Will Malaysia catch the Arab bug?

Opinion

Things are changing so quickly in the Arab world that even our prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, is worried that similar demonstrations may happen in Malaysia.

I suppose to some extent the concern is that since Malaysia is an Islamic country and all the countries having major upheavals today are Islamic countries, we could be susceptible to the same problems.

First of all, the definition of an Islamic country that is most appropriate is where the Muslims form a majority of the population in a country. Other than that, Islamic countries have many different ideological positions and govern their states under very different systems.

There are theocracies, republics, absolute monarchies, and constitutional monarchies such as Malaysia. Historically, the Islam that Malaysia practises has, on the whole, been fairly moderate though it has been radicalised in the past few years. Nevertheless, even the main opposition Islamist party accepts that change should only happen through the ballot box.

Second, the ethnicities and the level of homogeneity of the nations where there have been calls for regime change are different from Malaysia. The countries with the problems are basically of the Arab race and have a high level of homogeneity in their own societies.

In Malaysia, the Malays form only about 60 per cent of the country and from a historical perspective are not an overly aggressive people. Israel, for example, has been having unending wars and disputes, many of their own making, about their right to exist as a nation with their mainly more aggressive Arab neighbours.

The Malays, on the other hand, kicked out Singapore from Malaysia to preserve their power and took the route of peaceful coexistence as opposed to military conflict with their neighbour.

Third, the political makeup of those countries in conflict is far different from Malaysia. We are far more democratic with elections being held since our independence at least every five years.

The countries facing upheavals are where the people have no real democratic process to remove decades-long dictators. Therefore their people have no other way than to bring their displeasure to the streets and revolt against their regimes.

The Malaysian scenario has been historically far different. The majority of the 13 states in Malaysia have seen opposition governments at one time or another in their history. Should the majority of the Malaysians feel unhappy with the government, they have a real avenue to change through the ballot box.

Our 2008 political tsunami where the ruling coalition lost five states, the Federal Territories as well as its traditional two-thirds majority in Parliament, show that democracy is very much alive in Malaysia.

Fourth, the economic structure and unemployment levels of those countries with uprisings are vastly different from Malaysia. We have historically had a vibrant and diversified economy with low levels of unemployment.

Compared to Malaysia’s 3.5 per cent unemployment rate, those countries with upheavals have unemployment rates in the double digits with Libya and Yemen taking the cake with an unemployment rate of 30 per cent and 35 per cent respectively (source: CIA world fact book).

Fifth, the advent of the Bill of Rights in developing our Multimedia Super Corridor by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has provided greater freedom for Malaysians to put forward many divergent views and vent their frustrations through the Internet.

The impact of the bloggers was certainly felt by the ruling coalition in the 2008 elections. Though Malaysia may not be totally free in respect of freedom of expression, the freedom of the Internet does to some extent placate those who may otherwise turn to the streets to air their grievances.

Notwithstanding the abovementioned, there may still be demonstrations on the Malaysian streets but they will likely be peaceful and related to human rights issues both within Malaysia and abroad.

There is no need for the Malaysian government to fear any regime change from the Malaysian streets so long as they allow for peaceful protests. Most of the Malaysian public, too, would not want to join in any regime changing protests as they know they can do it easily through the ballot box if need be.

Nevertheless, most of us are in awe of the Arab protesters and really hope that they are able to succeed in their quest for freedom and democracy in their own countries.

Datuk Jema Khan is a former Sabah Umno Youth leader. He is now a businessman pushing the Agenda Liberal Melayu inFacebook .