A challenge to the system – not the government.

ARCHIVES 2007

By Administrator On Dec 19, 2007

By Dr Collin Abraham

If Chandra Muzaffar’s “Hindraf bane upon the nation” (NST.12/12) appears to be a case of ‘overkill’ it is perfectly understandable. Chandra was the first political science lecturer to the only fully-fledged School of Social Sciences in the country at USM, under the enlightened leadership of Professor Hamzah Sendut (Vice Chancellor) and Professor KJ Ratnam (Dean of Social Sciences).

I was also honoured to join these founding father pioneers as the sociology lecturer and together we offered, inter alia, the first ever course in the sociology of race and ethnic relations (at both major and minor levels). No such programme has since or is even now available in ANY of our universities (both pubic and private).

Against this background of the social sciences/humanities, it can be shown that the ‘hindraf rally’ did in fact offer the rare opportunity to ‘take stock’ of the overall political and social situation pertaining to the underclass of Indian and other ethnic/racial groups in the country .This could have resulted in meaningful suggestions to address and hopefully work towards policies aimed at solutions.

Unfortunately, it is now clear that the leaders of the movement have been unable or incapable of doing this, and have thereby forfeited the opportunity to present their case in more reasoned and objective terms. As a consequence, they have made assertions and accusations without providing specific evidence, and thereby alienated the majority of right-thinking Malaysians who not only initially sympathized with the Indian cause, but more importantly, saw their grievances as part of a wider problem affecting a significant proportion of Malays, Chinese, and indeed others in Sarawak and Sabah as well.

With respect, I wish to suggest that part of the reason for this is because the leaders many of whom are lawyers, generally speaking had their early education within the ‘closed’ system of our schools, and went on to study and indeed practice law within the somewhat narrow and limited confines of the legal frame of reference. Moreover, although many may be ‘social activists’ (and some done a good job taking up and championing the causes of the underclass, for example free legal aid) the fact remains that without an exposure to the social sciences and humanities they may not be able to stretch their minds to grasp the wider societal issues and problems involved and thereby weaken the causes they purport to champion.

Indeed, I am not alone in making this observation. A few years ago, the Attorney General himself did suggest that a social science/humanities input be made mandatory in courses for lawyers intending to practice law so that their pleadings might be more realistic (in terms of knowledge of human behaviour) and thereby help the Bench when arriving at holistic decisions. I did in fact write to the AG offering my services in helping to put such a course together, and the then Minister officiating in legal matters (YBhg Rais Yatim) replied stating that I would be contacted should there be any further developments in this matter.)

In these terms, therefore it is important to emphasize that the “rally” should be seen as a challenge against the system and NOT of the Government. This is because insufficient attention has been given to the fact that at independence the Alliance Government inherited an unequal political, economic and social system from the departing colonial power. This is not a question of blaming colonialism. In my three published books (The Naked Social Order/Speaking Out/ The Finest Hour) I have repeatedly pointed out the colonial system had its own agenda and was sustained by a systematic, multi-pronged attack over a prolonged period on the social structure of the Malay, Chinese and Indian, communities such that it comprehensively damaged their ‘culture’ (pattern and way of life) and stifled any real possibilities for indigenous development. Therefore, although in reality it is the Government that decides how the status quo is determined, it nonetheless achieves this on the basis of the unequal social structure it inherited from the colonial government.

When this situation is projected to the wider society, it is not difficult to see, that the social inequalities due to political marginalization through a sense of hopelessness in being able to articulate grievances through involvement in decision-making permeates the entire social system. The vast majority among the working population, especially outside the public sector and in agriculture, simply do not have a stake in the economy. In addition, hardly any meaningful measures are taken to help workers improve their potential capabilities and capabilities through knowledge- based skills training, as a consequence of which they are perpetually doomed to play on an unequal playing field.

It seems clear therefore that even from this cursory overview, the Government must take immediate radical steps to address and hopefully overcome some of the basic contributory and precipitating causal factors involved now-before it is too late. It would be absolutely futile to adopt bureaucratic ad hoc measures and appoint yet another committee to look into this situation as apparently is being contemplated by policy makers. The time has come (which indeed is overdue) for “Fresh Thinking”.