Li Jun Jie, a Chinese national, made headlines in Malaysia last December after she was erroneously detained for eight days. The Malaysian police later conceded ‘mistake’, and the victim accepted the apology with good grace.

Li’s wrongful detention reverberated on cyberspace, while some commentaries in Malaysia’s Chinese media openly criticised the Malaysian police for singling out Chinese nationals.

One should rightfully feel indignant at Li’s misfortune, but should we then draw the hasty conclusion that Malaysian law enforcement officers set their sights on the Chinese from China? I think not.

Just consider the following news items over the past year:

  • Twelve Chinese and two Indonesian females were detained in Johor Bahru on suspicion of ‘immoral activities’ ( The Star , 11 January 2009);
  • Between January and October 2009, a total of 642 foreign women were detained in Sarawak, among them were 256 Indonesians, 234 Chinese, and 106 Filipinos ( NST , 14 November 2009);
  • In an anti-vice raid, Johor police arrested 72 foreign women, the majority of them being from Thailand; others included seven ‘Little Dragon Girls’, 11 Indonesians, two Vietnamese and two from Myanmar ( Kwong Wah Daily , 17 November 2009);
  • 16 women were arrested in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, among them were three locals, with the rest being Indonesians ( Bernama , 5 January 2010).

While it is clear from these new reports that Chinese nationals made up a sizeable number of those detained in Malaysia, the same fate befell many other foreign women also. It is therefore premature to argue that the ‘vigorous’ action by the Malaysian police was driven by racism (ie. targeting mostly the Chinese).

Malaysians have short memories. In early 2003, police rounded up 270 Indian nationals – most of whom happened to be IT professionals – in Brickfields. Most despicably, the officers handcuffed the ‘suspects’, tore up their passports, and had them parade before others, all done with the connivance of the higher authorities.

This scandalous incident prompted outrage across India, eventually forcing the arrogant Dr. Mahathir Mohamad – then prime minister – to apologise, fearing that failure to do so would hurt several major highway contracts in India that involved UMNO cronies.

Discrimination

The wrath may have subsided, Indian nationals continue to face hurdle when applying for Malaysian visas. Two years ago, an Indian friend of mine secured an internship to practise at a prominent law firm in Kuala Lumpur.

Despite having all the necessary documents plus sufficient funds, she was subject to hours of questioning by embassy staff at New Delhi, simply because she was single.

One of them even hinted at Indian women working as GROs (guest relations officers) in Malaysia. To save herself further humiliation, she dropped the plan altogether.

As for those from Indonesia, the regional giant, their plight is beyond description given numerous incidents of abuse that implicated Malaysian employers.

Meanwhile, many Indonesian workers – documented or otherwise – are subject to police checks, searches and even extortion on a daily basis. All the protests by Jakarta seem only to have gone unnoticed.

If one ascribes the ill treatment of the Malay-dominant law enforcement agencies towards Chinese and Indian nationals to ‘jealousy’ and ‘fear’ in the face of rise of the two powers, how are we then to explain the equally inhumane actions against those from the poorer countries, ranging from Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh to Myanmar?

Let’s face it, the root cause lies in the ignorance of basic human rights on the part of our law enforcement agencies. While racism is indeed part of the problem, other co-existing factors, such as contempt for law and disdain for vulnerable communities, must also be properly addressed.

Racist attitude may be a reason why the Malaysian police go after Chinese nationals at times. However, when faced with Indonesians, Bangladeshis or Rohingyas from Myanmar – the majority of whom are also Muslims – it is the unequal power relations (i.e. ‘legal’ versus ‘illegal’) and the disregard for law that give rise to violence.

Locals not spared

In the same vein, the tragic deaths of many Indian Malaysians in police custody have roots in their marginalised and disadvantaged position in the country.

Since these officers have been behaving in a lawless manner by virtue of state omnipotence, their violent streak knows no bounds even when they deal with fellow Malays or Muslims, or there would not have been countless acts of violence against Malay drug addicts.

The shooting of Norizan Salleh is the latest case in point. The 29 year old was shot five times by police last October despite though she committed no offence whatsoever.

She now suffers permanent damage to her hand and yet Hishammuddin Hussein Onn refused to meet her. So much for Ketuanan Melayu!

In fact, there are various channels for Chinese and Indian nationals to voice their grouses, including seeking help from members of parliament (such as Teresa Kok of DAP) and the vernacular press (Sin Chew Daily, the China Press etc).

It is no secret that Chinese language dailies relish in sensationalizing ill treatment of Chinese nationals in Malaysia, perhaps seeing it as epitomizing the ‘sorrow’ of the Chinese Malaysian community as a whole.

At the same time, coverage on violence against other poorer foreign nationals pales into insignificance, while the victims themselves generally choose to be silent due to their ‘illegal’ status.

While the Malaysian government survives on racist ideology, we ought to have the power to rise above it and choose not to respond to injustice with a racist mind.

Genuine institutional reform and greater public accountability that benefit all should be our common goal, which can also save us from the snarl of racism in the long run.