Journal of Governance Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2019 (187-204) (P-ISSN 2528-276X) (E-ISSN 2598-6465) http://dx.doi.org/10.31506/jog.v4i2.6870

Globalization, Democratization and Political Change in Malaysia (New Media And 2018 Elections)

Arizka Warganegara1, Syarief Makhya2 and Denden Kurnia Drajat3 1Lecturer of Government Studies at University of Lampung, 2Currently the Dean of Faculty of Social and Political Science, 3Lecturer of Government Studies University of Lampung [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Recieved: December 13 2019; Revised: December 23 2019; Accepted: December 26 2019

Absatact: This is a study about the nexus relations among globalisation, democratisation process and its implication upon the political change in Malaysia. Malaysian internal politics is very dynamics and contentious as well as running based on the ethnic consensus. The result recent Malaysian election has changed the Malaysian political landscape. The 61 years regime of Barisan Nasional (BN) has been defeated by the opposition that led by former Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammad. By applying qualitative library research. The result shows that the globalisation has a direct impact on the Malaysian democratisation progress. It also, therefore, influences on creating a political change in Malaysia. This paper argues that globalisation and democratisation process became a trigger factor of new media development. The non BN-linked government media such as Malaysiakini.com and the Malaysian Insider play a significant role in distributing information related to the corruption scandal of BN elites, notably a corruption scandal of Najib Razak, a former Prime Minister of Malaysia. Keywords: Malaysian politics, globalisation, democratisation and new media

Introduction in 1971 Malaysia began to re-implement There are many opinions minimal democracy (Doorenspleet, regarding globalization or 2000). The change of regime from one democratization. In one side, model to another as experienced by globalization is often interpreted as a Malaysia, it indicates a tendency that continuation of the system of capitalist democratization in the Asian countries when democratization and liberalization occurs as a form of "coercion" of of the political system often seen as a tool capitalism through the mechanism of that is used to strengthen the globalization as its tool. This argument is development of global capitalism in the supported by (Duong, 2017), he has global south countries. explained that the presence of In 1957, Malaysia gained democratization progress in the Asian independence from Britain. At that time, continent and others is more about the Malaysia had practised minimal strategy to create hegemony of capitalism. democracy, but in 1969 Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast switched to an authoritarian regime and Asia that has experienced contentious and

187 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Journal of Governance Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2019 dynamics of the political changes. The quality of Government policies made 2018 elections is a remarkable history of Malaysia in the early 2000s be seen as an Malaysia, the BN regime which had ruled example of a Malay nation-state that was the country for more than 61 years had to able to catch up and entering the level of hand over the power to the opposition or the middle-income country category. At Alliance of Hope (Pakatan Harapan). An the same time, Indonesia is undergoing a unusual political transition because process of recovery out of economic Malaysia is a country characterized by a shocks which eroded the base of the semi-democratic political system that Indonesian economy. requires political stability (Lijphart, The Malaysian Political Leadership 1969) and (Lijphart, 1977). under Mahathir has indeed produced Furthermore, if we visit this various speculations about the country we often see the slogan of democratic model they have built. Semi- “Malaysia Boleh” (Surely, Malaysia can!). democracy with little authoritarianism, A slogan that is indeed needed for elections that are practising a Gerry countries that seek for nationalism to Mandering strategy and of course the use develop common goals for common of bureaucracy to influence voters. development (common platform). In the Further, Gerry mandering is a political Mahathir era, development based on strategy that is generally used by the nationalism became the style of Malaysian ruling government to set up constituency development, this imagination of in accordance with the interests of the nationalism was introduced by party or current regime. The constituency (Anderson, 2006) as an effort to gather in every elections can be changed based the internal solidity of the newly on the interests of the regime and the independent nation. ruling elite. The slogan “Malaysia Boleh” may All the notions from foreign be heard very often to arouse the observers made Malaysian politics nationalism of this country, and its considered not to carry out democracy as implications, for example, Proton car a whole. (Mauzy, 2013), for example, products can get a fairly significant described Malaysia as a coercive market. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, authoritarian state in an authoritarian the successful economy condition might state, a typical country exercising coercive be a suitable sentence given to Malaysia political leadership in an authoritarian as a country that received the category of state. New Industrial Economic Countries. Coercive here means political Together with new Asian industrialized coercion or pressure on opposition countries such as South Korea, Malaysia's groups, this is certainly different from the position on the economic world began to Indonesian political situation in the attract world attention, this is similar to Suharto era. Malaysia's military tradition Mahathir's ability to capitalize on his that is not too dominative and the popularity on the political world. monarchical system makes this country Mahathir's intellectual capacity relatively more flexible in managing the and leadership accompanied by the political system compared to Indonesia in

