COMMENT | Zaid Ibrahim’s recent public statements that ignoring meritocracy for decades has led to the dismal response to this pandemic is just another reminder that nothing will ever really change in this country.

Zaid is right, of course, but the reality is that while there are some Malaysians who desire the systemic changes that would actually “save Malaysia”, they are not represented by any political party or sustained mainstream social movement.

If the response to this pandemic is any indication, the political establishment will never embrace any form of egalitarian or meritocratic policies. Race and religion will continue to be the driving force of our country’s destruction and the political elites and their fractured bases will continue playing the same old games.

You can witness the deleterious nature of religious extremism, for instance, by the way the spread of this virus has been enabled by “religious obligations” and a total disregard for shared empathy and responsibility. The fact that a high-ranking cabinet member gets to say that religion trumps economic interests – which is intricately tied to social cohesion – should remind everyone that successive governments, which include the Pakatan Harapan regime, did nothing to combat the religious extremism that Zaid writes about.

In 2017, Zaid caused a stir when he suggested that young Malays should migrate to escape from the Islamo-fascists who had taken over policy in this country. He also decried the lack of Malay leadership in combating the Arabisation process that had crippled not only the Malay community but also the country.

Zaid wrote in a follow up piece, “If we have 10 more Zainah Anwar, or Dr Farouk Musa or Group of 25s; and if we have more lawyers like Haris Ibrahim or Arhar Azizan (Art) Harun, then maybe we have a chance, but we don’t have enough Muslims who care. They talk a lot but fear of being described as ‘jahil’ prevents them from doing anything. Some are politicians, and so not losing Malay votes becomes a paramount consideration.”

Considering how Art Harun turned out, it just goes to show how easy it is to spout rhetoric that appeals to a certain progressive demographic but much harder to find genuine “fighters” who actually give a damn about correcting the failed ethnocentric policies that has put this country on the path to failed statehood.

And if you think the political establishment does not understand this, keep in mind what Anwar Ibrahim, the de facto leader of the opposition and Harapan head had said in 2016 in an op-ed in The Guardian: “This has put Malaysia at a crossroads: it can either return to its rightful place as a shining political and financial star in a developing world desperate for such successes; or it can descend to the role of yet another Muslim-majority country with a failing democracy and economy.”

What this Malay uber alles crowd has done is prove that what Anwar wrote five years ago was more right than wrong. Mind you Anwar and Harapan did exactly bupkis when they were in power, which is why I wrote that Malaysians who actually believe in progressive values and some form of merit-based policies have no political parties or politicians who represent them.

Non-Malay politicians are complicit

And what of our non-Malay political operatives? Hold on; forget about non-Malay political operatives for a moment. This idea that non-Malays will always find a way to achieve their ambitions in this racist system is mainstream political propaganda. They do not need the system; hence the system should reflect the needs of the majority.

This enables corrupt politicians to shape anti-inclusion narratives that receive very little pushback because, to do so, would jeopardise the political power of non-Malays, which over the decades has diminished anyway.

Furthermore, if non-Malays question “privileges”, “rights”, and whatever else the political establishment deems sacred, we are accused of causing disharmony or being seditious or whatever other relics of colonialism that find new use against age-old dissent.

Non-Malays not only have to abide by the odious “social contract”, but we also have to be complicit in it. Non-Malays who deviate from the group think or non-Malay political operatives who attempt to argue otherwise are vilified by their own, who tell them through various excuses and justifications which boils down to not spooking the Malays.

Only some extremely brave Malays – who understand that it could be worse for them – dare speak up, and most often they are ostracised by the mainstream of their community because the political elites wage a campaign of lies and propaganda against them and they will get no help from non-Malay political operatives.

This is why non-Malay Harapan political operatives were comfortable propping up their Malay partners and reinforcing certain mainstream ideologies over their coalition’s manifesto. In a nutshell, mainstream Malaysian politics – for non-Malay politicians – is to enable and sustain the voting base of their Malay colleagues, which makes it rather difficult for ideas, policies and political agendas which could save Malaysia to be considered.

It is so normal, right? We see Khairy Jamaluddin holding forth with foreign dignitaries and the press, and nobody really cares that he is an operative of a race-based party that supports policies that are supremacist by design. The same goes for all the other non-Malay race-based parties who have to enable such supremacist policies.

To understand this dynamic, go back to the discussion in Parliament in 2018 when there were moves to sign the unratified International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Khairy wondered - “Are you saying that Article 153, which clearly gives special status to one group of people, must have a time limit?”

Remember what one Umno hack said? That Malay rights and privileges were in perpetuity. There is no endgame because the game (they think) goes on forever. It does not, as history has taught us. Everything ends and is replaced.

This is why the Islamists and race extremists in this country have told me that since the non-Malays are losing the demographics game, it is only a matter of time when such discussions will be irrelevant. I always argue that these discussions are irrelevant now because no political coalition is offering an alternative.

However, putting the onus on the majority to “change things” is one of the biggest political deflections and part of the problem. As long as there is no real alternative, everyone is complicit in the system and blaming the majority is part of the racist discourse that defines mainstream politics in this country.