malaysian academics are unfortunately attracted to), and a careless theoretical position that sees the Indian Malaysian community as a single, undifferentiated lump. 6

Thematic Orientation The Indian Malaysian community is The disappearing rubber really a community of communities. plantations and encroaching Among these, the Indian Tamil Malaysian community (as a group developments. that is discrete from the better off Sri Lankan Tamil community) is really the one with most of the socio-economic and sociocultural problems and challenges. Perhaps one needs to change the Nat indices and measurements (of marginalisation and powerlessness or of affluence) from traditional criteria. Thus, if we have an index that provides a record of how often one is ‘culturally assaulted’ in the classroom, perhaps we may see a different picture of the Tamil Malaysian community. If there is an index on eviction from the crumbling and disappearing ‘old’ plantation sector or from urban squatter areas, which is indicative of not only powerlessness but also the struggle for adequate housing, again, we would see a different picture. Another area relates to powerlessness from an inability to write or represent one’s own history and contributions to nation building. If there is a way to measure intra-community violence and gangsterism among Tamil Malaysians and their real causes (written or unwritten state policies, for instance), perhaps we may have an altogether different picture. In effect, is the Tamil Malaysian community one that is becoming affluent or one that is turning into a futureless, violent, ‘underclass’1 community? The answer to this question will either show a communal tragedy that is unfolding in our midst or a community that is really marching forward confidently, having the power to really and significantly influence national decisions in the effort to shape its 1 The ‘discussion’ on this aspect is today at a low key. But it is a contested one. In one position, there is summary rejection of it, claiming that it is an incorrect way to represent the generally upwardly-mobile Indian Malaysians. Some are unsure if the community is becoming an underclass. And, of course, in the last position, the community is represented as exhibiting classic underclass characteristics. This third position is also proposed to counter arguments that seek to club all Malaysian poor together into a monolithic whole. In reality, all poor cannot be clubbed together. The distinguishing feature of the Tamil/ Indian Malaysian poor suggests that they are different from the poor of the other communities. And that difference is related to the growing underclass nature. 7

Thematic Orientation present and future. Will the society of Vision 2020 see Tamil Malaysians as an integral, active component of society or merely a tolerated ‘underclass’? It must be firmly mentioned here that along with Tamil Malaysians, there are other minorities and indigenous people in multicultural Malaysia that also need urgent attention. One area that is not really addressed in-depth here but implied in a number of essays is the hybrid cultural reality in Malaysia. There are many communities which are really hybrid entities and many hybrid cultural institutions, all of which create an opportunity for re-defining the cultural ownership of Malaysia. Indeed, there have been many instances of voluntary cultural exchanges and hybridisation in Malaysia. Such an unforced cultural evolution, i.e. a process without state religious and cultural regulations, offers better instances of a more sustainable cultural ownership that is possible in Malaysia. What is happening today is a callous, systematic destruction of cultural hybrids in favour of a more compartmentalised existence. In the past, in places like Melaka and Penang, there was a ‘Malaysia- of-co-existence’ in everyday cultural practice, institutional expression and spatial arrangement. What we need today is a recovery of our past, not the creation of a ‘Malaysia-of-co-existence’ through advertising and promotional budgets. Framework of Sustainable Development A second underlying concern found throughout these essays is the issue of sustainable development, which has caught the imagination of many individuals, NGOs, businesses and governments. The United Nations (UN) definition, adopted in 1987, states that \"sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs\".2 Over the years, it has become more fully developed as a framework and a way of life. Thus, \"sustainable development is far more than just planting trees, protecting wildlife, recycling waste or making business greener. It is about transforming politics and community development, individual values and lifestyles\".3 Thus, sustainable development is not just 2 Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development [The Brundtland Report], 1987. 3 http://www.un.lt/Bulltins/23/b4.htm. September 2003. 8

