At 50, racial lines showing

The Straits Times, January 3, 2007

Tense race relations and the economy will continue to dominate debate.

Reme Ahmad, Malaysia Bureau Chief



IN KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA will mark its 50th year of independence next year, but the celebrations could be marred by tense race relations on the ground.

Controversies over race and religion featured prominently on the national agenda this year, and the same issues are likely to dominate debate next year.

The economy - dogged by concerns of slowing growth, despite the slew of government projects coming onstream - will also feature prominently.

Pressure will rise on Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to reduce the ethnic tensions and boost economic growth. Having been in office for three years, Datuk Seri Abdullah knows that patience is running out on whether he will be able to deliver on his election promises of reducing corruption and raising civil service efficiency.

'He has been rhetorical, but when it comes to implementation, he is lagging,' said Mr Khoo Kay Peng, executive director at Socio-Economic Development and Research Institute.

There is also much speculation on how soon Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will resume his attacks on the Abdullah administration, and the damage this will do to the government.

In the absence of such attacks, the greatest concern for now is the debate over race and religion.

The latest controversy was over the Cabinet's intervention in the case of Mr Rayappan Anthony, a 71-year-old former van driver who died recently. A tussle broke out between the Islamic authorities and his Christian family over his remains because he had once converted to Islam to take another wife. But his family insisted that he had since been baptised again and died a Christian. They refused to attend the Syariah (Islamic) court for the case to be heard.

The Cabinet had to intervene to ensure the body was returned to his family.

It was the third time in 12 months that families have had to tussle with the Islamic authorities over the religion of their dead relatives.

While the Cabinet's intervention averted a clash for the moment, it has not resolved the issue of which courts should hear such cases.

The Christian Federation of Malaysia has said in a statement that the government 'must urgently enact laws that protect and ensure the rights of non-Muslims to get proper access to justice'.

Racial sentiments might also be stoked again next year at the annual Umno assembly, as happened this year when Education Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein brandished the keris at the opening of the Umno Youth assembly. He has declared that he saw nothing wrong with unsheathing the traditional Malay weapon and intends to do so again next year, giving rise to concerns on the ground.

But in Malaysia, racial issues and politics are intricately linked with management of the economy.

To boost development and sweeten the ground, the government has said it will spend RM47 billion (S$20.4 billion) in the first five years of the Southern Johor Economic Region. Two similar economic growth corridors are planned in the east coast and northern states next year.

By the middle of next year, these programmes under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the five- year development blueprint to 2010, will be in full swing. These efforts to spur the economy were made in response to grouses that by cutting spending in the last three years, the government had caused a slowdown in retail sales, property prices and private investments.

Yet there are concerns that the accelerated spending will not be enough to ensure that the economy grows by 6 per cent next year, the government's target.

But the big unanswered question for now is how soon, and in what form, Tun Dr Mahathir will return to his one-man attack on the Abdullah administration.

The 81-year-old former prime minister stopped making caustic comments on the government after his mild heart attack a month ago, but few expect him to remain on the sidelines for long.

Last week, he attended a dinner for the Malaysian King, his first major public function since his illness. While he has been getting on with his regular activities, he has no public speaking engagements for the rest of this year, an aide said.

'We are hoping that the worst is over from Tun but he will not keep quiet once he is okay,' said a Pahang Umno divisional leader.