UNITY is an old word. It is older than the notion of a nation. But it does not wear the cloak of history well. And so does the attempt to coalesce and convalesce.
Tanah Melayu, Malaya and Malaysia. Each had its birth pangs. Becoming or being is never easy. Each hides a history that needs understanding.
Records tell us how the British and Japanese sowed the seed of discontent among the Malayans, especially between the Malays and Chinese. Truth be told, it has remained since.
The Japanese, it must be said, were particularly unkind to the Chinese. As for the Indians, they were caught in between, as sometimes they are now. History is at times unkind.
Politics has always been about numbers. It will always be. Not that it numbers us, but we number them.
Just before Malaya became independent in 1957, the Malays realised that they were being outnumbered by the non-Malays, who were brought in by the British to keep the economy running.
The fear has remained. Singapore’s exit from Malaysia in 1965 is about numbers too — the Chinese outnumbering Malays — if the late Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad’s (political secretary to the late Tun Abdul Razak, the second prime minister ) conversation with the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first prime minister of Malaysia, is correct.
The idea of bringing Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak into Malaysia was a balancing act as well. This is an open secret. Equation equals equilibrium, you may say.
This is one explanation for the Malay Dignity Congress. Perhaps it is a lesson they learnt from the Malayan Union, which was a raw attempt by the British to rob the Malays of their dignity. But Pakatan Harapan is no White colonialists.
Critics have feared the Malay Dignity Congress and have written fearsomely about it. This is an old injury that must be nursed.
Marginalisation is as old as colonisation. It was there when the British arrived. It was there when the British left.
Three generations on, we still feel the pain of the old pang. It bears reminding, race is not a sin. Granted, we invented races of all sorts as we moved from a single human race. But remind we must: our origin is one and the same.
Primordial though our link maybe, a link it is. As we said, unity is an old word. It is its historical accretion that blinds us at times.
Understandably, the Malays feel isolated. While the Chinese support one or two parties, the Malays back a few. There is nothing wrong in a multi-party system so long as there is good governance.
Many parties mean as many opportunities for political talent to grow. Malaysians must take heart: fragility isn’t peculiar to Malaysia. Plural societies elsewhere do crack and fracture now and then. But what is important is how this fragility is repaired. And how quickly, too.
The PH coalition was elected by a majority. This must be respected. There are 26 ministers and 23 deputy ministers. All the races we call Malaysian are represented. Maybe not to everyone’s liking.
But we can change it if we want when the next general election comes up. But shouldn’t politicians come to some kind of a consensus in the interim? This is what democracy is all about. A game of numbers.