Between religion, culture and tradition - Raja Petra Kamarudin

To the Malays, religion means Islam, culture means Umno, and tradition means the New Economic Policy

There are those who feel that Anwar Ibrahim’s recent call for the New Economic Policy (NEP) to be abolished tantamount to political suicide. Parti Keadilan Rakyat, they argue, may be a multi-racial, or as its Deputy President Dr Syed Husin Ali would say, a non-race based party, but its support base is still undeniably Malay.

One needs only look at the photographs of its annual convention, conferences, seminars, meetings and so on to be convinced of this. The photographs would show a sea of Malay faces with the women in tudung (scarfs) and an occasional Chinese or Indian face. One would not be blamed if one was to suspect that the photographs were lifted from an Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) meeting.

Prior to that, Anwar called upon PAS to drop its Islamic State agenda to ensure that the opposition coalition, Barisan Alternatif, returns to viability. The Democratic Action Party (DAP) has made it clear it will not even sit at the same table as PAS, let alone rejoin the coalition, until PAS agrees to bury its aspiration to turn Malaysia into an Islamic State.

At the moment, PAS has not agreed to bury this aspiration so it would appear that the coalition would instead get buried.

The NEP and Islam, in that order of priority, are two issues very dear to the hearts of the Malays, who are predominantly Muslim -- unlike the Chinese, to whom education and a strong economy are issues that matter most, also in that order of priority.

One just cannot separate the NEP and Islam from the Malays.

So, how can Anwar so carelessly ask Umno to drop the NEP and for PAS to drop the Islamic State? Would this not, therefore, be committing political suicide?

Actually, Anwar has not just recently said this. He said the same thin g way back in 1999 but maybe people did not notice then. Then, it was considered a very wise call. Why, now, is it considered rash?

In 1999, Anwar launched a document called AGENDA FOR CHANGE or AGENDA REFORMASI. Basically, this explained what the Reformasi struggle is all about. And this was Anwar’s opening statement in that document:

The principal objective of Parti Keadilan Nasional’s (keADILan’s) struggle is to build a society and a Malaysian nation centred on religious faith and noble humanitarian values.

On how the various communities, in particular those deserving and those who need assistance, shall benefit from development and economic growth, this is what Anwar said:

We wish to accelerate economic development through the public sector, with the private sector serving as a catalyst, to ensure that the principles of integrity and responsibility are upheld and to end the distribution of licences, shares, contracts and privatised projects to friends and cronies.

The practice where opportunities are monopolised by the few rich, while the majority are ignored, will cease. Though the Bumiputera policy and the Special Position of the Bumiputera will be defended, its implementation will be reviewed to guarantee opportunities and exposure to more deserving people, and not to just the same cronies.

Opportunities for wider participation in the economy by the non-Bumiputeras will be practiced, not just to a small select group, but to a bigger group of entrepreneurs, especially in the small and medium enterprises category. Ability and excellence will be recognised and rewarded to ensure that Malaysian society continues to prog ress and prosper.

Anwar did not say that the Malays would be abandoned and left to the mercy of the capitalists, who are perceived as mostly non-Malays. Instead, this is what Anwar said:

To defend the special position of the Bumiputera community while protecting the rights of all other communities by giving emphasis plus offering opportunities to all other communities on the principle of justice.

What Anwar called for, to quote his own words, was: “to distribute the nation's wealth fairly and also reduce the gap between the rich and the poor.”

On Islam, this is what Anwar said in 1999:

To provide the Muslim community with the environment and the educational and legal systems conducive to the realisation of Islam as a complete way of life (ad-Deen) while the rights of all non-Muslims to uphold their respective religions or faiths will be protected.

Anwar also called for the establishment and elevation of the Syariah Court in accordance with the Federal and State Constitutions, with a Syariah Judicial Commission at Federal level and to reduce the influence of party politics in the State Islamic Councils, mosques and other Islamic institutions.

