7/27/2019 Nurul Izzah: Needs-based affirmative action can calm racial sensitivities

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Nurul Izzah: Needs-based

affirmative action can calm racial

sensitivitiesBY BOO SU-LYNJULY 27, 2013

Nurul Izzah said it is important to focus on class issues like the economy and crime that

cut across all ethnic groups, instead of representing communal interests. Picture by

Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 With racial tensions in Malaysia coming closer to a boil,

PKRs Nurul Izzah Anwar has outlined the urgency of taking focus away from societys

racial divisions to embrace needs-based affirmative action that cuts across ethnic lines.

The PKR vice-president admitted the move may be construed as means to water downthe Malay identity but insisted that this was the way forward to stop the endless racial

clashes from ripping the social fabric.

You need affirmative action, but it has to be based on needs. Some say it weakens our

Malay identity, but its all about getting the crowd of people to see it objectively, Nurul

Izzah said in an exclusive interview with The Malay Mail Online recently.

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The Lembah Pantai MP and outspoken Puteri Reformasi observed that impoverished

Malays appear more easily influenced by racist rhetoric, particularly when they feel they

are lagging behind others.

When a large pool of the Malays, especially in urban centres or the rural areas, feel

theyve been left out from the economic development of the country, it makes them more

susceptible to racist rhetoric, she said.

Malays, who form 60 per cent of the 28 million-strong population, are constitutionally

defined to be Muslims.

Nurul Izzah stressed that it was important to focus on class issues like the economy and

crime that cut across all ethnic groups, instead of representing communal interests that

the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) and its predecessor the Alliance party have done

for more than half a century.

You need affirmative action, but it has to be based on needs.Some say it weakens our Malay identity, but its all aboutgetting the crowd of people to see it objectively. Nurul IzzahAnwar

Racial divisions have shaped the Malaysian political landscape over the decades. Pro-

Bumiputera affirmative action policies were implemented since the 1970s, but opposition

pact Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has argued that such measures benefit the well-connected

Malay elite at the expense of ordinary citizens.

The social impact of race-based economic policies and politics where BNs

component parties Umno, the MCA and MIC represent the Malays, Chinese and Indians

respectively is more complex.

Inter-racial and inter-religious relations have been uneasy, with the row between

Muslims and Christians on the word Allah exploding in 2010 when the High Court ruled

that the Arabic word did not belong exclusively to the former. A church was firebombed

and other places of worship were desecrated.

Malay rights lobby Perkasa had once even suggested that Malay-language bibles which

contain the word Allah be burned. The right-wing group also recently demanded that

Putrajaya expel the Vaticans first ambassador to Malaysia, Archbishop Joseph Marino,

for his views on the Allah issue that it deemed provocative.

Racial hostilities deepened when a Chinese pair of bloggers uploaded a photograph of

themselves eating bak kut teh (a soupy pork dish), together with a Ramadan greeting,

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on Facebook several weeks ago. They were swiftly charged with sedition and even

denied bail.

What kind of issues are the Malays facing? said Nurul Izzah. They dont have any

financial control over their lives. Theyre trying to make ends meet every single day. This

kind of issue is easier for them to grasp, rather than other issues.

She noted that a survey by independent pollster Merdeka Center, which was released

last February, showed that the majority of Malay respondents viewed Allah as a word

that belonged solely to Muslims.

The eldest daughter of Opposition Leader and PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar

Ibrahim also said that the make-up of PKR made the PR lynchpin the natural choice

to push forth multiracial politics. PKRs two allies the DAP and PAS are viewed as

mostly being a Chinese party and conservative Islamic party respectively.

We have a good set of young leaders, said Nurul Izzah.

She named PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli who shot to fame after exposing a

national cattle-farming scandal and subsequently won the Pandan federal seat in

Election 2013 whom she described as courageous.

Nurul Izzah also highlighted other young party leaders like Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze

Tzin, Bukit Katil MP Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin and Bagan Serai MP N. Surendran.

Were on the right track, she said. Keadilan (PKR) must safeguard the future of

multiracial politics.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/nurul-izzah-needs-based-affirmative-action-can-calm-racial-sensitivities#sthash.Ul8jn1U1.dpuf

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