GEORGE TOWN – Politics driven by race and religion will continue to prevail until the average Malaysian begins to shun them, upon realising they have brought the country nowhere in this age of globalisation, said a DAP leader.
Party central executive committee member P. Ramasamy said that until the ordinary folk are fed up and begin to abandon such shallow politics, the ruse of using race and religion by elite groups will continue.
Commenting on why DAP continues to be seen as a bogeyman by Malay/Bumiputera groups, the Penang deputy chief minister said that it is difficult to fight parties that champion race and religious issues, as such issues have been institutionalised in the country.
The Perai rep told The Vibes that it is difficult for DAP to shed its anti-Malay image because the stigma has long been attached to the party.
He said he does not see it as a DAP leadership issue, but more of a perception intentionally sowed by rivals who have much to lose if multiracialism reigns in the country.
Of course, he said, it also does not help that the party in the past was perceived to be dominated by the Chinese, but DAP has changed with an outreach to all Malaysians.
Votes elusive if DAP focuses on race, religion instead of governance
“It is only here in Malaysia that debate ensues when one dons apparel related to another race. We need to move past this and focus on what counts in nationhood,” Ramasamy said.
His views were echoed by DAP legal bureau head Ramkarpal Singh Deo, who said that it will be tough in the next general election if its detractors just focus on race and religion rather than on governance abilities and on how to fight corruption.
Ramkarpal said that DAP is trying to shake off the narrative that it is anti-Malay, but it is tough when voters are conditioned to hate it simply for its moderate stance.
His comrade from Selangor, Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, nonetheless has said that DAP needs to undergo a major overhaul of its leadership and operations to shed its Chinese image and woo the support of the Malay majority.
The Selangor DAP leader was quoted as saying that transformation is needed to ensure the party is a formidable choice for voters, especially the Malays, who make up the majority of the nation’s voter bank.
Middle-ground campaigning ‘unfashionable’
Referring to his newsletter uploaded online, DAP’s political education bureau head Liew Chin Tong said that in the age of hyper-polarisation, championing the cause of the middle ground or moderation seems unfashionable.
The former deputy defence minister added that responsible leaders must be “clear-eyed” on what is the best for the country.
In view of pragmatic electoral needs and nation building, DAP and by extension the Pakatan Harapan coalition and others must champion a “Middle Malaysia” once they win the federal election, Liew noted.
He observed that many analysts and some politicians seem unable to understand that only by winning the Malaysian middle ground could one win and form a stable federal government.
“I admit that there is no clear definition of the middle ground, but at the risk of sounding too simplistic, let’s just say that elections are very much decided by the swing voters or ‘atas pagar’ (fence-sitting) voters. They decide who is best to serve them.”
Should DAP play Umno/PAS/Bersatu card, cater to Chinese?
Liew said that Malay parties – Umno, Bersatu, PAS, and Pejuang – continue to believe and promote the idea that the Malays have monolithic characteristics and preferences across the nation, and will vote as a united entity to support a type of Malay supremacist agenda.
Unfortunately, he said, some of those who oppose these Malay parties unwittingly agree with this, and therefore refuse to acknowledge that there is a middle ground in Malaysia.
He also noted that some non-Malay writers and columnists believe that non-Malays should forget about the electoral process as the numerically inferior non-Malays would never win, implying that only a racial battle exists in Malaysia, and that the Malays would act as one to crush non-Malays.
Others, Liew said, believe that DAP is the party for non-Malays and should not aspire to win power in coalition with other parties, instead serving only as a permanent opposition party only for the needs of the non-Malays.
He said that there are also those in DAP who want the party to put the interest of the non-Malays first and not “appease” the Malays, not even to dress appropriately at a mosque, as Dr Boo Cheng Hau suggested.
Liew said that it is both electorally fatal and terribly bad for nation-building to advocate DAP for the non-Malays only, with Malays being a mere token in the party, as it may perpetuate the myth that everything in this country stems from a racial tussle, and the belief that DAP should not to try to win power in a coalition.
“The nation’s history has pushed DAP to the national stage. The public wants us to not just be a permanent opposition party. Together with our coalition partners, DAP must present itself as a government-in-waiting,” he said. – The Vibes, December 14, 2021
