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Social Inequality in Malaysia

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SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA

Social Inequality in Malaysia

By
Adi Farhud
SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN MALAYSIA ANTHROPOLOGY & SOCIOLOGY
JKA 219 2017/2018
Abstract

Based on robust four principal characteristics of equality put forward by Bryan Turner in his
book titled Equality, this paper intends to reflect upon these four basic principles of equality
by exploring some of the pronounced issues of social inequality and its origins in Malaysia
(Turner, 1986). This exploratory study wishes to examine the unforeseen and undesirable
consequences of the New Economic Policy (NEP) since its inception forty-seven years ago and
also the implications of the growing Islamisation in Malaysia.

Keywords: turner, equality, education, poverty, malaysia, islamisation, social, apostasy

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Introduction

Turner identified four basic forms of what he thought best-epitomised equality (Hurst, 2012).

a) all men are elementally equal as persons,

b) all must have equal opportunities,
c) equality of condition, that all are to begin from the same position,
d) equality of results or outcome.

The first emphasises that all humans are born equal, assuming that everyone is the same
irrespective of who our father and mother were. The second underscores the importance of
ensuring a level playing field, (Greig, Lewins, & White, 2003). The third principle accentuates
a rather far-fetched ideal in which everyone is expected to have equal standards of living or
equal levels of education in one’s effort to receive an equal amount of opportunities. The fourth
refers to policies and practices introduced by the government whose objective is to ensure
“opportunities” are being equally distributed (Greig, Lewins, & White, 2003).

Malaysian New Economic Policy (NEP) was implemented by UMNO in 1971 in the aftermath
of the 1969 racial riots. NEP had two main objectives, the first of which was aimed to eliminate
poverty. The second, in Andaya’s own words, was primarily aimed to remove the association
of ethnicity with economic function. Despite its good intentions and its notable successes, NEP
has also magnified the polarisation between the Malays, the Chinese and Indians (Andaya &
Andaya, 2001). As a result, Malaysian educational system, employment opportunities and its
earnings, housing benefits, as well as religion are currently structured along ethnic lines (Noor,
2007).

In the 1990s, in an effort to reinforce the status of Islam in Malaysia, the Government of
Malaysia introduced new Islamic laws and fortified existing ones. Numerous sharia criminal
laws were also passed. The Administration of Islamic Law was gradually given more power.
The institution was now able to give any fatwa without having to go through the legislative
process. Consequently, Muftis had the power to issue, amend and revoke any fatwas at their
whim. Under the dominion of PAS, the Hudud laws were gradually introduced in Kelantan and
Terengganu which carried inhumane punishments such as flogging, amputation of limbs,
stoning. (Anwar, 2004).

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Problem statements & discussion

New Economic Policy

a) Education

NEP opted to continue the national language policy introduced earlier by the National
Education Policy in 1961 and National Language Act in 1967. These policies were aimed to
make use of Malay language as the principal medium of instruction in all schools and public
institutions of higher learning. As a result, all national-type schools were gradually made to
undergo the change. While vernacular Chinese and Tamil primary schools were nonetheless
allowed to continue the usage of one’s mother tongue language, the use of Malay language, as
the only medium of instruction was made compulsory for all secondary schools, with the
exception of independent Chinese medium secondary schools (Jamil & R. Raman, 2011). By
1970, all subjects, with the exception of English, were taught respectively in the Malay
language (Puteh, 2013). According to Andaya, by 1982, NEP was able to achieve the full
transition from English to Malay in all national primary and secondary schools. By 1983, the
same transition occurred in almost all Malaysian public universities.

One of the many downsides of its implementation can be clearly seen and proved by looking
at a clear decline of English language proficiency among Malays today. English is not only the
lingua franca of knowledge but also the language of opportunity and success. According to a
news report published by the star, titled English Skills Vital For All, limited English proficient
individuals are placing themselves at a disadvantaged position, particularly if he or she is trying
to secure a position in the private sector (Rajaendram, 2016). This finding was further
corroborated by yet another news portal, popularly known as Free Malaysia Today (FMT). In
its article titled Poor English skills: ‘Rot started in the 70s’ the author, having interviewed
numerous prominent and experienced educators across Malaysia, remarked that the decline had
actually started when the medium of instruction was switched from English to Malay in the
1970s (Sen, 2011). Harvard Business Review (HBR) in its article titled Countries with Better
English Have Better Economies, postulated that “in almost every one of the 60 countries and
territories surveyed, a rise in English proficiency was connected with a rise in per capita
income.”

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HBR furthermore added that, on an individual level, being proficient in English enable them
to secure high paying jobs and thus able to raise their standards of living. Improved incomes
go hand in hand with quality of life.