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 188 I Warganegara, Makhya, and Drajat, Globalization, Democratization And Political Change In Malaysia (New Media And 2018 Elections) the Suharto era. Malaysia 2020 is a vision assessing quantitative work. Readers declared by Mahathir and this is widely cannot easily judge the validity of the spread by Mahathir through his book explanation of a case unless they have a titled A new deal for Asia. degree of independent knowledge of that In the present context, the 2018 case”. This research will also utilize the Malaysian Election also gives a new theoretical arguments above using narrative when the BN Coalition which independent knowledge to provide an has been in power for a long time in explanation of the research object. Malaysia (for 61 years) has finally fallen There are 2 (two) methodological and was defeated by the Pakatan Harapan assumptions in this study which confirm (Welsh, 2019). Is this also part of the that regime change in Malaysia is a result process of democratization through the of globalization and democratization of Globalization that has swept the world politics that occurred in Southeast Asia in especially after the Arab Spring? the late 1990s. First, the implications of There are several factors that are globalization for political democratization strongly suspected to be the reason for are assumed to have started since 1990 the defeat of the BN Coalition, including since the collapse of the eastern bloc unsatisfactory economic performance and mobilized by the Soviet Union the 1MDB corruption scandal involving (Huntington, 1993) and Second, this former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib paper essentially departs on the Razak. In addition, the massive use of new argument of Political Reform in Malaysia media as part of the implications of in 1998 due to the influence of political globalization also has a significant role in globalization in Asia, in the period 1990- influencing Malaysian voters in the 2018 2000 and this political reform holds a elections, although this has been potential for the same thing to happen in explained academically prior to 2013 Malaysia in the following period, in this Malaysian elections (Weiss, 2012). study the researchers refer to the collapse Based on the description above, of the BN regime under the Najib Razak the problem that will be examined in this Government in 2018 as a repeat of the study paper is how the implications of the political reform plot 20 years ago. globalization, democratization and social In this sense, we have used all the media on regimes change in Malaysia as a materials that are relevant to analyse the result of the 2018 Elections. context and study on the current Malaysian politics. Thus, we have used Method some of the papers that are linked to the This study is a descriptive closest study and having similar topics qualitative study, a study based on with this study. For instance, a research literature study method Library Research. by (Weiss, 2012,) on the new media on In this context, (Bennet et al, 2005) the Malaysian Politics, it becomes the explained that "The importance of main literature that provides a tool of understanding the history and context of media upon the power shifting in a case makes the difficulties of critiquing Malaysia. Further, an assessment by qualitative research differ from those of (Ishak, 2009) on the media was also used

189 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Journal of Governance Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2019 to widen the context of the research The development of science and particularly on how the media play an technology fundamentally also influences important role in the process of political change in society. For example, the power in current Malaysian politics. democratization that took place in several Therefore, library research is a proper Asian countries and the case of the Arab method that can be used to analyse the Spring shows the impact of globalization main aims of this research. 'forced' some authoritarian countries have transformed into a more democratic Results and Discussions country. Theoretically, the response to Globalization, Democratization and globalization also gives different impacts Political Change: Framework Analysis from one country to another. A particular Globalization is a phenomenon economically weak country, there is a that has developed long before Kenichi tendency, those weak countries to be a Ohmae or the founder of this ideology follower of globalization as explained by theorized. But as a phenomenon, David Held's, it is known as the globalization began to "unfold" after the Hyperglobalizer, "Hyperglobalizer [...] cold war ended with the momentum of considers globalization to be the collapse of one of the strong blocs of fundamentally new epoch in human the world, the Soviet Union. Globalization history, in which old categories and actually has many agendas not only concepts no longer apply "(Lynch, 2000). perpetuating capitalism in the context of This hyperglobalizer countries free trade but more than that, become a strong follower of Globalization globalization is also a pendulum for the because these countries are unable to development of liberal democracy and all resist the impact and influence of kinds of consequences for global south globalization in the context of their countries, especially in Asia and Africa. internal policies. In this context, According to (Embong, 2000), globalization is diametrically encouraging globalization is a concept that is closely active participation in the format of related to reducing the role of state deliberative democracy, the concept of sovereignty, a world without borders, the dialogic democracy (Lynch, 2000) further development and civilization of explains: technological sophistication, including ”When thinking about trade transactions based on free trade democracy in a global context, is thinking. Another argument is explained official participation in the by Yoshihara Kunio on his lecture series deliberations, bargaining, and at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in cutting deals on the inside less 2001, he has claimed that globalization is relevant than the noisy social not only carries a universal definition movements on the outside? This among the world's population, but also question insistently points threatens the process of forming a nation international theory to state. fundamentally contested debates in Globalization has become an democratic theory about elite important theme in the last few decades.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 190 I Warganegara, Makhya, and Drajat, Globalization, Democratization And Political Change In Malaysia (New Media And 2018 Elections) democracy and popular influence of globalization which is then participation”. centralized and influences the pattern of world democratic distribution. For Globalization also has an impact on example, the Arabs Spring phenomenon the spread of massive social media and it began with a mass protest demanding becomes a trigger that accelerates the freedom of civil rights. In this context process of democratization in various there is a demand arising from the grass parts of the world. The ability of social roots to encourage an authoritarian state media to deliver news quickly makes this to become more democratic. The non-conventional media play a major role democratization that occurred in Arabs in the process of democratization in Spring indirectly is a continuation of the various countries including in the wave of democratization (Florensa, 2011) Malaysian context. which is a continuation of the third wave The world response to a more of democratization projects and dialogical democracy, as a result, the popularized by (Huntington, 1993).

