Intriguingly for me, the whole notion surrounding the question of my Malaysian identity climbed to prominence only when I was in the UK; its uniqueness probably fortified by the motley of foreign cultures converging in that one geographical location. Growing up as an English educated, ethnic Chinese in Malaysia, it was surprising that I felt most at home when I heard the refine, gentle Malay greeting of “Apa khabar?” being uttered in the UK instead of those in other languages that I used more often. When I met a Malay friend, I could sense the camaraderie of a rakan sekampung, which I couldn’t say the same for a Chinese I bumped into from Hong Kong or China. It began to dawn upon me how much I’ve derived my identity from being a Malaysian first and only secondarily from my ethnic origins.

However, it is one thing to claim our Malaysian identity and another thing to be able to positively describe it. Farish Noor in a recent essay¹ lamented the failure of the Malaysian project because we are still stuck at the level of trying to put content into our Malaysian identity after half-a-century of independence. But it is better late than never. The March 8 political tsunami and the recently concluded Permatang Pauh by-election sent a clear message to the ruling coalition that the rakyat wants a stake in the determination of the Malaysian way of life. The rakyat is tired of the old regime that bears resemblance to, and inherits, the style and substance of colonialism. To positively construct a Malaysian identity, there is also a need to deconstruct that which is un-Malaysian, to remove the colonial parameters imposed upon us, so that we are free to imagine a new community, a new way of living together, a new way of embracing our different and common histories.

Democracy is therefore a political process which must allow the power of imagination to flourish. It is more than just a method of choosing our political representatives, but is also an avenue to channel our imagination of a new Malaysia and a procedure to choose leaders who echo our sentiments, hopes and aspirations. In Malaysia, a huge part of our politics is still characterized by the personalities of our politicians, evident from the kind of campaigning done in the P44 by-election. A maturing democracy requires us to shift the weight of attention from personality politics to issue-based, policy-driven public discourses. A beautiful democracy is one which reaches out to the masses, to the poor and marginalized, enabling the various streams of imagination from all classes of the Malaysian community to interact.

Nonetheless, it is prudent to be reminded that democracy is not a stand-alone public virtue. While the original construal of democracy is meant to limit power, we have witnessed in our own Malaysian experience how democracy has been wielded as a weapon to accumulate and centralize power in the hands of the few. With the advent of new technologies, the violation of the original spirit of democracy in the recent by-election could be properly documented and more effectively disseminated to the wider public – double standards shown by the different enforcement agencies, violence and intimidation, abuse of public space and resources, suspicious accusations, character assassinations, fabrication of evidences, money politicking, gerrymandering, etc, etc. The hegemony of the ruling coalition has grown more authoritarian since independence, gaining legitimacy in the name of being a democratically elected regime, thus denying the rakyat our right to build and shape a Malaysian identity we can all claim as our own.

Indeed, Malaysia is at a crossroad – we can either join the forces of change that seek to reinvent a new kind of politics, foment a brave new Malaysian identity or stand aside to witness the natural demise of a failing Project Malaysia. As a Christian, I need to look no further than the historical Jesus for answers and inspiration. Jesus ushered in a new kind of politics embodied by his new community of followers by bringing his gospel of the kingdom of God to a climax by a redefinition of power on the cross. Through his life, death, and resurrection, his disciples were empowered to dream; to imagine a new way of living as a community centred on Jesus himself. He extended the call to do justice, love kindness, walk humbly before God, open our mouths for the mute and destitute, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the poor and needy beyond the Jewish community to the entire Gentile world. He unshackled the deep-seated prejudices, stereotypes, and narrow-mindedness of the 1st Century Jewish community with his transcending message of love.

CS Lewis captured the essence of democracy with Jesus’ redefinition of power very well:

“A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that everyone deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true. And whenever their weakness is exposed, the people who prefer tyranny make capital out of the exposure. I find that they’re not true without looking further than myself. I don’t deserve a share in governing a hen-roost, much less a nation. Nor do most people – all the people who believe advertisements, and think in catchwords and spread rumours. The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.”²

In conjunction with Merdeka, I was sharing with a friend about how comforting it is to know that we all have a place we can safely call ‘home’ – and how this must be defended against prevailing racist rhetoric and prejudices that still exist within certain narrow-minded sects in Malaysia. Set against the above backdrop, coupled with my timely trip back to Malaysia, I have decided to volunteer with MAFREL (Malaysian for Free and Fair Election) in the observation and monitoring work of the Permatang Pauh by-election. On a personal level, it is a testimony of how each one of us can and must do our small parts in building a better Malaysia. It is also reinforced by the need to join an organization that attempts to rise above partisan politics and aims to forge a stronger and better-informed civil society. On a larger scale, it was an experience that showed me that there is so much space and opportunities for the Church as a social movement with a national network to partner with the usually underfunded and lack-of-resources NGOs for common causes like ensuring a free and fair election which is a central tenet of a proper democracy.

In closing, I think Obama’s famous speech at South Carolina is apt to propel us to action, to get our hands dirty, to participate in nation-building, to take ownership of our country’s development and identity formation amidst the discouraging state-of-affairs caused by a set of decaying institutions in Malaysia:

“But I know this – that when folks were saying, we’re going to march for our freedom, they said, you can’t do that. When somebody said, you can’t sit at the lunch counter … You can’t do that. We did. And when somebody said, women belong in the kitchen not in the board room. You can’t do that. Yes we can. I don’t believe in this can’t do, won’t do, won’t even try style of leadership. Don’t believe in that. Yes, we can.”

Jesus has stretched the limits of our possible … is the Malaysian Church, you and I, ready to go the distance? Dare we imagine and act to bring about the other Malaysia?

Chris Choong an ordinary citizen who blogs at http://discordantdude.blogspot.com/ You can also check out the Mafrel Blog.

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