By Stephanie Jacob
As politicians turn to racial rhetoric using the oldest and saddest trick in the book to solidify their positions, investor sentiment and investor confidence in Malaysia’s economy continue to deteriorate.
Fresh off his Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu rally on Malaysia Day, Sungai Besar Umno division chief and self-proclaimed intermediary between a group of Malay non-governmental organisations and just about everyone else, Jamal Md Yunos, seems to have acquired a taste for rallies.
On Wednesday Sept 23, he said there would likely be a rally in Petaling Street – an area well known as being Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown – that coming Saturday. He went further to warn that it might turn into a riot.
At the original Sept 16 rally, a group of protesters had demanded they be allowed to rally through Petaling Street but the police held their ground and refused their request.
After a lengthy stand-off the protesters decided they would channel their complaints to the relevant government ministries. They demanded the relevant authorities take action against the Petaling Street traders for selling fake goods, they called for the traders to start sharing the spoils with the other races and for an end to what they said is a Chinese monopoly on the area.
Jamal Md Yunos
Foolish as those demands are, Jamal’s rhetoric was enough to scare many traders into considering closing their shops even though the authorities repeatedly said the group was not allowed to proceed. His ridiculous statements were also enough to get him landed in jail for one night and draw the Chinese ambassador Huang Huikang to visit Petaling Street.
Visiting the traders there apparently in conjunction with the Mid-Autumn Festival, Huang in response to questions said his country would not be idle if there were to be any “infringement on China’s national interests, violations of legal rights and interests of Chinese citizens and businesses which may damage the friendly relationship between China and the host country”.
This kicked up a diplomatic storm and an ongoing debate over whether the ambassador should have made the comments in the first place, and more importantly, if his walkabout had helped or worsened the situation.
It also resulted in a comical, if not slightly depressing bout of confusion at Wisma Putra. The Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican summoned the ambassador to explain his actions, only to be overruled by the Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Hamzah Zainuddin.
The deputy minister’s actions also kicked of a war of words between the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz. The latter accused the deputy minister of breaking protocol. Basically, the whole government response was a mess.
But anyway, let’s go back to Jamal, his demands and the impact he and his ilk are having on the nation.
Jamal said his issue with Petaling Street and its traders is that they sell counterfeit goods, that the Chinese have a monopoly on trading there and that other races should share the profits.
If Jamal has a problem with counterfeit goods then Petaling Street should not be his only gripe. Every single night market up and down this country has traders of all colours peddling fake or imitation goods.
Secondly, one race predominantly trading in a specific area is not uncommon. Does Jamal plan to march on Brickfields, also known as Little India, next?
Or if it is really all about giving various races access to all areas, what about stalls from all races in Kampung Baru, KL. They could set up other stalls right next to the famous nasi lemak stall there which draws on the late-night clubgoers.
And why should traders have to share their profits beyond paying their taxes and necessary licence fees to run their businesses? Perhaps Jamal is sore that Petaling Street is a popular tourist spot and he feels that Malay traders miss out. But is that the fault of the Chinese traders there?
Lee Lam Thye who was formerly a member of parliament for Kuala Lumpur Bandar (now the Bukit Bintang constituency) said that he had been present when the trading lots were originally assigned.
According to him, when the KL City Hall announced the results of a ballot which had been held to allocate the lots, he had heard Malay and Indian names being called. For whatever reason these traders have moved on and that is hardly the fault of the Chinese traders.
Ethnic enclaves are not uncommon; as mentioned there is also a Little India in KL. In countries like Australia there are areas known as Little Italy or Little Greece. These areas become known for their food, the products you can purchase there and the culture of the people.
It is really no big deal, so long as all are welcome there. This Tiger is sure that Petaling Street vendors will happily sell their wares to a Malay customer, as they will to anyone with the money to buy it.
So Jamal and his protesters do not have any legitimate reasons to protest in Petaling Street. Their gripes are silly, but we already know that. Jamal is playing the usual, tired racist tune. It is the oldest and saddest move in the Malaysian political survival playbook.
But it has a very real effect on sentiment and confidence. During the Sept 16 rally, Petaling Street shut down completely and traders were advised to close for a further two days after.
It is not just the traders who lose out. The vendors who supply them are affected and tourists who come to experience the hustle and bustle of Malaysia’s Chinatown go away disappointed. Many Petaling Street traders have business relationships with foreign partners. These people lose confidence in the security of doing business here.
Economists say time and again that Malaysia’s fundamentals are strong and that the ringgit is undervalued, yet the ringgit continues to hit new historical lows.
On Sept 24, Moody’s Corp said its data showed that Malaysia’s bonds should be classified as junk bonds based on the view of credit default swaps traders. This despite the fact that Moody’s credit rating arm has an “A3” investment grade on Malaysia.
Discussing the wide gap between the market implied rating and that of the rating agency, CIMB group chairman Nazir Razak said on Instagram that it was likely down to all the negative coverage of Malaysia.
“(I) suspect it’s due to so much negative coverage in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and New York Times – all ‘capital’ people read at least one if not all of them. We have to change the current narrative about Malaysia with answers or legal suits; can’t just ignore them,” Nazir said.
He has a point. All three of these internationally read newspapers along with many others have been covering the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal, political uncertainty and the increasingly racially tinged rhetoric being deployed by politicians just like Jamal – and others much more prominent than him.
Perhaps Jamal believes that shutting down one of KL’s most popular tourist spots is a good way to fire up his support base and for his party to remain in power. But it is a nothing more than a sad case of cutting off the nose to spite the face.
In the long term, it will be Malaysians far beyond the few Petaling Street traders who will have to bear the brunt of this irresponsibility. It is time we cut this out.
GRRRRR!!!
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