Figure 1. The Nexus Relation of Globalization, Democratization and Social Media

GLOBALIZATION (Borderless Society)

Democratiza- Social Media tion (New Media)

Political Change in Malaysia

Figure 1 above explains how authors and is used to provide an analysis globalization influences the occurrence of on the present circumstance of the democratization vis a vis social media Malaysian Politics. In this context, we which then has an impact on changes in argue that the portal Malaysiakini.com Malaysian politics after the 2018 Election. and Malaysian Insider act as agents of The above framework is developed by political change in Malaysia with the

191 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Journal of Governance Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2019 success of these two media changing the universities such as Universiti Malaya and political taste of voters. News about the Universiti Islam Antarbangsa. In addition, Najib Razak 1MDB corruption scandal, there are facilities for Bumiputera the lifestyle of the political elite, the rising (Malaysian) students to obtain soft loans cost of living and the country's economic (without interest) from the Malaysian problems were conveyed to the public Government to continue their education who had been giving limited access to and scholarships for outstanding students information dominated by pro- to continue their study abroad. Second, government (Najib Razak) mainstream promoting development in various fields media. with symbols of the progress of a country, There are many factors that such as the Petronas tower, Kuala caused the defeat of BN in the last 2018 Lumpur International Airport, one of the Election, aside from the 1MDB Najib grandest airports in Asia, Putra World Razak scandal, the increase in the price of Trade Center (PWTC) as one of the living necessities, economic instability or world's trade centres, regional in other words the failure of the Najib development programmed "beautifully" Razak government to maintain the like the Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC). country's economy, all triggers are well The issues of socio-economic mediated through the medium of new improvement which in several decades media, this study illustrates that new became the "Universal Issue" in the era of media have a significant role in the globalization, it became very impossible process of Malaysian political change. in this country (such as issues of cheap There are a number of non-mainstream education for the people, cheap primary media that influenced road maps and food and other primary needs) the fact is Malaysian politics after the 2018 that mathematically has been largely elections, and some media that were fulfilled and the world has admitted that dominant in embellishing Malaysian the during the period Mahathir politics were Malaysiakini.com and administration, he has succeeded to Malaysia Insider. increase the level of welfare of its people. Indeed, Look East Policy is a philosophical Economics-Political Situation in development of Mahathir. In this case, Malaysia : A Discussion (Furuoka, 2007) explains: Discussing the economic and political aspects of Malaysia cannot be “Equally important was separated from the role of a Mahathir. Mahathir’s desire to discard the The basic concept of Malaysian Political former colonial master, Britain, Economy policy is summarized in the and the “Buy British Last” concept of Look East policy. There is two campaign was a part of this drive. majors program on how the Look East At the same time, search for a new Policy is elaborated in the country's role model for Malaysia among vision: East Asian countries began. The First, building human resources by introduction of the “Look East” building international standard policy became the cornerstone of

