Why racial supremacy will never work - The case of Malaysia

The racial supremacy policy favouring the Malay in Malaysia is justified by the historical claim that the Malay suffered under colonial oppression, therefore it is only fair that they should dominate over other races today. This claim is not only inaccurate but is also an illegitimate argument. Colonial records reveal that the local elite (which were the Malay) were incorporated into the colonial bureaucracy and received salaries for their services. As evidences have shown, colonies were often governed by indirect rule and was only made possible with the collaboration of local elite. The upward mobility of migrant Chinese and Indian workers during the British imperial rule was often mistaken as the British favouring of the non-Malay. It is unclear whether there was any specific biased policy towards the non-Malay but the ultimate truth remains that, the upward mobility of Chinese and Indian were made possible with education.


The Chinese and Indian immigrants were able to climb up the social ladder through the assistance of English education set up by the British, which was made available to all Malaysian colonial citizens. Unlike many Malay, most Chinese and Indian were not sceptical of a foreign education body installed by the British and thus benefited from a more international English education. Not only do the Chinese and Indian migrants of this generation gain English as a language, they also gain an upper-hand in commerce when dealing with English speaking businessmen, hence their ability to amass wealth and rise up quickly in the social ladder. The politicians of our day have manipulated the common misconception of 'slaves in chains being whipped by colonial masters' for their own political agenda. This is not to say there had been no injustice suffered by the Malay during colonial time but the claim had been exaggerated out of proportion. How far back in history are we going to find justifications for today's flawed politic? Blaming history is just playing the blame game and it will not achieve anything. Furthermore in this case, the historical facts have not even been identified correctly. Pro-Malay policy in Malaysia is only an excuse for the Malay politicians to 'divide and rule' its citizens so that the elite can continuously enjoy their privileges while the mass majority suffer.

Pro-Malay policy was initially adopted to help the economical backward Malay but it has evolved to become a life-long guarantee of privileges for some. This policy does have a reminiscence of a welfare provision albeit with racial discrimination. Having said that, would it not be more efficient and appropriate for the government to set up a welfare system aimed specifically at helping the poor and underprivileged rather than showering more privileges to the already well-endowed Bumiputeras? Not only is this pro-Malay policy self-defeating, it is also detrimental to Malaysia in the long run. The domination of one race over another creates tension and is reflected by the recent conflicts between the various races. Ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia was to a great extent a result of Serbian domination over other ethnicities. This is a poignant reminder that racial/ethnic harmony is a delicate balance that can be easily disrupted. Although racial tension in Malaysia is not beyond salvage yet, we should not be complacent and assume racial skirmishes will not happen like in elsewhere in the world.

Decades of pro-Malay policy has demoted healthy competition and resulting in a sluggish, complacent attitude among the favoured race in the work force. Meritocracy has given way to racial supremacy, position holders faced little or no challenge hence inefficiency and corruption grow out of a needless urge to perform. The current administration is a prime example of an unequal system with an overgrowth of complacency, inefficiency and corruption. The current climate of racial inequality and the pro-Malay policy have also led to a great lost of talents. Many Malaysian scholars have gone overseas in search of better education opportunities after they were rejected entry to local universities. These scholars often then stayed on in the countries of their university education to continually seek fairer opportunities for jobs, opportunities which were not made available to them in Malaysia due to the racist policy. In another words, the racist policy is causing a 'brain drain' in Malaysia. As a direct result of this pro-Malay policy, many great talents were lost. For example Mr Khaw Boon Wan, the current Singapore Minister for Health is a former-Malaysian, whose talent is lost to Malaysia. Imagine all the help Malaysia could have gotten if there was no racial supremacy and all the precious talents would remain to help build a stronger and better country. Suffice to say that all the evidence proves the pro-Malay policy is detrimental to the long-term holistic well-being of Malaysia, as it creates tension among the races, stunted healthy competition, which in turn reduce the country's competitiveness within the global economy. Favouring one race over another will only create a vicious cycle of self-sabotage and will not bring progress to the country as a whole.

Some obstinate politicians are oblivious to the indisputable merits of racial equality, it is indeed telling that they are afraid to lose their privileges and have hence vowed to hold on to it. They argue that the 'Malay' identity would be lost if racial equality is established. This is a bizarre if not ridiculous explanation. The notion of racial equality means that all races are equal and equality will unquestionably extend to their religions, customs, traditions and languages! It would be unthinkable to bestow equality to one's race without including the elements (like religions, customs, traditions, languages etc) that define his/her race. Under circumstances like that, the 'Malay' identity is unlikely to be lost. Furthermore, given that Malaysia is a multi-racial country, there needs to be a redefinition of the 'Malay' identity or rather, the 'Malaysian' identity. Malaysia is unique in its vibrant and colourful 'Malaysian' culture, not many places in the world has a peaceful co-existence of different races and religions.




The Malaysian food is one big legacy of our peaceful, multi-racial culture, just like how we can easily order and eat roti prata, mee goreng or char kwai teow in any hawker centre. This is what define the identity of Malaysian people, our peaceful co-existence, racial and religious tolerance and wonderful diversity, yet racial inequality is gradually breaking this harmony up. Politicians who insist on pro-Malay policy are playing a very dangerous political game for their own selfish gain. There will be bloodshed if a step is miscalculated or plotted correctly.