When everything becomes racial

When something as abstract as calls for greater democracy can be racialised, is there still hope to become a nation that is colour blind?

The Bersih 4 rally that happened over the Merdeka weekend appears to have split national opinion, but in a hardly logical way.

Like many other abstract things in this beloved country of ours – politics, poverty, patriotism, even handphone theft – Bersih too has joined the bandwagon of non-racial things turned racist.

I cannot recall a single racist thing mentioned by any of the speakers, recited by any of the poets or sung by any of the singers throughout the rally. Why would it? The main theme of the rally, fair and free elections and the call against corruption, was nothing racial in nature.

Even the much frowned upon "secondary" theme – the calls for the resignation of the prime minister wasn’t racial.

Sure, there was a lot of mocking his ability to govern, his fiscal policies,the less-than-forthcoming answers on "donations", even the not-quite-relevant spending habits of his wife, but the question of his race did not arise.

As the rally was open for all, some in the rally also, rightly or wrongly, used the forum to call for the release of a former deputy prime minister. The question of his race did not arise either.

Some took the opportunity to talk about Lynas, and that wasn’t a racial topic either.

The location chosen for the rally was one that was symbolic to all Malaysians, irrespective of race. So, there really isn’t by far, any logical reason for it to be a racial issue.

But somehow it has been spun into exactly that by certain parties for interests best known to themselves. Threatening posters with imagery of a "Chinese" protester being "hacked" by a "Malay" warrior have been plastered around Kuala Lumpur and other cities. The rather radical response is every bit racial in nature.

Calling on Malays to defend "Malay political power". How is that even under threat?

Who is behind it? Politicians? NGOs? Businessmen?

And why? How was anything Bersih that did a threat to Malay political power? It doesn’t make sense.

Whether PAS or Umno or PKR or Amanah rules this country, the power of the executive, along with the majority of the legislative, and the civil service at large, would very much remain in Malay hands.

Just because popular public opinion appears against one or two figures in the executive, does not equate to a racially-slanted rejection of Malay leadership. The leap of logic in that suggestion is in itself mind-boggling.

Whoever is behind it, the message appears to be to create feelings of unrest and tension between the various races.

While influential people may be the ones stoking the flames, you can rest assured it will be the ordinary folk who would get burned if things got out of hand.

While the race card may be the easiest answer to get out of answering anything, it is also the most dangerous to play.

Perhaps the organisers would like to prove a point – that they too have public influence and can assemble thousands of supporters in the city. Or perhaps the point is that they too have a right to assemble.

Or perhaps they would like to replicate the success of T-shirt sales at rallies, which are all viable reasons.

However, if the reasons are political, it would likely backfire. The last couple of elections have shown that Malaysians in general, do not respond favourably to threats.

Moreover, organising a counter-rally, after disparaging rallies as incompatible with Malaysian culture, a threat to democracy, an economic damper on small traders, and an invitation for social unrest, and then going ahead and organising one of their own, only pours cold water on the organisers’ own arguments.

It does not neither seem right nor fair to accuse Bersih or its participants, Chinese or otherwise of spreading racial hatred when they did not do so, much less respond to that non-existent threat with threats of their own.

While a lot of questions asked at Bersih 4 remain unanswered, the authorities have largely redeemed themselves in the eyes of observers, local or otherwise, on how they handle rallies and demonstrations.

Hopefully, the way they handle rather aggressive threats to race relations would be as pleasant a surprise. – September 8, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.