Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister Kadir Sheikh Fadzir has o­nce again tried to burnish his ethno-nationalist credentials by casting aspersions o­n the loyalties of those ethnic minority Malaysian communities who are even less Malay than himself.

In the USA, African Americans who try to curry favour with the ethnic white majority by disrespecting black culture are referred to as Uncle Toms. Many African Americans complain that the cultural and aesthetic ideal in white America centres around white-ness.

In Malaysia, the cultural, linguistic, religious and racial norms that supposedly comprise Malaysian-ness as defined by our national leaders and their ethnic functionaries centres around Malay-ness.

There is no need to point out yet again the privileged position of the Malay language, culture, religion and race to the non-Malay, non-bumiputera minority communities in Malaysia.

They are acutely aware that to be less identifiably Malay is to be identifiably less Malaysian, and that no matter how loudly they protest, non-Malays simply lack the political power to define themselves as patriots or responsible Malaysians.

It is my personal observation that the typical pork-eating, alcohol-imbibing, karaoke singing, Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian Chinese Malaysian person is resigned to never being really accepted by the Malay majority community as real Malaysians.

It is so easy to play to the gallery, and accuse those who are different from ourselves of being disloyal, non-patriotic, non-bumiputera, non-indigenous or simply put, an ethnic stranger.

In Nazi Germany, Jews were accused of disloyalty to the Fuhrer and the nation.

In India today, national RSS-BJP leaders who promote Hindu-ness and hardline ethnic chauvinism regularly accuse Christian Indians and Muslim Indians of disloyalty to the nation.

I sincerely hope the minister can refrain from the temptation of polishing his ethno-nationalist-Malay-political credentials o­n the backs of non-bumiputera non-Malay non-politically-connected non-privileged others who can barely gain recognition from our institutionalised ethnic political system.

A failure to refrain from these disgraceful and distasteful antics might just result in counter-accusations against the minister of being - surprise, surprise - yet another crass ethnic politician, or more unfortunately, of 'Uncle Tomming' his way to political success.