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Malaysia: Chinese Demand Reform
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
JAKARTA (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A Malaysian opposition leader said on Friday that demands by a Chinese group for meritocracy and better democratic principles was not contradictory to the aims of the reform movement.
“What Suqiu demands is reformation,” Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, leader of the National Justice Party (NJP), said in a press statement.
Suqiu, the Malaysian Chinese Organizations Election Appeal Committee, has been in the limelight since Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamad likened it to extremists of the communist era in his independence speech last August.
Wan Azizah said Suqiu demands are basically for social, economic and political reformation of the Malaysian governmental system, which the NJP believes is corrupt and in need of serious restructuring.
“The people should not be made to wage war against each other - as if it is to protect the rights and the dignity of the people - while the leaders continue to hoard wealth and behave arrogantly,” said Wan Azizah in a bid to unite reformasi supporters divided on the issue.
The NJP is concerned that recent counter demands by Malay groups in attempts to overrun the Suqiu could damage support for the reform movement in Malaysia.
Eight reformasi websites have posted articles criticizing Suqiu, urging the organization to retract its demands.
Among the most controversial demand made by the Chinese group is the repeal of the Affirmative program guaranteeing Malay-Muslims economic assistance and other benefits.
The Suqiu’s demands include the need for a Race Relations Act to combat racism, racialism and race discrimination, and institute a Race Relations Commission.
It says Affirmative action should be based on the protection and enhancement of the status of the weaker sectors and not on race, social background and religious belief.
It thus calls on the government to take steps to abolish in all aspects, the "bumiputera/non-bumiputera" distinction.
These demands are part of a 17-point petition the Suqiu pressed the government to accept before 1999general elections. However, Mahathir’s regime kept these demands in view only to reject them en-bloc this year.
The Chinese community supported Mahathir’s coalition in 1999 and is now expecting benefits from an administration that has lost the support of the majority community in the country, the Malays.
The Suqiu has the endorsement of more than 2,095 Chinese organizations, and its demands indicate that a large section of the Chinese community supports the movement.
In her press statement, Wan Azizah said that corrupt leaders should not make the people donkeys.
She urged the people not to be the “loud-hailers” of the leaders and condemn the Chinese before reading Suqiu’s 17-point appeal.
“The leaders claim to be fighters of the people, but they are silent when the rights of the people are transgressed,” said Wan Azizah, adding that, “corruption is rampant and the authorities are misusing their powers.”
Azizah said that her husband, jailed former deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, looked through the Suqiu’s demands. She said he expressed how proud he was of the brave intellectuals and more than 2,000 Chinese organizations in putting forward their concerns.
Wan Azizah recalled Anwar had said he had not heard of these problems being discussed at cabinet or National Front (NF) meetings.
“He said that it would have been most difficult for the topmost Chinese leaders within the government to raise the issues of cronyism and corruption.
“On the whole, Suqiu demands democracy to be practiced, economic growth to be encouraged and efforts to be made to ensure the integrity of the judiciary,” Azizah said.
“What angered the NF leaders is not the issue of the national language or the privileges of the Malays. It is more due to the fact that the demands touched on issues that are considered sensitive to them the government leaders, such as corruption, cronyism, nepotism, mega projects, wastage, the Internal Security Act and media sanctions.
“Anwar had much earlier urged the opposition Alternative Front to look at Suqiu’s demands in a positive manner as he was suspicious of the sincerity of the ruling coalition in accepting the whole Suqiu demands without any question.
“It is said that the language issue and the Bumiputera rights are challenged. It must be made clear that it is the right of any group to voice their opinion even though we may not agree. The people’s thinking should not be curbed,” said Wan Azizah.
“Such polemics are not only observed by the Chinese community but also by Malays who have become more conscious. The demands of Suqiu should be studied from a different perspective to avoid the sensitivity of the issues shrouding the main issues,” the opposition leader added.
Wan Azizah said that Anwar Ibrahim himself had mentioned how the Capital Investment Committee, before the formation of the Securities Commission, was misused to divide “free” shares of Chinese companies to the companies of chosen cronies. The billion-ringgit fund was robbed by a small group of Malays in the name of the Bumiputera policy.
“It is true that many Chinese businessmen are not happy with this but the majority of the Malays also feel cheated with such corruption and cronyism.
“It is also the same case with the 10% discount policy for Bumiputera who can afford to buy luxury houses. Would it not be fair if the discounts were to be allocated to buyers of low cost and medium cost houses? This is the same situation as when a minister’s child is given a scholarship while a teacher’s child is denied one.
“Chinese students who achieved high results are not given opportunities for higher education. We talk of e-economy and information technology matters when computers are not even made available in rural schools.”
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