Malays need help and guidance and 'not protection', says pundits
SHAH ALAM - Two experts say the Malays need help and guidance and "not protection" as claimed by politicians, while the younger generation no longer views every issue through the lens of race and religion.
This comes after Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal recently said that Malays require protection of similar-minded identity politics since they were not ready to embrace full-fledged democracy.
Senior fellow at Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research Political analyst Dr Azmi Hassan said Wan Fayhsal’s hypothesis came from the political scenario of the last six decades where the political parties are based on race and religion.
“The voting trend of the voters is tied to this political party's ideology where the Malays are more comfortable to vote for Umno, the Chinese for DAP, Indian for MIC.
“For me, to say the mentality only occurs in the Malay community is very biased because the Malay voters consisted of the majority of other voters. If you go to Sabah and Sarawak, it would be the same except they are more dependent on the chart of where they are from,” he told Sinar Daily.
Commenting further, he said the mentality is not only on the Malays but also on other races and tribes in Borneo because of the political system since 1957 which influences the political system in the country.
When asked about who the Malays need protection from, he said it is not a matter of needing protection but needing help to protect their rights hence why the Malays often run to Umno considering Umno is a Malay-based political party.
“It's not about who they need protection from but they are more comfortable in asking help from a party that is defined from the same race,
“I think Malays are more comfortable to ask for help from a Malay-based party to protect their rights,” he said.
However, he said the younger generation has a different interpretation on the issue which is why Muda, the new political party consisting of different races and religions attracts the younger generation.
This, he said, was evident in Johor polls, when Muda did well considering it is a new party without any grassroots support meanwhile, Pejuang which is basically a Malay based party unable to attract the younger and older generation during the polls.
Weighing on the same issue, a political analyst Prof Dr Kartini Aboo Talib questioned as to how the Malay mentality was not ready for such a modern and advanced developed nation as claimed by Wan Fayhsal when the Malays were great merchants, sailors, and traders before the colonial conquest.
She also added that the Malay language was the lingua franca in the Archipelago.
“For democracy, voters in Malaysia proved to be very literate in psephology politics or the statistical study of elections and trends in voting.
“They wanted change, and they did it through election instead of rallying demonstrations, radical movements, or violent acts,” she told Sinar Daily.
However, touching on the aspect of the younger generation, she said they are more prone to be influenced by social media and those who can provide specific information, infographics and clear messages for future security.
“They do not need protection because their rights and entitlement are well protected and guaranteed by the Constitution but what they need is guidance.
“So, for Wan Fayhsal to say that the Malays are not ready for a full-fledged democracy due to their mentality is absurd and too politicking just because Bersatu is struggling at the moment,” she said.