Thematic Orientation about the environment. The environment cannot be protected for ourselves and for future generations (human and other life forms) unless we also establish sustainable practices in our economy, polity and society/culture. This also includes such fields as technology and governance. In addition, the further development of the sustainable development framework away from an unproductive global discourse to one that incorporates ‘enlightened localism’ will make such a framework indigenous and responsive to our needs as a society and nation in a globalising world. It also sets ‘multiple human futures’ on our collective agenda. I am convinced that the ‘sustainable development framework’ (SDF) is an extremely useful framework for critically evaluating the kind of development – economic, technological, political and sociocultural – that Malaysia is experiencing. This framework is far more comprehensive and less rigid than a traditional socialist perspective of Malaysian development. It offers a more comprehensive and integrated view with a ‘multiple-futures orientation’. The paths into the future can be many, and they can be useful as long as they are dialogical, sustainable ones. Thus, SDF offers a comprehensive critique of development as well as solutions. The SDF has directly or indirectly influenced all the writings that appear in this volume. It is within this context that I see the meaning of citizenship and the role of citizens. So, in addressing a number of issues, whether as a Malaysian or global citizen, the concern for sustainable development has formed the guiding principle. Among the key issues that need attention in a multicultural Malaysia is sustainable governance. By far, this is the most important and urgent need for our society today. And if this is given as much importance and attention as ‘corporate governance’, which must really be part of sustainable governance, we will be much better off as a nation. Application of some basic principles of governance (for sustainable cities) developed by the United Nations Development Programme–The Urban Governance Initiative, for instance, will do a great deal of good for multicultural Malaysia. These principles include: social justice, ecological sustainability, political participation, economic productivity, and cultural vibrancy.4 4 See http://www.tugi.apdip.net/indicators%20Book/Part%203%20-TUGI.htm. August 2003. 9

Thematic Orientation empirical. A senior professor of history once told me that he is more concerned about facts and empirical details than about theory. I have heard some of my friends, who are doing research in local academic institutions, say that they are asked to pay more attention to empirical details than to theory. They are urged to use a theory that is available and merely learn to apply it. Also, in terms of methods, there is a focus on quantitative methods and a general discounting of qualitative methods. These attitudes indicate a dependence on theories and concepts that come from the West. We become people who apply theories formulated in a western cultural context. This is a serious problem particularly when considering social theories. Even theoretical adaptation is a poorly-developed enterprise here. There is so much of the ‘pure West’ in our mind and in our practice. While I will not pretend to have developed a Malaysian or Asian theory, my attempts are really at a ‘lower level’, i.e. the stage of ‘thinking about’ issues in an attempt to arrive at some concepts that can begin a process of developing theories about local issues and realities. We need a generation of serious theory builders in all fields, particularly the social sciences. If they are abstract, so be it. Perhaps we need to go through this developmental phase in terms of building viable theories for our nation. The pre-condition for this kind of development to take place is political freedom and the absence of a ‘culture of fear’ – a threatening reality generated by a number of draconian legislations – which affects creativity and responsibility. Because of our fear, which is very understandable, we become ‘irresponsible’ citizens, not standing up when we need to. The terms of discussion among Malaysians needs to be far more developed at the academic and popular levels than it is today. There is an urgent need to improve the scope and depth of the themes of popular discussions, which today merely cover areas such as salary, houses, cars, mobile phones, eating places, women or men. At another level, it is important to be empirical and ‘excavate realities’ that have been submerged or not attended to for practical or political reasons. But being merely empirical cannot help us. We cannot go far by focussing our attention on the empirical. It is far too local and limited. In a highly unsustainable sociocultural, socio-economic and sociopolitical environment, empirical studies must be tied to a clear political programme. And this means adopting a meaningful, value-based theoretical stance. We need to get out of what I like to call the ‘SPSS’5 sickness. Some of our students are very good at manipulating this sophisticated software for quantitative results. Unfortunately, we do not have knowledge of the theory 10

Semparuthi Thematic Orientation Plea for Theoretical Imagination and Understanding Perhaps the most critical element that sustains the discussions in this volume is the effort to develop a theoretical basis for addressing problems in our society, a highly-discounted activity in this environment. In this effort, we are also disadvantaged by holding on to many unexamined assumptions. This has been one of my major concerns and is reflected in a number of chapters. I have engaged with ways to think about a particular issue, breaking away from unexamined assumptions. While these theoretical moorings have been influenced by the two themes (citizenship and sustainable development), this endeavour is also an attempt to address a serious deficiency encountered in many developing nations, including Malaysia. I have encountered this when reading some of the more important publications on Malaysia by local academics. On many occasions, I have heard about the importance of being 5 Simply, a software to manipulate quantities and arrive at statistical results according to set research objectives. 11

