Staying in the opposition forever
By Lim Mun Fah
What will Datuk Zaid Ibrahim do now that he has dropped out of the PKR deputy presidency race and resigned from all his party positions?
Some people have called him as a political marginal man as it seems that neither the BN nor the Pakatan Rakyat is suitable for him. To most non-Malays, he is open-minded and moderate, but for many Malays, he is not Malay and Muslim enough.
Zaid’s dilemmas is understandable, given the deep-rooted racial political scenario in Malaysia.
In fact, there are many other marginal politicians in the MCA, MIC, Gerakan, and even the DAP. They are either being accused of not being Chinese enough or Indian enough.
The sad reality in Malaysia is that decades of racial political culture has caused everything to take on racial connotations, resulting in many non-racial losing their focus. Everything is mixed up and there is no distinction between right and wrong any more, but only misunderstanding, suspicion, jealousy and hatred remain.
Racial sentiment is a dangerous thing. It could turn into racial chauvinism, with people accepting only their own respective races and religions, and become intolerant with other races. They would then do everything only for the sake of their races and religions. They will even be ready to sacrifice themselves to defend the interests and purity of their races and religions.
People with such views are everywhere in the world. They take the mission of defending their races and religions as a sacred and unquestionable goal and they are willing to sacrifice their lives for it. This has made them lose their rationality and behave extremely, causing polarisation in the society.
Polarisation is a major crisis that we are currently facing. From the 13 by-elections since the 2008 general election, we have to admit that the polarisation trend has caused more splits and confrontations among different races. The situation is indeed worrying.
We had originally hoped to see more moderate people come forward, join politics and save the situation from the polarized environment. But now, it seems that the liberal politicians like Zaid Ibrahim, who are more open and moderate, are being sidelined.
For those who are not willing to be corrupted by power, it seems like there is only one path to follow, that is to stay in the opposition forever.
What will Datuk Zaid Ibrahim do now that he has dropped out of the PKR deputy presidency race and resigned from all his party positions?
Some people have called him as a political marginal man as it seems that neither the BN nor the Pakatan Rakyat is suitable for him. To most non-Malays, he is open-minded and moderate, but for many Malays, he is not Malay and Muslim enough.
Zaid’s dilemmas is understandable, given the deep-rooted racial political scenario in Malaysia.
In fact, there are many other marginal politicians in the MCA, MIC, Gerakan, and even the DAP. They are either being accused of not being Chinese enough or Indian enough.
The sad reality in Malaysia is that decades of racial political culture has caused everything to take on racial connotations, resulting in many non-racial losing their focus. Everything is mixed up and there is no distinction between right and wrong any more, but only misunderstanding, suspicion, jealousy and hatred remain.
Racial sentiment is a dangerous thing. It could turn into racial chauvinism, with people accepting only their own respective races and religions, and become intolerant with other races. They would then do everything only for the sake of their races and religions. They will even be ready to sacrifice themselves to defend the interests and purity of their races and religions.
People with such views are everywhere in the world. They take the mission of defending their races and religions as a sacred and unquestionable goal and they are willing to sacrifice their lives for it. This has made them lose their rationality and behave extremely, causing polarisation in the society.
Polarisation is a major crisis that we are currently facing. From the 13 by-elections since the 2008 general election, we have to admit that the polarisation trend has caused more splits and confrontations among different races. The situation is indeed worrying.
We had originally hoped to see more moderate people come forward, join politics and save the situation from the polarized environment. But now, it seems that the liberal politicians like Zaid Ibrahim, who are more open and moderate, are being sidelined.
For those who are not willing to be corrupted by power, it seems like there is only one path to follow, that is to stay in the opposition forever.
