Racism hinders Najib’s 1 Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — Race relations, already aggravated by the ‘Allah’ row, attacks on places of worship and the Biro Tata Negara controversy, is in danger of spiralling out of control in Malaysia despite the resignation of Datuk Nasir Safar last night as special officer to the prime minister.

Political analyst Khoo Kay Peng, writing in his blog yesterday, called Nasir’s remarks that “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially the women came to sell their bodies” at a 1 Malaysia seminar in Malacca a symptom of ugly racial politics.

“The question is why are we not surprised by Nasir’s allegations. Nasir is a symptom of ugly racial politics,” Khoo wrote.

While Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was quick to disassociate himself from Nasir’s remarks, he should not be surprised as well with what his special aide had said that caused a furore and led to allies MCA and MIC walking out.

Najib has been working hard to push for a 1Malaysia. - Picture by Jack Ooi

The tone of Nasir’s remarks, especially when he allegedly warned Indians that the government could revoke their citizenships if excessive demands were made by the community, reflects a growing intolerance among many in Umno with the non-Malays particularly after the Hindraf 2007 march that put the government in bad light.

And Nasir cannot be considered a maverick speaking out of turn or a fringe minority within Umno. He was part of Najib’s team in government and was also a former Umno lawmaker from Johor, well-versed in government policy and the need to implement effectively and efficiently without a doubt.

The remarks made by Nasir is also not the first time an Umno official has caused major embarrassment for the party and the government with racist remarks.

Penang Umno warlord Datuk Ahmad Ismail had labelled the Chinese “pendatang,” during a campaign rally in 2008, and was suspended three years by his party. That suspension was lifted late last year, as Umno moved to win back Malay ground from Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

But Najib’s push for 1 Malaysia has now become even more difficult with the remarks made by Nasir at a multi-racial seminar.

The question now is how many of Najib’s officers and those in Umno are still stuck in a racist and chauvinistic warp.

The common refrain from the likes of Nasir, Ahmad and some racist BTN course facilitators appear to be the view that non-Malays, particularly the Indians and the Chinese, are to be perpetually classified as immigrants.

The thinking appears to be that as perpetual immigrants the Chinese and the Indians should not make excessive demands and should be grateful for citizenship.

Yet, anecdotal evidence suggests that Najib does not believe in nor does he subscribe to such views. But like many other senior Umno leaders, he appears to have tolerated such views in his party.

However, by acting swiftly to demand Nasir’s resignation within hours of his divisive remarks, the PM has contained some of the damage caused.

But he must now act speedily to purge his party of any suggestion of racism. He must resolve to quickly put down any hints of racial extremism, such as Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali’s recent remarks against “disrespectful non-Malay leaders’’ who are questioning the dominance of the Malays.

Or else his 1 Malaysia dream could be a nightmare.