Thematic Orientation that was ‘routinised’ into computer codes in the software. We hardly even care. The latter (theory) is of higher value than the former (quantitative analysis); yet, we push ahead with the former as a national choice. That sums up the status of academics in the developing world, including Malaysia. We are merely application fields, the lower end of the intellectual division of labour. Against this background, we need to clearly articulate ‘theories of Malaysia’, i.e. theories that make sense of or explain the developmental trajectories of multicultural Malaysia. We need a theoretical enterprise that brings inputs from all sectors of society. We cannot allow politicians, bureaucratic elites or ethnic leaders to monopolise ‘theory building’ about Malaysia. There needs to be discussion of this in the public sphere so that we could establish much wider mental and social horizons than we have today. No nation can be built without a conceptual, theoretical and philosophical basis. Ours being a multicultural society, the sources are varied, rich and complex for building this basis of the nation. It requires an even more concerted, creative and comprehensive intellectual enterprise to forge our collective future and destiny. Such an enterprise needs to be guided by history, justice and compassion. Conclusion I hope the above exploration of some themes that run through this collection of 36 essays (which include photo essays) is sufficient to put them in perspective. Categorised into three sections: (i) On Being a Malaysian Citizen, (ii) On Being an Indian Malaysian Citizen, and (iii) On Being a Global Citizen, the essays offer some insights into Malaysia, Asia and the world. The essays frame and present an individual’s point of view. I hope, however, that they open up the terms of public debate. And, topics for public discussion. As my friend, Charles Santiago, suggests, another Malaysia is possible. Indeed, to extrapolate, ‘another world is possible’, which is the guiding theme of the World Social Forum held in January 2004 in Mumbai, India. 12

sECtiOn i On Being a Malaysian Citizen



(Or, Losing Sight of History, Justice and Compassion) Published in Malaysiakini, September 2000. Context: Written as Malaysia prepared to celebrate her 43rd year of Independence. Malaysia became independent on 31 August 1957. Personally, I have stopped feeling at home in Malaysia. There is a great deal of uneasiness. Someone out there may want to shout at me: \"Go back to India, if you want!\" Really, that is not the issue. I am not making a choice between India and Malaysia. Though my reasons may be private, my uneasiness is not, and it is certainly very real for many of us here. For me this feeling is complicated by and mixed up with the history of this country, its emerging character and its future. I am a Malaysian. But my ancestors belong to an ancient civilization with a rich culture, which is today a major contributor of human resources to the global cyber- industry. My cultural roots lie undeniably in India. They are not here. Like many members of the Indian diaspora, ‘India’ is a presence that shapes the diasporic Indian’s everyday cultural life around the globe. But the Indian civilization, like the Chinese, has since long ago interacted with the culture of the Malay people and has produced distinctive and creative hybrids. I sincerely like to locate my ancestors and my culture in that process of hybridisation. But no … this nation Source: Gerard Chaliand and Jean-Pierrre Rageau, The has not made me feel comfortable or proud ofPentghuian Attlas of Diasporas (London: PengcurineBoaokts,i1v995e) intermingling. The attempt here has been to carefully remove any hybrid elements, in what I think are vain attempts to create a ‘pure culture’, whatever 15

Another Malaysia Is Possible Tamils – here through the indentured labour system and later, through the kangani system, to work in the plantations to help make money for British entrepreneurs and the British government. And later, of course, for the Malayan government. Now imagine this scenario for a moment. Imagine that you can go down to the material foundations of this nation and can see the contribution of its inhabitants to that foundation in terms of labour and income in dollars and cents. You will certainly see what critical contributions Indian labour has made to create a modern Malaya and later Malaysia. But that is history now and it is best forgotten. In fact, the situation here is even more saddening. Instead of recognising the contribution of the Indian community and being ‘grateful’ for it, we have some Malaysians shouting coldly and loudly that the Indian Malaysian community is an ungrateful lot! The narrative history and, by extension, heritage of this country is beset by political myopia. We have fed and fattened our greed for profits any which way in the name of ‘development’. As a consequence, the history and heritage of this country have been given up for commercial and short-term growth benefits and ethnic political mileage. We are willing to tear down the ‘significant old’ and give the developers all rights to mint money. With the repeal of rent control, Georgetown in Penang, for instance, is under attack. This is culturally a very rich area in terms of cultural practices, cultural enclaves and architectural diversity. In this place, within walking distance on one street, you have a Protestant church, the Goddess of Mercy [Chinese] temple, the Mariamman [Hindu] temple and the Kapitan Kling mosque. And, more importantly, a community that supports it. Isn’t this what we must preserve and promote as an instance of the ‘true Malaysia’? But short-term, and therefore historically blind, planning and greed will perhaps one day destroy this cultural diversity and richness. Recently, the multiethnic and historic cemetery at the Sungai Besi area in Selangor – a heritage of our nation’s pioneer generations and their memory – was in danger of being gobbled up by greed. A ‘genuine Malaysia’ must draw inspiration and strength from physical icons in the environment such as the above around which we can all come together in the true spirit of being Malaysian. And cherish it. But in our (historical) insensitivity we have 16

