This dereliction of duty does not necessarily mean that these folks believe in “progressive” ideas, but rather they believe that what they are entitled to as citizens with special rights has been denied them, especially when they see how the non-Malay communities are “thriving” without any kind of or minimal state assistance.

You can see this idea crop up whenever the old maverick speaks of the “racial inequalities” in Malaysia and why Malay special rights are needed. As usual, he uses non-Malays – read Chinese – as the economic and social scapegoat: "If we take out the Chinese and all that they have built and own, there will be no small or big towns in Malaysia, there will be no business and industry, there will be no funds for the subsidies, support and facilities for the Malays."

Now some folks, especially young Malay leaders, have this rose-tinted view of what Umno was as some sort of ideal when it came to race relations in this country, and somehow the “Malay struggle” was “pure” and unsullied by the racist policies and rhetoric that define Umno now.

This in itself is a kind of propaganda. While Umno may have slipped into a racial and religious quagmire and instituted a functioning kakistocracy, the reality is that, as long as the non-Malays held up their end of the social contract by voting for Umno surrogates and the Umno leadership was united, the political environment, although dysfunctional, was stable.

Young Umno Malays mistake this "stability" as some sort of equitable racial bargain. It was not.

The problem with politics in this country, and specifically with the kind of politics and policies which Umno advocates, is that it has created two classes of Malays. The first is the political class, to which most of the religious and racial dogma does not apply, and then there is the average Malay, who is not so lucky.

What I find interesting though is the response of the old school Umno men and women, who view the current class struggle with bewilderment. Many of these men and women were present when Felda schemes (for example) were functional enterprises staffed by non-Malays and Malays who viewed such endeavours as essential in furthering the goals of the social contract and uplifting a disenfranchised community.

These Malaysians (Malays and non-Malays) viewed paternalistic laws as a safeguard against provocations by either side of the political divide. This does not hold true now and perhaps it never did.

I have no idea how this progressive caucus would work or what it would be interested in advocating, but as long as political coalitions continue encroaching into our public and private spaces and continue using state laws and mob mentalities to define and restrict discourse, there will never be a progressive base which would move this country forward.

This is truly a case of reaping what you sow.