COMMENT | How did Malaysia become so intolerant?
COMMENT | This country is going through a massive cultural change.
A Malay friend introduced her American husband to members of her family. Her closest aunt shook his hand, but only after she had completely swathed her hand in a scarf to avoid touching him.
That friend was lucky. Another Malay friend whose husband is Jewish was snubbed when her relatives refused to shake hands with him.
They said that in hindsight there were little giveaways during their trips home in the late 80s. Portraits and paintings of people were replaced with Islamic calligraphy. Families who once kept dogs did not have them as pets anymore. Figurines collected from holidays abroad were ditched. Even Barbie dolls were thrown out. Islam does not allow idol-worship, they said.
A number of non-Malay friends said their Malay friends had also changed. They were neighbours, grew up together, went to the same school and shared many teenage secrets, like trying to get 4-D numbers at the Chinese graveyard or sneaking into Ipoh's Jubilee Park to watch Rose Chan.
During school, the non-Malay friends would wait for their Malay friends outside the surau whilst they performed their Friday prayers, then afterwards all would go to the hawker stalls for makan. The Malays did not object to their non-Malay friends eating pork.
Today, the friendships still exist, but the closeness has gone. One friend said...
COMMENT | This country is going through a massive cultural change.
A Malay friend introduced her American husband to members of her family. Her closest aunt shook his hand, but only after she had completely swathed her hand in a scarf to avoid touching him.
That friend was lucky. Another Malay friend whose husband is Jewish was snubbed when her relatives refused to shake hands with him.
They said that in hindsight there were little giveaways during their trips home in the late 80s. Portraits and paintings of people were replaced with Islamic calligraphy. Families who once kept dogs did not have them as pets anymore. Figurines collected from holidays abroad were ditched. Even Barbie dolls were thrown out. Islam does not allow idol-worship, they said.
A number of non-Malay friends said their Malay friends had also changed. They were neighbours, grew up together, went to the same school and shared many teenage secrets, like trying to get 4-D numbers at the Chinese graveyard or sneaking into Ipoh's Jubilee Park to watch Rose Chan.
During school, the non-Malay friends would wait for their Malay friends outside the surau whilst they performed their Friday prayers, then afterwards all would go to the hawker stalls for makan. The Malays did not object to their non-Malay friends eating pork.
Today, the friendships still exist, but the closeness has gone. One friend said that his Malay friend would bring his children to visit at Christmas, but the teenagers would refuse to shake his hand or consume anything that was offered, even if the drink was from a can. His friend claimed that his children's school had fuelled the intolerance.
Another friend relocated from Shah Alam because she feared for her pet dogs.
In the past, transgender people did not fear for their safety or their lives. Today, they do.
What progress can our leaders claim to have made when after 63 years many Malays have developed a fear of dogs, pigs, Chinese, the DAP, communists, the crucifix, speaking English, lanterns, books, liberals and rational thinking?
How can some Malays believe an ulama, who says that drinking or eating from a vessel which was used by a non-Malay, is going to make his body "impure"?
Why do some Malays believe an ulama who says that a Muslim cannot extend good wishes for Christmas or Ponggal? Why believe the word of a non-Malaysian radical Muslim preacher who doesn't care about multicultural Malaysia?
What makes some Malays agree with Malay leaders who condone corruption because "finally a Malay gets to 'enjoy' what it is like to be rich"?
Don't some Malays think it is wrong and immoral that Malays are rarely censured when they insult non-Malays and non-Muslims, but action is swift against non-Malays and non-Muslims who do the same?
So, how did we become such an intolerant nation?
Cast your mind back to the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the first tenure of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
PAS has always wanted a Malaysia dictated by syariah law. The Iranian revolution gave PAS a political boost, especially in Mahathir's home-turf of Kedah.
In 1979, Mahathir was the deputy prime minister and he feared the wider implications of the global Islamic resurgence on PAS. A re-energised PAS could defeat Umno.
On becoming prime minister in 1981, Mahathir set out to defeat PAS. His stratagem involved recruiting the firebrand leader of the Malaysia Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) - the young and charismatic Anwar Ibrahim.
Mahathir solved many problems with this one act. Anwar was unable to organise student-led strikes to highlight poverty, famine and starvation in Kedah since he is a government official. Anwar's Islamic credentials, coupled with his meteoric rise through the ministerial ranks, gave Malays the impression that Umno's new Islamic image was the equal of PAS.
The empowered Anwar then tinkered with our education system when he became the education minister. His Islamic and Malay-centric agenda helped sow the seeds of today's cultural shift towards Malay/Muslim intolerance.
When Mahathir led the Pakatan Harapan government, he failed to correct the wrong which he started 39 years ago.
A few days ago, we read about social activist Kuan Chee Heng, better known as "Uncle Kentang" who helped to mobilise aid for a Muslim woman and her six children who had been living in a car for the past four months.
Few are aware that this social activist has raised the funds for an eighth ambulance to transport those taken ill within four days of his appeal.
Donations for the woman and the ambulance came from all sections of the community. This is evidence of harmony and integration amongst Malaysians, but politicians and the ulama strive to drive us apart.
The rakyat feels helpless against the Islamisation of Malaysia, the rise of Jakim and the Arabisation of many Malays, which threaten the stability of the country. These fuels our intolerance and the oppression of women.
What started as the use of religion to compete with PAS has become a tool of fear which politicians and ulamas use to hold onto power and manipulate us.
The people who claim there is no hope for Malaysia are wrong. If Uncle Kentang and the various Malaysians who helped one another in times of need can show that multiculturalism works, Malaysia can recover.
There is one proviso. You need to start the new narrative. You must take the lead and force the politicians to obey you.
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
Mariam, I always like the way you express your thoughts in simple and very readable English. I also like the way you try to motivate the Rakyat to be more civilized and tolerable towards each other. Majority of the Malays do have some good qualities: 1 As workers, the Malays are less picky and have lower job turnover 2 Malays, especially those in smaller towns, normally are less ambitious and they can live with simple things 3 Malays, especially the girls, get married and settled down at younger age compared to other races 4 Malays normally take things easy and attributing a lot of consequences to fate and Allah, like death and accidents 5 Malays are very helpful and society driven, and many more. So, Mariam, next time in future, would be helpful and balanced if some thoughts can be delved on this topic. Sometimes people are more inclined to change with positive input. I am not a Malay but brought up in a Malay village.