Malaysia's races live peacefully -- but separately

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Malaysia's races live peacefully -- but separately

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 (AFP) - Malaysia bills itself as a model of peaceful
multiculturalism, but despite nearly half a century of nationhood, the
races that make up its population have never been further apart.


Separate schools, separate friends, separate social lives -- Malaysia marks
48 years of independence Wednesday but many citizens lament the lack of
ties between majority Malays and the Chinese and Indians living alongside
them.

One of them is 24-year-old ethnic Chinese Kathleen Chong, a recent graduate
of the University Putra Malaysia who says it pains her to see the
widespread racial polarisation on campus -- a microcosm of the national
picture.

"The various races only mix among themselves. There is very little
interaction," she says. "Please, let us enjoy true racial unity in
Malaysia. We need to stop the growing tide of division."

Chong admits that she too stuck with her Chinese friends for classes,
activities and meals. "This is what every other race does in the campus."

Malaysia's population of 25 million people is dominated by some 60 percent
Muslim Malays. Chinese and Indians, who began migrating here in the early
19th century, make up 26 percent and 8.0 percent respectively.

Without doubt, Malaysia has enjoyed relative racial harmony compared to
neighbouring Indonesia, where deadly anti-Chinese race riots struck as
recently as 1998, during the Asian financial crisis.

The government does not impose any restrictions on minority races, who are
free to practice their own culture, religion and education.

But despite the veneer, years of positive discrimination towards the
Malays, designed to address the yawning economic gap with the Chinese
community which dominates business, have taken their toll.

Tang Ah Chai, chief executive officer with the Chinese Assembly Hall, a
non-profit social organisation, says racial interaction is declining
because the minority races feel they are being pushed aside.

"Overall, the people live in harmony but there is some degree of tension
due to the feeling of being discriminated against," he told AFP, adding
that "some politicians wipe up this tension to advance their political
ambitions."

And the minority groups are not the only ones concerned. Hilmi Abdul
Rashid, a state assemblyman with the ruling United Malays National
Organisation (UMNO) in northern Penang state says the lack of interaction
is a serious problem.

"The young generation are not mixing as much as the older generation. I am
worried now. We need to address the issue immediately," he told AFP.

UMNO is the dominant party in the National Front coalition which has ruled
Malaysia since independence in 1957. The coalition is a grouping of more
than a dozen mainly race-based parties including Chinese and Indian groups.

Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was sacked and jailed in
1998, has caused a stir by proposing to reform the political landscape
which he says is straining national harmony.

"We need to appeal to the Malays, Chinese and the Indians and the rest that
we need to go beyond race-based politics. If you continue to harp and
support this racial equation, you will never be able to overcome racial
divisions," he says.

Scholars and politicians warn that the existing peace and harmony in the
country must not be taken for granted and have pressed for a national
convention to identify a strategy towards a united Malaysian race.

Education and language is one of the most visible signs of the problem.
Most Chinese and Indians send their children to Mandarin- and
Tamil-language schools while the Malays attend national institutions.

The government has in recent years established "visionary schools" where
students share sports fields, assembly halls and canteens, but conduct
classes in their own languages. But the initiative has failed to get off
the ground, partly because of a fear of a loss of identity among Chinese.

A military-style national service program for 18-year-old youths was
introduced last year with the aim of boosting racial integration. Students
are chosen at random and taken to camps for up to three months in the hope
they will learn team work and absorb each other's culture.

But the scheme has been plagued with problems, including reports of
race-based fighting, riots and extortion which have prompted opposition
politicians to call for it to be suspended.

P. Ramasamy, political science lecturer at the National University of
Malaysia and an ethnic Indian, describes race relations in Malaysia as
"pretty bad".

As evidence he cites the UMNO general assembly last month, where powerful
youth wing leader Hishammuddin Hussein held aloft a keris, a traditional
Malay weapon, while his supporters chanted "Long Live Malays".

"What message did they intend to communicate to the Chinese and Indians in
the country. Are they saying, if you challenge us, we will impose
violence?" he asks.

Ramasamy said Hishammuddin's call for the revival of the affirmative action
plan known as the New Economic Policy, which for two decades from 1970 gave
ethnic Malays a range of advantages, is a step backwards for race
relations.

"They are using the issue of race for their own political and economic
purposes," he says.

The New Economic Policy was introduced following deadly racial clashes in
1969, mainly between the Malays and the Chinese.

Its aim was to eradicate poverty and restructure society irrespective of
race but after 35 years, the Chinese continue to dominate the economy,
Malays have moved up the social ladder and control politics, while the
Indians have emerged as the new poor.

By 2004, Malays held just 19 percent of national equity, up from 2.4
percent in 1970, but well short of an official goal of 30 percent.

Anwar has also attacked the New Economic Policy, saying it has only served
to feed corruption and cronyism in the government.

"Who are the guys who benefit from the NEP. They are the richest of the
Malays. They are not protecting the interest of the poor Malay. They are
only protecting their own interests," he told AFP.




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