Another Malaysia Is Possible that means. This is because in their everyday St George’s Church expression, cultures are always in dialogue with each other. Except in the clever ads put up in the national television networks at around the time of National Day – when an attempt is made to showcase the sharing of cultures – the rest of the year we live in a highly Goddess of Mercy Temple compartmentalised and ethnically-charged reality. The ads seem to present sharing and hybridisation as something new, which have to be promoted, little realising we have had always a tradition of hybridisation and active syncretism. There are fine examples Mahamariamman Temple of sharing and cultural hybridity in Malaysia, all of which are in danger of being marginalized, resulting in ‘cultural extermination and death’. A couple of decades from now, through conscious design or careless neglect, such cultural forms as the wayang kulit or Dato Kong and the institutions that support it, would have been consigned to the dustbin of history, forgotten for good. So complete is our avoidance of that history. In fact, that history is being systematically destroyed. Why? A little reflection would reveal that we are becoming a nation that is slowly but surely losing its respect for history – past, present and future – and along with that our sense of justice and compassion, and its enriching influence on our individual and national life. For some of us, this is the root of our uneasiness. And our sense of Kapitan Kling Mosque homelessness. In the history of interaction between the Indian and Malay communities, several phases can be seen. British colonialism provided the most recent impetus for that mingling. British colonialists and their agents brought South Indians – mostly 17

Semparuthi Another Malaysia Is Possible been bent on destroying all these. Sadly, ‘Malaysia’ as a ‘cultural hybrid’ is soon going to be only reflected in advertising and public relations budgets and programmes. It will in time be merely a media event. Perhaps that is all we really want. This historical blindness, greed for profits, lack of concern for justice, or the feeling of compassion, affects all of us and certainly the Indian Malaysian community a great deal. When the world of the Indians – the plantation society – the world they worked in so hard, the world in which many of them died working to produce wealth for this nation, started to crumble, there was no urgency in this country to do something about it. It was a process that was clearly going to produce a massive problem within the community. But that foresight was neither with the government nor the Malayan (later Malaysian) Indian Congress. In fact, it was not at all seen as a problem for the nation. It was the problem of the Indian community, not Malaysians. This mode of thinking is at the root of our mainstream political existence: Turn the problems faced by Malaysians into the problems of the community and let the community deal with it. So when we have problems with pigs, it is seen as the problem of the Chinese community. The problem of the ‘ecstasy pill’ is the problem of the Chinese youth – not Malaysians. The problem of drug abuse is the problem of the Malay youth. Of course, the problem of the Malays directly becomes the problem of the Government. In one way or another, all these affect many Malaysians. Some time ago an elderly Chinese taxi driver told me, \"I want to be a Malaysian and I want to love this country but I am not allowed to…I am always made to feel like less than one\". This year he has decided not to put up the Malaysian flag on his taxi. The quality of justice and compassion in this country is abysmal. And there are many who do not feel at home. Coming back…The Indian Malaysians who were unable to deal with their crumbling world moved from rural poverty to urban poverty. And even after 40-odd years of Independence, with the Indian rubber-tapper community – mostly poor Tamils – even now not guaranteed a minimum wage, a minister with the Malaysian government had the 18

