Affirmative action and Chinese protests Ketuanan Melayu

the longest-serving prime minister of malaysia mahathir mohamad.

the affirmative action policies of nep continued under mahathir. political pundits considered administration, in period, continuation of hegemonic control of malaysian politics malays, , umno in particular. during time, mahathir focused on consolidating power within umno , government. result, there little active confrontation between malays , non-malays on issue of ketuanan melayu @ time.

in 1981, mca assessed nep , other government policies chinese point of view. findings expressed concern on number of problems, including alleged disrespect of citizenship of malaysian chinese , malay-dominated civil service, claiming nep s goal of eradicating identification of race economic function had been abrogated. in addition, argued non-malays under-represented in parliament , cabinet because of gerrymandering; malay rural parliamentary constituencies outnumbered heterogeneous urban constituencies, despite total population of urban constituencies exceeding of rural ones. however, umno avoided directly confronting mca on issue.

tensions rose after 1986 general election when appeared umno on own commanded working parliamentary majority, allowing govern without support of other parties. several umno leaders discussed possibility of governing alone; one, abdullah ahmad, publicly espoused permanent malay supremacy , relegating non-malays second-class citizenship. such calls unilateralism disregarded, , barisan nasional government continued. however, umno officials warned non-malay parties avoid playing fire questioning malays special rights , privileges or hak keistimewaan orang melayu. @ umno general assembly year, mahathir stated: not wish rob other people of rights. let no 1 try rob of our rights. when parliament reconvened, dap began raising objections alleged division of malaysians first , second class citizens . in response, umno mps began referring non-malays pendatang asing (foreign immigrants, or aliens) in parliament. when dap attempted enquire distribution of economic equity among races evaluate nep s progress, standing orders of parliament amended forbid such inquiries. led dap allege nep s aims had been met, , allowed expire in 1990.

some, such petaling jaya city councillor richard yeoh, believe abdullah ahmad, aide of mahathir s, first use term ketuanan melayu . yeoh described context in ahmad used benign speech , of might have had no problem it, has been taken mean malay supremacy umno leaders don t know means.

ethnic tension continued grow shortly after mahathir narrowly defeated tengku razaleigh hamzah umno presidency in 1987. around time, several deposit-taking co-operatives (dtcs), associated mca, collapsed. save chinese investors, mca asked government bail out dtcs, citing previous bailout of bumiputra financial institutions. umno s reluctance acquiesce led mca deputy president lee kim sai warn mca might quit government. later year, government posted several non-chinese-educated staff senior positions in chinese vernacular schools. anwar ibrahim, education minister, refused yield protests mca, , stated decision final, despite previous informal agreement on issue between malay , chinese communities.

the gerakan, mca , dap held rallies , boycotted classes in chinese primary schools protest move; umno youth held own rallies assert ketuanan melayu, hosting banners slogans such revoke citizenship of opposed malay rulers , 13 may has begun , , soak [the keris, malay dagger] chinese blood . future deputy prime minister , umno youth chief najib razak (the son of tun razak) threatened bathe keris chinese blood. flames fanned further when in unrelated incident, malay soldier ran amok in predominantly chinese area, killing 1 , injuring two.

the government launched operation lalang (weeding operation), detaining 55 people under isa. more arrested on next few months. although opposition politicians — including parliamentary opposition leader lim kit siang — few bn included. bn politicians released detention after 2 months, while opposition remained in custody longer. government later justified these detentions on grounds of security, stating detainees had played issue of chinese education incite racial sentiment. of mahathir s supporters saw vindication of rejection of tunku s compromise non-malays, teaching non-malays not criticise government , pro-malay policies.

many critics did not take explanation seriously. umno in crisis @ time, mahathir s faction narrowly defeating razaleigh s in party elections. razaleigh s supporters filed lawsuit alleging irregularities in election process appeared succeed, triggering new party elections. in context, 1 mca politician charged government had pursued hidden agenda, deflecting public attention umno s crisis deviation in implementation of chinese education policy. tunku himself claimed mahathir used issue mobilise malays united force common enemy — , imaginary enemy in case chinese community.

the lord president of supreme court, salleh abas, sacked mahathir after agreed hear appeal of mahathir s opponents within umno.

in end, mahathir s camp won court case when held party illegal organisation under societies act due of branches not being formally registered, plaintiffs case invalid; illegal society not hold new elections leaders. mahathir set umno (baru) (new umno), transferring of old umno s assets new party. of supporters joined umno (baru), , (baru) dropped, making it, intents , purposes, same old umno. when supreme court agreed hear appeal on case, government suspended , later sacked lord president salleh abas , 5 other supreme court judges, triggering 1988 malaysian constitutional crisis. new supreme court later dismissed case.

razaleigh formed semangat 46 (spirit of 46) party challenge government. in 1990 general election, ketuanan melayu used issue, umno accusing semangat 46, pas, dap , other opposition parties of conspiring end malay supremacy. government repeatedly warned 13 may riots repeated if did not maintain two-thirds majority in parliament. full-page advertisements depicting bloodshed , carnage published in major national newspapers. tensions rose further when tunku called on voters support semangat 46 instead of new umno, several umno politicians demanding title of bapa kemerdekaan (father of independence) withdrawn, , statue removed parliament house. despite this, government retained two-thirds parliamentary majority, semangat 46 winning 8 seats.