Liberty should be our foundation

ALL around the world we have seen how different narratives address the various crises of political instability, economic uncertainty, rising inequality and low wages. As we have seen in Malaysia in recent elections, political parties employ a mix of ideological arguments, populist slogans and dominant personalities to get their message across – and of course we have seen how the “3Rs” of race, religion and royalty have been weaponised in both directions.

The government’s current slogan which we have seen in abundance, especially in the ongoing period between Merdeka and Malaysia Day, is Malaysia Madani, superseding the various taglines of previous administrations: Keluarga Malaysia, Malaysia Prihatin, Malaysia Baharu, 1Malaysia, Islam Hadhari and Wawasan 2020 (I am sure some of these are more memorable than others).

Madani is supposedly an acronym of the core values of sustainability, prosperity, innovation, respect, trust and compassion – but even in Malay, it takes some alphabetic acrobatics to get “Madani”.

There are four agendas: to focus on problem-solving processes, meeting the needs of nation, creating a peaceful and prosperous future, and fulfilling the potential of the people and the country. These values and agendas in turn target the eight domains of economy and finance, legislation, institutions, education, community, culture, urban, and rural.

If one were to delve deeper, there would no doubt be all sorts of matrices and detailed targets that civil servants and (more likely) expensive consultants will have formulated in respect to specific ministries and departments to give this whole concept substance, presented in a slick manner. The abundance of infographics and corporate jargon belies the fact that the challenge of such initiatives is in pleasing everyone.

We have to go further back in time to find examples that were more explicit and ideological in their approach. Thankfully, there is one legacy which does see repeated use, especially during National Day celebrations. This is the recitation of the Rukun Negara – including its preamble which famously uses the word “liberal” – after Negaraku is sung.

Last Thursday in Negri Sembilan, as has been the case for years, the Mentri Besar led the crowd (with each principle punctuated by a suitably hefty artillery shot), and I was glad to see that the new opposition members in the State Legislative Assembly participated as well. In other parts of the peninsula, there was some doubt that state governments would adopt the official theme of the Federal Government.

Meanwhile, across the sea, there was a reaffirmation of Sabah Day, commemorating the self-government (but not technically “independence” – depending on who you speak to) of North Borneo on Aug 31, 1963. Even the foremost celebrations of national unity are mired in division, alas; thankfully the 16-day gap to Malaysia Day provides great economic opportunities for businesses too.

Amid the Rukun Negara’s five principles, two key concepts are referred to by name, “Loyalty to King and Country” refers to the institution of the Yang di- Pertuan Agong (and by extension the Conference of Rulers and the monarchs of each state). And “Supremacy of the Constitution” means that it is our Federal Constitution that primarily defines the institutions and processes of our country, in the context of our federal setup.

I have been busy explaining these things often this week, because so many international delegates are in Kuala Lumpur attending three conferences in which the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) has been involved: the Islam and Liberty Network Conference, the Asia Liberty Forum, and the Liberalism Conference. While in Malaysia “liberty” and “liberal” have become dirty words, it has been reassuring to meet advocates from Muslim-majority and neighbouring Asian countries who not only understand that such ideas are beneficial, but actually admire us because at the outset we were proclaimed, by Tunku Abdul Rahman with the concurrence of the Rulers, as “a sovereign democratic state founded upon the principles of liberty and justice”. This is in contrast to many other countries which had their birth in communist or military dictatorships.

Unfortunately, I have to tell my new international friends that successive generations of politicians have distorted that vision. Today, politicians are either actively exploiting – or at least find themselves having to engage in – the divisive rhetoric of race and religion. As communities become ever more polarised, more placating of extremists occurs. It will become ever more difficult to craft government slogans that please everyone (to the delight of expensive consultants).

The only sustainable way out, in line with what was agreed by our founding fathers, is for statesmen to find the political courage to re-establish a consensus of why our country exists, and to deliver the civic education to ensure future generations understand why it is so precious.

Tunku Zain Al-‘Abidin is founding president of Ideas. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.