Malaysiakini : In 2017, for instance, preacher Zamihan Mat Zin made racist and bigoted remarks about the “cleanliness” of the Chinese community while advocating for Muslim-only laundrettes.

In 2019, lights displayed in the shape of a cross in Penang caused grave concerns amongst the public, with PAS accusing the developer of a "Christianisation agenda".

The non-Malay political class was quick to assuage fears. Then deputy chief minister P Ramasamy said: "Do not give an opportunity to the troublemakers for an excuse to make a political issue out of something of no serious concern to Malaysians.”

Even Chinese New Year school decorations became a flashpoint in the past, which prompted police to advise their removal.

It was reported in 2020 that then deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching said the police advice was meant to de-escalate the situation after Putra vice-president Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz wrote a letter to the school claiming that the decorations were contravening the Federal Constitution for having religious connotations.

Consider the time non-Muslim schoolchildren were forced to eat in “shower rooms” in 2013. Then deputy education minister P Kamalanathan said, "It is not the right thing to do. The school could have appointed a temporary canteen operator to run the operations during Ramadan."

'Forbidden' knowledge

Teaching students non-Islamic religions in schools and universities is verboten to the establishment, as demonstrated by a former PAS operative.

“There is also concern that (teaching interfaith understanding) could promote religious pluralism amongst Muslims; unless the government is bold and firm in explaining the supremacy and absolute truth of Islam that supersedes all other religions, and Islam’s special position in the Constitution,” said former minister Khairuddin Aman Razali.

This is not only a PAS issue. Remember when then Pakatan Harapan’s religious czar Mujahid Yusof Rawa explained why it was a good thing to teach khat in school, saying, “After all, what is learning khat Jawi if by learning it, we learn our culture, our heritage, history and our pride as Malaysians?”

So these are the ideas which have always been what makes us Malaysians.

What kind of ideas are young people internalising in public schools when our history books are compromised, the civil service is racialised, politicians routinely demonise other ethnic groups, religious operatives demonise other religions and quota systems, as well as the non-existent social contract, determine educational advancement in rakyat-funded education establishments?

Remember when Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim berated that young student because she wanted to be treated fairly? What do you think this does to a young person? How do you think this affects how they view their fellow young people?

Model behaviour...

While rich and middle-income Malays ensure that their children receive an education that would make them competitive in this fast-changing geopolitical landscape, the system is designed to keep “rural” Malays and working-class Malays bereft of the opportunities available to that class who control or who serve a political system that enables their privilege.

The kind of class that this system of education engineers makes them perfect as petty mid-level bureaucrats or working-class drones, steeped in religion and racial grievances.

They manipulate the system at the behest of their political masters, always hoping to jump to the next level using corrupt means. A new serf class was created post-May 1969.

Bigotry, racism and communalism are not solely confined to one community. Non-Malay social and political beliefs are reactionary. I am not talking about the non-Malay political class that is all about pandering.

Non-Malay children assimilate bigoted beliefs from their parents and social media and believe that communal protectionism is the only means for economic survival in this political landscape.

The political class dictates the agendas of their respective communities, not the other way round. Our public schools are this way because of this.

How exactly are young people going to forget their differences and forge any kind of "Malaysian identity" when they are constantly reminded that they are either the masters of this land, in which their position is under siege, or they are pendatang (migrants)?

How exactly is an Education Ministry headed by anyone believing in Malay special rights going to formulate an education policy which creates citizens who may be able to get employment but who will never think of themselves as equal citizens of this country?

Looking for true democracy

The Arabisation and Islamisation processes, with the aid of propaganda institutions like the National Civics Bureau (Biro Tata Negara), have created a generation of civil servants who believe that race and religion are first principles and therefore their role in government is to facilitate those principles.

A couple of years back, Pahang Umno objected to people politicising the fact that a school in Kuantan forced non-Muslim students to stay in school until after Muslim prayers were carried out.

All this was justified on the grounds that non-Muslim students could learn about Islam. This was just an overt way to demand compliance.

The solution to problems like this is, of course, more democracy. Refer to Kua Kia Soong’s comment in 2018.

“Few Malaysians have noticed, for example, that the all-important role of local education authorities in the Education Act 1961 is no longer mentioned in the Education Act 1996.

“Local education authorities serve to allocate funds and other facilities to needy sectors, and can serve to dissipate politicisation of education,” he said.

More democracy has always been an existential threat to the political class.

Malaysiakini : “The Royal Commission (to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police) stressed that, owing to the nature of the job and existing police culture, the code of conduct within the force had failed to ensure supervision and command accountability in protecting the rights and the interests of the public. The preoccupation of being a ‘force’ as opposed to a ‘service’ was at the heart of these concerns.

“In addition, the royal commission also identified the mounting incidents of deaths in custody, as well as the failure of the police to investigate these deaths, and the refusal of the authorities to hold inquests into them.

"Deaths in police custody under questionable circumstances are reprehensible and are an indictment of the police as an enforcement agency,” he said.

Impenetrable wall

Are there good and honest police officers in this country? Yes, there are. But the blue wall of silence is even stronger because those honest officers likely understand that they will have to work with rogue colleagues, as the political class is unlikely to hold these bad apples accountable.

There may even be repercussions if you speak out. Hence, by their silence, they end up with the rest of the rotten apples in the barrel.

Think of how nobody was held accountable for Wang Kelian or Durian Tunggal and most deaths in custody. Think about how immigration officers allegedly involved in various scandals have been shuffled around the bureaucracy.

Nathaniel Tan’s piece on the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) hearing into the death in custody of S Balamurugan in 2017 was riveting, not only because it was lucidly written but because it underscored the silence of police officers who chose not to act. That silence makes it harder to defend the institution, even for those who maintain that alongside bad actors, there are honourable men and women in the force who want to do the right thing.

