Self-fulfilling prophecies
I had gone to pick up my daughter from her maths tutor. He lives just a two-minute walk away but such is the state of security in our town that it is not safe for a young girl to walk back home unaccompanied at night. Her tutor, a young Sikh in his late 40s, told me of his concerns for the future education of his toddler in Malaysia. We had been discussing the Allah controversy, the latest grenade thrown into our multiracial, multi-religious milieu by the government. It opposes the use of the word by non-Muslims, claiming that it belongs to only the Muslim faith and wants to ban Bibles and religious publications containing that word.
The tutor saw the situation as evidence of deteriorating relations between ethnic groups. Many people he knew were emigrating and he too was thinking of moving to the US, he said.
From my point of view, the Allah controversy is engineered to polarise society and undermine support for the coalition of opposition parties that ousted the Umno-led government from key states during the last election. The coalition involves both Malays, who are mostly Muslim, and non-Muslims, a promising development in the political maturing of our country.
The tutor did not think this would last. “You can’t trust the Muslims,” he said. “Malays will always be Malays. They will stick with their own kind when there is trouble in the country.” I pointed out that the tensions were now no longer between ethnic groups but within the Malay community, which is divided between those enjoying government contracts and other favours from the ruling party and those who do not. Many Malays and Muslims are also revolted by examples of growing corruption within the ruling party and the government.
He didn’t dispute that but said that if the opposition was to take power, Umno would foment racial tensions to make the country ungovernable. From his point of view, the nation was doomed either way, whether under Umno or under the opposition.
So am I the hopeful one and he the cynic? Or am I the idealist and he the realist? To me this is a case of the way we look at the future shaping the evolving reality. If more think like him and see emigration as the solution, the brain drain and polarisation will get worse. On the other hand, if they take my stance, they might be condemning their children to a future in a country that will not let them prosper.
Or perhaps, it will help cause the sea change that will set the nation on a new path.
I had gone to pick up my daughter from her maths tutor. He lives just a two-minute walk away but such is the state of security in our town that it is not safe for a young girl to walk back home unaccompanied at night. Her tutor, a young Sikh in his late 40s, told me of his concerns for the future education of his toddler in Malaysia. We had been discussing the Allah controversy, the latest grenade thrown into our multiracial, multi-religious milieu by the government. It opposes the use of the word by non-Muslims, claiming that it belongs to only the Muslim faith and wants to ban Bibles and religious publications containing that word.
The tutor saw the situation as evidence of deteriorating relations between ethnic groups. Many people he knew were emigrating and he too was thinking of moving to the US, he said.
From my point of view, the Allah controversy is engineered to polarise society and undermine support for the coalition of opposition parties that ousted the Umno-led government from key states during the last election. The coalition involves both Malays, who are mostly Muslim, and non-Muslims, a promising development in the political maturing of our country.
The tutor did not think this would last. “You can’t trust the Muslims,” he said. “Malays will always be Malays. They will stick with their own kind when there is trouble in the country.” I pointed out that the tensions were now no longer between ethnic groups but within the Malay community, which is divided between those enjoying government contracts and other favours from the ruling party and those who do not. Many Malays and Muslims are also revolted by examples of growing corruption within the ruling party and the government.
He didn’t dispute that but said that if the opposition was to take power, Umno would foment racial tensions to make the country ungovernable. From his point of view, the nation was doomed either way, whether under Umno or under the opposition.
So am I the hopeful one and he the cynic? Or am I the idealist and he the realist? To me this is a case of the way we look at the future shaping the evolving reality. If more think like him and see emigration as the solution, the brain drain and polarisation will get worse. On the other hand, if they take my stance, they might be condemning their children to a future in a country that will not let them prosper.
Or perhaps, it will help cause the sea change that will set the nation on a new path.
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