JAN 25 — In the era of 1 Malaysia, Datuk Ibrahim Ali is an anachronism who believes in Malay rights and dominance at the expense of others.
For him, Malaysia is primarily for Malays notwithstanding that it is made up of many races and spans the Malay peninsula to across the South China Sea to Sabah and Sarawak. That worldview is shared by those who have joined his Malay nationalist Perkasa group.
The question now is, does Umno share his view too? After all, Ibrahim — dubbed the “frog prince’ of Malaysian politics for his propensity to jump ship for his own ends — was featured in an Umno Juara Rakyat event in Shah Alam last night.
He slammed non-Malay opposition leaders whom he claimed were “disrespectful” to Malay leaders, claiming the “Allah” issue was proof of the disrespect by DAP politicians against the community. He also alleged that DAP leaders had stepped on photos of two Malay assemblymen although in reality, it did not happen.
“We have Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng stepping on the pictures of the two Perak Malay lawmakers. If they want to step on the pictures of Chinese photos, it’s up to them but never do it to the Malays,” Ibrahim thundered at the Umno event.
The former Umno deputy minister who walked out when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was party president and later teamed up with PAS to contest in Election 2008 used all these examples to back his claims that the Malay position as the ruling and dominant race, which he claims is enshrined in the Federal Constitution, is being degraded by the non-Malay opposition leaders.
The arguments would fit in well within Umno but the dominant Malay party has always believed in cooperating with its non-Malay allies — from the days of the Alliance to the Barisan Nasional.
Current president Datuk Seri Najib Razak has also made national unity a priority with his 1 Malaysia concept as he seeks to regain support which deserted the ruling coalition in Election 2008, leading it to lose its traditional two-thirds parliamentary majority and four more states.
But Ibrahim’s fiery rhetoric goes against the soothing noises and promises that Najib has made. The fact that it was made in an Umno event makes it all the more jarring and unnerving especially after the party has ruled the country since Independence.
Has it not done enough via the New Economic Policy (NEP) to ensure the Malays and the poor progress in Malaysia? Should non-Malays continue to be the bogeyman when the economy falters or votes are lost to political rivals?
And the main question is, who reflects Umno’s views better - Ibrahim or Najib? Umno has to decide whether it subscribes to all of Perkasa’s views and rhetoric. And if they do, what does it mean for the rest of the Malaysians whose only home is Malaysia?
The reality is this, Umno cannot wave the keris on one hand and shake hands with other communities with the other. Straddling the divide between Najib’s 1 Malaysia and Ibrahim’s rhetoric will only hurt it in the long run.
Ibrahim can tilt at the windmills in his quest against imaginary giants out to “disrespect” his race, religion and community. It won’t matter.
It only matters when Umno decides that he speaks for Umno and join him, abandoning the pragmatism that had marked its birth and fight for Merdeka.
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