YESTERDAY, we marked our 69th Independence Day by flying the Jalur Gemilang, watching or taking part in parades and remembering those who fought to secure our freedom. But Merdeka should also be a time to pause and reflect on the country we are building today – and the Malaysia we will leave behind for generations to come.
That future will be shaped not only by the policies we pursue but also by how we practise politics. Political competition is essential to democracy. Parties should disagree, debate vigorously and offer voters competing visions. But that competition must have guardrails, especially when it touches on the sensitive issues of race and religion.
These identities can be powerful political tools. Appealing to them may win votes but at what cost to the country?
Across the world, right-wing populist movements once dismissed as fringe forces have entered the political mainstream. Many have done so by tapping into public anxieties and turning race, religion and identity into tools for winning popularity and political power.
One striking example is US President Donald Trump. By tapping into anger and grievance, and repeatedly framing politics around identity and division, he built a powerful electoral movement.
The same pattern is visible elsewhere. Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has surged in Australia, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has become a major force in Britain and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is now one of France’s most powerful political movements.
The circumstances may differ but the tactic is familiar: instead of offering difficult solutions to problems such as the rising cost of living, inequality and declining trust in institutions, politicians stoke emotions over race, religion and identity.
Social media has made this dangerously easy, allowing divisive messages to spread quickly, repeatedly and with little regard for truth or consequence.
Malaysia should should take heed because the same tendencies have become increasingly common at home. There is a good reason politicians keep returning to identity politics: it works. It is far easier to stir emotions against another community than to tackle corruption, fix schools, create jobs or lower the cost of living.
The political gains from such division can be reaped quickly but the damage may take generations to undo. When politics becomes a race to the bottom, exploiting our primal instincts through race and religion, it tears at the very fabric of the plural society that achieved independence 69 years ago.
Our cherished muhibah spirit gives way to suspicion and distrust. And when Malaysians stop trusting one another, the country expends its energy fighting itself instead of moving forward.
The US offers a sobering example of where this can lead. Its divisions predate even the first Trump administration but years of stoking anger, grievance and fear have hardened political differences into personal hostility.
Many Americans no longer merely disagree with those on the other side; they increasingly regard them as enemies. Politics then becomes a permanent state of outrage, leaving society angrier, more distrustful and harder to govern.
Similar divisions are being fuelled elsewhere by the rise of right-wing populism, and Malaysia should not assume that it is immune. The effects can already be seen here.
Sadly, during this Merdeka season, some Malaysians now hesitate to fly the Jalur Gemilang, not because they love the country any less but because they fear that an innocent mistake or even a gust of wind, could invite public shaming or the wrath of a politician eager to make an example of them.
Be that as it may, I have continued distributing the Jalur Gemilang in Bukit Bintang, where I am active in community work, as I have for years. The flag belongs equally to every Malaysian and must never become a weapon for questioning someone’s loyalty.
That same sense of shared belonging must guide our politics. Parties should compete through ideas and policies but the line in the sand must be clear: no election victory is worth dividing the country. That is the guardrail we must never cross.
Politicians come and go. Governments change. Elections are won and lost. But we have only one Malaysia. This Merdeka, let us choose country over politics.
Selamat Hari Merdeka!
Ben Fong Kok Seng is the DAP Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur Treasurer. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
