Opinion | Lessons learned from a year at Malaysia’s levers of power

This is the third of a series of essays by well-known Malaysians to be published in the run-up to May 9, the anniversary of the country’s first change of government.

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (centre) and other members of Pakatan Harapan celebrate after last year’s elections. Photo: EPA

Published: 2:30pm, 6 May 2019Updated: 12:20pm, 15 May 2019

As we near the first anniversary of Pakatan Harapan’s historic electoral victory on May 9, many will write about the achievements and failures of the new Malaysian federal government. I want to reflect instead on three lessons I learned in the past year, especially from this vantage point of being in federal government for the first time.

First, people do not vote out of material interests alone. Many politicians tend to think that economic interest drives voters, and they thus promise infrastructure development as enticement for support from the electorate. Yet the experience of the past year shows that “man does not live by bread alone”.

Members of Malaysia’s indigenous tribes, also known as Orang Asli. Photo: AFP

For example, in the Cameron Highlands by-election in January, we saw voters in the government smallholders scheme, Felda, not voting for their current paymaster while Orang Asli (indigenous) voters kept to their traditional voting pattern of supporting the government of the day. What did they vote for? I call it political fidelity: they had a certain political commitment and kept to it. The challenge for the new ruling party today is to win the hearts and minds of the people, not just their stomachs.

Second, we cannot afford to ignore identity politics. For so long progressives shunned themes such as race, ethnicity, religion and sometimes even patriotism. As a result, the discourse on these is dominated by fundamentalists and even extremists. Here in Malaysia, such discussions are almost exclusively monopolised by the opposition Umno, an ethno-nationalist party, and PAS, an Islamist party.

By surrendering these discussions to their opponents, progressives not only fail to address critical questions arising from these important issues but are also often pushed to be on the defensive when it comes to debating them. Clearly, we have to reclaim this realm from the extremists, drawing from our rich traditions such as the Rukun Negara (national principles), the federal constitution, and our deep history of living together for centuries.