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 192 I Warganegara, Makhya, and Drajat, Globalization, Democratization And Political Change In Malaysia (New Media And 2018 Elections) Malaysia-Japan relations. Mahathir implications for the close relationship believed that Japan and South between the two countries. Korea, two East Asian countries This made Malaysia's relations that achieved an impressive with Japan so close during the Mahathir economic success after World War era, “Mahathir sought Japan’s assistance in II, could provide a good alternative realization of his industrialization development strategy and become programme and encouraged Japanese role models for Malaysia”. multinationals to invest in Malaysia and form joint ventures with Malaysian Mahathir's famous policy of companies” (Furuoka, 2007). However, western influence on his country, the pattern of trade relations between the especially the influence of the former two countries, Japanese assistance to the British colony, made Mahathir endeavour development of Malaysia did not run to find alternative approaches for optimally due to the weak Malaysian development and Mahathir implementation of the concept of look admiration for the rapid development of east policy, or in the academic term is Japan and South Korea, making that two “lack of governance” or weak in countries are practical examples of governance aspect. Malaysian-style Mahathir development. In several studies, it seems that The concept of Looking to the East Mahathir's economic growth is a priority is a slogan of how Mahathir is very of his leadership vision, the slogan of impressed with Japan's rapid looking east is the "magic words" development so that it can align itself Mahathir always brings up in national and with several developed countries in international scale forums. Europe and the United States. The Malaysia is a very exotic country momentum of the Japanese who were when viewed from an ethnic perspective. able to defeat Europe during the first Malays, Chinese and Indians are the most world war became a big inspiration for dominant races in this country and the Mahathir in his slogan. In addition, the most extreme of Malaysia's stratification most important of his ideas on Looking to is the term Bumiputera (native) and non the East is to promote the ethnic Malays Bumiputera (Non- native) regulated in in the domestic economic arena which, in state law, that what is meant by fact, are controlled by non-native people. bumiputera is Malay, people outside Malaysia's anti-western and Malay (China and India) that are Muslim colonial development and economic or convert to Islam, and those who are policies have made this country try to not Bumiputera are Chinese, Indians and attract investors from East Asian other nations that are not included in the countries such as Japan and South Korea. Malay and Islamic categories. Referring to the concept of look east The fact of division based on race policy, in the first period of Mahathir's is reflected in the context of political leadership, Malaysia's Foreign Direct reality, political parties in Malaysia are Investment or FDI was focused on Japan generally divided into racial and South Korea. And this then has categorizations such as UMNO (United

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Malay National Organization) is a party win the hearts of the constituents in for most Malay people, MCA (Malaysian national elections, even in one of his Chinese Association) party of people studies Zainah Anwar described for the Malaysian Chinese, MIC (Malaysian Indian sake of embracing Malay voters as if there Community) Malaysian Indian parties, was a "pious war" and fighting to be the and various other small parties all of most pious between the UMNO elite and which the members are part of the PAS. This context also links that Islam is Barisan Nasional (BN) political force, BN an important factor in political is a political force that has ruled for more contestation in Malaysia (Hamayotsu, than 61 years, and BN authority ended in 2002). the 2018 elections. In this context There are at least two periods of (Mauzy, 2013) states that: Malaysian politics. First, the political foundation that occurred between 1957 “Since the early 1980 and and 1978 and the period of political and the accession of DR. Mahathir economic development under Mahathir's Muhammad as prime minister, the leadership between 1981-2003. As an state has become more repressive independent country after the Second accomodation has been World War, the character and nations marginalized and ethnic building built by Malaysian Elites present relationship have deteriorated an accommodative political style. Ethnic although there have been no diversity as a result of colonization, this serious ethnic clashes.” also has an impact on the configuration of the political elite, a special feature of We can see the fact that Malaysia which certainly displays a dominance of UMNO who represented the political pattern based on ethnicity or Malays in Malaysian political arena. ethno-based politics; moreover this is Within a few decades UMNO became the supported by a variety of political parties majority party in Malaysia and was that accommodate diverse of Malaysian formatted to represent the political ethnicities (Warganegara, 2018). interests of the Malays. On the other hand, Research conducted by (Nadzri, the opposition in Malaysia consist of 2019) provides an overview of Malaysia's various parties such as the PAS political development since the country's (Malaysian Islamic Party), Justice Party independence, a political development and other small parties. Before the 2018 model of "one-party dominant rule in general election both forces "fought" to 1957 evolving to a two-plus-one party seize Malaysian voters, primarily Malays. system by mid-2018". A very dynamic In the last few decades before the political escalation, aside from being a results of the 20018 Election, what the relic of the British colony, relations observers were concerned about was the between the three major ethnic groups of competition between the two Malays Malay, Chinese and Indian descent are Based Parties UMNO and PAS in winning also an inseparable part of Malaysian the hearts of Malay voters. Various tactic political development. carried out by the two major parties to

