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Al-Ahram Weekly 26 Aug. - 1 Sep. 1999 Issue No. 444 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 26 Aug. - 1 Sep. 1999 Issue No. 444
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Focus Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The shock of the new
By Mohamed KhaledThe Second International Malaysian Studies Conference, organised by the Malaysian Social Science Association (MASSA) in collaboration with the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur during the first week of August, highlighted different dimensions of Malaysia's economic and political crisis. Typically, most of the sessions were scholarly debates of social sciences in Malaysia today. But, a few stormy sessions quickly degenerated into heated discussions of the country's current economic and political crisis.
Many key note addresses, papers and deliberations revealed profound disagreement between the government and Malaysian intellectuals. They also reflected changing positions vis-à-vis Malaysia's current condition ranging from contentment with the status quo or passiveness to vociferous discontent among wide sectors of Malaysian society.
According to Rustam Sani, president-elect of MASSA, the significance of the wide-scale protest movement against the government and the emergence of the reform movement -- initiated by the dismissal of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim last year -- were initially not taken seriously. At the time, most observers predicted that the movement would only last for a few weeks.
However, reformasi -- the reform movement -- has demonstrated quite extraordinary staying power, having highlighted what is now labelled "Malaysia's current political crisis".
Sani suggested the movement has gone far beyond the realm of traditional Malaysian opposition politics, which include "surface politics", such as the everyday business of manoeuvring for political space practised by opposition politicians, and opposition to the government through 'street politics' which have a long, but ineffective history.
Many participants stressed that the economic crisis, which struck much of Southeast Asia two years ago, rippled into the current political crisis facing many regional governments. Political confusion "is perceived as one facet of the Asian economic crisis which ignited from the middle of 1997, but the seeds of the crisis had been sown long before that date," said Collin Abraham, a Malaysian academic.
While it is widely believed that the Asian crisis has yet to be fully understood in light of the new global realities that transcend traditional concepts of economics, many Malaysian analysts and intellectuals have already begun linking the economic crisis to their country's current political malaise.
According to Jomo K S, an economist and president of MASSA, the crisis began as a currency crisis. Since the financial sector dominates Malaysia's economic system, it soon developed into a general financial panic beyond any hope of return. This was further aggravated as a result of the dominance of the stock market over the banking system which led, in turn, to dominance of foreign capital in the domestic economy.
The discussions were spiced with terms such as "cronyism" and "nepotism" combined with the slogan of "the new Malaysia" indicating the injection of a new political terminology in the country's public discourse. Corruption, cronyism and nepotism were cited as a fundamental defect that deepened the lines of fracture and the struggle for power within the political leadership. Conference participants cited the "overly close" connection between politicians and business as one of the factors that heightened the crisis. Some papers showed that the political elite controls 85 per cent of share capital. In addition, high dependency on foreign capital has contributed to the creation of a "corridor type" of economic development, characterised by minimal linkage to the domestic economy.
One of the fundamental tenets of a democratic system of government is the element of dissent and debate, which facilitates new approaches, particularly in seeking alternative strategies in dealing with social issues and the solution of social problems. But, according to Abraham, "by all accounts, this dimension is particularly weak in the Malaysian situation resulting in possibilities of the abuse of power and the consolidation of the interests of elitist groups through cronyism and political patronage." The debates also questioned whether the movement is simply "Anwarist" -- related to Anwar's case -- or whether it expresses a wider protest movement demanding wide-sweeping social and political changes. According to some participants, the question is not merely about coining a new terminology, but rather, whether more far-ranging changes in Malaysian political culture is taking place.
Some participants also emphasised that the country is witnessing the birth of a new consciousness, a cultural transformation and an attitudinal change especially apparent among Malaysia's youth. This is what differentiates the Malaysian political crisis from other crises in the region.
Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamed rides Malaysia's first national motorcycle
(photo: Reuters)
While the economic crisis has resulted in political change, in the case of Indonesia, the Malaysian economic crisis led to a political crisis. This, in turn, created a reform movement seeking economic, social and political transformation.
In this context, Malaysia's political crisis may represent an interesting experience of how the model of what some have called "light-intensity democracy" can be changed by a militant reform movement. However, according to some participants, despite the desire for change, the movement is facing a variety of sectional interests and ethnic communalist attitudes obstructing the road ahead.
Yet, even if there has been no change in the political regime, there is a move away from excessive fuss over economic achievement, which used to be channelled into support of the government. Today, a new political consciousness concerned with issues of justice, human rights and democracy has emerged. In the words of one participant, this social resurgence was the "shock of the new emerging political culture clashing with the old framework of Malaysian politics".
It is the culture of a generation that responds to a dream transcending economic achievements. A dream expressing the political culture of Malaysia's contemporary civil society.
