Before we can understand why Anthony Loke is in trouble, we must first understand what the Chinese want.
To put it simply, what the Chinese — or more broadly speaking, the non-Malays — want, is to have a meaningful position and say in the government, and use that position and say to form a win-win relationship with the Malays, that will enable the country and the people to prosper and move forward.
Now, putting aside whether you believe that this is what the non-Malays truly want, or whether you agree with what the non-Malays want, or whether you believe that the non-Malays' approach will work - as you read on, I hope you will just accept this is what many non-Malays want, or at least, think they want.
While many Malays might suspect that the non-Malays want to take over the country — and although to a degree this is true, because anybody who says that they do not want the power to rule is obviously lying — non-Malays today generally do not seek to rule the country outright, simply because most of us do not think that we can.
The last major non-Malay leader who believed he could rule the country was Lee Kuan Yew. After him, there has been no non-Malay party or leader in the country that has had the conviction or self confidence to rule the country.
Since Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore left Malaysia in 1965, all the non-Malay leaders that we have had have instead only aimed to be part of the ruling government and have a meaningful say in running the country.
Previously, the non-Malays depended on racial-based parties like MCA and MIC to fulfil their desire to be part of the government and have a meaningful say in the running of the country. But in the last 15 to 20 years, non-Malays have increasingly depended on multiracial parties like DAP and PKR to carry out their aspirations.
The Chinese in particular have consolidated their support behind DAP.
The non-Malays' faith in multiracial parties was rewarded when, in 2018, the first Pakatan government was formed.
In this Pakatan 1.0 government, DAP was headed by Lim Guan Eng, whose approach towards carrying out the aspirations of the non-Malays and the Chinese was to take as much of the spoils of war as possible while maintaining a hostile stance against the Malays in order to pressure them into agreeing to DAP's worldview and aspirations.
This effort backfired, because instead of allowing the non-Malays to be part of the government and have a meaningful say in how the country was run, it only resulted in the Pakatan 1.0 government being toppled by 2020, after which the government was fully taken over by Malay parties with little to no non-Malay representation.
In 2022, the Pakatan 2.0 government was formed, and this time DAP was under the leadership of Anthony Loke.
Unlike Lim Guan Eng, Anthony was more patient, conciliatory and restrained. Although DAP was the biggest component of the unity government, it did not ask for the most important positions in the government. Instead of taking the prestigious Finance Minister position as Lim Guan Eng previously did, Anthony accepted the more modest transport minister position for himself.
Under Anthony's leadership, DAP also moved to reconcile its relationship with its traditional nemesis, Umno, by allowing Umno to hold more important positions in the government, such as the deputy prime minister, foreign minister and defense minister posts, although Umno's contribution to the unity government if far less than the DAP's contribution, and even though Umno has hitherto been the opponent of PH.
If Anthony's goal was to show that DAP does not have ill intent towards the Malays, is not greedy for power, and can therefore be trusted by the Malay parties as a sincere partner in building a win-win arrangement for the nation and its people, it does not appear that his strategy is succeeding.
It does not look like it is succeeding because rather than embracing DAP's conciliatory, patient and accommodating approach positively, many Malays appear to have become even more suspicious of DAP's intentions because of it.
Becoming more suspicious, they have increasingly circled the wagons around conservative Malay parties and politicians and intensified their hostility towards the non-Malays and DAP.
From issues ranging from upside down flags, to UEC recognition, to pig farming, many Malays are clearly showing that they are not prepared to trust the non-Malays no matter how conciliatory, patient or understanding DAP behaves towards them.
It might be the case that the baggage of history weighs too heavily on Malay-non-Malay relations for us to expect positive results within such a short period of time.
Anyway, the fact that the Malays appear to be repeatedly repudiating DAP's gestures is now causing immense discontent among non-Malays towards Anthony's approach.
From the non-Malay point of view today, despite giving so much, serving so faithfully and receiving so little in return, they are still being punished excessively over small matters — like a flag being flown upside down mistakenly by an old uncle, or pig farming being banned across the whole state of Selangor — while even small concessions, like allowing UEC graduates to apply for four relatively insignificant Chinese studies-related courses in public universities, are only granted after heavy condemnation and resistance.
This is starting to eat away at the non-Malay dignity and self-respect.
From the non-Malay point of view today, what is the point of meaning so well and sacrificing so much to serve a people and a country who not only do not appreciate what you are doing and sacrificing for them, but seem determined to punish you for it as well?
As a result, rather than continuing their intention to be part of the government and have a meaningful say in the running of the country, many within the DAP grassroots and delegate base now appear to be in the mood to separate from the government and return to what DAP traditionally was — a permanent opposition force.
Better to be in the opposition and retain your self-respect than be part of the government and lose your dignity — that increasingly appears to be the mood amongst large sections of the DAP grassroots today.
If this mood continues to intensify in the coming months, it will bode poorly for Team Anthony Loke's prospects within DAP.
Anthony Loke's political fortunes depend on his ability to create a healthy relationship with DAP's Malay partners in a way that allows the non-Malay community to build a genuine win-win relationship with the Malays.
If DAP increasingly moves towards severing ties with Malay parties and returning to a more confrontational win-lose relationship with the Malays — as was often the case during its years in opposition — then rather than Team Anthony Loke, it may instead be Team Lim Guan Eng that the DAP delegates and grassroot will once again want to lead them.
Anthony therefore has only a limited amount of time to show that he can build a positive relationship with DAP's Malay partners in government without causing non-Malays to feel that they are losing their dignity or self-respect.
One of the challenges he is currently facing in trying to do this is unfolding right now, because his policy adviser, Tony Pua, is currently in the crossfire for speaking against the Selangor Palace over the issue of pig farming in Selangor.
How Anthony handles the Tony Pua-versus-Selangor Palace controversy will likely be used by DAP delegates and grassroots members to judge whether Anthony's conciliatory approach is still viable.
Anthony's problem right now is this — he needs both non-Malay support and the support of DAP's Malay partners in order to be empowered to carry forward his political project.
Unfortunately for him, the more he tries to gain the support of DAP's Malay partners, the more non-Malay support he risks losing. But the more he tries to stand up for non-Malay frustrations, the more he risks alienating his Malay partners.
Personally, I think the chances that Anthony Loke will successfully resolve this predicament are low.
But Anthony still has a little bit of time ahead of him — so let us see what he will be able to pull out of his hat by then.
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