Malaysia is usually a country ravaged by ethnic and religious issues. But the moment when Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that the government had signed a deal with Bangladesh to bring in 1.5 million workers, different communities became united in their collective voice against it - albeit for different reasons.

For Malays, the increased presence of migrant workers from Indonesia and Bangladesh - who are generally more hard-working and industrious - has posed severe challenges.

In the early 2000s, it was not uncommon to read of news of local traders getting into a fight with Indonesian traders in Chow Kit Market in Kuala Lumpur, the latter being widely regarded as having secured a stronger foothold over the Malays.

Moreover, the Malay community tends to see Bangladeshi men as potential philanderers on account of their ‘romantic nature’, ‘art of seduction’ and, ahem, good looks.

In addition to the perceptions of migrant workers being ‘dirty and criminal’, as well as being ‘drunkards and disease-carriers’, there is also a widespread concern among Chinese Malaysians that the migrant communities - the majority of whom are Muslims - may sooner or later overtake them to become the second largest ethnic group in the country.

The Indians and the indigenous groups, as usual, fare worse than the first two. In the peninsula, more and more Indian restaurants now employ cheap and docile workers from South Asia, while sectors traditionally dominated by Indian Malaysians such as car-parking and car-washing are increasingly taken over by the same.

Across the South China Sea in Sabah and Sarawak, those who labour in oil palm plantations are not the Orang Asal or other locals, but Filipinos, Indonesians and even Pakistanis.

Last year, the Sarawak government began to toy with the idea of recruiting Bangladeshi workers to meet the labour shortfall in the palm oil industry, a move welcomed by the Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners’ Association - whose members include both government-linked companies (GLCs) and conglomerates owned by local Chinese tycoons.

Racing against time

But the recruitments of migrant workers into Malaysia on a massive scale only began after former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched his Vision 2020 in 1991 with a view to making Malaysia a ‘developed nation’.

The implementation of strategic infrastructure and urban development projects increased sharply the demand for labour, especially in the construction sector.

Racing against time and desperate to have as many mega projects completed during his tenure as possible, Mahathir allowed GLCs and the private sector to import large numbers of foreign workers - without whom the completion dates for many of the iconic projects such as the Twin Towers, KL International Airport and, needless to say, Putrajaya, could have been delayed.

The benefits of migrant workers are too many to count: cheap, exploitable and docile.

Nearly all of them would not join a trade union for fear of reprisal from their employers, and the door to forming societies of their own is closed to them.

Without permanent status and with the renewal of their work permits subject to the whims and fancies of the authorities, they have no option but to comply with even the most unreasonable demands.

A Malay nationalist determined to create a competitive and dignified Malay community that would stand tall alongside others, Mahathir was not keen to see Malay youths participate in the so-called 3D jobs: difficult, dangerous and dirty, and would prefer them to be trained as accountants, doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs and, better still, billionaires (just like his own sons).

Furthermore, having an enormous Malay working class could be a hot potato for Umno.

Having witnessed a vibrant - and at times formidable - multi-ethnic labour movement that once severely challenged the British colonialists and Umno in the 1950s and 60s, another strong union movement made up largely of the Malay masses would be the last thing that Mahathir desired as PM, so he turned to migrant workers from various neighbouring countries and pursued a divide-and-rule policy among them, just like the British colonial authorities which he was ostensibly disdainful of and detested.

It has been more than 12 years since Mahathir reluctantly stepped down, but Malaysia’s reliance on migrant workers has refused to die with his rule.

If anything, it has become a habit that is now hard to kick, as GLCs, private conglomerates and small and medium industries, remain addicted to cheap labour for profit maximisation.

Had we known that as many as 85 percent of plantation workers under Felda Global Ventures (FGV) are foreigners, the news of 1.5 million workers in the next few years perhaps would not have come as a bombshell to us.

A pool of cheap labour

I certainly do not believe Malaysia needs more migrant workers, and totally disagree with the government decision as such.

It is nothing more than the continued exploitation of migrants from a far poorer country, which would again give the government and relevant sectors another excuse not to enhance capacity building and develop human capital further.

And why should the government and the employers pay Malaysian workers higher wages if they can continue to tap the pool of cheap labour from elsewhere?

Be that as it may, it ought to be reminded here that Malaysians have every right to criticise this utterly senseless decision of the Umno government - but we have no right to use the opportunity to lash out at and demonise migrant workers, calling them all sorts of names (especially those from Bangladesh).

We don’t even know who these 1.5 million Bangladeshis are, and it is unethical to prejudge them as potential criminals out to wreak havoc in our society.

This aside, the vast majority of those who are already here have been working under the harshest conditions to make life better for us, and we should appreciate their contributions instead of simply taking our frustration and anger towards the government out on them.

I do not dismiss the fact that there will always be rotten apples among them, but the entire migrant community should not be made to pay for the wrongdoings of a few.

And how many of us care to understand the numbers of work-related deaths involving migrant workers in Malaysia?

Do we know no less than five Bangladeshi workers have lost their lives since construction of the Klang Valley MRT had started in 2012?

I am not dismissing the genuine concern of the ordinary people towards the increased presence of migrant workers in our midst.

Still, the right way to assuage their anxieties is to explain to them how the inchoate, arbitrary and self-serving government policies in the past have created a mess without improving our social and economic standing, so that people would understand that both migrant workers and our local population have ended up victims of the party-state capitalism and cronyism under Umno.

Playing into their hands

We need to tell the public that an Umno-dominant state has reduced politics to nothing more than token representation, while resources are concentrated in the hands of the ruling elites and their cronies.

Feeling acutely voiceless and marginalised, the ordinary people began to target the more vulnerable communities - such as migrant workers and refugees - instead of challenging the very powers-that-be that oppress them.

By venting our anger at the weaker minorities, we simply allow ourselves to play into the hands of the ruling coalition under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and the conservative elite forces headed by Mahathir, for the more we make enemies among ourselves rather than confronting the unjust and unethical political system, divide and rule as a political tactic will always have a prominent role to play in Malaysian politics.

The Nazis in Germany and the militarists in Japan during World War II did not resort to complex ideologies and rhetoric for propagandistic purposes, for they merely played up the fear and anxieties of the ordinary Germans towards the Jews and the ordinary Japanese over ‘shrinking resources’.

Between a chain-smoker who fears ‘diseases’ being spread by migrant workers and a migrant worker who actually sweeps our street, collects our garbage or builds our houses, I know which one of them contributes more and is less harmful to our society.

The best way to respond to Umno’s bizarreness is to help the public approach the issue from a policy perspective or political principles, not appealing to or reinforcing their ethnic fear.

After all, when we talk about new politics, it should be premised on hope and justice, not fear, discrimination and even xenophobia towards others.

JOSH HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the full in spite of politicians.