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How ethnic identity can be hijacked for politics

Danny Chan says though Hong Kong is largely free of ethnic frictions, despite its colonial past, we must be aware of the fault lines that exist

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"Red shirt" demonstrators in Kuala Lumpur gather in a rally last week, to counter a massive protest last month calling for the prime minister to resign. Photo: Reuters

Ethnicity has always been a precarious concept. On the surface, it is the basis for imagining identity and culture through similarities and differences in language, food and fashion. Sometimes what we say and eat can be emblematic of a community, especially in a globalised world in which tourism is booming.

However, ethnicity is powerful not just in the way it brands a community or nation, but also in its ability to influence social upheaval.

Post-colonial Asia offers many examples. When ethnicity is manipulated for political purposes, we usually end up with scapegoating.

Take the anti-government rally in Malaysia last month. It was originally a protest against Prime Minister Najib Razak amid allegations of corruption, alongside public demands for political transparency and economic recovery, but the campaign has taken on ethnic overtones, and is now being seen as a confrontation between the ruling, native Malays and the rest of the population, particularly Chinese Malaysians.
In this place where 'East meets West', this 'Asia's world city', the issue of ethnic integration in the community is rarely addressed

In times of peace, ethnic diversity is celebrated. During upheavals, however, ethnicity can easily become a lightning rod for people's frustrations, and pit one community against another.

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