Another Malaysia Is Possible cheek to say that he did not know what the rubber tappers really did behind the rubber trees! That is symptomatic of our insensitivity to our history or to justice. It also reflects our lack of gratefulness to our own people. The Indian Malaysian community is a poor minority exhibiting all the problems of an ‘underclass’ in a multiethnic environment. Left to fend for itself – unlike the protected Malay community – within an ethnically-charged environment, it has constantly faced a great number of obstacles. These problems started early. In the sixties, my brother – the person who put me through university education – was working as a door-to-door salesman selling books. When he knocked on the door of a non-Indian Malaysian home, he heard someone say, \"Find out what that black bastard outside wants.\" In a chat with a frustrated young Indian Malaysian student of mine, I was informed that she was told by a non-Indian employer, \"If not for your colour, we would have employed you.\" After completing his hotel management course, the son of a friend, who is quite dark-skinned, wanted to join the ‘front office’ of a hotel, which is a ‘visible position’. To his disappointment, he found that it was quite difficult for a dark complexioned person to occupy such a position. He was given a position in the housekeeping department, a ‘behind-the-scenes’ department. If you are a fair-skinned Indian, appearing like Shah Rukh Khan, perhaps you will have an opportunity in this country. I have watched the plight of a pregnant Indian Malaysian with a big bag of goods after shopping in a nearby supermarket, trying to get the attention of a taxi driver. The person who finally stopped to pick her up was an Indian taxi driver. I can go on with these examples. The fact that I remember these examples is certainly uncomfortable to me. But ‘objectively’, they reflect a reality that most of us, and certainly the government, would like to hide. I am not saying that Indians do not exhibit racist tendencies. The thing is that we have put our blinkers on and like to believe that there is no racism – individual or institutional – in this country. And so, there is no need for us to talk about it, articulate our problems in public, rationally engage in a discussion, and even work towards legislating against certain forms of racism. We are told that we are not ready for such discussions or that we can’t even rationally discuss certain feelings about ‘race relations’ in this country. The David Chua episode1 is a case in point. If after forty-three years of independence and many more decades before that of living together, of working together, of seeing our loved ones, even across 1 See http://www.malaysia.net/aliran/monthly/2000/07a.htm. February 2004. 19

Another Malaysia Is Possible ethnic groups, being buried in this land, we cannot come to a table to rationally discuss a common problem that affects us all, what have we really accomplished as a nation or as a community? And what is historically blind about all these is that we are pushing our problems to the next generation and teaching them to push these problems to the next, hoping eventually everything will come to pass and that we will all form one big, happy family. Even myths need to be constructed with some realism! We have come to a bridge and we are refusing to cross it! The marginalisation of the Indian Malaysian community has many secondary but critical effects. After the Sauk incident2 – an incident that clearly revealed how lowly the people rated the mainstream media and its independence and how cynical they have become – there was one question that many threw at me in our casual conversations. Even members of the Malay community raised this point. \"If,\" they said, almost in a chorus, \"the group that carried out the arms heist was a non-Malay group, do you think they would have hesitated shooting them on sight?\" And in many discussions, there was always a reference to the shooting of a ‘pregnant Indian woman’. This was an allusion to the incident in which an unarmed pregnant Indian Malaysian woman was shot on sight for being in the company of Indian Malaysian men who were suspected to be kidnappers.3 This terrible episode has been ‘burnt’ into the Indian Malaysian psyche and it will appear again and again as a query: \"What is our status in this country?\" There were many others who were harmed or shot in situations that raise many questions, all of which affects the feeling of ‘belonging’ to this nation. This is a theme in private discussions among the members of the community. For instance, a private TV channel in Malaysia is famous for putting Indians (read: Tamils) in their place. It’s treatment of Indians is reflective of economic and political powerlessness of Indians. Had this group been financially strong and politically powerful, the scenario would have been significantly different. The Indian Malaysian community will have their movies screened not at a God- forsaken time but at prime time. Elsewhere, the community has been told to stand on their own two feet. But the same logic has not been directed at the Malay community. In this country, the majority community behaves like a 2 See http://www.atimes.com/se-asia/BG08Ae01.html. February 2004 (Anil Netto, ‘Questions remain after martial art cult’s surrender.’) 3 See http://www.indianwebbase.net/policing.htm 20

