Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
Malaysia-watchers would know by now that the country is divided along the lines
of race and religion, and has been increasingly divided thanks to the tendency
of Malaysian politicians and social leaders to play the race or religion card
whenever it suits them.
<p>Politicians of course are fully aware of the divisive potential of sectarian
politics. Why, then, do they constantly fall back on such parochial and primordial
sentiments such as racial, cultural and religious loyalty to serve their own
limited ends? Weighing the costs of such moves may point us to the simple conclusion
that sectarian politicians seldom care about the unity and well-being of the
nation as a whole, particularly when that nation happens to be a complex and
plural one in the first place. More often than not, the demagogues and chauvinists
among us would be more inclined to keep to their own narrow corners and seek
solace and support from their own respective communities.</p>
<p>These observations should hardly come as news to Malaysia-watchers in particular,
for we all know by now that Malaysia’s convoluted 50-year history has been
dominated and almost entirely determined by the logic of racial ‘compartmentalism’
and communitarianism. Every single leader who has climbed up the greasy pole
of power in the country has done so by playing the race — and now increasingly,
religion — card close to his chest. It should therefore come as even less
of a surprise that there is now talk of forming a Malaysian Muslim Workers’
Union (PPIM) in the country, as if Malaysian society was not divided enough
already.</p>
<p>Over the past two years the country has witnessed the emergence of around a
dozen new religion-based NGOs and civil society organisations, most of them
appealing to Malaysian Muslims in particular. While there used to be universalistic,
inclusive organisations that brought together Malaysians of various racial and
professional backgrounds like factory workers, labourers, lawyers, businesspeople,
professionals etc, we now see the emergence of organisations that cater to the
interests of Muslims primarily and exclusively. The PPIM is just the latest
nail in the coffin of Malaysia’s failed attempts towards pluralism and
multiculturalism. Should it come to pass, it would mean that yet another neutral
public space in the public domain has been lost. Why was there ever a need for
the PPIM in the first place, when surely the Malaysian Trade Unions organisation
(MTUC) was there to unite all the workers of Malaysia under a common universal
basis of shared collective class interests?</p>
<p>Two factors need to be taken into consideration here.</p>
<p>The first is the fact that since the late 1960s, Malaysian society has witnessed
the instrumentalisation of religion — and in particular Islam — by
right-wing communitarian politicians and activists who sought to mobilise Muslims
as a bloc vote and political constituency. It began with sectarian organisations
like Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) and other Muslim students groups on
campus that sought to introduce their brand of ‘Islamisation from below’.
Whatever radical impact they could have had — by rejecting Western economic-political-military
hegemony across the world, for instance — was compromised by their own
limited sectarian and exclusive worldview that was equally hegemonic in its
ambitions. In time the potential of such groups was compromised as their leaders
and members were co-opted by the ruling elite; the co-optation of ABIM’s
leader Anwar Ibrahim by the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is a case in
point.</p>
<p>The second factor entails a frank admission that all this talk of ‘protecting’
the seemingly unique interests of the Malay-Muslims in Malaysia is little more
than fluff and nonsense, for the real agenda all along has been the furthering
of the right-wing agenda of Malay-Muslim supremacy above all else. Malaysia’s
Islamisation process pushed by Mahathir and Anwar in the 1980s and 1990s led
to the further entrenchment of Malay-Muslim political and class interests; and
benefited the ruling BN-led government and its clients most of all, further
adding to the dominance of Malay-Muslims in the civil service, army and police;
and further embedded Islam at the centre of Malaysian politics. It was not the
universal values of Islam that were served here, but rather the agenda of Malay-Muslim
supremacy otherwise known as ‘Ketuanan Melayu’.</p>
<p>The net result of the current moves to create a parallel Muslim workers movement
in Malaysia can therefore only split Malaysian society even further along religious
communitarian lines and therefore help to ensure the dominance of the communitarian
parties and elites currently running the country. How are the workers of Malaysia
— who ought to be united along the basis of class solidarity and common
class action — to be served by the creation of such a body that will split
their numbers by half at least? Are we to believe that the poverty and exploitation
of Muslim workers in Malaysia is qualitatively different to that of his or her
non-Muslim comrade? The mind boggles… what will be next? A Malaysian Muslim
stamp collectors’ organisation?</p>
<p>Consequently, the Muslim workers of Malaysia must realise that these attempts
to create parallel movements that cater to their own limited exclusive interests
will do a disservice to them in the long run. For their own sake, and for the
sake of the workers struggle in Malaysia, they need to remember that their loyalty
and camaraderie has to lie with their fellow workers and comrades in the workers
movement of Malaysia as a whole, regardless of racial, cultural or religious
differences.</p>
<p><b>Dr Farish A Noor is a political scientist and historian at the Zentrum Moderner
Orient and a guest professor at Sunan Kalijaga Islamic University, Jogjakarta.
He is also one of the founders of the research site www.othermalaysia.org</b></p>
<p><i>Source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C10%5C05%5Cstory_5-10-2007_pg3_2</i>
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