Above is one of the many devastating economic, social and political repercussions of an NEP’s
policy. A policy that was initially created with the aim of solidifying the status of national
language under the pretext of unity but ended up putting one or more ethnic group at a
disadvantage. Taking into account the fact that most if not all Malaysia’s private sectors whose
investors and owners may not even Malaysians, or perhaps owned by one particular ethnic
group, are not bound by geography. Their commerce customarily transcends culture and
national language; thus English became their medium of communication. Having said that, this

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obviously goes against the second, the third and the fourth Turner’s principle of Equality. The
second because, NEP, in spite of its forthright objective, didn’t really guarantee a level playing
field. The third because NEP didn’t standardise the use of language in all schools
simultaneously. This is because national-type primary schools were allowed to make use of a
language of their choice, namely Tamil and Chinese. As a result, Chinese and Indian students
who have previously been educated at the vernacular primary schools had to undergo a
monumental set-back or two in the Malay secondary schools whose main medium of
instruction is no longer Tamil or Chinese, but Malay (Jamil & R. Raman, 2011).

b) Economic restructuring

The post-1969 period saw an increase in the number of more rural dwellers migrating to urban
areas to participate in the modernising sector of the economy, Malays in particular. The period
also saw a sizeable number of women being hired to work in factories located mostly in
industrial estates and free trade zones. Moreover, as a result of growing indications of
discontent among a large segment of the non-Malay population and a resurgence of communist
activity in a number of territories, the Government decided to acknowledge them through The
Third Malaysia Plan (1976-80) (Andaya & Andaya, 2001). In the aftermath of the 1969 racial
riots, however, 60, 000 Indian plantation workers particularly those who have yet to attain a
Malaysian citizenship status lost their jobs. As non-citizens, many were ineligible for
Government benefits. Indians, in short, were at a disadvantage through no fault of their own
but largely due to ill-judged, race-based Government’s NEP policies. Consequently, Indian
children whose parents have been neglected earlier were caught in the vicious cycle of poverty.
The effect of such policy is still felt today because the same segment of Indians from the estate
communities, in particular, is still in poverty.

Besides Indians, the original people of Malaysia or Orang Asli were also neglected. They didn't
receive as much attention in those years. Orang Asli women were said to be the most
malnourished adult group in Peninsula Malaysia in 1995. Access to education was uncared for
if not non-existent. Even today, The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM)
are still campaigning for the right to education for Orang Asli children. Furthermore, according
to Suhakam acting chairman, Datuk Dr Khaw Lake Tee, Orang Asli groups continue to be
deprived of access to quality education. As a result, many of whom, today’s Orang Asli
children, in particular, are illiterate (Brown, 2015). Malaysia’s Ministry of Education must play
its role to ensure that education is equally accessible and inclusive to all citizens of Malaysia
irrespective of one’s ethnicity. This thus obviously goes against all four of Turner’s basic
principles of equality.

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Islamisation of Politics in Malaysia

a) According to The Federal Constitution of Malaya, Islam is the official religion of the
Federation. To understand the extent of the problem with growing Islamisation in
Malaysia, delve into its history, The Reid Commission. The Reid commission is not a
faceless body but a panel of constitutional experts. None of whom were Malaysians.
The Alliance, comprising of UMNO, MCA, and MIC had agreed to opt for an entirely
non-Malayan body of constitutional experts. The decision to use a non-Malayan
commission was made on the basis that these constitutional experts would perhaps be
able to avoid local prejudices.

They were five of them, the framers. 1) Lord Reid, 66, was the acting chairman of the
Commission. He was a prominent Appeal Court Judge, an MP, and had also served as
a Solicitor-General for Scotland. 2) Sir William McKell, 65, was a former Governor-
General of Australia, a Justice Minister, who had served as a minister in several
Australian Cabinets. 3) Justice B. Malik, 54, a former Chief Justice of the Allahabad
High Court, India. 4) Justice Abdul Hamid, 54, a High Court Judge, who had also
served as Secretary to the Ministry of Law in then West Pakistan. He was also one the
framers of the constitution of Pakistan. 5) Sir Ivor Jennings, 53, a former King's
Counsel, a vice-chancellor of Cambridge University.

In respect of religion, the Commission wasn't actually keen on making any provision
pertaining to the official religion of the Federation, but the Alliance requested that Islam
is made the official religion of the Federation. In private, the Commission, however,
expressed their concern over conflicting demands of the Alliance. This is because the
Alliance had initially wanted Malaysia to be secular but later demanded Islam be made
the official religion of the Federation.

The person and party who should be held responsible for the eventual inclusion of Islam
as the official religion of the Federation in the Malayan constitution were Justice Abdul
Hamid, a Pakistani and the UMNO political party itself. Hamid argued that it is not
going to be "harmful" for the Federation to have its official religion, citing that at least
15 countries at the time had opted to include a similar provision on religion in their
constitutions. But Hamid disregarded the fact that unlike the Multi-ethnic Malaysia,
those 15 countries were relatively homogenous. UMNO on the other hand were
unhappy with the provisions on religion and multilingualism, but in the end, not only
UMNO had successfully argued his case to drop the Commission’s proposal for
multilingualism in the legislatures but also persuaded the Working Party to include the
said provision proclaiming Islam the religion of the Federation.