Another Malaysia Is Possible besieged minority, putting the poor Indian Malaysian minority community, and other such communities, out of the scope of Islamic justice and compassion. When are we going to learn that ethnicity alone is really an inadequate criterion for dealing with poverty? In a playing field that is not level, I think we need to look at poor Malaysians. They are Malaysian. They are our people. They need help. Why is this so difficult to see? We look but do not see. We hear but do not listen. Our drive for political survival is so narrow and blind that it suffocates and kills our sense of justice and compassion. My unease with Malaysia is not only the result of the marginalisation of the Indian Malaysian community. There are certainly many things that are going on in this country that will make a citizen uneasy, that will further question our notions of justice and compassion. We are, for instance, a labour-shortage economy, and we need foreign labour. We bring people in from the neighbouring countries but treat them rather badly. One of my close relatives runs a jewellery shop. A number of his customers are Bangladeshis. I have personally observed how they take their money out from some of the oddest places, sometimes from inside their undergarments. When asked why they do that, they say that there are ‘Malaysians’ who like to extort them of their hard-earned income. So when they travel, they put their money in strange places, hoping that it is not found. We point fingers at them without realising how mean we have been. During the peak of the economic crisis, a conversation with a taxi driver revealed yet another aspect of our brutality. The driver of the taxi I was travelling in told me that his business was down. Many Indonesians have returned home since the crisis, he said, finding it difficult to sustain themselves here. As a result, the taxi driver observed, his income was down significantly. I was curious about immigrant labour using taxis to travel, rather than the bus service or the light-rail transit (LRT). He told me that they use the taxi to avoid being spotted while walking or waiting for a bus or train. They just do not want to be visible because that attracts a section of Malaysians out to prey on them. This is really sad. Security in our public spaces has a really cold character: Malaysians vs. non-Malaysians; professional foreign labour vs. those doing manual labour; rich Malaysians vs. poor Malaysians; politically conforming citizens vs. politically non-conforming ones. The former always has a better deal. When I was once talking to a health activist working on AIDS, I saw another instance of our callousness. We import labour to spur our economy. We treat 21

Another Malaysia Is Possible them merely as economic units, expecting them to come here, work, earn an income and go back when their time is up. But this treatment is de-meaning. Human beings are not economic robots. They have all kind of needs – not only economic and survival, but also emotional, social and sexual needs – which we choose not to see. Over time, these needs begin to surface, and when there are no safe outlets, a number of health problems will certainly ensue, including AIDS. Is that the problem of immigrant labour or the system? My view is that we have a system that is hardly compassionate. These are not political problems as much as they are problems of governance. But do we as a people and as a nation care? A similar problem relates to the blind among our own people. If you walk around in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, you will find many blind people moving around, often quite dangerously. A vehicle could knock them down anytime. The blind have been around in this area for a long time and yet we have not spent time to develop a blind-friendly environment in Brickfields. In Tokyo, as in many other places in Japan, for instance, walk on the pavement and you will see how the needs of the ‘visually-challenged’ have been taken care of. Compassion is inherent in the design of the pavement and that makes the environment for the blind there certainly friendlier than ours. Compassion is not just about a value or a feeling but also about concretely designing a really caring and sustainable society. The most serious recent happening that brings into sharp focus our sense of history, justice and compassion relates to the events surrounding our treatment of the ex-Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim. I am not debating here his innocence or guilt because I really do not know the unalloyed facts. But we need due process to be in place so that the truth can be sought out relentlessly before we convict any citizen of this country. Have we really done that in the case of Anwar Ibrahim that we can answer this affirmatively, without an iota of doubt? This is a classic case which reveals how insensitive we have become to history, justice and compassion. For now, they have become the silent casualties. As many people felt and still feel, if this could happen to the DPM, where do we ordinary citizens stand against the power of the state, even to raise an innocuous question about its public behaviour? 22

Another Malaysia Is Possible History has however never been known to be silent about the truth for a long time. That will eventually come out into the open. The Anwar episode will be written and re-written. It will be discussed and researched. Articles and dissertations will be produced on it. And perhaps one day, when justice assertively holds politics accountable, Malaysia may hear of alternative narratives. Malaysia will wake up to the terrible wrongs that it had committed to a number of its citizens. And we may just find Guan Eng4 and Anwar Ibrahim on that list. So will the unarmed pregnant Indian Malaysian woman who was shot. How can we believe that history will not evaluate our actions, our decisions twenty-five or fifty years or hundred years from now? That is the depth of our historical blindness. The court decision in a case that an international community – of not just governments, that may have other agenda for criticising us, but also of professional bodies, NGOs, and concerned individuals – says is ridden with all kinds of legal anomalies and the sentence of 6 years and 9 years to be served consecutively, raise nagging questions and leave a deep-seated uneasiness: What is my country really? Where is our compassion? And where is our notion of fairness and justice? How can I feel ‘at home’ in this country? As I walk down the main corridor of Mega Mall on 30 August, I see people’s economic and materialistic connection with this nation. It is an instrumental engagement of convenience. Not their emotional attachment. I would like to believe that I am wrong. Somewhere at a distance, I hear an announcement: \"The business hour is extended to 12 o’clock to welcome …\" Without a sense of history – the past, the present and the future – without a capacity for justice and without a feeling for compassion – what are we really going to welcome? I really wonder … 4 See http://www.ahrchk.net/hrsolid/mainfile.php/2000vol1Ono12/773. February 2004. 23



