While Malaysia has come far since the day that we were colonised, on the occasion of our Independence, it might be good that we remember that we have yet to fully eradicate the full effects of colonialism from our practices and mindsets.
Here are 4 pernicious colonial practices and mindsets that are still haunting us until today.
1. Exploitative economy
The reason we have at least 3 million foreign workers, who are working under exploitative terms and conditions, is because we are continuing the practices that we inherited from an exploitative colonial economic model.
As how the colonial powers imported indentured labourers and coolies from Indian and China to work in their rubber estates and tin mines under exploitative conditions, we are doing the same to Bangladeshi, Indonesian and Nepali foreign workers today to work in our palm oil plantations and factories.
The exploitative economic model that we have inherited is not only reflected in the experiences of foreign workers but also in the experiences of domestic workers. In Malaysia, only 15-30 percent of a company’s revenue goes towards payroll. In contrast, in most developed countries, payroll consists of 40 percent and about of a company’s revenue.
While the recent move by the Madani government to increase the pay of civil servants by 7-15 percent is a positive move to offset the exploitative practices in the country’s economy, more needs to be done to eradicate one of the most pernicious legacies of colonialism that we still practise.
Racial supremacy
A foundational ideology behind colonialism is the concept of white supremism or racial superiority. It is this concept of racial superiority that allowed Western powers to justify colonialism, under the pretext of bringing the light of civilisation to non-white nations. By believing and promoting the idea of racial superiority, the colonial powers perpetuated the idea that there is such a thing as a superior race, which lesser races need to obey and be perpetually grateful to, because it is only through the largesse and benevolence of a superior nation than an inferior class of people might be able to elevate themselves to a higher level of existence.
The remnants of this concept of racial supremacy is still extant in the country today. It can be seen through such ideas as the ketuanan concept and by how the different races in the country have a tendency of one-upping the other races, through political or economic means, to show that they are the master race in comparison to the other races.
A dysfunctional political system that is disconnected from cultural and societal worldview of the local population
When the British left in the late 50s and early 60s, they imposed upon the population of Malaysia a mode of governance that was completely alien to the local population. Such concepts like parliamentary representations and elections were never a part of the culture or worldview of Malaysians.
The British hastily, suddenly and drastically imposed these concepts into the Malaysian landscape before they left without any consideration of how an alien form of governance that has no relevance to the local population would be adopted by the local population.
As a result, the political structure and system that has emerged in post-Independence Malaysia are often unable to carry forth the aspirations of the people.
The reason why concepts such as elections and parliamentary representations as practised here disconnect the people from their government, and it is often faulted for being incoherent and unable to represent or serve the will of the people, has its roots in the fact that our system of governance is made to be in tune with the interest and desires of the colonial power that ruled us, rather than the desires and interest of the local population.
Corruption
In local terms, the relationship between an individual and another individual in the local population is made along collective lines. In other words, an individual in the country, by local terms, only has a relationship with their family. Through their family, they have a relationship with their clan or race and it is through their race that they have a sense of nationhood.
The colonial forces however, had created in Malaysia a system of government that is based on individualism. In other words, the system of governance in Malaysia is based on the idea that an individual in the country has a direct relationship with their nation, which is not in tune with local tradition and practises.
This added together with the exploitative model of economy that colonial powers had introduced in the country, often resulted in a situation where an individual has to choose between serving the interest of their family or their country. It is their decision to choose to forward their family’s interest, even if it is against the interest of the nation, that served as the grounds from which corruption thrived in the country.
Prior to the age of colonisation, corruption was not a serious problem in the country, because the post-colonial form of governance was in tune with the collectivist practices of the local population.
Malaysia is not alone in facing the problem of corruption in a post-colonial era. Every country in the world that has a serious case of corruption are countries that were formerly colonised. In contrast, colonial powers do not face a serious problem of corruption in their own country, because they neither practised an exploitative economy or imposed an alien form of governance within their own shores.
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