Yes, Anwar was very clear way back in 1999 what he wanted as far as the NEP and Islam are concerned. He has remained very clear-headed and consistent and has not wavered one bit. There is no confusion in his mind as to the direction (hala tuju) that must be charted. He has also remained steadfast and is not singing one tune to one community and another to the others.

One thing t hat all Malays must remember, you cannot be a good Muslim yet uphold the aspiration of the NEP at the same time, as both run contra to each other. Islam is about justice, as what Anwar said above -- and synonymous with the name of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Peoples’ Justice Party). In Islam, justice is paramount and anything that violates this tenet goes against the very fundamentals of the religion.

And the NEP goes by the concept of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Islam does not allow one race to get ahead by denying another race what is due to them. What is due to them is due to them and Islam would go to great pains to protect their right to this.

Malays talk about Jihad. But very few understand the spirit of the word. To the Malays, Jihad means Muslims fighting against non-Muslims. This is not so. Jihad means opposing oppression, resisting oppressors and fighting in defence of the oppressed -- whether it is in defence of religion, life, liberty, territory, home and family that may be under threat from oppressors. If non-Muslims in Malaysia face oppression because of the NEP, then it is the duty of all good Muslims to oppose it even if they need to resist fellow Muslims in doing so. In this case, Muslims are oppressing non-Muslims, so Muslims must oppose Muslims to ensure that non-Muslims are not denied their rights.

Therefore, going by the spirit of Islam, Anwar is just being a good Muslim and is following to the letter what is demanded of all Muslims.

Nationalism is not allowed in Islam. Therefore the concept of Ketuanan Melayu violates Islamic teachings. And anything that the Ketuanan Melayu propagates, such as the NEP, becomes forbidden in Islam.

Anyway, putting religion aside, the original concept of the NEP was to reduce the gap between the different races and to reduce the gap between the haves and the have-nots. This may not necessarily mean Malays, as there are as many disadvantaged Chinese and Indians as there are Malays. This means, if the poor Chinese and Indians were included in the NEP, as it was originally intended, they too would become beneficiaries of the policy.

But the way it has been implemented, it is as if the NEP is only for the Malays. This is a fallacy and a great departure from what the architects of the NEP had intended. And the implementation rules seem to change ever so often that it becomes difficult to keep up with what is the latest policy.

For example, one day they say a certain industry (like car imports that require APs) must be 30% Bumiputera. Then, along the way, it changes to 51% Bumiputera. Just as you are settling in to the new rule, it changes yet again to 70% Bumiputera. Finally, the new ruling comes out that says only 100% Bumiputera is allowed.

When a certain industry starts going into the doldrums because they just cannot manage it based on 100% Bumiputera, they ‘relax’ the rules and say that non-Bumiputera equity is now allowed as long as they are export oriented. For certain industries, the Bumiputera content will be adjusted according to the ratio of exports.

Confusing isn’t it? But then, what about the poor Indians and Chinese? Where do they fit into all this? They don’t! They are left out of the equation, against the spirit of the NEP as intended when first conjured.

The NEP is an aspiration, not law. For all intents and purposes, the NEP violates the Federal Constitution. And any law or ‘aspiration’ introduced after Merdeka (Independence) of 31st August 1957 that violates the Federal Constitution automatically becomes invalid.

Article 4
(1) This Constitution is the supreme law of the Federation and any law passed after Merdeka Day which is inconsistent with this Constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.

Article 8
(1) Al l persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.
(2) Except as expressly authorized by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent or place of birth in any law relating to the acquisition, holding or disposition of property or the establishing or carrying on of any trade, business, profession, vocation or employment.

Article 4 of the Federal Constitution clearly spells out what can and cannot be done while Article 8 forbids such a thing called the NEP.

So we do not even have to look to Islam for the answer if we want to remain ‘secular’ about the whole thing. Article 8 (2) makes the NEP unconstitutional. Islam says so. Malaysia’s Constitution also says so. So what are we arguing about?