Semangat Insan: Mak Yong, Wayang Kulit and Main Pateri Written in July 2000. Context: This is a review of a series of Malaysian documentaries. It was written for the promoters of the documentaries, which were produced by an award-winning young filmmaker.* Unfortunately, my queries on whether this piece was eventually published did not result in any definite confirmation. Documentaries have an inherently fascinating quality lacking in feature films. This is even more so today when computer technology is able to fudge reality even more realistically. It also explains why there is a certain attraction to feature films that inform you: \"based on a true story\". As someone said, there is \"something reassuringly grounded in seeing real people facing real problems and coping, overcoming, or even yielding to them\". Semangat Insan: Masters of Tradition (henceforth SIMOT) certainly draws us closer to a world, to a form of sociocultural life, that has disappeared or is disappearing. It does this by depicting real people, real traditions and the real problem of the possible extinction of a ‘form of sociocultural life’. As a ‘text’ produced in a culture that punishes the depiction of the Malay identity in association with animistic, Indic or Sinic elements, SIMOT is certainly a valuable document, for it shows the rich texture of Malay cultural heritage and Malay identity without shying away from syncretic * See http://www.asiahype.com/Hype/2000/05/31/Semangat. December 2003. 25

Semangat Insan the opening images in each documentary, supported by the ethnically-distinct music, depict cultural transactions between the Indic, Thai, Sinic and the Malay communities. The real tension is the fear of discovery whether Malay culture is just a hybrid culture or whether it is something that is distinct and unique. The effort to make the case for its distinctiveness – something that is a sub-text in the narration – overshadows other political agenda and makes SIMOT lose to some extent political and cultural texture. It is also, I think, in the danger of losing the non-Malay audience. The ‘voice-over’ (VO) is too Westernised (or specifically, Americanised). It would have been better if a Kelantanese with a strong local accent had been used as VO. That would have certainly added to the cultural specificity of the representation. In short, it would have added a local flavour. The fact that the producers intended the documentaries for global consumption perhaps led to the use of the voice that sells, the ‘American-like voice’, just as many of our news presenters are trying to copy the American style of presenting news. That stereotyping and standardisation could have been avoided. There has been very limited engagement with the ‘audience’/’beneficiaries’ of the traditions of Main Pateri, Wayang Kulit and Mak Yong. A more intimate exploration of this dimension would have intricately knitted the traditions to the everyday life of the people, providing a greater appreciation of the idea of angin and the therapeutic locus of, for instance, the tradition of Main Pateri in the lives of the people. It would have also brought out how people in their everyday lives negotiated between Islam and the pre-Islamic elements and traditions. The camera should have been more conscious and followed audience of the traditions and depicted them in greater detail, for instance, of those who were slipping into a trance state. In a one-camera shoot, this may be difficult but I suppose the director or his assistant should have kept an eye on the audience to direct the camera. That would have added some really dramatic elements to the representation. In addition, many opportunities for dramatic representation were either missed 26

Semangat Insan elements, even if this is minimally addressed. This is quite contrary to and distinct from, for instance, Ismail Noor and Muhammad Azaham’s depiction in their book The Malays. In a political environment that actively discourages counter-cultural traditions or alternative ordering of national narratives, SIMOT is indeed a commendable effort. Irrespective of the intentions of the producers of the documentaries, in the universe of texts produced on Malaysia and on the Malays, SIMOT will fall outside official historical narratives and offer an articulation of a more critical reading of Malaysian and Malay cultural history and politics. This positioning of SIMOT within the national context is also to suggest that a critical appraisal of the documentary is an ‘internal criticism’. I am a middle- class Indian Malaysian. I teach sociology and do sessions now and then on film appreciation. As a sociologist, I enjoyed seeing SIMOT. Mak Yong was something new to me and sociologically enlightening. As an Indian Malaysian, I saw the flow of Indian cultural elements and their role, depiction, adaptation and appreciation in the environment of Kelantan. I realise that somewhere in Malaysia’s past, the history of my people is tied with the history of the Malay people, something that has an uneasy existence in the sociocultural and sociopolitical realities of Malaysia today. Wayang Kulit, for instance, is a creative output of that cultural transaction, mediated certainly by the Thai cultural experience, which carries with it Sinic elements. Wayang Kulit really belongs to Malaysians. Why is it that we have never felt it that way? The producers of the series SIMOT need to engage with another agenda that has not been addressed yet in Main Pateri, Mak Yong and Wayang Kulit – and that is to help us all feel that we are Malaysians. If Main Pateri is about healing, then I think SIMOT as a series can play a small ‘therapeutic’ role in overcoming the artificial techno-economic togetherness of the ethnic communities in this country and bring about a greater and deeper cultural dialogue and togetherness. It can play a small role in helping us individually to ‘heal’. By falling within the discourse on the Malay identity, a choice of perspective which is quite understandable, SIMOT has marginalised a potential platform for inter-communal dialogue among Malaysia’s main ethnic groups. Of course, 27