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 194 I Warganegara, Makhya, and Drajat, Globalization, Democratization And Political Change In Malaysia (New Media And 2018 Elections) As developing countries, religious- Mahathir surprisingly withdrew from political issues are very popular in politics in 2003, at that time, Abdullah Malaysia, such as the 'political selling' of Ahmad Badawi took over political the application of Islamic law, the leadership from 2003 to 2009. In the behaviour of non-Islamic government following period Najib Razak was in officials and other matters of a religious power from 2009 to 2018. Mahathir nature and these are capitalized by Islam- returned to Prime Minister in 2018 at a based parties in Malaysia, though in the fairly old age as a political leader after the last few decades Malay nationalism or Pakatan Harapan coalition won the Malay Nationalism has become the election by a majority vote in 2018. dominant issue in various political events. Discussing Malaysian politics PAS claimed that UMNO was a cannot be separated from two main secular and un-Islamic party due to the factors. First, the political model and ruling party was based on some of system in this country is a British colonial Mahathir's thought which was considered legacy, political division that a secular party. This campaign was accommodates the interests of diverse indirectly successful, especially among ethnicities is one way how Malaysian do Islamic Malays and this was indicated by day to day politics (Warganegara, 2018), the results of the 1999 General Elections, in other contexts there is indeed a Kelantan and Trengganu states which was tendency that ethnic sentiment began to successfully overpowered by PAS. (Mohamad, 2008) explains However, UMNO responded to the PAS campaign and gave a widely circulated “Its play of the ‘Malay- statement in the media that PAS was a hegemony’ card is already losing party of the opposition and did not have currency among Malay-Muslim nationalism because it had divided the voters. However, does this spell the Malay nation. end of race-based politics? Here we Before the 2018 elections, the have to distinguish ethnic concerns strategy of capitalizing the issue of from ethnic representation. Racial Islamism by the opposition in Malaysian rights and religious rights will political landscape was intensively continue to be aired by political carried out especially in the political lobbies and civil society although campaigns in Mahathir government, from the representation of such concerns 1981 to 2003. However, the incumbent may not necessarily be taken up by position made Mahathir's bargaining the ethnic champions”. power unobstructed by sectarian issues launched by the opposition. Meanwhile, However, it is not easy to leave the development of the Malaysian behind religion-based and ethnicity- economy under Mahathir also convinced based politics in Malaysia, even though the public of the existence of the Barisan space and time barriers provide a great Nasional (BN). opportunity for politicians to capitalize Previously, a dynamic political on these two issues for their personal and transition process occurred when political party interests. The political

195 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Journal of Governance Volume 4, Issue 2, December 2019 division based on ethnicity is also an outside the two figures as a result of the accommodation carried out by the British coalition between the two figures who colonial authorities to provide had long clashed in the Pakatan Harapan opportunities for the entry of Chinese and coalition. Indian ethnicities brought by the British Today's Malaysian political colonies as part of the trade landscape brings out the possibility of a compensation of the British East Indies in process of rapid political regeneration. At Malaysia. present, there are many young figures in The democratic consociational Malaysia's political space, for example, model is considered the most relevant Syed Saddiq's existence as Minister of model to accommodate the diverse Sports or Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of interests of Malaysian political elites who Malaysian political figure, Anwar Ibrahim. are familiar with the political framing of Malaysia has begun to rejuvenate ethno-based political interests or ethnic- politicians by providing opportunities for based political interests. In this context, the younger generation to fill important (Warganegara, 2018) also explained: political posts in the country, the impact may not be instant, but in general, the “To some extent, the future of Malaysian politics will not interplay of ethnic politics and appear to be short of many young cadres political patronage in South East for 5 or 10 years forward. Asia shares similarities with ethnic politics and patronage democracy Globalization, Democratization and in South Asian countries such as New Media: Malaysian Kini Channels, India. In India, another former the Malaysian Insider and the Pro- British colony, a plural society with Democracy Movement various ethnic groups and Traditionally the media in languages was maintained by Malaysia focuses on the creating harmony British colonial administrations and having a conservative view on through a policy of ethnic particular issue such as the nexus relation segregation not at all dissimilar to on politics, religion and ethnicity. The that implemented in Malaysia and presence of the BN coalition has forced Singapore”. the Malaysian media sitting on the back seat. Second, the sustainability of Rather than opposed the Malaysian politics is very dependent on government agenda on behalf of the the presence of charismatic figures on the people interest, the Malaysian media in political stage. In the last decades, for Malaysia tends to be a strong supporter of example, the stage of Malaysian the ruling government. However, the democracy has always been embellished impact of democratization and by political contests between two globalisation on media development, it important figures, Mahathir Mohammad has been giving a huge opportunity to the and Anwar Ibrahim. Today's Malaysian presence of the new media that opposed politics actually giving alternative figures the Malaysian government such as