In the above case, it was reported that during the EAIC hearing, a witness and fellow detainee claimed that while Mohaneswaran Thiagarajah, an inspector at the time, was beating Balamurugan, Mohaneswaran said in Tamil, “You are a (gangster) head outside, but I am the (gangster) head inside (the police station).”

However, Mohaneswaran denied this.

Treatment of the lower class

Why did Noorizwan (below) die? Why were the Durian Tunggal trio shot dead? Did it happen because of any crimes they may have committed, or because it appears there would be little scrutiny from the state? This is about how the political class and the state security apparatus value the lives of citizens.

The “why” will likely never be known in this case or in the many others who have suddenly died in police custody, immigrant detention camps, police shootouts and jails, which could be in the thousands over the years. We will never know the anguish of families of those killed or who have died in custody due to systemic maleficence.

This is also a class issue. This has always been about how the marginalised in our society are the real victims of the state and an apathetic public.

Ten years ago, two siblings detailed the horror they experienced when they were detained. You can read about it here, along with the police higher-ups at the time telling the brothers to lodge a police report, which they said would be investigated fairly and transparently.

Do politicians or those in the upper class get the same kind of treatment?

When police summoned Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh in 2024 over a tiff with a DAP politician, he responded with: “I will never surrender, let alone apologise. Because I was taught to defend religion, race and my motherland even if I have to put my life on the line.”

Except, of course, people like him will never have their lives on the line, unlike someone such as Noorizwan. It is the disenfranchised and marginalised that have it worse. Remember that those higher up on the criminal class structure will never suffer the fate of those without means.

Cases like the disappearance of Pamela Ling (above) and the “corporate mafia” scandal highlight a worrying pattern where institutional safeguards appear increasingly under strain. The online racialisation of traffic tragedies and a political class ever willing to stoke resentment could also create fertile ground for custodial violence and intimidation.

All we are left with are desperate families looking for answers or justice and a political class counting on the fact that the rakyat will soon be distracted by other scandals such as how former premier Najib Abdul Razak will spend his time at home.

If you think that this could never happen to you, it could.

Malaysiakini : It's quite simple

Rafizi is one of those politicians who can articulate the problems faced by the Malay community.

In a roundtable discussion in 2017, he said: “We don’t understand that Malay voters need more than just talk. Telling people that Najib is going to bring us down is not enough.

“Why do we lack credibility? We have been out of touch, to the point of being condescending.

“We just have to convince the people enough that we can do a better job. We must honestly accept failings and offer solutions that may be controversial.”

Former natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, another Bersama operative who left PKR, understood that appealing to the Malay far-right is not a viable strategy.

“At the end of the day, we can’t outflank Perikatan Nasional in terms of playing the Malay or Islam card, because we know that is their comparative advantage in a way.”

This right here is what is needed in the discourse when it comes to the majority community. The non-Malay discourse is far more messy.

Tacit approval from non-Malays

From reportage, Lee described Bersama’s target audience as people who think critically, are less easily swayed by fear, and are open to more political choices. Good luck in finding them in Selangor.

Keep in mind that for decades, non-Malays voted for BN and demonised the opposition using pragmatism as a rallying cry instead of institutional reform.

And to be fair, for decades, the non-Malays prospered while their Malay/Muslim brethren were short-changed by the Malay uber alles party they voted for.

This manufactured various racial flashpoints which the mainstream Malay political apparatus profits from.

While a segment of the Malay polity may scoff at Madani, many Madani partisans still believe that it is a safer alternative than what the opposition is peddling.

Folks may say they are against corruption but still vote for politicians who turned a blind eye to the corporate mafia scandal, the Sabah scandal, closed the book on Teoh Beng Hock, shrugged at the destruction of so-called illegal temples and turned their backs on the reform agenda.

The Madani political class is well aware that although non-Malays rant and rave on social media, the reality is that when it comes to the ballot box, they will vote for his establishment proxies because they believe that, as flawed as Harapan is, there is no alternative.

Could Bersama be that alternative? The better question is: will the progressive voters, regardless of race and religion, place their bets on Bersama when it comes to the green wave?

The urban areas, for instance, are rife with political and corporate corruption, which determines a kind of bureaucratic mafia controlled by ruling regimes, which is ultimately destroying this country.

Yet urban voters, especially non-Malays, are willing to throw in their lot with legacy parties for various reasons.

Making excuses for Harapan is the issue

Do not get me wrong. I will be more than happy if Bersama breaks the monopoly in urban and semi-urban areas because power and policies flow down from these areas.

The online harassment of third-party candidates and the demeaning of so-called mosquito parties and outliers speaking against the doublespeak of mainstream legacy parties is a testament that the non-Malays have shot themselves in the foot when it comes to viable alternatives.

Non-Malays are always asking for solutions. The problem is that they don’t really want solutions because, as a reform coalition (Harapan), they had the solutions. They just never held the people they voted for accountable.

They always made excuses. Everything from “pragmatism”, “the green wave”, to “this is a unity government” whenever Harapan spat in their faces.

I am no economic wonk, but anecdotally speaking, academics and fiscal policy experts I know have been impressed by Bersama’s shadow budget, especially how seriously it takes the short, but more importantly, long-term fiscal policies that may help this country.

READ MORE: Safe vs bold reforms: Economists size up Putrajaya's Budget 2027 against Bersama's alternative

As one former economic personality said, she has never really seen such an “audacious” but narratively unsexy long-term fiscally responsible budget before.

What stands in Bersama’s way are instincts of communal interests, self-righteous hypocrisy, cowardice and partisan self-preservation.

These are not baser animal instincts but rather all too human instincts.