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S’wak polls aftermath shows withering of federal democracy, religious freedom

COMMENT Recently I had the honour to help campaign in the Sarawak state election. I went on the same trails, travelling between Sibu, Sarikei and Bintangor as I had in the 2006 Sarawak state election.

I could still recall the once pothole-filled uneven roads, now replaced with nicely tarred even roads, and ferries replaced by non-tolled bridges.

I would not attribute all this to the opposition's credit. Nonetheless, Sarawakians are quite aware of the fruits of positive political competition in bringing about a more people-oriented development that they long for.

During the campaign, I noticed that Sarawak BN had been talking about reasserting its autonomy, which was a populist tactic in arousing popular sentiments against the many Peninsular Malaysian opposition leaders.

Nonetheless, to handle a populist sentiment like this is not an easy task, in view of constitutional constraints, unless a broader constitutional reform is under way, not only to cater to the needs of East and West Malaysia, but also how Malaysia would deal with ever-changing porous borders and our position as a key nation in Asean.

I actually cautiously addressed the issue of Sarawak autonomy that I did not think Sarawakians could succeed in maintaining their autonomy by isolating themselves from the peninsular politicians.

Not a big defeat

I do not think it was a big defeat for peninsula-originated Malaysian parties like the DAP and PKR. The Sarawakians actually tactfully voted for a party like the DAP, which defends federal democracy, even though they also voted for the local populist parties.

Sarawak's autonomy should not be based solely on barring West Malaysian oppositionists from stepping onto the soil of Sarawak, but the actual evident threat to Sarawakians' social security and welfare is the rampant unchecked entrance of illegal foreign workers, and its failure to pursue a minimal wage policy in order to protect the interests of the Sarawakian working class.

I often raised the issue of federalist democracy, upon which our country was formed, including sharing of powers between the federal, state and local governments, in the Johor State Assembly.

There is a dire need to forge an effective constitutional reform, including that of institutional, electoral to even taxation reforms, in order to further democratise our country.

Besides the sharing of powers among the three levels of the government from the highly centralised power, we need to decentralise powers, including that of taxation administration to managing our education, welfare and local security.

I do not think the problem of erosion of Sarawak's autonomy is solely a Sarawak dilemma. It is a Malaysian dilemma, whereas Sarawak’s autonomy dilemma is a reflection of the dire need to reform and revamp our gradually regressing democracy.

Constitutional decay

We have decayed from the original federal democracy at the time of independence to the de facto unionised state over the years, with the actual death of checks and balances among the judiciary, executive and the legislative pillars of the governmental powers.

Federalism has become redundant due to the constitutional decay over the years.

I have often raised the issue to reform our taxation system and decentralise certain taxation powers to the state and local governments, especially on the implementation of regressive taxes like the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

As in other developed nations, the implementation of GST is firstly decided by the state/provincial and local governments as to whether they want to impose it; secondly, the state/provincial and local governments decide the GST rates independently; thirdly, the powers and obligations of managing their education and welfare systems lie in the hands of the state and local governments.

The actual autonomy in a federal democracy will be the decentralisation of taxation, education and social welfare policies.

It requires a comprehensive world view to discuss what direction our federal democracy should lead in view of fast changes in international relations and world changes.

We have to foresee a brighter future with a much closer cooperation among the South-East Asian (SEA) countries from the possibility of forming a SEA Union to SEA Parliament, and a human rights convention binding all South-east Asian nations to compete with superpowers and economic giants like the United States, China, India, Russia, Japan and the European Union itself.

Could we learn from the EU in terms of handling each state's autonomy through referendums in the future? The United Kingdom is currently debating vehemently about staying in or leaving the EU, before a referendum due this month.

The opportunity to debate and vote peacefully on staying in or leaving a political entity is a reflection of true democracy.

We have to learn from more advanced nations, such as Canada and those in Europe, in handling separatist nationalist sentiments of the minorities. Canada was among the very first country that allowed Quebec citizens to vote on referendums to decide whether to stay in or leave Canada.

Instead of suppressing the French language, it allows bilingual education and recognises French as another official language, and pumps in more development funds into Quebec, rather than impose embargoes.

Binding force

A democratic constitution that defines clearly the separation and sharing of various powers is the binding force of diverse states and people.