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 196 I Warganegara, Makhya, and Drajat, Globalization, Democratization And Political Change In Malaysia (New Media And 2018 Elections) Malaysiakini.com and The Malaysian One factor fostering the process of insider. rapid political change in Malaysia is the The presence of new media that role of non-conventional media that are not BN-linked media such as directly affects public space. The Malaysiakini.com plays a role in providing Malaysiakini.com portal, for example, balanced news on the political position of presents alternative and opposed news the BN Government which has so far been that fills public space and this effectively supported by conventional major media provides a different news options for its such as the Utusan Malaysia newspaper citizens. Regarding the role of the and Berita Harian. Thus, the presence of Malaysiakini.com portal, (Ishak, 2009) new media has an impact on the explains: increasingly large political choices of Malaysians in the 2018 Election. The “Malaysiakini.com presents various community choices in the last daily news and views in four 2018 Election reflect that non BN-Linked languages namely English, Malay, media was giving insight and able to Chinese and Tamil. Readers from persuade Malaysian voters for changing different races and religions have their political preferences. actively participated in the debate (Weiss, 2012) has argued that the and discussion in the portals. presence of new media has played in Sensitive subjects and viewpoints three substantial aspect of Malaysian deemed taboo by the mainstream political landscape, those are “media for media such as racial quota systems, information, identity-building and the monarchy, apostasy, shariah mobilization”. Theoretically, the law, language, education and popularity of the BN has actually been migrant workers have generated a noted in the 2013 elections but it appears new understanding on these that the Government of the BN under issues”. Prime Minister Najib Razak did not respond well to the potential losses and With readership across ethnic, the as a result seen in the 2018 election Malaysiakini.com portal quickly enters results, the BN suffered massive losses at the public sphere and indirectly provides the level of national and local elections. In political education to the Malaysian fact, the use of social media as part of new public. The news delivered by this portal media as tool of political socialization has also features news that is almost been attempted by the BN Government impossible to become a central issue in Coalition (Agustino and Mohamed 2015), the publishing of Malaysian mainstream but it is considered not effective enough media. For example, discussions on to boost the popularity of the BN sensitive issues such as suing the Coalition to raise the news stream of monarchic system, Islamic law and the other media that intensively informs the quota system based on ethnic activities of violations or political fraud distribution, this is widely spread and activities of the elite BN Coalition. discussed by Malaysiakini.com (Ishak, 2009).

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Furthermore, Malaysiakini.com as The Star whereas in the middle of May also became a news page with many 2009 this media page was only ranked readers in July 2018 and this defeated the 4th and was less popular than Utusan pages Malaysian conventional media such Malaysia and Berita Harian (Ishak, 2009).

Figure 2. Malaysiakini.com Portal

Source: Malaysiakini (2019)

The indirectly public mind is Malaysiakini.com was first appearance on 'adorned' by the arguments circulating in public in November 1999 (Ishak, 2009). the public sphere and this has an impact Steven Gan is a Malaysian independent on the changing voter map in the 2018 journalist that is not linked to any Malaysian Elections. Owned by Steven Malaysian politician. Gan and Premesh Chandran,

