Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang

(Petaling Jaya, Tuesday): Although the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday that the recent "Malay Unity" effort was to safeguard Malay interests and not to oppose or create animosity with others, all Malaysian leaders regardless of race, religion or political beliefs should be aware of the concerns and uneasiness among the population whether it is a precursor to greater racial polarisation and marks a major setback to the 43-year nation-building process, Vision 2020 and the Bangsa Malaysia concept.

These concerns and uneasiness are created by the way racial politics was allowed to rear its ugly head particularly after the Barisan Nasional defeat in the Lunas by-election and the barrage of communal writings in the Bahasa Malaysia media accompanying the Malay Unity call.

What would be the reaction if there is at present a "Chinese Unity Movement" calling on the Malaysian Chinese to unite regardless of their political affiliation to protect Chinese interests? Would such a campaign be regarded as unMalaysian, anti-national and a major blow to the 43-year nation-building process, Vision 2020 and Bangsa Malaysia concept?

It is unfortunate and tragic, and a great disservice to Vision 2020 and Bangsa Malaysia concept, that the Lunas by-election result has been distorted as the symbol of a challenge to the "social contract" among the Malays and non-Malays, including Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution on Malay special rights, when I dare say that the question of the abolition of Malay special rights had never crossed the mind of any Lunas voter who elected Saifuddin Nasution Ismail as the Lunas State Assemblyman on November 29 last year.

The Barisan Alternative victory at Lunas by-election in fact should be celebrated as a big step forward towards Bangsa Malaysia with the coming together of Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese or Indians, to send a clear message of disapproval to the Barisan Nasional government for continuing its undemocratic, oppressive, corrupt and unjust policies and rule after its 1999 general election victory.

The Lunas result was not a vote for the abolition of Malay special rights, but for the end of the abuses of Malay special rights spawning corruption, cronyism and nepotism as well as the unabated undermining of the independent organs of state in particular the judiciary and the law enforcement agencies, the violation of the rule of law, democratic freedoms and human rights to protect these abuses.

Concerns that the Malay Unity call will escalate greater ethnic polarisation in Malaysian politics and society and break the momentum towards multi-racial politics by throwing the country back to the old politics of communal "divide and rule" have been created by a slew of very communal writings in the Bahasa Malaysia media. On New Year’s Day, Utusan Malaysia frontpaged an "Open Letter to Malays" from the Utusan Group Editor-in-Chief, Khalid Mohd, which among other things said:

"Pada hari pertama tahun baru 2001 ini, carilah masa dan renungilah ke depan, jauh ke depan sambil tidak lupa menoleh ke belakang. Periksalah diri. Berterus teranglah dengan diri kita dan bertanyalah lagi. Betulkah kita kuat? "Mampukah kita mempertahankan hak kita sebagai orang Melayu? Sekiranya kita kuat, di manakah sebenarnya kekuatan itu?

"Adakah ia kekuatan politik, kekuatan ekonomi atau sekadar kekuatan semangat? Tanyalah. Jawapannya mungkin pahit, mungkin pedih menghiris.

"Satu cara memeriksa diri ialah dengan bertanya bagaimana orang lain melihat kita, bangsa Melayu. Apakah mereka merasa terancam dengan kita? Atau apakah mereka sedang perlahan-lahan mengancam kita?

"Adakah mereka menghormati kita? Jika tidak, mengapa? Mungkin salah kita, mungkin silap mereka. Kita tidak boleh memaksa orang menghormati kita. Kita perlu memperoleh rasa hormat itu.

"Jawapan kepada persoalan-persoalan tersebut akan memberi gambaran siapa kita sebagai satu bangsa Melayu hari ini - bangsa yang menjadi tuan punya negara ini.

"Desakan Suqiu supaya rakyat keturunan lain yang menganuti agama lain mendapat hak serta layanan yang sama dengan yang dinikmati oleh orang Melayu beragama Islam merupakan desakan halus supaya hak istimewa Melayu dihapuskan.

"Desakan ini dibuat sekarang, hampir 32 tahun selepas Peristiwa 13 Mei, kerana mereka sedar kekuatan politik orang Melayu berada dalam kedudukan lemah setelah melalui perpecahan pada tahap yang tidak pernah berlaku."

"Tahun 2000 boleh dilihat sebagai kemuncak perpecahan Melayu. Kita menyerang satu sama lain tanpa mempedulikan penonton yang bertepuk tangan. Tidak mengapa jika yang menang menjadi arang; yang kalah menjadi abu.

"Sekiranya Melayu sudah menjadi arang dan abu, akan hilanglah sekelumit kekuatan ekonomi yang dibina selama 30 tahun itu. Dan akan terhakislah apa juga kekuatan politik yang masih ada. Senario ini menakutkan, tapi ia boleh berlaku.

"Dalam senario ini hak serta kedudukan istimewa Melayu akan hilang dengan sendirinya. Tidak perlu lagi Suqiu mendesak supaya ia dihapuskan. Fikirkanlah habis-habis."

The Utusan Malaysia "Open Letter to Malays" ended with the following reference to Fiji:

"Orang Melayu hendaklah mengambil iktibar daripada apa yang berlaku di Fiji di mana tuan punya negara mundur sepanjang masa dan akhirnya hilang kuasa politik kepada golongan minoriti.

Keadaan yang sama boleh berlaku ke atas orang Melayu di Malaysia. Sementara masa masih ada, berkira-kiralah."

Apart from continuing to use Suqiu as a "whipping boy" as a threat to Malays, despite the clear and repeated Suqiu clarification that it supported Article 153 of the Constitution, the Utusan "Open Letter to Malays" question as to whether the other races feel threatened by the Malays or whether the other races are slowly threatening the Malays is a clear rebuttal of Mahathir’s statement yesterday that the Malay Unity call was to safeguard Malay interests and not to oppose or create animosity with others. If a Chinese newspaper group editor-in-chief had written an "Open Letter to Malaysia Chinese" in a similar vein referring to Chinese interests and the need for Chinese unity, instant action would have been taken against him under the Internal Security Act and the newspaper group closed under the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

All rational Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, who want to see the emergence of a Bangsa Malaysia with a Malaysian identity greater than just the separate ethnic identities, must hope that good sense will eventually prevail and that the the Malay Unity call is not a precursor to greater racial polarisation, mark a major setback to the 43-year nation-building process, Vision 2020 and the Bangsa Malaysia concept or break the momentum for the introduction of multi-racial politics to replace the old politics of "divide and rule" according to different communal compartments.

(2/1/2001)