Obama’s election as US president has sparked much debate around the globe, and the effects of a predominantly white America producing a mixed-race leader still reverberate in Malaysia.

Over the decades, the ruling Umno has successfully brainwashed Malays into believing that even a liberal democracy like America or Australia would not choose to be governed by someone who does not look like a member of the dominant tribe.

It has also threatened non-Malay - covertly or overtly - that any attempt to do so would spell disaster for the country. Now, such racist contentions can no longer hold water.

barack obama president of the united states of america For instance, much of the Malay community tends to perceive itself as the African-Americans: poor, downtrodden, and marginalised. Hence, Obama’s victory initially brought hope to many a Malay who sees his/her fate as similar to that of the African-American.

But this romantic (mis)understanding quickly turned to dust when the non-Malays began to question: when would one from the ethnic minorities ascend to the highest political office in this country?

Little wonder the ever-wary Awang Selamat of Utusan Malaysia wasted no time in reminding the Malay masses of the “reality” in Malaysia.

As I have argued before, to fully appreciate the significance of the Obama phenomenon, one must move beyond the shallow rhetoric of race. In other words, ‘when will Malaysia produce a prime minister of Chinese origin?’ is a meaningless question. If we truly desire meritocracy, it is incumbent upon non-Malays to also cease interpreting things in terms of skin-colour.

nik nazmi selangor pkr 100 days seratus hari pc 120608 01 Some have tried to make sense of the implications of Obama’s victory, but their thoughts seem half-baked at best. Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (right) , the state assemblyperson for Seri Setia and an assistant to Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, related in the Malaysian Insider how a foreign media sought to portray him as ‘Malaysia’s Obama’. Regrettably, the article only smacks of blowing one’s own horn and lacks intellectual depth.

Even the self-styled progressive Malay professional Bakri Musa has fallen into this racial myth, going as far as to argue that “Malaysia already has her Barack Obama in (Dr) Mahathir Mohamad”. One must excuse me for choking on my coffee reading this rather ridiculous line.

Bakri did elaborate on his conclusion by saying that the inclusiveness of Malay culture has enabled many Malays of Indian or Chinese origin to fee at home with Malay identity, and it is this generosity that makes it possible for Mahathir - someone with South Asian roots - to become a prominent Malay politician.

I personally have no doubt about the inclusiveness and generosity of Malay culture, but to liken Mahathir to Obama? Nothing is more mind-boggling than that.

Psychological hurdle?

While Obama represents a paradigm shift in American politics, Mahathir is just a racist politician through and through. From ‘The Malay Dilemma’ that shot him to ‘stardom’ nearly 40 years ago, to the recent interview by Riz Khan on Al Jazeera, one can safely say if Mahathir were to choose a defining ideology again, it would still be racism, racism, and racism.

mahathir interview 050308 On Al Jazeera , Mahathir reiterated that he is constitutionally a Malay, conspicuously dodging the question by Khan regarding his Indian origin. This is a sharp contrast to Obama’s courage to both admit his Kenyan origin and to pay tribute to his white mother and grandmother for raising him faithfully and lovingly.

Having observed Mahathir for more than two decades, I have not the slightest doubt that he is a man yet to come to terms with his part-Indian background.

Why is it such a psychological hurdle deep inside Mahathir’s mind? Was it because he, when a child, was once taunted by playful Malay kids for looking different? As adults, we all know kids do all the silly things and we should forgive them, but Mahathir seems to carry his emotional wounds well into old age.

Or does he think in the deepest recesses of his mind that being part-Indian is something despicable?

Mahathir’s racial identity is a clear ‘rational’ choice. In Malaysia, the federal constitution confers special status on Malays, and successive Umno leaders have consolidated it through actual policies and other legal provisions, including privileges in business, education and employment.

As an elite Malay, Mahathir has everything to gain but nothing to lose, which explains why he is most unwilling to face up to his part Indian ethnicity.

But again, I am not so sure if he is indeed well received by the Malays. He might have been, but his autocratic rule that culminated in the series of political and judicial crises in the late 1990s prompted many Malays to reject him as their legitimate leader.

The inclusiveness of Malay culture is one thing; manufacturing racial identity through policy formation, racist ideology and ethnic division - as Umno has been doing - is another, and there is no correlation between the two. What is certain is that Mahathir’s insistence on his ‘Malayness’ is informed by practical and instrumentalist considerations.

Therefore, seeing Mahathir as Malaysia’s Obama is a rather subtle way for Bakri to argue that non-Malays can forget about assuming the top leadership unless they have done their best to assimilate into Malay culture as Mahathir has done.

Hard habit to kick

But why the ‘us versus them’ dichotomy such a hard habit to kick even for a US-based physician like Bakri?

Obama may be a product of a mixed marriage, but his political ideals are colourless. When he talks about the weak minorities, he speaks on a platform of equality and with inclusive language, making his message acceptable to a wide spectrum of American voters.

If anything, it was playing down the colour factor and highlighting common interests among Americans of various class and ethnic backgrounds that won him the presidency, rather than his skin-colour. This strategy paid off simply because it was in line with America’s changing demographic, ethnic and age structures.

Having said that, one must bear in mind that Obama is elected to be the next US president guided first and foremost by American interests, and one should be cautious enough to not harbour too much romantic imagination in this regard.

malaysia merdeka 50th anniversary 280807 Still, one important lesson that one must learn from his victory is that anyone who can offer Malaysia a vision and unite the people with inclusiveness and openness, should deserve the unqualified support of all Malaysians.

It does not matter if the Malaysian Obama is an Indian, Chinese, Malay or lain-lain . The person must be an Obama who transcends race, creed and religion, and who need not reject or defend his/her ethnic origin.

It would seem that there are many Malaysians aspiring to be an Obama, but here’s a caveat: any leader who continues to live in the past and is consumed with bitterness, resentment and sarcasm, such as Mahathir or those inspired by his political ideology, will never be an Obama in its most positive sense.