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 198 I Warganegara, Makhya, and Drajat, Globalization, Democratization And Political Change In Malaysia (New Media And 2018 Elections) Beside Malaysiakini.com portal, the news patterns delivered by The another new media that became a Malaysian Insider similar to reference for Malaysian voters was The Malaysiakini.com, presenting news that is Malaysia Insider portal, in 2016, local prohibited from being exposed by major authorities blocked this media because it BN-linked media. Those two media have presented news of Prime Minister Najib been attracting many subscribers across Razak's 1MDB corruption scandal that the Malaysia, putting them as the harmed the country. Like “successful independent online news sites Malaysiakini.com, the Malaysian Insider with substantial numbers of Malaysian portal also presents news that opposed subscribers” (Tamam et.al, 2012). the news content that presented by pro- In other hands, what these two government media. media done is actually a symbol of Blocking made by the Malaysian resistance to conventional media, which Government at that time was considered is pro-Najib Razak's Government, and this useless because of the current situation is theoretically a thing that cannot be when technology is more advanced, it denied as an impact of the development would be very difficult for national of globalization and democratization that censors to limit the space for internet occurred in several Asian countries users and it happened in Malaysia, including Malaysia. precisely with blocking made by the Najib The borderless of information that Razak Government, this make Malaysians is cannot be separated by distance and aware of the situation that is happening in time, and easies access toward the their country. Figure 3 below is the news internet causes the process of distributing about blocking conducted by the Najib the information, it subsequently makes a Razak Government on the news portal of democratization process take place The Malaysian Insider in mid of 2016. quickly. In this sense, it becomes very In another context, the blocking natural if Malaysiakini.com and The actually led to a rejection of the wider Malaysian Insider become the media that community, some Malaysians actually play a major role in changing the sought the truth of the news which landscape of Malaysian politics, departing indirectly had an impact on public from the argumentation on the ability of awareness of the political events that the media to influence the public sphere. were taking place in Malaysia. And from This was confirmed by research political calculation actually makes the conducted by (Salman and Hasim, 2011) BN Government increasingly lose its they stated that: popularity in society. The Malaysian Insider was “The government can no longer established by Png Hong Kwan and under estimate the power and Sreedhar Subramanian (Ishak, 2009), influence of the new media, both are senior journalist, and the latest especially the use of blogs as name has “a close relations” with the experienced in the run-up to the former Malaysian Prime Minister, March 2008 General Elections. It Abdullah Badawi. As a form of new media, has indeed become a force to be

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reckoned with. This is an indication where the masses can air their of the power of the Internet as an grievances and concern without alternative media platform. We are having to go through cumbersome experiencing what one may call the procedures or without interference new and emerging democratic and or ‘gate-keeping’ from editors political landscape made possible resulting in the message not by the new media. The new media reaching the audience”. provide an alternative channel

Figure 3. The Malaysian Insider Portal Which Is Blocked By The Najib Razak Government Because It Continually Reports The 1MDB Scandal

Source: Aliran (2016)

Indications of the presence of new referring to research conducted by media influence on Malaysian politics Salman and Hasim (2011). For example, have begun to appear in mid-2008, the results of the 2011 study were based

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 200 I Warganegara, Makhya, and Drajat, Globalization, Democratization And Political Change In Malaysia (New Media And 2018 Elections) on the 2008 Election, arguing that the Barisan Nasional Government. Research results of the 2008 election proved that by Lee (2019, p.16) for example explains the government cannot underestimate that: about the influence of new media on Malaysian domestic politics, this research “The 14th general election particularly highlights the role of (GE-14) in Malaysia was a personal blogs in the same context watershed event. The election Salman and Hashim's research also witnessed the defeat of the Barisan explains that the existence of the internet Nasional coalition which had ruled and new media alternative will foster the country since its independence democracy and can change the landscape in 1957. A number of factors are of Malaysia's political map. likely to have driven the outcomes The 2008 election can be seen as in the GE-14. Overall, the robust the beginning of Malaysia's political economic growth was not a positive turmoil, (Nadzri, 2019) explaining that in factor in voter support for BN in the the 2008 election, the BN lost several election. Unemployment and seats mainly in urban areas and at the inequality (measured by Gini same time the BN also lost control of coefficient) are likely to have some areas on the west coast of the negative effects on voter support Malaysian Peninsular and did not able to for BN. Contrary to the findings of take control of political power over the media reports and surveys, inflation Penang and Selangor regions, two large was not a significant determinant. areas in Malaysian Peninsular, and this It is possible that official consumer continues until the next election. In the prices indices (CPI) did not capture 13th election in 2013, for example, BN cost of living issues adequately”. lost many seats and began to be indicated experiencing a political weakened in the Lee's research (2019) illustrates national parliament (Weiss, 2013). that good economic growth does not have Blocking conducted by the a positive impact on voter sentiment in Malaysian Government against non BN- the 2018 Elections, but in fact, linked media is also ineffective in unemployment and economic inequality suppressing 'bursts' of information about rise as measured by the Gini coefficient. the political attitude of the Malaysian elite These two factors are the economic itself. Instead of the role of new media, performances contributes to bringing the another factor that cannot be denied and Malaysian swing voters. Based on the is capable of changing Malaysia's political research, Lee (2019) also explained that map is voters who consider the country's the inflation factor also did not affect the economy as the reason for voting changing patterns of choice of Malaysians, particular party. Theoretically, personal but Lee explained that it was likely scandal and economic performance are because the consumer prices indices also another reason for the occurrence of (CPI) failed to capture the increasing of swing voters or the transition of the the citizen’s cost of living. choices of Malaysians and leaving the