Semangat Insan or limited by other considerations (financial or the duration convention for marketing of the documentary). The shot dynamics should have been carefully considered, even though the director was making documentaries on disappearing traditions. There should have been greater use of, say, close-ups and reaction shots to increase the viewers experience of the intensity of the performance and trance experience. At one point in the narration in Mak Yong, a reference was made to the headgear. But unfortunately, the shot that went along with that was a ‘long shot’, thus reducing the appreciation of the intricacies that went into the making of the headgear. This leads one to ask whether there are specialists in the making of headgear and other components of the costume and props, and what is becoming of these people. While the documentaries are fairly straightforward, I think, opportunities to dramatise them were not taken advantage of. The narration should have been a little more fleshed out for clarity of issues that were represented. I felt that sometimes I had to run behind the narrator to make sense of what was happening. Without implying a filmmaking standard, good narration needs to ‘walk along’ with the viewer and not in front of him/her. In addition to this, issues that were referred to in the narration were not addressed adequately in the documentaries both visually and as narrative development. I remember the narration of Mak Yong addressing the issue of gender and how it was negotiated but it was lost as quickly as it was brought in. This was also the case for certain politically sensitive issues, which to an extent is understandable. On the whole, I think Main Pateri, Mak Yong and Wayang Kulit are worth having a look. They will be particularly useful for students of culture, university libraries and national and international NGOs promoting cultural activities. It is a good document for a culture to reflect upon itself and to urgently inform its young people about their disappearing heritage. 28

fifty Minus ten reasons Why you Written in June 1999. Unpublished. Context: The mainstream print and electronic media reached an all-time low in the perception of the Malaysian people in the way they handled the reporting of the Anwar Ibrahim episode, particularly after his arrest in late September 1998. The piece below was written to let out my own frustration, when faced with completely dishonest, one-sided reporting of events in the mainstream mass media. Since then, like many Malaysians, I have turned to the Internet for serious analysis and online discussions of domestic situations. The title of the article is an adaptation of a book-length, unusual poison letter (with author’s name and publisher) called 50 Reasons Why Anwar Ibrahim Cannot Become the Next Prime Minister, which was made available during the UMNO General Assembly in June 1997. 1. It has no backbone and therefore has a problem standing straight. 2. It has a problem with its vocabulary and therefore has no idea of fairness. 3. It is the government newsletter in print and electronic form. 4. It practices ‘chin-chai professionalism’. 5. Instead of seeking what is hidden, it hides and makes us seek. 6. It does not report, and is not interested in, truth. 7. It suffers from myopic vision. 8. It has acquired a predatory instinct and developed a taste for attacking victims. 9. It is confused about its role in a democracy. 10. It is interested in cari makan, not truth. 11. It is interested in ‘invest-igative’ activity, not investigative reporting. 12. It practices sophisticated dishonesty and can even bluff itself! 13. It promotes truth as uncertainty and confusion as norm. 14. It assumes that its readers – you and I – are mindless zombies. 15. It wears hi-tech blinkers that not only hide the surrounding view but also suggest what to see in front. 29

Nat Fifty Minus Ten Reasons Why 16. It makes a jest of the just. 17. It considers people with wealth and power as those who have monopoly over truth. 18. It suffers from double vision, sees unclearly and thinks that the world is as it portrays it. 19. It is easily seduced by wealth and power. 20. It is immoral and therefore not a suitable information source. 21. It believes that if it keeps telling a lie a thousand times, it becomes the truth. 22. It makes a lot of noise to drown the ‘little voices’ of sanity. 23. It pretends to be a part of the democratic press but really it is involved in the manufacturing of narratives of questionable reliability. 24. The more the pages, the more are the advertisements, the less news and the more damage to the forest. 25. Impartiality is an unknown ideal. 30