No truth to Malays being under siege

QUESTION TIME | Umno and PAS seem to be making headway in getting Malays to think they are under siege, using a variety of extreme arguments. Poor defence by Pakatan Harapan, particularly Bersatu, which is trying hard - too hard - to gain Malay support, has exacerbated the situation.

Are we lunging head-first into a racial and religious abyss yet again if things are not controlled? Or are opportunistic politicians deliberately stoking the fires of racial and religious bigotry yet again for their own gains to whip up popular support against the government?

Or is there truth to those allegations that Malays are being sidelined by the new government and there is a real danger that they may be alienated from mainstream development as a result of the changeover in government? Are they really under siege? Let’s see.

Malays form just over 50% of the population and bumiputeras some 67%. All citizens of Malaysia have equal rights under the law. While Islam is the official religion of the state, the basic nature of the legal system is secular and everyone has the right to freely practice his/her own religion so long as it doesn’t infringe upon the rights of others.

However, Malays (and other bumiputeras) have special privileges to help them achieve economic parity with the other races. The right to have vernacular schools as part of the system is enshrined in the constitution.

Given that, let’s now examine some of the criticisms that Umno/PAS have made, some very vociferously and in a rather threatening manner.

1. Malays don’t support the current government

Perhaps about a third do support Harapan. If Umno were in power, or PAS for that matter in coalition with other parties apart from the three mentioned, the same would be true. Again, because of a three-way split in the votes, Harapan does not even have the popular vote, which it did at the end of the previous elections in May 2013. It is wrong to interpret this as something sinister.

2. Non-Malay appointments to key positions are bad for Malays

The three appointments cited over and over again are the posts of finance minister, attorney-general and chief justice. It’s mischievous to say that’s detrimental to Malays because it is professionalism and competence that counts - not race - as PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim quite rightly pointed out. There are enough ministers and high government officials who are Malays to check...