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Conclusion ruled in Malaysia during 61 years must Talking about Malaysian politics give national political leadership to the cannot be separated from the big idea coalition of the opposition party. about ethnic politics but in other side of the political changes that occurred after About Authors the 2018 elections indicate there are Arizka Warganegara is a Lecturer significant changes about ethnic of Government Studies at University of sentiment. Malaysian elections are no Lampung. He is interested in researching longer dependent on ethnic and religious a research topics that focuses on the sentiments, government performance has study of Political Geography, the begun to be considered by voters, as has intersection study between politics and theoretical studies on incumbent by geography. Trounstine, 2011, 2013. The latest Syarief Makhya is currently the Malaysian election results show that Dean of Faculty of Social and Political ethnic factors remain the main thing to Science, His research interest is including consider as there are no ethnic divisions the public policy and governance. and political parties explain this, for Denden Kurnia Drajat is a example, UMNO supporters changed their lecturer of Government Studies political choices to the Malaysian University of Lampung. Currently, he is Indigenous Party (Partai Pribumi Bersatu appointed as a Vice Dean for Finance Malaysia-BERSATU), a new party made by Affairs. Mahathir who both relied on Malay ethnic support. The latest results of the Acknowledgements Malaysian Election also changed the We are thanking to University of political map of the elite, the elite Pakatan Lampung that provided a DIPA FISIP Harapan who had been in the position of grant to us for conducting this research in opposition now is in the Government. 2019. On the other side, the issue of 1MDB corruption in the Najib Razak References regime and the country's weak economic Agustino, L., & Mohamed, B. A. (2015). performance made the main factors of The Paradox of Social Media: The political change in Malaysia. Globalization De-democratization of Malaysia. and the process of political Insignia: Journal of International democratization that took place in Relations, 2(02), 52-66. various parts of the world also made Malaysia as the affected country. Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined Borderless society makes the information communities: Reflections on the vis a vis a new media, it made so-called origin and spread of nationalism: “the elite scandal” that has been Verso books. previously controlled by the mainstream media can be revealed to the public and it Doorenspleet, R. (2000). Reassessing the becomes a public consideration in the three waves of democratization. 2018 Election. Finally, BN regime which World Politics, 52(3), 384-406.

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Nasional, and Political Warganegara, A. (2018). Ethnicity and its Development in Malaysia, 1957– Role in Local Elections in the 2018. Journal of Current Southeast Context of Transmigration: Case Asian Affairs, 37(3), 139-171. Studies from Lampung, Indonesia. (Doctor of Philosophy ), University Salman, A., & Hasim, M. S. (2011). New of Leeds, Leeds. media and democracy: the changing political landscape in Weiss, M. L. (2012). Politics in cyberspace: Malaysia. Akademika, 81(1). New media in Malaysia: Friedrich- Ebert-Stiftung, fesmedia Asia. Tamam, E., Raj, S. J., & Govindasamy, M. (2012). Malaysian journalists The Weiss, M. L. (2013). Malaysia’s 13th global journalist in the 21st century general elections: Same result, (pp. 88-100): Routledge. different outcome. Asian Survey, 53(6), 1135-1158. Trounstine, J. (2011). Evidence of a local incumbency advantage. Legislative Welsh, B. (2019). “Saviour” Politics and Studies Quarterly, 36(2), 255-280. Malaysia’s 2018 Electoral Democratic Breakthrough: Trounstine, J. (2013). Turnout and Rethinking Explanatory Narratives incumbency in local elections. and Implications. Journal of Urban Affairs Review, 49(2), 167- Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 189. 37(3), 85-108.

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