Furthermore, in response to Hamid’s proposal, Jennings countered that, "I do not think
Islam needs the power of the state to support it." Taking into account the fact that at the
time, Jennings was also against the establishment of the Church of England. Numerous
non-Muslim organisations then proceeded to urge the commission not to support the
decision on official religion, to no avail.

To compensate that, the Commission included Article 11(1) on religious freedom.

Article 11(1) was arguably a carbon copy of Article 25 of the Indian constitution. The
majority members of the Commission were not comfortable with the said decision
because the initial memorandum submitted by the Alliance stated that the Federation

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was to be secular. It must also be noted that the majority of the members, with the
exception of Hamid, of the Reid Commission were proponents of liberal and
democratic values (Fernando, 2002).

Below is a remark made by Tunku Abdul Rahman in response to the government’s

Islamisation programmes in 1987-88:

“After all these years of trying to build a genuine multiracial and multi-religious
Malaysia, we are now confronted with a new danger –Islamic fundamentalism … they
are now raising all kinds of ideas to Islamise the country, and this is not good. Malaysia
cannot practice Islam fully because half of the population is not Muslim. They have a
different culture and different ways of life, and they don’t want Islam … In the past, I
know this since I have been through all this since independence, Malays, Chinese and
Indians had no problems because we stuck to our constitutional bargain and we don’t
want to impose our values on people. Today, even the party that I led for so long has
done a lot of new things about Islam and want to Islamise the party.” (Mutalib, 1993)

b) One of the many significant, negative effects of Islamisation in Malaysia can be seen
when the Government decided to withdraw a Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce)
(Amendment) Bill which sought to ban unilateral religious conversions of children by
any one parent. The bill was first tabled in Dewan Rakyat last November 2016. The
move to amend the bill was made following two controversial cases involving non-
Muslim widows, namely M. Indira Gandhi and S. Deepa, whose Muslim ex-husbands
had unknowingly converted their children to Islam. The withdrawn bill also intended
to make amends to what appeared to be the most neglected aspect of child conversion
regulation, making clear that a decision to convert one’s child from any religion to
Islam, ought to be done by both parents, provided that both had agreed to do it.

Of yet another similar effect of Islamisation occurred in 2014, when a Hindu wedding
was raided by Selangor Islamic officials of JAIS, under the pretext that the bride’s
father, had secretly converted to Islam. The Hindu woman known as Zarina Abdullah
Majid was later asked to renounce her religion at a Sharia Court. According to JAIS,
Zarina had been registered as a Muslim by her father but brought up as non-Muslim by
her Hindu mother. Moreover, according to Zarina, her father, who had since divorced
her mother and abandoned the family twenty years ago, had secretly converted her and
her siblings to Islam.

Lina Joy serves as an important, early landmark in the history of Islamisation in

Malaysia. Born on January 8th, 1964, Azlina Binti Jailani, her original name, was
brought up as a Muslim. Notwithstanding, Lina Joy had never believed in Islam.
Consequently, in early 1990, Lina Joy had started to believe in Christianity and was
later had herself baptized in 1998. At the age of 36, Lina Joy went to the High Court to
argue her case on the basis of Clause (1) of Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, which
guarantees to every person "the right to profess and practice his or her religion," the
result of which she hoped, her life would no longer be hindered by uncertainty of what
life as a Christian by choice and a Muslim by law has to offer.

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Consequently, in order for her to be able to contract a non-Muslim marriage, the word
Islam must be removed from her identity card. Lina Joy has therefore requested the
word, Islam, to be deleted from her identity card, but what had happened was that the
National Registration Department (NRD) had turned down her application for the
deletion. Lina Joy, having failed to get her religious status in her identity card changed,
fled the country (The Malaysian Bar, 2005).

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(Lim, 2014)

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Conclusion

Whilst it’s not entirely fair to pin the blame on the age-old policies, but it’s noteworthy to point
out how detrimental those policies have been to a large segment of the population. A marriage
of discriminatory policies and theocracy hardly inspires loyalty, peace and prosperity. MARA
digital mall is one of the recent outcomes of race-based policies that had arguably structured
Malaysian society for more than 50 years (The Economist, 2017). Islamisation, on the other
hand, has permeated almost all segment of Malaysian society, from banking to law, from dress
to education policy. In the legal sector for instance, as a result of a constitutional amendment
made in 1988, High Courts were stripped of his authority in respect of any legal affair within
the jurisdiction of the Sharia Courts (Abbott & Gregorios-Pippas, 2010).

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