SABAH SOCIAL CONTRACT IN JEOPARDY?

By: DANIEL JOHN JAMBUN

WE have been made to understand, by the any statements issued by leaders on the issue, that there is a social contract in Malaysia. Its popular definition is; “the unwritten agreement between the Malays and non-Malays (Chinese and Indians) prior to the independence of Malaya in 1957, in which the Malays are given the special rights and privileges while the nation’s Chinese and Indian are considered beholden to the Malays for granting them citizenship in return for special privileges as set out in Article 153.”

But academician Dr. Mavis Puthucheary (in 2008) says nobody knows the real definition of the social contract. It is sometime used to refer to; ‘the inter-ethnic bargain’ by the leaders of the parties in the Alliance coalition, but at other times, it is used to refer to Article 153.

“Nowhere in the constitution is there any mention of the social contract. We need to challenge those who link the notion of social contract with Article 153 in order to justify the symbolic affirmation of Ketuanan Melayu,” she said.

Puthucheary who is a Senior Fellow in the University Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, very bluntly said that the term was; “first used in the Malaysian context in the 1980s by UMNO politicians. It was soon picked by other politicians, both in UMNO and the MCA, but with different meanings and in different contexts. It is significant that the social contract is an UMNO invention to serve UMNO agenda. This means that it can be defined in a way that gives it a strong ethnic edge.”

Now that this concept has been linked to Article 153, it has been strengthened and promoted into the higher level of what is now called ‘Malay Supremacy’ (or Ketuanan Melayu). Ketuanan Melayu (Malay for Malay supremacy or Malay dominance) holds the idea that the Malay people are the tuan (masters) of Malaysia.

But I think it is very interesting that Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz had just tried to silence arguments on ‘Malay supremacy’, claiming it has been grossly misinterpreted to propagate the supremacy of the Malay race by leaders with ‘cow dung in their brains’.

The straight-talking minister said that the famous phrase, often used by Malay right-wing leaders to push for Malay rights, was coined to protect the sovereignty of the Malay Rulers, not the ordinary Malay people, hence ‘Malay Supremacy’ did not in any way mean that the Malays were more superior than the other races.

“It is not about me as a Malay or about Najib as a Malay. It is NOT about the Malays, it is about the Malay Rulers. For as long as they are around, we respect them. These people do not understand what it means. How can we have a race more supreme than the others? It is ridiculous,” the Padang Rengas MP.

So going by Nazri’s definition all the peoples of Malaysia are equal in status, and there is no such thing as a ‘Supremacy of the common Malay’ as Datuk Zaid Ibrahim once said in a speech, “What Malay supremacy, if you are stupid, you are stupid. You become superior in life through your performance not because of some claims to certain rights.”

But I believe most Malay leaders are no in agreement with Nazri because there is now a great hue and cry from other Umno leaders against PKR leaders, who are now called, traitors, political prostitutes and committing treason for setting aside the idea of ketuanan Melayu and promoting the idea of ketuanan rakyat. So who are really those with ‘cow dungs in their brains’?

But while all this is going on, we clearly have forgotten that it is all a Malay vs. non-Malay matter that is strictly restricted to the Peninsular. As I see it, the social contract, and ketuanan Melayu, it they exist at all, apply only to Malaya, and has nothing to do with Sabah and Sarawak.

In the Borneo states’ case it was not an unwritten social contract but a clearly written 20 Point Agreement (for Sabah) and an 18 Point Agreement for Sarawak. The Malays of the Peninsular now complain about the unwritten contract being abrogated or violated, while we in Sabah and Sarawak are complaining that out 20- and 18-Point Agreements had been eroded by the Malay leaders of the Peninsular!

We, therefore, can accuse the UMNO leaders for committed against the natives of Borneo! We in Sabah and Sarawak are now living in the nightmares of shattered hopes and broken dreams!

In all the brouhaha about Article 153, we have forgotten that that the sacrosanct provision provides not only for the Malays but the natives of Sabah and Sarawak as well. It grants the Yang di-Pertuan Agong responsibility for “safeguard[ing] the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities.”

It boggles the mind how the Malay politicians have harped on this provision, claiming rights for the Malays and conveniently forgetting the rights of the natives of Sabah and Sarawak! These leaders need to wake up to the real words of the Federal Constitution and be inclusive, not exclusive, in the interest of national unity, social harmony and justice. The law is not just for the Malays but for all Malaysians!