When the dominant political forces have deviated from the democratic principles that hold the federated states together, the federation may be disintegrated by separatist sentiments to the eventual calls for independence, and even civil wars.

Purportedly politicised ethnic animosity and nationalism have been real and challenging. It is dangerous to ignore the fact that Malaysia is not only a multi-ethnic and multi-religious but a Muslim Malay-majority country. Malay supremacy and Islam supremacy mean very little difference here when race is religion, and religion is race.

A democratic federal constitution should not only prohibit ideological, racial, religious or any form of supremacy and hegemony but should unite all the people thorough acknowledgement of diversity.

If Malaysia wants to remain as a formidable federation, it has to go forward as a Muslim majority democratic state by setting example for other Muslim majority states to learn.

Nonetheless, the proposition of reinforcing hudud can only deepen the already never-ending conflicts and animosity among our own citizens. Malaysia is not China or India, but we can neither forcibly copy what has been transpired in the Middle East.

Many who imagine an Utopia, like what is in the Middle East, have enjoyed the fruits of economic growth and democracy that once nurtured them.

Consistent approach

Malaysians have to think and do things ahead of our times. A consistent approach of tolerance and acceptance towards the diversity of political views, cultures, languages and ethnicity to environmental preservation, has to come about in managing domestic problems.

More importantly, we need to apply a constitutional reform in principles that would not only govern the multi-ethnic, multi-religious Malaysia, but also provide solutions to the plights of minority Muslims in Myanmar, Southern Thailand and the Southern Philippines.

Will these countries not only endorse but also allow special official status for their Muslim minorities’ cultural and language rights to settle the longstanding animosity but be governed by a more inclusive constitutional reform rather than continuously disregard the needs and feelings of their minorities?

One has to safeguard the underprivileged and less dominant minorities than stepping on them.

Needless to say, it is the other way around in Malaysia, where Muslims are the political dominant majority here. Can we set a better example, as a Muslim majority democracy, for others to envy, rather than turn the clock backwards to a conflict-torn nationhood?

We need a constitutional reform that will safeguard our federation, rather than break it apart.

The quest for autonomy is not a Sarawakian, or even a Malaysian concern, but it is a world problem.

Islamic supremacy is not only against the principles of democracy and pluralism, but it demoralises our mutual trusts among all quarters of Malaysians. Every time when Islamic law is further enforced against the founding constitutional principles, a deeper fission of the mutual trust is chiseled between Muslims and non-Muslims - and it also deepens division and distrust among the Muslims themselves.

We just cannot wait until negative sentiments divide us further and further until separatist movements disintegrate the federation altogether.

We just cannot ignore the fact that Sarawak and Sabah also gave birth to the Federation of Malaysia. When the majority of Sarawak and Sabah natives are Christians and Animists, championing Islamic supremacy will not help to bind us closer but will actually pull us apart further.

Islamic supremacy is not an isolated entity restricted to the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, but it also reflects how Malaysians portray themselves in the eye of the rest of the world.

Many view apartheid as the immorality where a white man dominant minority rules the majority coloureds and blacks. Religious superiority of the Dutch Reform Church also provided the ideology that justified the apartheid laws of prohibiting inter-racial mixing and marriages, degrading the blacks and coloureds as the more inferior “stock”.

We are living in a very difficult time, where violence, atrocities and oppression against humanity committed by fellow humans prevail.

Malaysians can no longer remain silent and allow our country to turn bizarre over sugar-coated religious and racial bigotry. We need a consistent and inclusive legal system, armed forces, civil service and education systems to be a freely interactive society that binds us, rather than segregates us.

Separate criminal legal systems are as good as sugar-coated apartheid that dehumanise and segregate us spiritually.

Now, there is an increasing pressure to segregate Malaysians along religions, different types of food and meat we eat, languages we speak, skin complexions we have, different origins of our ancestors, to different treatments for criminal offences we make.

We are heading to a very, very dangerous direction where our federation of various states may disintegrate naturally for misdeeds of a few leaders of questionable integrity.

Moving from Malay supremacy to Islamic supremacy will make us drift apart from Sarawak and Sabah, and even certain peninsular states. It seems some of our leaders care very little about breaking our nation and people apart.


DR BOO CHENG HAU is the state assemblyperson for Skudai, Johor.

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