Is The Flag Mightier Than The Dagger?

We all know by now that holding hands or kissing in KLCC park risks a fine and much tut-tutting.  But isn’t it odd that displays of intimacy towards a keris are applauded by the powers that be?  I refer of course to Hishammuddin Hussein’s oh-so-dramatic performance of unsheathing and kissing his keris at the recent UMNO General Assembly. One could view this as our nation’s leaders valuing  crass attempts at machismo over genuine displays of humanly affection.  A more somber take on Hishammuddin’s stunt is to view it as a demonstration that UMNO’s future generation of leaders have absolutely no intention of abandoning ethnic politics and the divisiveness that is part and parcel of it.

This was made even clearer by the inflammatory statements of a handful of UMNO representatives during the same General Assembly.  Malacca UMNO delegate Hasnoor Sidang Hussein for example had no problem announcing his threat to the nation that “Umno is willing to risk lives and bathe in blood in defence of race and religion.” Ledang Youth chief Mohd Zan Abu too urged the defense of Malay rights and Islam to “the last drop of blood”.  While I am fully in favour of free speech such language should not be taken lightly.  Perhaps they are both blissfully ignorant of how ethnic tensions fed the violent breakdown of what were once successful and stable multi-ethnic countries.  Lebanon and Bosnia spring immediately to mind.

Yet more disturbing than these statements has been the knee-jerk reaction by their elders in UMNO and the wider government.  Conscious of the negative publicity, the Deputy Prime Minister has said that UMNO may not allow live telecasts of future General Assemblies.  The Information Minister recently followed suit and ruled out the possibility of live broadcasts for parliamentary proceedings with the justification that “our society has not attained a mental maturity”.  Once you stop laughing you have to wonder whether it would have been more apt to replace ‘society’ with ‘Members of Parliament’ in the Minister’s statement.

However, should we really be shocked to discover the type of individuals that UMNO’s theatrics has attracted?  It appears as though the preference is to shield rather than discipline those who make incendiary statements.  One might say that the actions and attitudes of the power brokers in UMNO condones or even encourages such reckless statements.  Hishamuddin’s keris-waving antics for example prompted Hisham Suboh, a Perlis UMNO delegate to say that Hishamuddin has “unsheathed his keris, waved his keris, kissed his keris. We want to ask Datuk Hisham when he is going to use it” adding that “force must be used against those who refused to abide by the social contract.”

I wrote a few weeks ago of the possibly disastrous social and economic repercussions for our nation unless more is done to rein in overzealous religious authorities.  The recently concluded UMNO General Assembly revealed the extent of yet another bogeyman which plagues Malaysia.  That bogeyman is none other than ethnic politics and there are clearly politicians out there who are willing to use our differences to divide us.  An even scarier prospect is that these politicians genuinely believe their rhetoric. 

It is high time Malaysia be allowed to move towards relegating ethnocentric politics to the annals of its history books.  To not do so prevents Malaysians from forging a united identity which is a prerequisite for our nation to remain successful in an increasingly competitive world.  UMNO must transcend ethnic politics not only to avoid becoming irrelevant but also to prevent the deterioration of Malaysia’s society and economy.

The writer awaits the day when a Malaysian politician will choose to wrap himself up in our flag instead of exposing his keris.

Umran Kadir

December 2006