The high cost of communal politics

Gerakan president Dr Lim Keng Yaik's suggestion to merge his multi-ethnic party and the communally exclusive MCA, though unlikely to happen, indicates how far politicians are willing to go in tapping into the ethnic insecurities of Malaysians.

It shows the willingness of opportunistic politicians to mislead, using fratricidal communal rhetoric, at the cost of redirecting public attention away from multi-ethnic solutions to our common problems.

This is Malaysia's sad political reality. While the failure of ethnic politicking will result in a 'better life' for all, politicians continue to offer communal mobilisation and politicking as a solution. Such sectarian politics have long infected Malaysia's body politics, like a cancer.

Make no mistake, this sectarian politicking is heading towards a dead end - if the proof is not already evident in the ever elusive and much postponed emergence of a true blue 'Malaysian' in political landscape.

In fact, the more sectarian politics become, the more hopeless it will be for Malaysians to stand on equal footing - as Malaysians first, and members of their ethnic community second.

If this is understood, then it becomes obvious that stoking ethnic insecurities - real or unreal, and goading people towards sectarian solutions like mergers - is highly irresponsible and should be condemned by all thinking Malaysians.

Perhaps a word on the self-fulfilling prophecy of communalism/ethnic nationalism is in order. Ethnic nationalism is a double-edged sword that could unite disparate components of a group by 'cutting outwards' against external enemies or 'cut inwards' against internal factions.

Thus responsible politicians should not go too far in promoting ethnic nationalism - unless they are desperados whose end is near.

Examples of the need for caution are aplenty: the more that ethnic nationalism is trumpeted by multi-ethnic countries like Indonesia, China, India and Sri Lanka, the more they will face separatist pressures internally.

So what gives Malaysian politicians the licence to go all out to promote ethnic nationalism as though there is no limit to this?

Put simply, ethnic nationalism is like self-centredness/selfishness. You can't promote one-sided pursuit of self-interest for long. As soon as selfishness becomes an accepted virtue, there is nothing to stop members within your own ranks to start clamouring for it themselves.

Further, ethnic politics also obscure the extreme costs (political, economic and social cultural) that we pay as a society. Enough for me to just provide a qualitative sketch here.

Malaysians are spending much more time to work out who can do a better public/private job - not just on by looking at political candidates' competence, but more importantly by scouting around for someone of the `right' ethnic background.

Choosing a candidate from a hierarchy of ethnic screens will only weaken the country as a whole - chief of which is in the areas of governance.

The widely-held thought that 'you can't trust someone from another ethnic background to look after your best interests' becomes a costly political belief, if you apply this to simple things like choosing your kids' piano tutor.

It verges on the farcical. For example, we choose an unsuitable candidate A just because we need to fill an ethnic quota ; we don't choose B for a more suitable position simply because that position has been designated for some other ethnic quota.

People are not given a chance to make ethnic-blind selections, which in theory and practice do produce evenly distributed and ethnic-blind results.

It doesn't take a professional human resource manager to see that it is simply not rational when the same-ethnic (but not necessarily more competent) leader does not deliver better economic growth, housing or education, but chooses to enrich him/herself instead.

The persistent noises within each community in Malaysia can attest to this incessant restiveness, against 'their' leaders. When will they come to terms with the need to look for wider non-ethnic appointments/promotions?

Malaysians are paying huge costs in economic life because contracts are given on same-ethnic basis. Often the contractors concerned (with more political than ethnic connections, actually) will have to sub-contract to others who are really adept at the job.

The cost of development becomes highly inflated in the process. Take the Penang Outer Ring Road project, which will be Malaysia's most costly highway at RM30 per kilometre.

Other costs arise in parity/ equatability in economic advancement between communities, which is now considered on the basis of the number of millionaires across the ethnic divide, rather than the overall well-being of people.

Despite different ethnic communities having lived together in Malaysia for centuries, the official ethnic tags divide Malaysians into different streams in almost all facets of life - jobs, education, anti-poverty programmes, low-cost housing allocations and availability of scholarships.

The sense of muhibbah (togetherness) during official functions speak louder of ethnic fault lines than fusions - non-Malaysians will notice that there is an obvious ethnic hierarchy in the set up. A true multi-ethnic society/ social polity would produce all kinds of conceivable ethnic combinations.

The operational costs in working out separate programmes and policies for each ethnic community for each aspect of social life has become a huge headache - how long do we need to bear this?

What about the cost of social ties ? Lest some quarters argue in support of this semi-apartheid situation by linking it to ethnic sensitivities, what is so sensitive about the imperative to help an accident victim whatever the person's ethnic background?

Malaysians of different ethnic background are often represented by 'official' cultural traits such as one must like nasi lemak, another koay teow, and yet another roti canai. Someone should dress in kebaya, another in cheongsam, and yet another in a sari. The list goes on.

But in reality, all may go for a 'Big Mac' lunch in a bisexual t-shirt. The contrived stereotype images must make a real 'Malaysian' very uncomfortable, while over-simplifying the real diversities in Malaysian cultures.

Combinations are frowned upon - such as a Muslim who does well in Indian classical dance; an Indian who sing Chinese songs; or a Chinese who speaks Malay with family-members.

In a non-ethnicised society, these cross ethnic interests and achievements are treasured and envied, although this does not always happen in Malaysia.

Ever wonder why Malaysian artists are often a big hit abroad before fellow-Malaysians discover their talent and claim them as their own? Where creativity is concerned, pre-selection on any grounds will prejudice the outcome.

Imagine the costs when you ignore this simple thing for your small theatre production. The mediocrity of mainstream cultural productions (TV, films, theatres) which come under the full force of official muhibbah guardianship perhaps can speak volumes.

The costs of ethnicising Malaysian society have indeed been high - hopefully some accounting genius among us can even quantify them.

Although we have not gone as far as to say that there is apartheid in certain areas - say, by separating racial groups into different buses - there are many areas where we are coming perilously close to this.

Malaysians know the many official/ unofficial no-go areas, including race-based criticism which, even if valid, must be left to members of the same ethnic/ religious group. It is perhaps euphemistically termed `cultural sensitivity'. But how much should we ignore?

If politics can answer the big question of `who rules/leads' in a society, the further ethnicising of politics/ leadership will certainly not bode well for our common future as `Malaysians'.

It is the job of all vigilant `Malaysians' to ward off such tendencies. Try to imagine another Malaysia which is totally possible: one where communal political parties are treated with public contempt, just like Australia's One Nation party, Britain's National Front and America's KKK.

BK ONG co-ordinates the Penang-based Save Ourselves (SOS), a community-based group that highlights varying concerns ranging from violation of human rights to the effects of unsustainable development.